Rental Mgmt Agencies....

I rented from bettina equities and did not get any concessions but that was last year...I would never rent through an agent...In today's climate you will get one month free rent.

Their buildings are all pretty mediocre, better than most NYC apartments, but that's not saying much, since NYC has the lowest-quality apartments among all the major U.S. cities.

They are offering at least one-month free, and some are even paying moving costs.

Everything is negotiable, you should get at least one month free.

Glenwood has good apartments, but most are either overpriced or in inconvenient locations.
Brodsky is imcompetent (at least the leasing office in our building) and borderline sleazy, but their apartments are pretty good deals compared to others we saw.
Archstone was hit and miss, a bit overpriced.
I like Rockrose, but it depends on the buildings.
Related seems overpriced to me
Don't know Avalon
I also like Rose & Associates

Related is so overprice and so arrogant and if you ever want to try to leave early for good reason they will charge you 2 months plus additional fees. Their leasing agents are so arrogant too

All those apartments are overpriced junk. The glenwood buildings are ugly boxes from the 1970's, and related buildings are a total joke.

Stay away from LGF / Solo Management, they dont once you sign, they dont answer calls unless you sue.

I live in an Avalon building, and started renting it last year. They gave me 1 month free- actually a 13 month lease, with one free month. The staff and service here is excellent. For instance, our washer broke the day after Christmas and I had a new on the same day.

sideline_searcher Hi, May i trouble you for the Avalon website. Tried searching under Avalon Management but none of the choices seemed particularly correct. Thank you

http://www.avaloncommunities.com/new-york-apartments/

I'm about to rent in a rental building and I was given a copy of the lease to look at - I've never rented in a pure rental building so I don't know how this typically goes.
I've always paid my own electric but never for gas, heat, hot water. Is that normal that a tenant now pays for heat and hot water? This is a rent stabilized building (421A) and the lease says

13.Services and Facilities
A. Required Services. Owner will providee cold water [CROSSED OUT: and hot water and heat] as required by law.
B. The following utilities are included in the rent: water and gas for cooking purposes only.

Avalon is a dump. I rented in an Avalon complex in northern NJ for 3 years and every week something broke.

Im getting near the final stages of signing... Did a lot of research.
- Glenwood - nice big rooms, but lots of stuff in UES and downtown. Some in midtown. Old buildings with doormen with "jeffersons" style outfits... Saw a couple places in UES 2nd ave and York.. BIG. Giving one month free. dont have W/D in apts i saw.
- Avalon - Chrystie with the WHole Foods is small for what you get. No W/D in apt. Carpeted bedrooms (gross) - good views.. felt like a dorm. giving one month free.
- Archstone - hit or miss. offering one month free as well. have the most properties it seems. size is decent, but apts i saw had older amenities.
- Rose and Assoc - Madison Belvedere was pretty awesome views. saw a one br there... 42 floor south view, great but NO closet space. wanted ti but had to pass because i have a lot of clothes... one month free as well. Also saw Chelsea Landmark - nice, great views, but REALLY small. also location soks.
- Rockrose - saw the west village apts... werent giving one month before, but prob are now... nice spaces but expensive.. also hallways very old and grimy in west coast and 100 horatio. wasnt worth it for me for location
- Abington Properties - 23rd and park apt - disgusting building.. just digusting.
- Echelon (roseland?) - saw 1BRs there. salespeople are a bit weird. offering 2 months free but prices are very high starting off - about 33% higher than comparables... W/D in house. Amazing fixtures in building, all new, but views of walls.
- Related - Saw Westminster (expensive, but giving 1 month)... W?D in house, decent appliances, but nothing impressive. Sierra was also "OK" but views of 14th st peepshows. Caledonia was $$$$ to live next to a housing project.

That's about it. Im going to an archstone one because it's decent size, W/D on floor, and has outdoor space. area not the best, but will do as I save up to buy an apt for next year!

Great summary of these apartments. Most of these buildings are an abomination, given how much they charge. Do people really want to pay $$$$ to live in caledonia, which is right next to a disgusting housing project? And 14th street is a shithole, slightly better than canal, but disgusting.

Your apartment hunting experience shows that most of NYC's apartments are filthy grimy shitholes and can never compete with Chicago's apartments in gold coast, river north, streeterville, lincoln park.

NYC: an overpriced overrated third-world cesspool.

for me:

Glenwood - Nice apts, although somewhat overpriced and not the greatest of locations.

Avalon - all horribly over priced, not worth considering.

Related - some great locations, horribly over priced (charging more than condo-rentals)

Archstone - some buildings cheaper than average - yet tons of vacancies (I saw people moving out at each one I went to), so that must speak of the service.

Rose Associates - Appears to be the best, had "reasonable" prices (mainly referring to madison belvedere).

Out of all the luxury rentals I've seen, I'd recommend the madison belvedere

What a sad discussion. NYC's rental market is beyond dismal. Only in NYC do people pay $5K/month to live in outdated apartments from 1950 or new buildings next to housing projects.

Can someone please comment on their experience with Equity? Any rumors of concessions for the downtown buildings?

Long time lurker, first time poster . . .

Looked near my area to move as my building is attempting to charge me too much given the current market, plus since btw my wife and I income is down 50%, but first child is on way. Brodsky in last couple of weeks actually tried to RAISE their asking prices and posted a bait and switch ad in NYT in RE section. Will move nearby and save money moving to 2-br vs. current JR4 which would require a wall anyway. We give up some things, but right now, cash is king.

In general, there are very few GREAT apts. in the perfect area. We like where we are just fine, so we are happy.

Brodsky did a bait and switch on me last year until I thought I was going nuts...they kept changing the price on their website and i finally walked and did not sign the lease and told them why.

I've been in the real estate industry for over 5 years & for the first time in a very long time it's finally a renters market. You should keep in mind that last year rents were at an unprecedented high since the vacancy rate was less than 1%. In my opinion, rents are coming down to a level that's somewhat "normal". As far as landlords go, they change their incentives every week. Virtually all landlords are giving tenants a free month & paying the brokers fee.

Rockrose is now giving a free month & paying the brokers fee on all their buildings including the ones in the west village. in addition, they're willing to negotiate on the asking rent as well. I know this because I just moved into their UES building and rented an apartment to a client. They were asking $2,650 & we were able to get it for her for $2,500, a free month and no fee.

Related- free month or paying brokers fee- but still overpriced (nice buildings with a bunch of amenities you won't end up using)

Glenwood- free month & paying the brokers fee on almost all their buildings which are still overpriced (they are having a major inventory problem and are more negotiable than ever) They have good service, nice gym but no washer/dryers in the apts even in a 3 bedroom that costs $8,000/month! They renovate the kitchens with white appliances when they should use stainless steel for the prices they ask, 2nd ave buildings tend to be more renovated than the york ave buildings

Avalon only has those 2 buildings downtown on houston that are way overpriced

Brodsky is giving a free month/brokers fee

Archstone- free month & paying the broker- most of their buildings are undergoing major renovations so they are offering discounts on the rent however, the rents are very inflated so even with the discounts the rent is still overpriced

Bottom line is that every mgmt company is offering incentives and willing to negotiate on the rent. most of them are paying the brokers fee & since availabilities change daily, it might be wise to contact a broker you trust & let them do the leg work & negotiating for you (it won't cost you anything).

Feel free to contact me directly if you have a question about a specific mgmt company or building.
sophia.anzaroot@elliman.com