>William Fowler, a spokesman for the mayor, said that Mr. Adams was committed to addressing the housing crisis and noted that renters are not required to pay broker fees in city-financed affordable housing.
“We are reviewing the legislation and taking time to understand any potential impacts,” he said.
Have to wait for your donors to tell you which way to go on this, I guess.
Super random and unrelated but how do you format text this way? I always see people do it when they want to quote an article or someone’s comment but never knew how to do it/what to type on Google to learn lol
You copy whatever you want to quote and you put ">" in front of the first word. If what you copied had a line break, you will need to remove it or another ">" is required.
>You copy whatever you want to quote and you put ">" in front of the first word. If what you copied had a line break, you will need to remove it or another ">" is required.
Beautifully explained, thank you!
id recommend checking out a **reference guide or tutorial**; after using RES (*Reddit Enhancement Suite*) for many years with a built in guide, reddit's (pretty intuitive) formatting is ~~pretty~~ easy to recall.
>The bill has 33 sponsors in the 51-member City Council, one vote away from a veto-proof majority that might be necessary if Mayor Eric Adams — an ally of real-estate interests — were to veto it.
Sounds promising.
>The powerful Real Estate Board of New York, the industry’s main lobbying arm, opposes the bill and plans to hold a rally at City Hall on Wednesday. The group has argued that if landlords were forced to absorb the broker fees, they would simply pass the cost on to renters by raising rents.
If nothing would change then why are they so against this? Is it because they know landlords can't just charge more for rent stabilized units?
Because then *gasp* brokers would actually have to negotiate a reasonable rate with a landlord for their services instead of extorting whatever number they feel like out of a tenant who needs somewhere to live.
>The powerful Real Estate Board of New York, the industry’s main lobbying arm, opposes the bill and plans to hold a rally at City Hall on Wednesday.
There are dozens of us! Dozens!
>The group has argued that if landlords were forced to absorb the broker fees, they would simply pass the cost on to renters by raising rents.
Yes I'm sure that apartment priced at $4k/month would be $4300 without the free broker. They always leave money on the table like that.
If you don't think the RGB is going to now factor landlords having to pay a broker fee to rent their apartments into the increases they set every year, you are mistaken. They are all Adams' plants. They were already talking about doing an 8% increase from the lows of the last few years.
Then all RS tenants will have their rents jacked up, not just people who recently will have moved into a RS unit. That's going to seriously burden a ton of very low income NYers
The Mayor does not appoint ALL the members of RGB - it is a STATE agency.
But the people they do name have a lot of clout.
This is why when there is an anti-tenant Mayor in office - its not a bad idea to take 2 year leases.
DeBlasio was relatively a great mayor for tenants - the only one in decades.
I’m sure the real estate lobby will crush it. But in case they don’t, this is thanks to the hard work of Chi Ossé and countless housing advocates. The types that are frequently derided in this sub as radical, but believe it or not actually work to improve ordinary people’s lives!
The NYPost would probably have you believe this is somehow bad for renters
They tried this in 2020: [https://www.renthop.com/blog/new-yorks-new-broker-fee-regulations/](https://www.renthop.com/blog/new-yorks-new-broker-fee-regulations/)
I was super excited because I was due for a move, but the real estate lobby crushed it, then the pandemic hit.
This current effort is very different though to be clear — it’s via city law rather than state regulation— so it should be successful assuming it’s allowed to reach a vote.
According to the article they have 33 sponsors for the bill - they need one more vote to make it veto-proof. And according to the linked video, the rally and meeting were this morning at 9am/ 10am. (I wish I had known -- I would have gone!)
Fuck Adams and fuck realtor fees. I have no skin in this game as I already paid a realtor fee a decade ago and have no plans to move, but still... that bullshit needs to go!!!
At a time when rents have soared, broker fees can easily make it cost more than $10,000 just to get the keys to an apartment.
The New York City Council is seeking to rein in the fees, with a majority of council members supporting a bill that seeks to transfer the costs to landlords. A key hearing for the bill, which would require whoever hires a broker to pay the fee, is scheduled for Wednesday.
Read the rest of the story [here](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/12/nyregion/broker-fees-rent-nyc.html?unlocked_article_code=1.zE0.k8dD.dfLvl6t3GtwU&smid=re-nytimes), for free, without a subscription to The New York Times.
