I know this is going to sound horrible and brokers work hard for their money but I’m getting to really dislike them. (No offense Ali) I’m not sure why buildings deal with them. The last couple of weeks I have been looking at apartments. (This goes for buying a place to since we have been looking at buying a condo or co-op and have the same experience just with more zeros at the end of the amount.)... [more]
I know this is going to sound horrible and brokers work hard for their money but I’m getting to really dislike them. (No offense Ali) I’m not sure why buildings deal with them. The last couple of weeks I have been looking at apartments. (This goes for buying a place to since we have been looking at buying a condo or co-op and have the same experience just with more zeros at the end of the amount.) I have looked at hundreds of apartments with tons of different brokers. I answered probably a hundred ads for 2 bedroom apartments for under 2,500. (I’ll admit I’m asking a lot but that’s what the ads say) Then the brokers contact me and tell me these are really 1 bedrooms. Fine I say and go look at the places. Well turns out none of the places are 1 bedrooms their all studios. Worst part every broker thinks it makes sense to show the most beautiful building way out of my price point first. This results in tainting all the other apartments I see that day. When a broker shows you this perfect building you notice every fault in all the other buildings. You also start thinking maybe I can live in a tiny studio and pay the extra couple of hundred of dollars (that I so can’t afford) even though I need a two bedroom. Then you take a step back from the situation and realize I just waste my day and accomplished nothing. I can’t get that little studio in the over priced perfect building and that’s the only building I remember. I saw ten or fifteen buildings and only remember one. Also the brokers are advertising and saying to you that the rent is 2,300 and 3 months free. Then eventually you find out the rent is 2,550 with 3 months free. Their advertising the net effective rent as the real rent. Also almost every single building I’ve gone to look at with brokers we had to wait 5 to 45 minutes for someone from the building to show us around. If the buildings are going to have people escort the broker and their client around why not just eliminate the broker. Also the buildings that will let the broker just do their thing don’t give keys to different parts of the building. So you’re forced to look through windows to see the lounge or wait for someone to come out of the gym to get inside it. Again sorry to offend all you brokers out there but please why are you wasting my time and since I’m forced to get a babysitter (to view apartments from 11am to 5pm every weekend) my money. Why do buildings use them? The brokers don’t screen in fact they bring people to view your buildings that can’t afford to live in them since they lie in all their postings. Why would these building want all these people who can’t afford to live there wondering around there building? Don’t the tenants get mad that there are a hundred strangers in their building every weekend?
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