July 11, 2023 • 35 mins
There are a lot of pros and cons to renting an apartment. On one hand, there’s no freer feeling than being able to pick up and move to anywhere your heart desires at the end of your lease. On the other hand – good luck if you want to customize that space with anything more than a paint job…. In this episode of Grown-Up Stuff: How to Adult, we’re talking to New York real estate broker Mark Metzger from the Corcoran Group to learn some tips on how to find an apartment and the terms we need to know to better understand our lease. Plus, discover the best strategies for how to negotiate your lease terms and lock in a lower rent.
Learn about your rights as a renter by checking out your city’s or state’s Department of Housing website:
- New York City, NY- https://hcr.ny.gov/division-housing-and-community-renewal
- Boston, MA - https://www.boston.gov/departments/housing
- Los Angeles, CA - https://housing.lacity.org/
- San Francisco, CA - https://sf.gov/topics/housing
- Chicago - https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/doh.html
- Austin, TX - https://www.austintexas.gov/page/tenant-stabilization-and-renters-rights
- Minneapolis, MN - https://www.minneapolismn.gov/resident-services/property-housing/
Cited Sources:
- 2021 Census Data on Renting
- Changes in New York State Rent Law
- City of Boston Rent Stabilization
- “Portland Voters Reject Rent Control Changes” (H/T NBC News Center: Maine)
- “Rent Control Versus Rent Stabilization: What it All Means for Landlords” (Forbes)
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
I once heard it said that moving is one of
the most stressful times in a person's life, right after
losing a job and losing a loved one. But despite
the stress of finding a home and moving, there's something
kind of freeing about getting a place of your own,
even if it's with roommates, because now you get to
set the rules. You get to make the choices on
home decor and furnishings or lack thereof. You get to
(00:27):
decide what home is to you and how to utilize
the space. While a number of young people these days
are choosing to live at home with their parents longer,
there are still a lot of people under the age
of thirty five dipping their toes into the world of
living on their own as renters. In fact, younger millennials
and gen Zers accounted for nearly thirty five percent of
all renters across the US, and that's according to US
(00:50):
Census data from twenty twenty one. Renting can be a
great way to gain some housing independence at a relatively
low investment cost, because, unlike buying a house where you
have to put up a large sum of money as
a down payment, renting typically only requires a first month's
rent and security deposit the ladder of which you should
get back when you move out, that is, if you've
(01:11):
left the place in decent condition, and occasionally you may
also have to pay a broker fee, but we'll get
into that more later. The point is, even with all
of these upfront payments, renting still feels simpler and more
feasible than buying a house for many of us. But
renting is not without its nuances or complexities. For starters,
(01:35):
it can be incredibly frustrating trying to find the right
place and understanding the coded language from apartment listings like
conveniently located bathroom just means you can microwave your breakfast
burrito from the toilet and the shower is next to
the refrigerator. Fear not, We're here to take all of
the guest work out of finding a home, and hopefully,
in the process we'll finally figure out the difference between
(01:57):
rent controlled and rent stabilized. So start taking because this is.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Stuff.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Hello to one and all seeking guidance in the world
of grown up stuff. You have come to the right place.
As always, Matt and I are here to tackle all
of the adult things that no one really tells you
about like finding and leasing an apartment, which is our
mission for today's episode. Matt you and I have both
rented apartments in big cities like New York, and I
think we should start this episode off by sharing our
(02:29):
own personal renting pros and cons.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Yeah, to get into the pros and cons, let me
tell you about a situation that I am in. So
I currently live in the same apartment that I have
lived in since graduating from college in New York. So
I've been here for eleven years, a long time. It's
funny because my parents were just visiting me and they're like, Matthew,
I never would have imagined when we moved you into
(02:52):
this apartment that you now live there with your wife.
And so, really the pros and cons that I'm trying
to get out here is that when you graduate colleg
you never really know whether or not you're going to
stay in the city that you maybe graduated in or
stay in the first city that your first job is in. Right,
You're not sure, and so renting can be wonderful because
it provides you, like a year or a two year
lease to get comfortable with the city you're in and
(03:14):
see whether or not you like it, and if you don't,
you can kind of pick up and move on after
that without investing a whole lot of money.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Yeah, what I really love about renting is I'm not
responsible for a dang thing. If it breaks nothing. If
something breaks zilch, I just call up the landlord. I
call up the management company and I'm like, hey, this
isn't working anymore. You know, then they're responsible for replacing. Now,
the con on my end is it's not one hundred
percent your own space. You might not even be able
(03:43):
to do things like paint your room a different color
or you know, mount your TV because those are going
to put holes in the wall. So to help us
understand what we need to know about finding and renting
an apartment, we've invited Mark Metzker, a licensed real estate
agent in New York City with the Corcoran Group. Now
this group might sound familiar because it is the real
(04:04):
estate agency that Shark Tanks owned Barbara Corkran founded.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
Mark has helped more than one hundred New Yorkers find
their homes. And one important thing we want to note
is that a lot of what we will be discussing
may be more unique to New York.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
Say, that three times fast, Unique York, Unique York.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Try to trip me up, but I just blew right
through it. But we're going to keep things as broad
as possible today and stick around for our takeaways as
will provide a few renting resources for other cities across
the country that may be helpful to you.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Mark, Thank you so much for joining us in your opinion.