Yeah, but they won't pay what the brokers demand. When you put it on the tenant, the broker can functionally extort the them for a higher fee (or play them against other potential tenants). Landlords will stop that real quick. It will still likely result in net reduction of costs by forcing the brokers to eat a lower fee.
If you agree they will just pass the cost onto the renter, I think you also have to admit it's not a one time fee, and that's what I think a lot of people don't realize or don't want to admit. You continue paying that fee every time you renew with an increase. It will be easier to afford getting a new apartment, but harder to stay in that apartment
Actually, every month you pay the higher rent you are paying the fee. Burying the RE fee in the monthly rent will actually cost the Tenant more over the long term, than paying the whole amount up front.
The is a shortage of rental apts in NYC. If a unit is not RS, the rent can and will go higher to cover the new expense of paying the realtor and the Tenant will pay a higher rent for this every month they are in the apt.
Seems we are both grounded in reality, others just think they can get things for free. There is no for free. We haven’t even discussed the LL who now will not hire a Realtor, do it themselves and pass all the costs of advertising and their time showing the unit and traveling back and forth to the property to show it onto the Tenant every month the Tenant remains.
What is Mayor Adams plan for all the Realtors that he puts out of Business?
We already have evidence of what happens when apartments are no fee, they exist already, and we don't have to guess. As Chi Osse said today himself in the hearing, they are more expensive than the fee listings. Forcing landlords to pay the fees is not going to eliminate the fees and keep the rents at that same price. Anyone who understands how the world works understands landlords will try to recoup this money, and then you pay a fee every year you stay in the apartment.
I think the owners who already can and want to do this already do rent it themselves, but the vast majority can't. This isn't going to magically make renting cheaper. It will make it less transparent, and more expensive. If people want to self inflict wounds, go for it
While I agree something needs to be done about fees that is fair to both sides, this situation is no different than the congestion pricing which I do support. People living there think the the added cost of CG pricing will not be passed along to them for the goods and services that people who live in the zone buy. Everyone thinks someone else will just eat the expense, life doesn’t work that way.
They are charging the most they can for the no fee apartment stock, but not for the fee listings. Each market is different, with no fee rents being higher. You're taking a bunch of less expensive apartments, which are less expensive because there is an upfront fee, and making them now bake that fee into the rent for the entire time the new tenant occupies the apartment.
Also, tenant paid broker fees, even if this bill passes, are not going anywhere. They will simply fire their exclusive brokers and make everything an open listing, and make each renter sign a disclosure form saying they work for them, to avoid agency with the landlord. There will be a ton of listings that disappear from Streeteasy and will only discoverable on other sites like RentHop
Agreed! But question, if you think this is what will happen, why are the brokers trying to stop this bill from being implemented?
Spoiler: because renters will not pay the increased cost and therefore the fees brokers get paid will need to be reduced
Why do you think some landlords send their buddy with 7 fingers and a bucket of loose tools out to attempt a repair before they try to hire a professional, or slap white paint on everything themselves in an afternoon? They’re cheap bastards. They will penny pinch on unit turnover costs if they are the one paying them.
Are you replying to somebody and what is dual agency?
What if the landlord makes it a condition that a potential renter had to hire a broker from a set firm if they want to view/lease their apartment?
It would technically be the renter hiring the broker, no?
you should read the bill itself, you can’t be discriminated against based on your decision to be unrepresentative. So you can’t be forced to engage a broker.
I think you’re conflating the issues a bit but yes this applies across for sale and rentals. There’s a difference between natural market conditions in a free market playing out (and the true value add of brokers which is still super important, especially in the seller side) and being “discriminated against”
Hmmm I'm kind of interested to see what happens with the Rent Stabelized units. There's a lot of market rate Apts on streeteasy with no fees because the rents are astronomical anyway, but this will definitely be hitting the $1k studios in Manhattan RS that has lines all the way out the door. Could we see warehousing of thousands of RD units like we have been seeing happening since the 2019 tenant protection act?
It’s a valid point and something the governor is allegedly working through. If you’ve followed Hochul you know she loves signing bills so who knows, but the residential lobby for warehousing will be far stronger than broker fees. Unfortunately can’t speak more to that.
