commissions

Tobys, welcome to the wild and wooly world of renting in New York. An approximate breakdown:

If you are looking at "luxury" rentals from big management companies, most of the time you can avoid the broker's fee by contacting the management office directory. Examples: Glenwood, Rockrose, Archstone, Related, etc. Search the threads and you'll find a list. Downside: these buildings cost more to rent in.

If, however, you are looking at smaller buildings, including walk-ups, chances are that you will NOT be able to avoid a broker's fee, since those often only advertised by a particular broker who has a relationship with the building owner. If you go this route, try to find a place you'll be able to live for at least a few years so the broker's fee gets amortized over time. You pay the broker's fee. The owners very rarely do so, and there is no incentive for them to do so in the present climate, although asking never hurts.

Fair rate is usually 1 month of rent, although some brokers try for 15% of a 12-month lease. Try to negotiate it down, if possible. If someone is asking for more than that they are trying to hose you. Also, you'll want to be wary of the routine broker trick of showing you the "no-fee" apartment, which is invariably a depressing, windowless dump, then showing you the magical apartment of your dreams that just so happens to come with a fee. It's outrageous, but it happens all the time.

Fair rate is usually 1 month of rent, although some brokers try for 15% of a 12-month lease. Try to negotiate it down, if possible. If someone is asking for more than that they are trying to hose you. Also, you'll want to be wary of the routine broker trick of showing you the "no-fee" apartment, which is invariably a depressing, windowless dump, then showing you the magical apartment of your dreams that just so happens to come with a fee. It's outrageous, but it happens all the time.

This is far too simplistic. It's very neighborhood specific. If you want to live downtown, the vilalges, chelsea, flatiron you're paying far more than a month for the commission. Why? Because if you don't, someone else will.
And this nonsense of a no fee listing being advertised then "switched" to a fee listing is silly. There are no fee listings. They get more heavily advertised. If you want that apartment, you won't pay a fee. If, however, you don't, and there isn't a lot of other "no fee" inventory in your search parameters, then you'll have to pay a fee to get something that is closer to what you might want. Don't want to pay a commission? Don't call a broker.

I actually thought it was a pretty accurate description of rental brokers and how they operate.

I would say a fair amount of time when you call about the apartment you find on a brokers website and call, you are told that oh that one is not around anymore but i have plenty more, come in and find out. Then they get you to of course sign the piece of paper that says if you rent an apartment they show or any apartment in a building they may bring you to, even if not the same apartment, you owe them your life savings, or 15%, or one months rent, whichever is more.

Sure is this being harsh, maybe. But i would say for the single person out there looking for a studio or one bedroom and forced to go the broker route, it is just expensive and out of line, just like sales brokers.

I go out and rent a $3000 apartment, which maybe a broker helped me out and showed me 5 apartments and spent a day with me and i choose one. it will then cost me lets say $3000-4500 in fees to said broker. So if he spent 4 hours with me and then maybe 2-3 helping me secure the apartment, i am paying somewhere up to mid $500 per hour. That is just insane and does not come close to the level of service I am getting.

The whole industry, while there are great brokers out there, are made up of individuals who beleive that as long as they get a license that is all they need and no further effort is required. When showing a potential renter an apartment you would hope you could answer basic questions about the building, but a lot of the time, you get the i will have to find that out.

So really at the end of the day you are paying a ridiculous fee because this person is your only way in to get to see an apartment.

It is a wonder how the rest of the country operates, because really this is really just a new york thing.

You should be paying a lower hourly rate, because the broker should have a relationship with the building, is handling credit checks, etc., and should in general be able to make your life easier in applying, etc. The reality, and the annoying part for me, comes when we walk into a place after I've given the broker very detailed specifications, and he/she is surprised that the apartment doesn't have those criteria and it becomes obvious that they're seeing it for the first time as well..

that is my point. the problem really comes down to there are to many brokers out there all fighting for the same commissions. i am sure if they cut down the amount of brokers in the city the rates would go down as there would be more searches for each of the remaining brokers and they could charge less.

The issue is it is hard to get changed because there are just not enough listings for the amount of brokers out there.