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| | Searching for a Roommate? | | 4/3/2008 1:19:57 AM | | “I’m too old for a roommate.” That is what many people say until they start their apartment search in New York. A roommate may be a realistic option after realizing what some of these landlords and brokers are charging to lease New York apartments. You would think temporarily being in an economic downswing would drop rental and broker rates in New York’s residential market, but it really hasn’t. However, the yearly spikes we’ve been seeing over the past three years have come to a steady plateau. A typical no-fee one bedroom apartment will be anywhere from $2,600-$3,800 depending on where and whether or not you’re looking for a doorman and/or elevator building. Finding a roommate is a common way for many to afford NY living. Many people convert their apartments to an additional bedroom by adding a wall for a one-time fee of about $800-$1000. (Anybody have recommendations for partition companies? Please post below.) A wall can turn that luxury $3,600 per month one bed apartment into an “affordable” $1,800 or so monthly rent payment. You will find these along with many other types of no-fee landlords on SkipBrokers.com for free.
Don’t have anyone to live with? Here are some options that won’t cost you a penny:
1) The obvious, you can search on Craigslist where tons of people looking for roommates (most normal, but some weirder than others). Another free website is Backpage.com.
2) You can also post your ideal roommate request for free on this blog with your email address and have people respond to your request so the both of you can search for converted two bedrooms together. There are always people looking for cool roommates to split their rent with.
As long as you don’t charge any type of fee, feel free to post apartments that you may want to sublet here as well. Please report and email support@skipbrokers.com if you think a broker made it on to this site and is trying to mislead no-fee apartment hunters. | | | Posted by: | Chino | |
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| | Slick Broker Tricks to Watch Out for... | | 4/3/2008 1:57:00 AM | | If you are looking to rent an apartment in Manhattan, you are probably thinking of every way possible to avoid paying a broker 15-20% of the annual rent as you instinctively head straight to Craigslist. I have a feeling you are not the only prospective tenant searching Craigslist. So here are tips and warning signs to look out for that will help minimize the chances of Craigslist leading you straight to a broker’s front door. This will save you much time, money and aggravation.
Craigslist Warning Sign 1: All “broker no fee” postings.
The apartment term “no fee” here in New York does not mean you can live rent free or that there aren’t any deposit requirements or application fees. “No fee” means there is no broker fee associated with that particular apartment. After realizing what a broker charges in Manhattan, “no fee” are two words that will save an apartment hunter thousands.
However, when you see apartment brokers posting many no fee apartments on Craigslist this should automatically raise a red flag. Regardless of how considerate you may think New Yorkers are, the chances of brokers spending hours to show you apartments out of the kindness of their hearts are extremely unlikely. Do you blame them? Apartment brokers make a very good living and it’s not by showing no fee apartments. A “broker no fee” listing on Craigslist is most likely a broker’s attempt to lure you in. Getting you to come to their office is half the battle for brokers.
They will start to interest you with similar apartments that have broker fees since the apartment you went there for was “just rented”. This is known as the bait-and-switch tactic.
Warning Sign 2: A no-fee “Open House” listed by a broker.
After confirming five times over the phone that this was an actual no fee apartment, I went to an open house only to find the apartment was well overpriced for the size and location it was in.This apartment was as close to unlivable as it could get. Out of the ten or so people who attended, nobody filled out an application but a few frustrated apartment hunters gave up on “no fees” and left with the broker to see other apartments in the neighborhood. I call this the “advanced bait and switch” tactic since the broker used a real no fee apartment as a satellite office managing to turn no fee hunters into potential paying customers.
Tip 1: Avoid brokers completely if you are looking for no fee apartments.
Many no fee listings posted by brokers may sound tempting, but will most likely end up with you paying a high fee. Avoiding brokers completely is your best bet if you want a no fee apartment.
Instead, focus your energy on finding no fee landlords and websites.
Tip 2: Head straight to the “by-owner apartment only” section.
Bypass the “all apartments” and “all-no fee apartments” sections in Craigslist as they are flooded with brokers.“By-owner apartment only” section is highly monitored and will put you in a better position to find landlords.
Tip 3: Try to deal directly with landlords.