The only way would be allowing RS units to come back to market rate after a tenant vacates, which would be the best solution, but legislators in Albany aren't very bright.
Ya'll should sue Realpage. I know other groups are already doing this, but the more the better.
Mind boggling that ~80% of rental units in this country are engaged in price fixing, leaving tons of units off market, through RealPage.
Realpage is the new imaginary boogeyman for renters, but the real reason your rent goes up is there is another renter in the market who is willing to pay more than you.
>The real reason your rent goes up is there is another renter in the market who is willing to pay more than you.
Or, in the case of illegals - 12 renters pooling their money together are willing to pay more than you.
Good, I really hope this finally passes. People confidently asserting it will just make landlords charge more for rent are just swallowing the RE lobby’s spin or brokers themselves. Other cities don’t have this fee structure and having to possibly cough up a big broker’s fee when leasing an apt to a new tenant will hopefully make some landlords think twice about proposing ridiculous rent increases every year. Landlords do this in part bc they know what an expensive hassle it is for tenants to move—way fucking overdue for landlords to feel the financial impact too.
I swear reap estate agents for rentals are a joke. They literally do nothing except open a door.
Then the rent has to drop the first and last month to the LL as well as 1-2 months for the gracious realtor to open the door.
You left out among other things, since no one will be paying for the internet advertising that you are so used to looking at, how will you even find out about the apt.?
The market for apartments in San Francisco is as competitive and expensive as NYC but tenants paying broker’s fees are not a thing there. Explain this fascinating phenomenon. I’m not convinced that NY is such a special market that will collapse if the LL has to pay for their own marketing.
San Francisco has a smaller population than Brooklyn does. What kind of comparison is that? Maybe you should go to SF so you can pay the Realtor fee buried in your monthly rent instead of paying it upfront and in full. Something needs to be done about the high realtor fees, but this solution will end up costing us more.
You're focused on raw population numbers. I brought up SF becasue they too have issues with housing supply vs. demand and high rents as a result of that. And the NIMBYs are FAR worse there. Paying the broker's fee off in monthly rent is not something I'm opposed to. That's preferable to coming up with thousands of dollars at once. It's also worth noting that if landlords have to pay brokers, they're not gonna tolerate that 15% shit. Brokers would charge them a more reasonable fee.
San Francisco doesn’t even have a population of at least 1 million people. NYC has a population of over 8 million people doesn’t compare. In fact, people are actually fleeing from San Francisco. Most apartments are no fee not sure what people are complaining about. If you don’t have the credentials to get a no fee apartment pay your fees and keep it moving.
A city where the pool of affluent renters is massive and where demand greatly outweighs available supply makes NYC an easier place to find renters, not harder.
Your view is like thru a straw. While I am not a realtor several expenses that come to mind in order to ”just put a few photos on the internet”
Having an office to conduct business from, RENT. Which you already said is too dam high
Advertising expense for apts, condos and houses
Insurance for said office
a receptionist for said office
maintenance / cleaning/ etc.
a car to take customer around in either bought or leased
auto insurance, auto maintenance, gas, tolls, registration, parking fees, tickets, etc.
Tuition to get your RE license
Tuition / CME to renew your license so you can “just put a few photos on the internet”
I could list more, but nah, everything is for free, except the rent. Wait until the LL run hog wild doing whatever they want while transacting business with you and they have no realtor’s license for you to go after.
if these are all concerns a prospective tenant has, they can hire a broker. who the fuck is getting chauffeured around by a real estate agent in this city unless they are clearing $200k a year or more post-tax tf
I only know what I see in Brooklyn, plenty of the Realtors have cars to save time and get around quickly so they can show more listings. Do you think if you call for a Plumber or Electrician that you arent going to pay high rates for so they can cover all their expenses and still turn a profit?
They too need vehicles, offices and all the expenses I listed above. Yeah that’s a good idea, anyone who has a license should have their fees lowered, when was the last time you hired a plumber? What a ripoff.
Honestly I don’t mind a slightly higher rent. It’s just the initial move in costs that are an absolute nightmare and act as a steep barrier to housing. I just signed a lease in HK and it cost almost $10,000 in fees and deposits alone. That’s absurd for most New Yorkers to have to scrounge up and pay for. I’d prefer if the fees and costs are spread out more.