What are some of the most reliable websites we can
be going to just get it started to even start looking.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
I think the best place to start is a website
called street Easy, which is run by a organization called Zillo,
which the rest of the country will likely use Zillo
for this same service, but here in New York City
we have a specific one called street Easy. What's really
great about street Easy is that you are only allowed
to have one listing per apartment, so you're not going
(05:07):
to have many different brokers or companies trying to list
the same exact unit. It's transparent, it's clear, and pretty
much anything that's on the market will be listed on
this website. And there's a really great interface for it,
and it'll let you put in what you're looking for,
like the different neighborhoods you might be interested in the
(05:29):
budget that you're looking at certain amenities that you might
want in your apartment, like if you want laundry in
your unit, whether that's a requirement or just a preference,
if you need an elevator, all kinds of things like that,
A lot of results will pop up for you. I
know a lot of people also like Redfinn as a
very similar resource, but I would say my bias is
(05:49):
definitely towards solo and street easy awesome.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
So I'm curious to you because you're a broker. Can
you just walk into any real estate business and say, Hey,
I need an apartment. Can I have a broker to
help me find that?
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Yeah, you can actually definitely do what you just said.
And if you're really just wanting to meet someone, you
can walk to an office, like you can walk to
my Corcoran office and you can knock on the door
and say hello, I would really like to work with
an agent on finding an apartment, and there'll probably be
fifty people who will flock at you to grab your
(06:27):
hand and help you out. Another way is to go
on our websites, like you could go to corcorand dot
com and you could search for different agents, you can
read people's bios and profiles and look at what people
have rented before to see if that person is someone
that you want to work with, or on the flip side,
if you're really just looking for a specific apartment that
(06:47):
you want to rent, you can just go to the
listings that are posted on the website, whether that's street
easy or a place like corcorand dot com or apartments
dot com. All of these listings are going to be
linked directly to an agent, and from there you can
then start a conversation about the ways in which they
can help you, because typically agents won't only be working
(07:07):
on one specific apartment. They can take you to lots
of other different places that also fit your needs. So
just starting up a conversation through a listing is a
great way to just get the ball rolling.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
What are the things that we need to be telling
these agents and brokers that we're working with to make
sure that we're getting and finding the right listings that
are within our budget that check all of our boxes.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
So the things I think one should really be clear
with a broker about is first, when they're moving, if
there's a specific date, that's very helpful. If it's flexible
that works too, but usually one can only rent an
apartment within a certain amount of time, like here in
New York, typically thirty days. If you're moving further out
(07:52):
than thirty days, like say it's April first today and
you're moving in July, that's probably not going to happen,
and the search is to want to start later, or
there's just going to be a small number of apartments
that are on the market already. The second thing you
want to be really clear about is your budget. As
you mentioned with the budget, you want to be clear
with the agent how much you are really willing to spend,
(08:15):
and you should give the agent, I think what your
desired amount is and what your maximum amount is, and
that'll allow the agent to really understand what the wiggle
room is and the different places that they can show you.
Here in New York City, there's often a broker fee
that's associated with finding an apartment, so you should also
be clear with the agent about if you're able to
(08:38):
pay the broker fee or not. How much you are
able to pay. Typically the amount is one month's rent
to fifteen percent of the annual rent of an apartment
is the broker fee, So you should just understand what
you're willing to do on that front regarding paying their fees,
because they do need to be paid at the end
of the day, and having a clear understanding of that
(08:58):
from the beginning is really helpful. There are apartments in
New York City that have no broker fee. These are
really wonderful apartments. This is when the management company pays
our fee instead of the tenant, So if you really
want that to be the situation, you should be clear
with the agent. But it also limits the possibilities of
(09:18):
what apartments you'll have access to, So there's two sides
to that coin.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
And finding the right broker too, What are some things
that you would recommend for ways to make sure that
you know even the broker who's showing us these apartments
is the right fit and really understands what we're wanting
and what we need. Sure.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
I think that's all about the relationship, and I think
the best way to understand that is to really start conversations.
