Inside Scoop on How to Hunt for No Fee Apartments: by Chino

There is no such thing as a "no fee apartment" if a broker is showing it. Although, there are some people who out there who think their landlord is an angel for paying the broker fee on their behalf. Sorry, but this doesn't really happen in Manhattan. This is similar to driving off the lot in your new car smiling and feeling extra good because you know you just negotiated the best car deal that... [more]

There is no such thing as a "no fee apartment" if a broker is showing it. Although, there are some people who out there who think their landlord is an angel for paying the broker fee on their behalf. Sorry, but this doesn't really happen in Manhattan. This is similar to driving off the lot in your new car smiling and feeling extra good because you know you just negotiated the best car deal that probably ever came out of that dealership...as a matter of fact you know that they are probably putting your name and picture in their system as the negotiator so they can strategize and train a few months before the next time you step foot in that dealership. Until you glance in your rear view mirror and see your car salesman giving high fives to his boss, buddies and strangers in the waiting room while making a motion with his hands to the entire showroom as if he was saying, "dinner on me tonight boys." While you are thinking you got a great deal, the salesman just booked a two month trip to Dubai thanks to your commission check. So, when looking for a no fee NYC apartment, the truth is your broker has to get paid somehow. Either the landlord is shelling out the dough and turning around and making it up by jacking up the montly rent or the broker works out a deal with the landlord adding their fee to the annual rent so they can advertise a no fee apartment that will generate more traffic. In this case...you are paying the broker fee anyway. However, there are ways to skip broker fees when looking to rent an apartment in New York, but it is not easy at all. When you type in "nyc no fee apartments" in Google you will come across a list of "no fee apartment websites". One of the first websites you'll probably come across will be Rent-direct.com aka rdny.com who will show you tons of apartments, but leave out the no fee landlord's contact information. Then you'll soon realize that you have to pay around $300 to receive the landlord's contact information. (Mlx is another similar option) You will probably start to convince yourself that this is much better than a broker fee until you quickly think twice as you are pulling out your credit card. "Should I risk spending $300 on a website that I'm not sure will work??" ***Please be aware that some no fee websites that charge an upfront fee have been reported to the BBB for providing little to no service. Inapts.com was recently charged for allegedly bilking people out of nearly $1million.*** http://search.newyork.bbb.org/reports.aspx (check BBB's website here and enter in the url before paying a fee) Then you realize you may have really hit the jackpot because you've come across a couple of no fee apartment websites that show you available apartments for FREE! There is www.Listingsquare.com that shows available no fee buildings. This website gives you a list of no-fee management companies that you can call yourself and is helpful but don't rely to much on their accuracy when seeing an available apartment on their site. The most updated site is www.SkipBrokers.com that is also free and gives you insight on management companies and landlords. It's easier to call landlords directly when you feel confident about the accuracy of a website's listings. You will also run into either a website selling a list of common MGMT companies or even run into the actual management companies' website yourself being advertised. Either way, you will quickly get tired of searching through individual landlord's websites each day knowing that a million people are doing the same thing. SkipBrokers.com does this searching for you every day and for free. There are private landlords and a ton of new landlords in addition to some of the easier no fee management companies to find. For example, some of the easier no fee landlords you can find on Google/Yahoo/MSN will be Jakobson Properites (nofeerentals.com) and Standard Realty (ownernofee.com). Here you will find they have an unusually large list of "affordable"/available apartments but based on tenant and prospect reviews these apartments make up in quantity what they lack in quality. Hmmmm....perhaps (my grandmas favorite word) this is the reason their websites are a little easier to find then others?? The other type of management company you'll find advertising freely online are newer buildings looking to fill vacancies quickly and those who provide very luxurious rentals. So take your pick...affordable apts that haven't been renovated in over 20 years or luxurious apartments that start around $3,600 for the half bathroom of an apartment? This is mostly likely why they advertise...most middle tier landlords don't need to pay a penny in advertisments because their apartments will be filled in a heartbeat with the help of brokers or savvy prospects like yourself. (thanks to reading this) If you enjoy torture for some reason, please continue your search, you will come across many fly-by night websites that right away are spammed with advertisers hoping you click on one of their ads rather than find an apartment. The bottom line is you will have to weed out the background noise and focus on the legitimate and free websites like SkipBrokers.com first before decided to pay for any website or broker. Whether you find your apartment through a no fee website or a broker, either way, this process is not easy so be prepared for the challenge and stay optimistic. You'll be glad you did, this city is definately worth the effort! [less]