Greenwich Village Rentals - Negotiation Process

You don't need a broker, walk around the neighborhood that you like and they will have for rent signs up. Also tons of no fee websites on the web, in this market landlords will do business with anyone qualified to rent.

For a broker, try Joshua Hebert [jhebert@bondnewyork.com]
He picked apartments in the area and size I specified, was up front about fees (or no fees) and apartments with one month free.

nybits.com

jrapps - when I first moved to NYC I used a broker. I'd never lived in NYC before, and I had very little time to look for an apartment. I don't think a broker is necessarily a bad way to go; however, I would use more than one broker, as well as search out no-fee buildings yourself. Be upfront with the brokers about what you're doing. I also wouldn't hesitate to ask for a discount. Even at the height of the housing market, I was able to negotiate to 10%.

Thanks for the suggestions

you should call Landmark Real Estate. All of their listings are No fee and they have great deals in the village, ie. One bedroom on Sullivan and Bleecker for $1750, two bedroom on Charlton for $2000. Neely is the point person there. (212) 387-8877%u200E

I'm sorry to say but given the amount of crappy inventory in the village, and the high demand for it, I would just expect to deal with a broker in one manner or another.

It's been just over 10 years since I found a place in the village, Gold Coast area, and it was after I tried what BeanTown suggested which doesn't work. In fact, calling the people who have the signs up is a bad idea. Those are static signs not advertising any specific vacancy, and you'll be taken advantage of by a landlord and probably they'll also ask you to pay a house fee.

I found a broker who was representing a property I was too late for, she took me to a property being represented by another broker. I paid. But I found one of the better places around and stayed for 6 years.

oh also nybits doesn't work for the village. It works for places that have big landlord buildings like Chelsea, Fin'l Dist, east UES, UWS and Lincoln Ctr

All real estate is local. It depends on where you are interested in living.

I basically agree with FIGV: there is a fairly extreme lack of middle to larger rental buildings in the area. Most of what used to be are Coops. And for coop sublets, odds are you're going to end up dealing with a broker. The only thing I'll change is that Beantown is partly right: if you have a lot of time (till you need to move) and lots of free time (to spend looking), you can probably get a good deal by walking around the neighborhood and ringing every super's bell and letting them know you'll "take care of them" if they get you an apartment in the building, or a friend's building, or whatever".

Of course, this, like many other strategies, assumes your free time is worth nothing. If you will have fun doing this, then it's a great idea. but if you would rather be doing something else, you have to consider the opportunity cost. in other words, do you really want to spend a week's worth of "man hours" just to avoid dealing with a broker? If you can afford an apartment in the Village, there's a good chance you time is worth more than what you'll save. But if not dealing with a broker is as important to you as some others here, and you're more interested in what is or isn't going into someone else's pocket than what is or isn't going into your own, it is a valid alternative.