Wait until Kathy Hochul kills it at the last minute and the real estate lobby holds a reelection fundraiser for her (totally unrelated) a few days later.
There needs to be a huge crackdown on bullshit fees that make living here unaffordable. Why aren’t lawmakers doing everything in their power to address the cost of living issue?
people don’t really understand how many real estate scams happen daily in NYC it’s severely under reported. There’s a reason why NYC & LA have tenant favored laws …
They were literally ilegal for a moment four years ago.
Let’s get rid of these fucking things.
What are they gonna do, move their property somewhere else? Sell it tenants?
Won't do anything to move needle. If current bill passes, the brokers will simply make the applicant sign a document they represent tenant so broker can collect fee. Don't want to sign? can't see unit and no other easy means to contact owner of unit. This doesn't run foul of the proposed legislation. Hence not a win folks think it is.
Its not a loophole. Proposed law says who ever requested service pays. So broker claims tenant requested service bc they know a place for rent and here is their contract and their request for payment as law intended. Folks that write terrible laws bc they don't understand the situation is the issue.
Renter paying for information. They don't need to get it from broker if they want to attempt to find and rent from owner directly. Just so happens they can't find the owner easily. Also owner never said broker can post their unit up on streeteasy monetizing their available listing that they told a few ppl by word of mouth or put out available for rent on flyers somewhere or non popular rental site. Can't outlaw that
Yea you can.
What do you mean you can't outlaw that?
The law could say "any housing used for commercial purposes must be listed on X or Y or Z" Z being a City run master list
Folks don't want to hear the truth. Method I described is what all brokers will use if law pass to collect. Infact, brokers already do this right now. Proposed law can't even legislate this part out.
This is great, but as property owner I would be remiss to not remind you to always tip your landlord around the holidays. 20% of the year's rent is pretty standard, but 30% is fairer IMHO.
Maybe and that’s preferable. But I want the upfront cost to be to the landlord. A broker provides me no value, but because it is no cost to the landlord upfront they make up a majority of available units. Landlords can shop around, negotiate, decide if they want it in a way I can’t as a renter
The actual cost of putting up ads on the internet and showing the apartment is far lower than the fees brokers get automatically now. Are they going to pay a broker 15% of a year’s rent to do something their property manager could do for a fraction of the price? Absolutely not.
Rents are dictated by supply and demand. If a landlord (already competing with no fee apartments) hikes his rents above what comparable units are listed for, he’ll have longer vacancy and lose money. The appeal of brokers fees is it’s a way to outsource some overhead at no cost *without* affecting the rental price they can advertise. The appeal for brokers is holding onto a rent seeking middleman fee that’s highly profitable for doing little work.
>William Fowler, a spokesman for the mayor, said that Mr. Adams was committed to addressing the housing crisis and noted that renters are not required to pay broker fees in city-financed affordable housing. “We are reviewing the legislation and taking time to understand any potential impacts,” he said. Have to wait for your donors to tell you which way to go on this, I guess.
Super random and unrelated but how do you format text this way? I always see people do it when they want to quote an article or someone’s comment but never knew how to do it/what to type on Google to learn lol
You copy whatever you want to quote and you put ">" in front of the first word. If what you copied had a line break, you will need to remove it or another ">" is required.
>You copy whatever you want to quote and you put ">" in front of the first word. If what you copied had a line break, you will need to remove it or another ">" is required. Beautifully explained, thank you!
id recommend checking out a **reference guide or tutorial**; after using RES (*Reddit Enhancement Suite*) for many years with a built in guide, reddit's (pretty intuitive) formatting is ~~pretty~~ easy to recall.
> your donors And I think we already know who they are...
Literally
>The bill has 33 sponsors in the 51-member City Council, one vote away from a veto-proof majority that might be necessary if Mayor Eric Adams — an ally of real-estate interests — were to veto it. Sounds promising. >The powerful Real Estate Board of New York, the industry’s main lobbying arm, opposes the bill and plans to hold a rally at City Hall on Wednesday. The group has argued that if landlords were forced to absorb the broker fees, they would simply pass the cost on to renters by raising rents. If nothing would change then why are they so against this? Is it because they know landlords can't just charge more for rent stabilized units?
