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Apartments 2008
Craigslist, deconstructed
1 We’ve all heard this one before.
2 Find out what this means. If there’s a broker, ask how he or she is getting paid. Sometimes the owner or landlord pays the broker a set fee; and in shadier situations, the broker might be skimming a fee off the top of a rent that’s been inflated precisely for that purpose.
3 Is the broker legit? “Make sure the agent has a broker’s license,” advises real-estate attorney Lisa Breier Urban. You can do this by searching on the Department of State site (dos.state.ny.us). “If the ad says ‘For rent by owner,’ verify that this is in fact the owner,” adds Urban. Find a list of deeded property owners on the Automated City Register Information System (nyc.gov/acris), where you can search either by owner name or apartment location.
4 Do a little research to find out whom you’re dealing with. Rapidnyc.com, for example, is the site of a largish Brooklyn outfit stocked with a slew of newly trained agents who recite a group chant at the end of each day (watch it for yourself on YouTube). It’s also not only a rental agency, but a development and construction company as well.
5 If a Match.com photo showed a guy’s elbow instead of his face, how quick would you be to write him? Have the same standards for apartment pictures. And give them a good look to make sure they match the written description. That said, sometimes listings with no photos offer the perk of being less popular, which means you might find a gem and have a better shot at it. But that requires an investment of time and energy. Is it worth it?
6 We’re always a fan of the listings that link to maps; that way you can find out if it’s really “steps from the subway” or even in the neighborhood it claims. FYI, brokers: Crown Heights is not Prospect Heights.
*This ad is a composite of real Craigslist ads. Names and photos have been changed to protect the lame-os.
NEXT: How to tell if your broker’s wack »
Time Out New York / Issue 680 : Oct 9–15, 2008
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Tony Fanning is the best broker in Park Slope. No lies, no bs. He opened up his own realty office at 141 7th Ave. I can't recommend him highly enough.
This has always been the problem with finding apartments on Craigslist in New York. That's why NYC has a niche called no fee apartments where companies like SkipBrokers.com actually filters out brokers for you for free. There are a ton of other no fee websites too for this reason - while some are free there are also some no fee companies that charge a small one-time fee.
Seriously, Rapid Realty as the example of a good broker? That place is destined for lawsuits or total shut down. It's a complete and total scam and full of blatantly lying brokers scrambling to get people's money. Everyone who has ever worked with them knows that.
Good article, this is why I started working on a website (http://padmapper.com) to help people find good apartments on Craigslist. It shows you all of the Craigslist listings marked on a map, and you can filter by rent, price per bedroom, and in NYC, max commute time to work on the subway. This way you don't have to read anything except the descriptions of the places that mostly match what you want. If the realtor is misleading/mean or the location is wrong, you can flag the listing for removal.
We had a fantastic experience with Tony Fanning at Brooklyn Properties (Park Slope on 7th Ave between 3rd and 4th Streets). We would NEVER have found our lovely, bright, airy apt. (with a backyard!) without him. And he is now a friend. The place we have is cheaper and bigger than the one I got off of craiglist last year, has a better landlord, a better lease, and is in a better neighborhood. I never thought I'd recommend a broker, but Tony really came through.
And Coney Island is not Park Slope (except on Craigslist). Viewing a VACANT apartment is key. I got two moldy apartments because brokers showed me them when they still had tenants in them, furniture was in front of the wall's mold stains for one, and air freshener covered up the mildewy stench in the other. I've lost thousands of dollars moving out of these places, plus got sick. Brokers just wash their hands of it, and say it isn't their problem. I paid Vicki of Forest Hills' Century 21 $2000.
nora.garwin@yahoo.com advertising 2 bed apartment on lower Manhatten ( Bowery) is a SCAM,asking for $1400 money gram.
Funny you should do so little research and actually choose Rapidnyc.com, the most infamous of real estate scammers in Brooklyn, as your highlight of Craigslist! This firm is the shadiest of "shadier situations" - they are known for doing just what you described in #2. Rapidnyc.com is the paramount bait and switch Brooklyn broker. Ask any of their former clients (myself and my wife included).