This could be via email, this could be over a
phone call. This could be meeting someone in person for
the first time, but just getting a sense of whether
you gel with them and if you feel that they
understand you and what your needs are, and if you
get along with them. All those kinds of things can
(09:59):
play in to having a really great relationship with a broker,
And if it doesn't seem like the right fit, you
don't have to work with them. You can always go
and find a different broker. That's not a big deal,
but I do think there's a lot of benefit actually
to sticking with the same broker instead of just jumping
from apartment listing to apartment listing. Like if you're on
street easy and you find five apartments that you want
(10:21):
to look at that are all with five different brokers,
that becomes a big headache and it becomes a big
logistical confusion, and you don't necessarily have someone who is
looking out for you in the same way as if
you were only working with one agent. And also one
agent will likely be able to find apartment options for
you that aren't necessarily listed online, So there's a plothora
(10:42):
of options through internal connections or private listings that managements
will send out to brokers that'll open up a world
of possibilities of additional apartments that aren't listed online.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
Mark is right, there are definitely advantages to working with
one broker. However, if you're organized, you can't keep track
of it all yourself. It does take a bit of juggling,
and you may even want to create a separate email
account just for your apartment search. But that, along with
a really well organized spreadsheet of appointments and aged contact info,
can be a great way of keeping track of what
(11:21):
you've seen and who you've seen it with. It may
help you see a larger number of apartments because you're
seeing places that have been listed with a number of
different agencies. So I want to talk a little bit
about guaranteurs. Can you explain a little bit what it
means when you see an apartment and there's a guaranteur
(11:42):
accepted situation.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Absolutely, having a guaranteur is a very beneficial thing. What
this means is when one is applying for an apartment,
they need to qualify in the landlord's eyes in order
to be approved for it. Here in New York, what
that typical means is that your annual income has to
be forty times the rent, like the monthly rent, So
(12:06):
say the apartment is two thousand dollars a month, that
means your income has to be eighty thousand dollars. In
addition to that, you need a good credit score, and
usually a good credit score means somewhere above six 't eighty.
If you don't meet those qualifications, which so many people
do not meet those, especially when they're very young, income
is a guaranteur. A guaranteur is typically someone who is
(12:30):
like a parent or a friend, someone who is well
established in their finances, who can basically stand up for
you in the apartment search in terms of qualifications. And
what I mean by that is the management company when
they're looking at who is going to be responsible for
(12:51):
the rent or any kind of payment on the apartment,
they're not looking at you, They're looking at the guaranteur.
So a guaranteur typically needs, at least in New York,
they need to make eighty times the rent, and they
also need to have a good credit score. But there's
lots of other considerations that go into that.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
So what happens if we don't meet that forty times
the income requirement and we don't have a guaranteur option?
Either are we just doomed or are there other options
we can still explore to get the apartment we want.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
You'll see the names Rhino or the guaranteurs or insurant.
These are what we call third party guaranteur companies. These companies,
for a fee, will become your guaranteur, and these can
be a really great way to go about securing an apartment.
They're typically low cost. What you do is you go
(13:40):
onto their website, you put in your information, you put
in the apartment information, and they'll get back to you
with a quote about how much it'll cost to use
their service. So it's a one time fee, others it's
a monthly fee, and typically using a guaranteur service also
replaces the security deposit, which means you pay less money
(14:01):
upfront to the management company. So when you bring in
one of these services, they become your guaranteur for the
duration of the lease and you can get into the
apartment no problem. A management company will accept you pretty
much no matter what. The little asterisk on this is
that not all management companies work with all third party
(14:24):
guaranteur companies. So one thing that your broker can certainly
help with in advance is telling you which apartments except
which companies, if any, and so they can really help
narrow your search based off of what companies you may
want to use. If that's the direction you want to go.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
So when someone agrees to be your guaranteur, they're essentially
telling your landlord, Hey, if they don't pay the rent,
you can come to meet and I will make sure
it's paid. And here's the proof that I have the
money to pay it. But not everyone has someone who
can do this for them and pro that you make
forty times the monthly rent is a lot harder than
it sounds sometimes, so as Mark mentioned, there are these
(15:07):
third party guarant tour companies that you can hire. They
won't need to see that you make forty times the rent.
But these companies don't do this for free, and they
often have a fee of somewhere between sixty five to
one hundred and ten percent of one month's rent. Aside
from costs, what are the questions we should be asking
(15:28):
a broker upfront before we even see an apartment that
we might not think about.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Yeah, in terms of costs, I would ask about utilities.