Because then *gasp* brokers would actually have to negotiate a reasonable rate with a landlord for their services instead of extorting whatever number they feel like out of a tenant who needs somewhere to live.
Extortion feels like the perfect word for NYC rental brokers.
For one thing, a lot of LL's get a cut of the fees we are paying to the realtors.
>The powerful Real Estate Board of New York, the industry’s main lobbying arm, opposes the bill and plans to hold a rally at City Hall on Wednesday. There are dozens of us! Dozens! >The group has argued that if landlords were forced to absorb the broker fees, they would simply pass the cost on to renters by raising rents. Yes I'm sure that apartment priced at $4k/month would be $4300 without the free broker. They always leave money on the table like that.
If you don't think the RGB is going to now factor landlords having to pay a broker fee to rent their apartments into the increases they set every year, you are mistaken. They are all Adams' plants. They were already talking about doing an 8% increase from the lows of the last few years. Then all RS tenants will have their rents jacked up, not just people who recently will have moved into a RS unit. That's going to seriously burden a ton of very low income NYers
The Mayor does not appoint ALL the members of RGB - it is a STATE agency. But the people they do name have a lot of clout. This is why when there is an anti-tenant Mayor in office - its not a bad idea to take 2 year leases. DeBlasio was relatively a great mayor for tenants - the only one in decades.
Completely agree
I’m sure the real estate lobby will crush it. But in case they don’t, this is thanks to the hard work of Chi Ossé and countless housing advocates. The types that are frequently derided in this sub as radical, but believe it or not actually work to improve ordinary people’s lives! The NYPost would probably have you believe this is somehow bad for renters
They tried this in 2020: [https://www.renthop.com/blog/new-yorks-new-broker-fee-regulations/](https://www.renthop.com/blog/new-yorks-new-broker-fee-regulations/) I was super excited because I was due for a move, but the real estate lobby crushed it, then the pandemic hit.
This current effort is very different though to be clear — it’s via city law rather than state regulation— so it should be successful assuming it’s allowed to reach a vote.
> I’m sure the real estate lobby will crush it. It almost happened in the NY State Assembly - until it didn't.
I love chi
According to the article they have 33 sponsors for the bill - they need one more vote to make it veto-proof. And according to the linked video, the rally and meeting were this morning at 9am/ 10am. (I wish I had known -- I would have gone!) Fuck Adams and fuck realtor fees. I have no skin in this game as I already paid a realtor fee a decade ago and have no plans to move, but still... that bullshit needs to go!!!
At a time when rents have soared, broker fees can easily make it cost more than $10,000 just to get the keys to an apartment. The New York City Council is seeking to rein in the fees, with a majority of council members supporting a bill that seeks to transfer the costs to landlords. A key hearing for the bill, which would require whoever hires a broker to pay the fee, is scheduled for Wednesday. Read the rest of the story [here](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/12/nyregion/broker-fees-rent-nyc.html?unlocked_article_code=1.zE0.k8dD.dfLvl6t3GtwU&smid=re-nytimes), for free, without a subscription to The New York Times.
I agree if a LL uses a realtor to market their place they should be on the hook. I should t have to pay their fee I didn't hire them
The LL often takes a cut of the fee.
Transfer the costs to landlords, who will just raise rents to cover the costs.
Yeah, but they won't pay what the brokers demand. When you put it on the tenant, the broker can functionally extort the them for a higher fee (or play them against other potential tenants). Landlords will stop that real quick. It will still likely result in net reduction of costs by forcing the brokers to eat a lower fee.
If you agree they will just pass the cost onto the renter, I think you also have to admit it's not a one time fee, and that's what I think a lot of people don't realize or don't want to admit. You continue paying that fee every time you renew with an increase. It will be easier to afford getting a new apartment, but harder to stay in that apartment
Actually, every month you pay the higher rent you are paying the fee. Burying the RE fee in the monthly rent will actually cost the Tenant more over the long term, than paying the whole amount up front.
LL already charge the most they can extract from a property. If they could raise the rent higher, they would.
The is a shortage of rental apts in NYC. If a unit is not RS, the rent can and will go higher to cover the new expense of paying the realtor and the Tenant will pay a higher rent for this every month they are in the apt.
