What is the typical fee for a rental...

you should not have to pay anything...negotiate with the agent that the LL pays the fee...in this market LL's are happy to pay just to rent their apartments.

Typical fee is 15% of the annual rent, but these are not typical times. I just signed a lease with no fee and two months free rent (midtown 4th floor one-bedroom walk-up).

Most large landlords have professional cleaners and painters on staff and I don't think it would cost them more than $1500 to prepare the unit for the next tenant, with the assumption being that they're only cleaning and giving it a coat of paint and not replacing fixtures, upgrading appliances, re-doing the floors, etc.

You should not be concerned with how much the owner spends on cleaning, painting...those concerns are last year..this year you're in the driver's seat...the owner/LL has an obligation to clean, paint and have the apartment in move-in condition...you

Thanks alot for the quick responses.

More detail - this is an independant owner who only owns this unit one off. Since he/she has not put it on the market, both LL and I would be circumventing any type of agents - so trying to figure out how much he is saving by not having to even put it on the market.

The apartment is in fine condition for me outside of a basic cleaning after my friends stuff is out. I actually like the paint that is currently in the apartment. The unit has carpet on it w/ some minute stain issues - again I am ok w/ this so trying to figure out what to ball park for the owner not doing much work.

Bottom line - lets say it is currently being rented for 3700 / month. 6 other units in the same building of equal quality being shown at 3000-3300. I wouldn't need much work done at all on the unit. He doesn't have to hire a broker or do much more than a 300$ cleaning job. What should I offer.

3700 was the old rent from a year ago.

I think 15% was higher-end in boom-time broker fee; the average or usual rate was one month's rent. In any event, you may have a lot more difficulty negotiating with a single owner than you would with a management company. They often do not have as much room to be flexible.

Offer the landlord $3,000 with no broker's fee, based on the building comps. Offer to clean the unit yourself if he balks; if he insists on hiring a cleaner or something, you can negotiate up, but you cannot negotiate down from your first offer.

Good luck, and you're doing your homework so I hope you get a good deal.

And, remind the landlord that many management companies are offering 1-3 months of free rent as an incentive, along with no broker's fee. Tell him how much better you like his place, say nice things about the building, and negotiate like hell.

EVNYC is right on. Also point out (since he is renting himself)that by accepting your offer he won't have to make appointments and show numerous times and hold the apartment for renters who turn out not to be credit worthy or back out of the deal while the unit is empty. All of this costs him money.

Thanks, appreciate the help.

I was coming up w/ much different #s. Conservatively my math is as follows:

Market rent is 3000 (looking at other listings, quality etc)

1.5m free (so now a 13.5 month lease) - this part for him not having it sit empty for at least a few weeks and as a proxy for 1-3 months free that I could get from the mgmt company. I know i'm not entitled to a free ride when he would have had it empty but 1.5m free seems fair.

0.5m free (as a proxy for him saving the broker fee that he would most likely pay as i wouldn't be doing that - even this is half what is suggsted above.

so 3k for 12m of a 14m lease gets me to 2571.

i actually want to somehow lock in this rate as my next step is to buy so if the market is heading down, i'm happy to pay this rate. if it is turning up or flattening, i'm going to be ready to buy and would be happy to leave so owner can rerent at a higher rate. not sure how to work that in.
option to rent for another 10 months with one month free which brings the net to 2700? thoughts appreciated.. hope i'm not wasting someones time.

You can sublet or break a lease if you decide to buy. Don't put the cart before the horse. Your math is very sound; don't point out to the landlord that your effective rent will be $2571. No one can say with any real authority what will happen in the real estate market, but I agree with many who believe that prices will continue to fall. No rush.

MDP, I waste my own time on StreetEasy; your help is appreciated but hardly the motivator.

What do you think about my math of asking for 2m free as compensation for saving him time, brokers fee and concessions. The more I think about it, I think it should be 2.5 months but am going to wait for his first offer first and then start from there.

Obviously this assumes that he puts 3k as the starting point.

Also - new to this - is carpet an add versus hardwoods or a minus?

you are overthinking, it's becoming pboa. read all julia posts above and let it ride.

Assume nothing; the landlord is a single owner and may not understand that the market has changed. From his perspective, rents might be down a bit so he's thinking a 10% drop, not 2 free months and a 16.6% drop. You're aware of the market, so be nice, make a reasonable argument that you can back up with legitimate comps, and be prepared to walk if he won't give you pretty close to what you want. Landlords are not in the driver's seat, as Julia points out.

I think 2 months free on a $3k apartment (I've been assuming a 1-br in a doorman building) is more or less the going deal, but it depends upon where you're located, so you'd be starting from where you want to go and trying not to negotiate up. You might want to think about what you would be willing to give up to get the apartment. That might mean starting at a lower rent price to get to the one you actually want.

Hardwood is generally more popular. I consider carpet a minus, but then I have cats and wouldn't want other people's cat smell all over the carpet, so there's a personal component.

pboa?