Renting in a condo

Condo - renting in a condo will likely give you a far nicer unit than an all-rental building. That said, as you correctly observed, some owners are not realistic. Try to avoid wealthy old women investing their husband's droppings (or his inheritance). They can be NIGHTMARES to try to reason with. If you are a professional - doctor lawyer finance - try to rent from another professional who simply made a bad investment decision last year and now needs your cash flow to meet his monthly nut on the unit. Some of them can be very reasonable to deal with, especially if you are neat, pay the rent on time, and don't have pets.

I agree that condo rentals are far superior to rental buildings. They are usually a lot nicer, offer better amenities, and DO NOT have insane 80/20 programs.

Rufus, you seem to be following me from thread to thread. Do you have a blog crush on me? Listen, you're very sweet but there's never going to be anything between us. I like you as a friend.

Many condo buildings used to be rental buildings so renting a condo does NOT mean you will get a nicer apartment.

admrl: So correct, I follow it a touch. There is a unit in the east 80's, high end so may not be relevant. But, owner listed it 18 months ago, price has been slashed over 40%, still no interest. By the time, they ever rent the unit, they will need to cut the ask almost 70%. Who knows the motivation, but there a tons of units that are so overpriced.

patient09, I'm not surprised by that cut. The east 80's is a lousy place to live.

If a professional owns an apartment, he has no right to discriminate against me just because I'm not a professional

at all

Keep in mind that many condos have additional fees charged to the unit owner -- and usually passed on to the tenant -- for renting their units. For example, in our condo it costs nearly $2000 to sublet a unit to a tenant: moving charges, admin fees paid to the managing agent, one-time fees paid to the condo for each lease. I'm on the board of our condo and see the lease packages and these fees are ALWAYS passed on to the tenant.

Also, if the unit owner is not experienced in being a landlord, they can be difficult or negligent when it comes to repairs and other upkeep that is outside the condo's responsibility. Again, using our building as an example, if there's a problem with central A/C or heat, the condo staff fixes it; but if there's a broken appliance, that's the unit owner's responsibility and the condo staff won't touch it and you're on your own to get your landlord to take care of it. So if you go ahead and rent a condo, ask about these things. Otherwise you may be surprised -- and unhappy.

"fees are ALWAYS passed on to the tenant."

Then, lower rent is ALWAYS passed on to the owner. Come on now, this is simple economics. The markets, not inputs determine price.

jgr, stevejhx?

Managing Agent fees ... there's a scam.

We looked at a lot of condo rentals. Every case is different, but we did come upon a ton of desperate owners looking for any rental offer, saying everything is negotiable, etc. I think condo owners generally get desperate faster than management companies, because a few units sitting empty in a huge rental building is merely annoying, while your only unit (for a condo owner) sitting empty for a few months is disastrous.

If you're serious but don't like the price, don't be afraid to put in a lowball offer. Worst that happens is they say no.

'Renting in a condo'

another illusion, condos are for sale rent cannot be paid on a condo, in regards to all of these new buildings, it applies on Uranus as well. the building is and will be a high class dump by the time the depression over if it ends.

Sincerely yours,

mutumbo is insane. In any case, look on Tuesday for a drop in the asking rent on any condo on the market for more than 2 weeks. Check streeteasy or the broker sites.