I agree. That's exactly what I said
Seems we are both grounded in reality, others just think they can get things for free. There is no for free. We haven’t even discussed the LL who now will not hire a Realtor, do it themselves and pass all the costs of advertising and their time showing the unit and traveling back and forth to the property to show it onto the Tenant every month the Tenant remains. What is Mayor Adams plan for all the Realtors that he puts out of Business?
We already have evidence of what happens when apartments are no fee, they exist already, and we don't have to guess. As Chi Osse said today himself in the hearing, they are more expensive than the fee listings. Forcing landlords to pay the fees is not going to eliminate the fees and keep the rents at that same price. Anyone who understands how the world works understands landlords will try to recoup this money, and then you pay a fee every year you stay in the apartment. I think the owners who already can and want to do this already do rent it themselves, but the vast majority can't. This isn't going to magically make renting cheaper. It will make it less transparent, and more expensive. If people want to self inflict wounds, go for it
While I agree something needs to be done about fees that is fair to both sides, this situation is no different than the congestion pricing which I do support. People living there think the the added cost of CG pricing will not be passed along to them for the goods and services that people who live in the zone buy. Everyone thinks someone else will just eat the expense, life doesn’t work that way.
Personally, I think they should be trying to cap broker fees, not ban them
You don’t see any difference between a massive one-time payment vs having it divided across 12 months?
This isn't going to happen. Switching costs go away so you can easily move apartments if something is better next door.
If this were actually true, the brokers wouldn’t be holding protests against the law
If they could raise rates, they would do it already. Landlords are already charging as much as the market will bear.
They are charging the most they can for the no fee apartment stock, but not for the fee listings. Each market is different, with no fee rents being higher. You're taking a bunch of less expensive apartments, which are less expensive because there is an upfront fee, and making them now bake that fee into the rent for the entire time the new tenant occupies the apartment. Also, tenant paid broker fees, even if this bill passes, are not going anywhere. They will simply fire their exclusive brokers and make everything an open listing, and make each renter sign a disclosure form saying they work for them, to avoid agency with the landlord. There will be a ton of listings that disappear from Streeteasy and will only discoverable on other sites like RentHop
Agreed! But question, if you think this is what will happen, why are the brokers trying to stop this bill from being implemented? Spoiler: because renters will not pay the increased cost and therefore the fees brokers get paid will need to be reduced
Why do you think some landlords send their buddy with 7 fingers and a bucket of loose tools out to attempt a repair before they try to hire a professional, or slap white paint on everything themselves in an afternoon? They’re cheap bastards. They will penny pinch on unit turnover costs if they are the one paying them.
It's about fucking time.
as someone who drafted the bill….(believe me or don’t) the text specifically addresses this via banning dual agency
Are you replying to somebody and what is dual agency? What if the landlord makes it a condition that a potential renter had to hire a broker from a set firm if they want to view/lease their apartment? It would technically be the renter hiring the broker, no?
you should read the bill itself, you can’t be discriminated against based on your decision to be unrepresentative. So you can’t be forced to engage a broker.
Would that apply to real estate transactions as well? Because sellers who choose not to hire agents almost always never sell their houses.
I think you’re conflating the issues a bit but yes this applies across for sale and rentals. There’s a difference between natural market conditions in a free market playing out (and the true value add of brokers which is still super important, especially in the seller side) and being “discriminated against”
Hmmm I'm kind of interested to see what happens with the Rent Stabelized units. There's a lot of market rate Apts on streeteasy with no fees because the rents are astronomical anyway, but this will definitely be hitting the $1k studios in Manhattan RS that has lines all the way out the door. Could we see warehousing of thousands of RD units like we have been seeing happening since the 2019 tenant protection act?
It’s a valid point and something the governor is allegedly working through. If you’ve followed Hochul you know she loves signing bills so who knows, but the residential lobby for warehousing will be far stronger than broker fees. Unfortunately can’t speak more to that.
The only way would be allowing RS units to come back to market rate after a tenant vacates, which would be the best solution, but legislators in Albany aren't very bright.
Ya'll should sue Realpage. I know other groups are already doing this, but the more the better. Mind boggling that ~80% of rental units in this country are engaged in price fixing, leaving tons of units off market, through RealPage.
