Rent increase

I suppose it depends on your perspective.

My prediction was 10% increases on these type leases, so 15% doesn't surprise me. http://streeteasy.com/nyc/talk/discussion/29391-predictions

Are you coming off of a 1-year or 2-year lease?

Rents definitely seem up. Our old rental building in Chelsea is charging 20-25% more than our 2010 renewal offer and above previous 2007-08 peak prices.

I was under the impression that by law landlords couldn't raise rents by more than 25% per year for market-rate apartments.

It's a beating but unless you are stabliized there's nothing you can do but try to negotiate or move out unfortunately. Was your previous rent unusually low (a multi-year lease from the dog days of 08 or 09 for example)?

I think it depends on where your previous rent was in relation to the market.

Whether it's "reasonable" or "unreasonable" is moot.

Either you can try to negotiate, or you move. The landlord holds all the cards.

No.. 20% increases in HK/UWS YOY.. I compare my dingy rental units to rental buildings in the area..

Bears, Will the rent vs buy calculations start to lean in favor of buying without factoring in the angst of rent increases and moves.

Looking at 300 mercer listings. One bed room, which are 700 sqft going for $4K. 2bed 2 bath which are ~1200 sq ft going for 6K without view. Of course, 350 people renting in 300 mercer are stupid as the rentals can be easily found below $4 a sq ft for full service buildings.

20% = 20% plus... plus signs dont seem to show up on posts ++++++

Well, I just bought an apartment and had to break my lease by letting the management company put it back on the market. They listed it for 20% more than I am paying in rent currently, and I've only been there for 6 months. There has been some interest, but no one is rushing to rent it, probably because they are asking too much. I am so thankful to be buying right now and getting away from the rental craziness!

>Do you think a 15% increase on a renewal lease is way out of line? I'm talking about a studio in Chelsea.
Not enough facts but if the landlord was desperate at the time of giving you your lease which is quite possible for 2009/2010, no it's not out of line considering where the market is today. Simple math, at various points post lehman, rental market crashed 15 to 30%.
The key to lease renewals is preparing ahead of time. You should have been comping other apartments a month ahead and more importantly, you must have a willingness to move (even if you fake it). THis is probably the biggest negative attribute to renting, flexability for moving.

>I am stunned...also additional security deposit is required, according to the increase in rent.
This is standard, and in NYC if you have your rent lowered, you do not get the difference of the additional security deposit back until you leave. Someone correct me if that's not standard as well.

Renting is for suckers. My "rent" has been the same for almost a decade.

Attempting to jack up your rent by 15% is standard operating procedure in rental buildings, but the actual market does not line up. For example, here are median studio rents back to 2007 according to Miller Samuel:

Year Quarter Rent
2011 3 2,200
2011 2 2,075
2011 1 2,200
2010 4 2,250
2010 3 2,195
2010 2 2,100
2010 1 2,048
2009 4 2,100
2009 3 2,000
2009 2 2,000
2009 1 2,150
2008 4 2,295
2008 3 2,395
2008 2 2,450
2008 1 2,350
2007 4 2,300
2007 3 2,295
2007 2 2,275
2007 1 2,250

Assuming your rent is in that ballpark, a 15% increase amounts to $300-250. You can see there has been no such move market-wide. You can slice the data differently at http://aggregate-data.millersamuel.com, you'll see a similar story no matter how you do it.

Assuming you are paying a normal-ish rent, a 15% increase coming off a 2-year lease seems reasonable. You want to end up just shy of a 10% increase. If you're coming off a 1-year lease, a 15% increase is pretty out there. One instance of a person coming off a 1-year lease had a 2-3% increase, the numbers above seem to tell a similar story.

Nada, thanks for the data. It look like we are going back to 2008 Q2 peak rents by the time new leases get signed in Q1 2012.

That's not how I read the tea leaves, but who knows. Care to place a friendly wager on Miller Samuel's median studio rent for Q1 2012 coming out at or above $2450?

from tregny.. seems they changed their website???

http://www.mns.com/manhattan_rental_market_report

Manhattan Non-Doorman Rents: Dec '10 vs Dec '11
Dec '10 Dec '11 Change
Studios 2,093 2,223 6.2%
One-bedrooms 2,794 2,952 5.7%
Two-bedrooms 3,732 4,267 14.3%

Manhattan Doorman Rents: Dec '10 vs Dec '11
Dec '10 Dec '11 Change
Studios 2,481 2,679 8.0%
One-bedrooms 3,465 3,797 9.6%
Two-bedrooms 5,318 5,838 9.8%

holy formate...

just click for graphs

The only reason I love being on SE... fk you you little "prepaid" rent prima donnas... when the economics txtbks are written about this bubble I hope they quote w67....

"fk you and your mama, i put a cap in your motherfking head... I got your bubble pop right here mtherfker.... look into my glock you little overleveraged prada shoe wearing fk.... now interest rates rizes to 300bps, mortgages at 800bps... now let me shove the 10 inch barrel down your motherfking throat cap it off... I watch you bleed out gurgling blood thru your motherfking throat"

Pop off "homeownerz" pop off.

Nada, some time in 2012 $2450 for a studio.

I'll take the under for $10K. Nada.. you keep the books.

>look into my glock

Do they allow dirty apes to have a gun legally?

There is an open house for a tiny studio for $1625 in the Bancroft Bldg...I am wondering what is wrong with it based on your comments. The location ( with doorman) is excellent at CPW with amenities I don't have now. I don't understand why it is still on the market. Can realtors show apartments before the Open House day. I've contacted them but not heard back.

"Nada, some time in 2012 $2450 for a studio."

That's a lot of backing off.

"Renting is for suckers. My "rent" has been the same for almost a decade."

dealboy, no tax increases? No maintenance increases? For almost a decade? I find that impossible to believe, *anywhere*.

Lucy, tax increases and maintenance increases are a wash -- they increase for both renters and owners. But the lion's share of the housing expense for owners -- the mortgage payment -- does NOT budge (yes, even for decades) if you have a fixed-rate mortgage.

If you take "rent" to mean just mortgage, then of course it's fixed, if you have a fixed rate.

I took "rent" to mean mortgage + taxes + common charges or maintenance. That "rent" always goes up.

"Lucy, tax increases and maintenance increases are a wash -- they increase for both renters and owners."

Not so. Rents are priced at the level the market will bear, not at the level the owner would like it to be due to their expenses.

"I took "rent" to mean mortgage + taxes + common charges or maintenance. That "rent" always goes up."

Not nearly as much as REAL rent, because of the (generally) small percentage of the maintenance increase (co-ops, being nonprofit entities and run by tenants who have a natural incentive themselves to keep increases down), and the generally small proportion that maintenance is to the mortgage payment.

The ability to refinance a mortgage allows for the possibility of a net payment that goes down over time.

Lad is correct. Just hold on till 30 yr fixed hits 2%! Then 1%. But if it hits 0%, I'm sure ppl will be selling en masse. Why you ask?

No maz tax deductions!

Lucy, compared to 10 years of rent inflation, my fixed price increases are trivial. I now pay a fraction of current market rent!