Confirm what utilities are provided and which ones aren't. Here
in New York heat and water they have to be
included legally, and additionally, on top of that, usually the
tenant is responsible for electricity, cooking, gas, if there is
cooking gas, and then also the internet bill would be
(15:54):
the three things that the tenant would be responsible for. Often, large,
more modern luxury buildings will have things called an amenity fee.
So if there's like a nice gym in the building,
or a roof deck or dorman, or you know, any
kind of service or amenity that's provided to the tenants,
sometimes the building will require a monthly amenity fee for
(16:18):
the tenant to pay for those services, So you'll want
to check about that. Maybe you'll want to ask about
specific amenities, like if there's a gym in the building,
is there a cost for that? Is there storage somewhere?
Is there a cost for the storage? You can maybe
ask what the neighborhood is like, or what kinds of
like bars and restaurants are in the area. If you
(16:40):
care about that kind of thing, they can help guide
you on that front for sure.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
Yeah, excellent. You know, I think there are a lot
of things that we want to look at once we're
actually at the apartment. Obviously, we walk around, we see
the space, we get a sense of how big it is,
but what are some of the other things that we
should be double checking.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Advocate for people being as aware of the physical space
of the apartment as possible, which means like looking at
the walls, looking at the ceiling, taking note of any
like cracks or damages that may or may not be there.
Checking the water pressure is always a fun one, and
always seeing how long it takes for hot water to
(17:20):
start is a good one. In terms of water pressure,
you can always change out the faucet head to get
a different water pressure, but you know, that's a great
thing to check. I mean, you can check cabinets and
like see if any like hinges are off. But in theory,
the building should be able to fix any smaller issue
like that, and you really want to be in a
building where they will be able to do something like that.
(17:42):
One of the things I think is most important about
an apartment search that a lot of people don't think
about is not the apartment itself, but the building. I
think you really want to be in a good building,
and so you want to take note of the condition
of the hallways and the entry way. You want to
take note if there's any staff, if there's like a doorman,
(18:02):
are they friendly, do you get along with them? Do
the amenities seem to look like the things that you want.
If you have a chance, you can talk to a
current resident of the building, then ask them how it is.
Take note of anything that might not be working properly,
and think about that as the way in which the
management may interact with you throughout your time as a
(18:23):
tenant in the building. Because if there's paint peeling on
the wallpaper in the hallway, maybe they're not going to
come in and fix the cabinet in your apartment that
has come loose. So I really think that's very critical
to think about.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
We'll be right back with more grown up stuff how
to adult after a quick break, and we're back with
more grown up stuff how to adult. So once we
actually get to look at the lease itself, we'll sometimes
see terms like legal rent and preferential rent. Could you
(19:05):
explain some of these terms and how they relate to
what we're actually paying and are there other things that
we should be on the lookout for before we sign sure?
Speaker 2 (19:15):
Absolutely, yeah, Lisa. There's a lot of what I like
to call legalies in these giant documents, and so I
understand the frustration of not wanting to read through them,
but I advocate for anyone to completely read their lease
before they sign anything, because you never know what might
be in there, the big things that you want to
be looking out for. You want to confirm the rent amount,
(19:38):
and as you mentioned, sometimes the rent amount here in
New York can look different when there's something called a
preferential rent. A preferential rent comes into play when the
apartment is a certain legal rent. So in a rent
stabilized apartment, the city will have actually determined an amount
that the rent of the apartment will be. Say you know,
(20:01):
you have a one bedroom on the Upper West Side
and it's rent stabilized, and the city has said, this
is worth twenty nine thirty seven and eighteen cents. That
is what we've calculated and determined. And the landlord goes, well,
that's higher than what I want to rent it for.
And so in order to legally go below that, what
they do is they have what's called a preferential rent,
(20:23):
which is the amount that they are offering you. So
even if the city says the legal amount is that high,
the landlord can say, my preferential rent is twenty five hundred.
That's what i'll offer to you, and they'll outline the terms.