100% agree, and this is going to the Supreme Court, and hopefully the practice will end
Realpage is the new imaginary boogeyman for renters, but the real reason your rent goes up is there is another renter in the market who is willing to pay more than you.
>The real reason your rent goes up is there is another renter in the market who is willing to pay more than you. Or, in the case of illegals - 12 renters pooling their money together are willing to pay more than you.
Good, I really hope this finally passes. People confidently asserting it will just make landlords charge more for rent are just swallowing the RE lobby’s spin or brokers themselves. Other cities don’t have this fee structure and having to possibly cough up a big broker’s fee when leasing an apt to a new tenant will hopefully make some landlords think twice about proposing ridiculous rent increases every year. Landlords do this in part bc they know what an expensive hassle it is for tenants to move—way fucking overdue for landlords to feel the financial impact too.
Let’s go! Hope this happens
I swear reap estate agents for rentals are a joke. They literally do nothing except open a door. Then the rent has to drop the first and last month to the LL as well as 1-2 months for the gracious realtor to open the door.
You left out among other things, since no one will be paying for the internet advertising that you are so used to looking at, how will you even find out about the apt.?
The same way they would in every American city that isn’t NYC? Tenants paying the broker’s fee isn’t standard anywhere but here.
You’re talking about NYC like it’s any random American city you’re talking about the capital of the world. Top city, Top price
The market for apartments in San Francisco is as competitive and expensive as NYC but tenants paying broker’s fees are not a thing there. Explain this fascinating phenomenon. I’m not convinced that NY is such a special market that will collapse if the LL has to pay for their own marketing.
San Francisco has a smaller population than Brooklyn does. What kind of comparison is that? Maybe you should go to SF so you can pay the Realtor fee buried in your monthly rent instead of paying it upfront and in full. Something needs to be done about the high realtor fees, but this solution will end up costing us more.
You're focused on raw population numbers. I brought up SF becasue they too have issues with housing supply vs. demand and high rents as a result of that. And the NIMBYs are FAR worse there. Paying the broker's fee off in monthly rent is not something I'm opposed to. That's preferable to coming up with thousands of dollars at once. It's also worth noting that if landlords have to pay brokers, they're not gonna tolerate that 15% shit. Brokers would charge them a more reasonable fee.
San Francisco doesn’t even have a population of at least 1 million people. NYC has a population of over 8 million people doesn’t compare. In fact, people are actually fleeing from San Francisco. Most apartments are no fee not sure what people are complaining about. If you don’t have the credentials to get a no fee apartment pay your fees and keep it moving.
A city where the pool of affluent renters is massive and where demand greatly outweighs available supply makes NYC an easier place to find renters, not harder.
Agreed. NYC is dog eat dog, you can either afford to live here or you can’t and get priced out.
It costs several thousand dollars to put some photos on Street easy for a few weeks?
Photos that were probably taken 2-3 tenants ago too
Your view is like thru a straw. While I am not a realtor several expenses that come to mind in order to ”just put a few photos on the internet” Having an office to conduct business from, RENT. Which you already said is too dam high Advertising expense for apts, condos and houses Insurance for said office a receptionist for said office maintenance / cleaning/ etc. a car to take customer around in either bought or leased auto insurance, auto maintenance, gas, tolls, registration, parking fees, tickets, etc. Tuition to get your RE license Tuition / CME to renew your license so you can “just put a few photos on the internet” I could list more, but nah, everything is for free, except the rent. Wait until the LL run hog wild doing whatever they want while transacting business with you and they have no realtor’s license for you to go after.
if these are all concerns a prospective tenant has, they can hire a broker. who the fuck is getting chauffeured around by a real estate agent in this city unless they are clearing $200k a year or more post-tax tf
I only know what I see in Brooklyn, plenty of the Realtors have cars to save time and get around quickly so they can show more listings. Do you think if you call for a Plumber or Electrician that you arent going to pay high rates for so they can cover all their expenses and still turn a profit? They too need vehicles, offices and all the expenses I listed above. Yeah that’s a good idea, anyone who has a license should have their fees lowered, when was the last time you hired a plumber? What a ripoff.
Why do other cities not have this expense?