In addition to brokers, many listings you’ll find on Craigslist are from current tenants looking to sublease their apartments or individual rooms (shared apartment). Subleasing from a stranger is not recommended especially if the lease is soon to expire, but is still a realistic option. You may have to pay for apartment damages or pay a substantial increase in rent at the time of renewal. In addition to Craigslist, there are many other free alternatives that put you in contact with no fee landlords directly. Some other free sites are listingsquare.com and nybits.com. Although these sites are free, their listings may not be the most accurate and up to date. Explore other no fee options prudently especially the apartment listing websites that charge you for similar information you will get for free at SkipBrokers.com.
There are even those few websites that do little to no updating and list false apartments just to get you to pay a one-time fee and have you chasing them for a refund check that ends up bouncing. There have been many complaints recently filed with the BBB about these types of websites. This has lead to these scam websites opening up the same type of listing services under new and different domain names. Please be very cautious before making any type of payment as there a select few that are reputable.
If you know of any other free websites or scam websites everyone should be aware of, please comment here. Help your future neighbors. | | | Posted by: | Paul Salamanca, CEO | |
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| | NEW OPEN HOUSE Just IN....Tenanat Breaking Lease | | 4/4/2008 1:23:30 PM | | NO FEE $3,600/month 2 BEDROOM OPEN HOUSE: SATURDAY 1:00 TO 6:00 (4/5/08)
ADDRESS: 175 WEST 90TH ST., APARTMENT 8H (ENTRANCE IS ON AMSTERDAM BETWEEN 90 AND 91ST STREET)
DETAILS:
DOORMAN BUILDING
VERY SUNNY (LARGE WINDOWS IN BOTH BEDROOMS, THE LIVING ROOM AND DINING AREA)
TWO TRUE SIZED BEDROOMS
RENOVATED WALK THROUGH KITCHEN (W/ TONS OF CABINET SPACE)
DINING AREA
LARGE LIVING ROOM
LARGE BALCONY (DOORWAY FROM LIVING ROOM W/ GREAT VIEW)
OFFICE NOOK
ONE RENOVATED BATH
QUIET (WINDOWS AND BALCONY NOT FRONTING ON AN AVENUE) | | | Posted by: | Chino | |
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| | Moving from LA... | | 4/10/2008 12:59:19 AM | | | Hi I'm moving from LA and am curious to know what a stard application process and deposit is for most apartments in NYC? | | | Posted by: | Nikka | |
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| | NYC building boom won't peak for 2-3 years | | 5/1/2008 2:07:15 PM | | NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City's building boom will not top out until 2010 or 2011 despite the ailing economy because so many billion-dollar public and private projects are under way, a panel said on Monday.
Wall Street is the sun around which the city's economy revolves, but private developers and public agencies have planned $51 billion of projects over the next four years, according to the blue-ribbon panel's report for New York state's Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
With contractors and skilled workmen in short supply and the prices of steel, concrete, copper and other materials spiraling higher, the state agency convened the panel to find ways to cut costs to avoid having to delay or reduce projects.
"The projects presently in the pipeline ... that are just starting are going to continue for a couple of years. It's not something that's going to end in 2008 or 2009," James Jones, co-chairman of the MTA panel, told reporters.
Click here to read full article: http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN2850878020080428 | | | Posted by: | Article by Joan Gralla | |
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| | No Fee Manhattan Apartment Tips | | 5/19/2008 12:38:55 AM | | New York, NY -- If you're thinking about looking for apartment rentals in Manhattan, you are probably also thinking of every way possible to avoid paying a broker 15-20% of the annual rent. Before you instinctively head straight to Craigslist, here are tips and warning signs to look out for that will help minimize the chances of Craigslist leading you straight to a broker’s front door. This will save you much time, money and aggravation.
Craigslist Warning Sign #1: All “broker no fee” postings.
The apartment term “no fee” here in New York does not mean you can live rent free or that there aren’t any deposit requirements or application fees. “No fee” means there is no broker fee associated with that particular apartment. After realizing what a broker charges in Manhattan, “no fee” are two words that will save an apartment hunter thousands. However, when you see apartment brokers posting many no fee apartments on Craigslist this should automatically raise a red flag. Regardless of how considerate you may think New Yorkers are, the chances of brokers spending hours to show you apartments out of the kindness of their hearts are extremely unlikely. Do you blame them? Apartment brokers make a very good living and it’s not by showing no fee apartments. A “broker no fee” listing on Craigslist is most likely a broker’s attempt to lure you in. Getting you to come to their offices is half the battle for brokers. They will start to interest you with similar apartments that have broker fees associated with them since the apartment you went there for was coincidently “just rented”. This is known as the typical bait-and-switch tactic.
