A Month Free? Rents Are Falling Fast

Good news

So if you live in a two bedroom apartment can you ask for and get a free month?

Vicki Been, NYU, "let's hope this is a short-term problem." WTF? Yes, such a terrible thing it is to have people spend less than 40% of their take-home pay (assuming they still have a job, of course) on rent.

Just be careful when making a decision on a place based on the "free" rent and what they advertise as the net effective rent. If the apartment is $3500 that's the check you write out every month and the owner will give you a 13 or 14 month lease.

But yes it is a renters market. I am now not a 1 month fee broker but a no fee broker. I feel like I can collect a reasonable fee for myself from any owner in town. If I show a place where I can't get even a dime from the owner you pay me nothing.

burkhardt: Do you work in BK Heights or Cobble Hill at all?

I remember how all the bulls argued that rents would actually go up if prices on real estate went down...the level of stupidity was so shocking I stopped arguing knowing that the "come to jesus" moment would soon be at hand...

the moment is here and it turns out it is more like that split second before your car crashes...too late to put on the seat belt folks, if you have not sold yet expect to retain your property for a very long time

I do...sometimes. I especially love Cobble Hill and one of our fav restaurants is Noodle Pudding in Brooklyn Heights. In the past I have mostly sold in these neighborhoods and completed a handful of rentals.

I think your first best bet is hit craigslist and search "owners only". More so than in Manhattan this can yield some good results. By this time I am sure all the brokers out there(and there are many!) are accepting a 1 month fee-so I can't save you any money.

If you want someone that knows the neighborhood(and I do,very well) I would be happy to help you under my terms as stated above(no fee). Send me an email with your requirements or give me a call.
www.theburkhardtgroup.com

I really love Cobble Hill, Carol Gardens and BKNY Hts.and lived in Ft. Greene for 4 years. So if you have any questions at all feel free to call or write...I love Brooklyn.

On my way to an appointment...later.

What I meant is I can't save you any money with the broker exclusives if that wasn't clear. Gotta go!

where is spunky?

With all the rest who predicted that real estate would continue to rise 20% a year in price forever.

Like JuiceMan, who claimed that rising property prices would cause rents to rise.

I could go on.

Didn't the arrogant landlords' logic follow that, as owners sell, they need to rent. More renters= higher rent. What happened to that idiotic train of thought? PLEASE come defend yourselves.

steve and dmag: they are all still here...I am certain they are just using different screen names

my question is if you already occupy an apartment, can you get a free month of rent just for staying put assuming you accept the same rent, i.e. a discount of 8.25% effectively over your old rent.

Simeon, probably not, but if you have a landlord with fewer units the article is saying that some tenants are receiving offers of lower rent. Doesn't hurt to try.

Yeah, where's the "don't forget to send me your check" brigade?

they've gone from sipping brewskies to chugging thunderbird

you are all delusional thinking nyc will have renters drive the market. yes, we are certainly in uncertain times, but no one will let nyc fall, the politicians, nor the banking industry. we go down, everyone goes down. renters are lucky in this market because it is a breathe of fresh air and the market is in a correction - NO ONE KNOWS what that will be so do not even try.

ooohhh...how ominous, jstar has spoken do not even try or he/she and his powerful minions will unleash their wrath

jstar you are such a clown I almost feel bad for you...nyc has already fallen...wake up...the politicians have already thrown nyc under the bus. what do you think all the pronouncements about limiting bonus' for any banks that partakes in the TARP. It actually doesn't matter since there is no way the banks will see those profits again...the only thing left is for people like you to finally figure it out.

you'll soon be posting under a new screen name in another few weeks

simeon, technically, as you have been "staying put" - the 2 to 3 months are, in a way, money that the landlord gained by not having your apartment empty that month(s) while qualifying a potential new tenant. Assuming that the owner/management company likely allocated at least a month in loss each year in their budgeting for an income producing building. I am not an attorney, but I don't think that most rental contracts define that in the event that you renew your lease for xyz years, then, you would be entitled to a month of free rent. Perhaps if you were always on time with your rent, or were an exemplary tenant, then, you could appeal for it, but you can't expect it, even in the current market conditions. I think it would be a nice gesture if they did it anyway :)

flmd, I think jstar has moved on to psychotropic drugs, the brewskies weren't doing it any longer.

what banking industry jstar? the one that is going to be nationalized?
jackass

aboutready: some of these statements from bulls are just too funny...I have to start saving them for posterity.

flmd, my favorite was one about a year and a half ago, someone claimed that the "players" in NYC were too smart and had too much money invested to let the housing market downturn spread to our not-so-humble 'hood.

Too much money invested maybe, smart not so much.

Don't get mislead by "free" rent. In many cases, landlords RAISE their rent to make up for the 1 month they lose.

Here's another good one from a year and a half ago - "You have no idea how much money there is out there. There is so much money in NY, prices won't go down. The wealthy are just sitting on mountains of cash"

So, today in the WSJ:

"The Indebted Rich. Many assumed the wealthy were living more within their means than the rest of the population. But they may have been just as leveraged as everyone else -- and certainly owe more in dollar terms. From 1995 to 2004, the top 1% of Americans by wealth more than doubled their mortgage and residential debt to $494 billion."

The small one bedroom apartments that used to rent for $2400 a year ago were $2100 or so a few months ago, and are now $1700. A friend is looking, these are the ones that are all over the UES. They are seeing crazy deals there. Streeteast lists a few as low as $1500.

When was the last time you heard about UES apartments (and real UES, not south harlem) for $1500?

Can you please post a link to the $1,500 1 bedroom on the UES?

Try that little search button up there.... 10 listings under $1500. When you get $1500-1600, there are quite a few more.

Separately, I saw a report noting how negotiable many of these are. I figure you can probably take a lot of $1700 apartments and get 'em for $1500.

Not only can you demand one month free these days, but you can also insist the property manager/owner/etc. pay the brokers fee. I was looking at an apartment and I laughed in the brokers face when they he told me I was responsible for his fee if I rented it. I pointed out that the apartment had been vacant going on close to a year, and then I wished him good luck!

What do you recommend for a 1-bedroom with washer/dryer in the unit under 3K?

LMAO... pssss... don't tell petridish and oldbuyers they need to adjust... and forget techie... he doesn't understand imputed rents... :(

So with rents continuing to fall I wonder how this will affect the purchase market... oh I know each market is separate and distinct...no f'n correlation... :)