Renting in Outer Boros ... Broker Fee?

To clarify, I'm looking on my own, so the broker is solely representing the owner - I'm looking at private apartments as opposed to rental type buildings.

There's some O/P stuff in BH - mostly the Two Trees listings and Archstone. Also the Standish has no-fee listings. But those are bigger buildings. Lots of no-fee stuff on craigslist, too.

But the norm in Brooklyn ranges from one month's rent to 15% of the first year's rent. It varies, and is largely negotiable. My company occasionally charges less than a month's rent. Some agents have killer exclusive rental listings. I think Brian Lehner at BHS (not my company) is a great source for Brooklyn Heights apartments, if you're willing to pay a fee. He has listings that don't show up on the website, so it's worth calling him. I send my clients to him if I can't find anything for them on my own...

I thought the renter pays broker fee was just a Manhattan thing?

Appreciate any POV. My husband and I are looking in Queens.
Thanks

In prime BK (BK Heights, Cobble Hill, etc), I think the average fee is 10% of the annual rent.

What about in non-prime areas, who pays? Just curious, I'm in the Manhattan market but curious what this means on other markets!

Depends on the nabe, actually. In most places, the commission structure is the same as Manhattan. But farther out into Queens you may get into the Long Island MLS, which is a different system altogether. In certain buildings (i.e. co-ops in Ditmas Park/Midwood) there is sometimes a management agent who takes a fee that is less than a broker would charge.

OP was seeking smaller bldgs, though. If you want to avoid a fee altogether, I would recommend getting to know the neighborhood (do you have a friend who can show you around?), then keeping a close eye on craigslist "by owner" listings.

I'm buying in the Toren and will need a rentee for whatever lease time you want.

There obviously is no fee and I will charge below rate rent. Problem is, building won't be ready till April-June time frame.

Apartment is on 33rd floor with best view of Downtown Manhattan you could ask for.

Check it out.

http://www.torencondo.com/

More significantly, one thing I haven't figured out is how the broker fee becomes my obligation. Like I said, I'm looking on my own, so I go to streeteasy or I go to the broker's web site (sometimes through the link on streeteasy) and I contact the broker representing the property and check it out. The listings don't say broker fee: 1 month or broker fee: 15%. Why would a normal person assume that the broker, who is acting on behalf of the owner, would get paid by me if it doesn't state as such.

Certainly if that broker represented the owner for sale, then the broker gets paid by the owner's proceeds. Why is renting different, but more important, how is it explicit that renting is different?

Also, if I say to a broker I'm not interested in paying a fee, or I'm not looking to pay more than 1 month fee, or I'm not coming with my own broker so I'll pay you 7.5%, who am I negotiating with - the broker or the owner? What if the broker says no but the owner (who isn't informed) would have paid the owner's fair share (1 month or 7.5% or whatever).

Also, I don't mean to make this a theoretical discussion or have someone discuss the misaligned incentives - I've seen too many pontificators on streeteasy. I'm looking for some practical responses.

Thanks all

It's a weird system, and all I can say is that the brokers would be happy to have the landlords pay. But the landlords pay nothing (there is no buy side/sell side in rentals).

The outer boros typically require a bit more "local" expertise by the broker, but again, if you show up to an apartment being represented by a broker, you've done all the leg-work, so feel free to negotiate on the fee.