Warning Sign #2: A no-fee “Open House” listed by a broker.
After confirming five times over the phone that a listing was an actual no fee apartment, Paul Salamanca who is SkipBrokers.com’s CEO, a website designed to help apartment hunters avoid brokers, went to this open house only to find the apartment was well overpriced for the size and location it was in. “This apartment was tiny and was as close to unlivable as it could get.”, Paul Salamanca explained. “Out of ten or so people who attended, nobody filled out an application but a few frustrated apartment hunters gave up on no fee apartments and left with the broker to see other apartments in the neighborhood.” Mr. Salamanca calls this the advanced bait and switch tactic since the broker used a real no fee apartment as a satellite office managing to turn no fee hunters into potential paying customers.
Tip 1: Avoid brokers completely if you are looking for no fee apartments.
Many no fee listings posted by brokers may sound tempting, but will most likely end up with you paying a high fee. Avoiding brokers completely is your best bet if you want a no fee apartment.
Instead, focus your energy on finding no fee landlords and websites.
Tip 2: Head straight to the “by-owner apartment only” section.
Bypass the “all apartments” and “all-no fee apartments” sections in Craigslist as they are flooded with brokers. “By-owner apartment only” section is highly monitored and will put you in a better position to find landlords.
Tip 3: Try to deal directly with landlords.
In addition to brokers, many listings you’ll find on Craigslist are from current tenants looking to sublease their apartments or individual rooms (shared apartment). Subleasing from a stranger is not recommended especially if the lease is soon to expire. You may have to pay for apartment damages or pay a substantial increase in rent at the time of renewal. In addition to www.Craigslist.org and www.SkipBrokers.com, there are a few other alternatives that put you in contact with no fee landlords directly. Explore other no fee options prudently as a few websites claiming to provide similar services for a one-time fee have been receiving many complaints regarding false listings.
Website Link: http://www.skipbrokers.com | | | Posted by: | NYC Apartment Press Release | |
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| | BEWARE OF "NO FEE" WEBSITES THAT TRY TO CHARGE YOU... | | 7/21/2008 1:25:20 AM | | APT. 'SCAM' A TANGLED WEB
By LAURA ITALIANO
Four enterprising 20- somethings bilked 4,000 apartment-seekers out of nearly $1 million through a bogus "No Fee Apartments" scam, officials charged yesterday.
Customers were lured in by ads on Craigslist and other Web sites promising "Exclusive Listings!" from "New York City's #1 No Broker Fee Apartments" company.
But all customers got for the $200 they paid the four young alleged crooks - who operated out of West 26th Street offices as "Innovative Apartments" - was a runaround, according to state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.
The company wouldn't run the credit reports and background checks it promised customers, the AG said. And the only "exclusive, no fee" apartments it offered through its database either didn't exist or weren't exclusive and no-fee at all, having been recycled from other Craigslist advertisements.
When customers complained and demanded refunds, they were ignored, given a partial refund or given a refund check that bounced, officials said.
"Craigslist.org can be a terrific asset for New Yorkers trying to navigate a difficult real-estate market," Cuomo said in announcing the alleged two-year scam.
"But bait-and-switch schemes orchestrated by crooked apartment brokers can turn hunting for an apartment into a nightmare," he said.
Arrested yesterday were Innovative Apartments co-owners Nader Jaber, 24, of Manhattan, and Igor "Bobby" Portnov, 27, of Teaneck, NJ. Also busted were Portnov's brother, Boris "Brian," 22, also of Teaneck and Brooke Corio, 24, of Staten Island.
The four, appearing in jeans and T-shirts, pleaded not guilty in Manhattan Supreme Court to scheming to defraud customers and operating an apartment-information vendor without a license.
Hours after their arraignment, Innovative Apartments was still open for business.
Its Web site at inapts.com was still studded with testimonials by "satisfied" customers and pictures of apartment-building exteriors.
And their phones were still up and running.
"Why wouldn't we?" one befuddled operator asked when a reporter inquired if the company was still taking application fees.
Told the names of those indicted, the startled operator gasped, "Uh, yeah, they're my bosses."
He then hurried off the line without giving his name. | | | Posted by: | SKIPBROKERS NEWS UPDATE | |
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