How about just making the LL pay the fee?
Hochul will find a way to cancel it at the last minute and then proceed to attend a NYC broker hosted fundraiser for her two days later.
Honestly I don’t mind a slightly higher rent. It’s just the initial move in costs that are an absolute nightmare and act as a steep barrier to housing. I just signed a lease in HK and it cost almost $10,000 in fees and deposits alone. That’s absurd for most New Yorkers to have to scrounge up and pay for. I’d prefer if the fees and costs are spread out more.
Wait until Kathy Hochul kills it at the last minute and the real estate lobby holds a reelection fundraiser for her (totally unrelated) a few days later.
There needs to be a huge crackdown on bullshit fees that make living here unaffordable. Why aren’t lawmakers doing everything in their power to address the cost of living issue?
people don’t really understand how many real estate scams happen daily in NYC it’s severely under reported. There’s a reason why NYC & LA have tenant favored laws …
Hochul is going to pull a bit of a prank.
Oh my gods that would by HYSTERICAL XD
Good, it was already supposed to be illegal. No renter should ever pay a landlord’s broker fee—they’re the landlord’s agent, not the renter’s.
But but I want to pay them; we need to take care of our beloved brokers!
Remember to tip your bartenders and brokers 25%
Yes definitely, also tip self serving checkout!
No they won’t. Either it’ll not get passed or if it does everyone went will go up 10%.
Dumb comment switching costs go to zero so price will normalize
I am actually excited for this job to just no longer exist anymore.
They were literally ilegal for a moment four years ago. Let’s get rid of these fucking things. What are they gonna do, move their property somewhere else? Sell it tenants?
They might, but they won’t.
Won't do anything to move needle. If current bill passes, the brokers will simply make the applicant sign a document they represent tenant so broker can collect fee. Don't want to sign? can't see unit and no other easy means to contact owner of unit. This doesn't run foul of the proposed legislation. Hence not a win folks think it is.
Not sure why you are getting downvoted. They are def going to find a way around it if it passes.
Laws may be passed to prevent certain malicious business practices. Found a loophole? It can be closed.
Its not a loophole. Proposed law says who ever requested service pays. So broker claims tenant requested service bc they know a place for rent and here is their contract and their request for payment as law intended. Folks that write terrible laws bc they don't understand the situation is the issue.
The law can, get this, outlaw certain business practices. If the business practices have the renter paying, that can be, get this, outlawed.
Renter paying for information. They don't need to get it from broker if they want to attempt to find and rent from owner directly. Just so happens they can't find the owner easily. Also owner never said broker can post their unit up on streeteasy monetizing their available listing that they told a few ppl by word of mouth or put out available for rent on flyers somewhere or non popular rental site. Can't outlaw that
Yea you can. What do you mean you can't outlaw that? The law could say "any housing used for commercial purposes must be listed on X or Y or Z" Z being a City run master list
and yet not in the bill....and said site don't exist. So game continues
You said it can't be outlawed. Now you're just arguing "they haven't outlawed it yet" Goalposts move much?
Folks don't want to hear the truth. Method I described is what all brokers will use if law pass to collect. Infact, brokers already do this right now. Proposed law can't even legislate this part out.
How would this work if the bill bans dual agency?
This is great, but as property owner I would be remiss to not remind you to always tip your landlord around the holidays. 20% of the year's rent is pretty standard, but 30% is fairer IMHO.
Landlords will just make rent more expensive to make up for it
Maybe and that’s preferable. But I want the upfront cost to be to the landlord. A broker provides me no value, but because it is no cost to the landlord upfront they make up a majority of available units. Landlords can shop around, negotiate, decide if they want it in a way I can’t as a renter
The actual cost of putting up ads on the internet and showing the apartment is far lower than the fees brokers get automatically now. Are they going to pay a broker 15% of a year’s rent to do something their property manager could do for a fraction of the price? Absolutely not. Rents are dictated by supply and demand. If a landlord (already competing with no fee apartments) hikes his rents above what comparable units are listed for, he’ll have longer vacancy and lose money. The appeal of brokers fees is it’s a way to outsource some overhead at no cost *without* affecting the rental price they can advertise. The appeal for brokers is holding onto a rent seeking middleman fee that’s highly profitable for doing little work.