You’re moving to New York City and dead set on renting a no-fee apartment. Where do you even start? Of course, the first thing you do is google “no-fee apartment listings in NYC,” or “affordable no-fee apartment rentals,” and their many variations. But, do you really know what you’re looking for? By all means, jump right into your search, but first let us provide you with some basic guidelines to start you on the right foot. As you will eventually learn, finding that elusive no-fee apartment takes a whole lot of determination and patience. When searching for a no-fee apartment it’s important to cover as much ground as possible. We recommend that you take a two-pronged approach: search online and pound the pavement.
If you’ve started your search, I’m assuming you’ve done your due diligence and assessed the pros and cons of pursuing a no-fee apartment listing. But, if you haven’t, here’s a little background information. Simply put, no-fee means that the landlord decided to pay the broker fee for the client. However, it is also common for no-fee apartments to be properties priced above market value, but labeled “no-fee” to feign marked-down prices. In essence, be wary of blindly trusting those sweet words: “no-fee.” In order to weed through all the scam listings and find that perfect no-fee listing, search online and physically search the neighborhoods.
Use the World Wide Web
There’s quite a few ways that you can boost the likelihood of finding a no-fee apartment listing using the Internet barring just browsing every single listing you can find. The first is to gain a baseline for what you think is a real no-fee listing by looking up the same apartment listing on multiple websites. Just by doing this, you’ll notice that there are fewer quality no-fee listings than you think. Beware of bait and switch listings and comb through each listing. I know you may roll your eyes at this, but it definitely will pay off in the long run. I promise.
Secondly, use social media. Reach out to friends, family, old acquaintances, the 900 people on Facebook that you’re “friends” with and inquire about any future openings or vacancies in their buildings. Get a jump on the competition by finding no-fee apartments that haven’t been advertised yet. Chances are the most credible listings will come from friends and family. Sometimes just a simple Facebook post will do wonders for your no-fee search.
Finally, know what sites to use – not just craigslist! There are many valuable sites to kick off your no-fee apartment search. The websites listed get their listings and information directly from brokers, management companies and landlords.
Their no-fee search engine is front and center on their website. 80% of their rentals are labeled “no-fee.”
NakedApartments.com
This site has a very advanced filter system and about 30% of their listings are considered no-fee listings.
This site features an extremely useful scoring method called “HopScore.” The score indicates whether the apartment is a good value and how reliable the landlord/lease agent is.
There are many other sites that will help you with your search. I suggest checking out this BrickUnderground article for even more information on relevant search engines.
Use Your Feet
The second strategy in your fight to rent a no-fee is to hit the pavement. Comb through the buildings that interest you and directly call management companies or landlords. Sometimes management companies list phone numbers outside of buildings and it doesn’t hurt to directly ask for vacancies that are not yet listed. In addition, roam the neighborhood. If the building has a doorman, ask about current or future vacancies, and check out bulletin boards of local cafes and businesses you never know what people will post! Word of warning: if you are dealing directly with on-site leasing agents be aware that even if there are more listings in the building they are only telling you about a couple in order to maintain negotiating leverage. Be upfront about what you want and aware that there is almost always a little bit more to the story.
The Point
Finding a no-fee listing is akin to going into battle. It’s important to have a strategy and game plan if you’re going to brave the real estate market alone. It’s not impossible, but you will mostly like be putting in a lot of legwork to find that unicorn no-fee listing. Keep in mind that, by not using a broker, you also miss out on 75% of New York’s listings. A dedicated team of real estate specialists, like TripleMint‘s will give you full access to the market. However, if you stick to your guns, be strong and brave through it. Hopefully, that work will pay off. Good luck!