And this always comes in a rider that is attached
to the lease. Riders will always overrule anything that is
(20:46):
said in the lease, so often what you really want
to be paying attention to when reading a lease are
the writers that come at the very end, because that's
where it'll get specific about how the landlord wants to
run the lease.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
Another term we may come across when reading a lease
is rent stabilized or rent controlled. We hear this term
a lot in New York, but these days it seems
even harder to find an apartment that actually falls into
either of these categories. But New York isn't the only
city with rent stabilized or rent control housing. Earlier this year,
Boston City Council approved the Home Ral Petition, which is
(21:21):
now with the Massachusetts legislature. If it becomes law, the
city of Boston will be authorized to implement rent stabilization
to units. And in Portland, Maine, residents just voted against
changes to a rent control law. This means that the
city will maintain its current guidelines, which only allow landlords
to raise the rent by five percent when a new
tenant moves in. These are terms that are thrown around
(21:44):
a lot, rent stabilized versus rent controlled. What are the
differences between these two.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
Well, I'll go a little bigger and I'll say here,
in New York there are three types of apartments. The
most common is what's called a market rate apartment. This
means that it's not regulated by the city. The landlord
is basically allowed to do whatever terms they want, set
whatever prices they want. They can increase the rent however
(22:11):
much they want. This is your standard apartment. The next
tier of apartments is what's called rent stabilized, which is
a certain list of apartments. It's about two million units
in the city that New York City has regulations over.
They're allowed to control these apartments, and through many crazy determinations,
(22:32):
they have decided which ones are rent stabilized and which
ones are not, and what the prices are in all
of this, but if you find an apartment that says
that it's rent stabilized, what that means is that the
city is protecting you from the landlord in a lot
of ways, and they are regulating the landlord in terms
of what they are allowed to do. The biggest benefit
(22:54):
is that it caps the amount that a landlord is
allowed to increase the rent from least term to the
next least term. It's not a set number like in
the history. It's not just like it's two percent every
single year. What New York City does is that there's
a rent regulation Guideline Board. I believe that's the term
that convenes, and they determine on a year to year
(23:16):
basis what that percentage is going to be. So, for example,
during the lockdown of twenty twenty, they determined that it
would be zero percent. A landlord would be allowed to
raise the rent zero going from one least term to
the next. The following year, I believe they determined it.
It was a complicated thing. It was like it was
somewhere around two point five percent, but it split between
(23:39):
the first six months in the last six months. But anyways,
rent stabilized means that you have a lot of protections
from the city. In addition to the benefit of the
rent being able to only increase by a certain small percentage,
you're allowed to legally sublet. You have a lot more
protections when it comes to what the landlord is allowed
to do to the building and how they're allowed to
(24:00):
treat you, and if you ever need to go to court,
God forbid. You got a lot backing you, which is
very very helpful. You brought up the third, which is
rent controlled. Rent controlled is a really crazy situation. If
an apartment is rent controlled, it means that the same
tenant or their descendants in some way have been living
(24:21):
in that apartment since before nineteen seventy eight.
Speaker 1 (24:24):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
Yeah, so prior to nineteen seventy eight there were different
rent guidelines. So for example, I knew someone who had
a grandmother who was in a rent control department. She
moved into the apartment in the nineteen fifties and when
she passed away, the rent was about five hundred dollars
and market rate was about fifteen thousand dollars. To give
(24:46):
an example of what it really means to be in
a rent control department, it's a very extreme difference. Likely
one is never going to find a rent control department
on the market because the tenants aren't going to move
out and not gonna list it. And if the landlord
gets a rent control department, they're going to like do
the legal changes that they're allowed to do in order
(25:07):
to bring it back to market rate. So never expect
to find rent controlled. If someone says that they're looking
for rent controlled they usually mean they're looking for rent stabilized.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
As the cost of living prices increase in a number
of cities across the country, there have been a lot
of conversations around rent stabilization and rent control, and many
residents are fighting for more of those options as a
means of keeping housing more affordable. But as Mark points out,
these are two different things. According to an article in
Forbes written by the CEO of rent Tech, direct rent
(25:42):
control means the local government dictates how much an owner
can charge and rent. Generally, this rate is locked in
at this amount thanks to rent controlled. That's also how
Monica and Rachel from Friends afforded such a spacious two
bedroom in the West Village. Monica had inherited the least
for the rent control department after her grandmother had passed away.
Rent stabilized, on the other hand, provides owners more flexibility
(26:04):
on rent increases, but as Mark states, a designated committee
within the local government determines how much landlords can increase
the rent from year to year or lease to lease.
But we now know that there's a limited number of
both rent controlled and rent stabilized apartments, and there are
only a handful of states that actually provide rent control departments,
and there are some that outlaw rent control altogether. So
(26:27):
if this isn't an option to us, what are some
of the other ways we can negotiate the best deal
for an apartment.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
The first thing one should do if they're trying to
negotiate is trust their broker. Let their broker do all
the negotiating for them, and trust that the broker knows
what's an appropriate negotiation and what's not, because I can
almost promise you that they have a better relationship connection
and understanding of what the landlord will allow and won't
allow in terms of bargaining on any game and lease.
(27:01):
The second thing one should be aware of is what
the current state of the market is. They should know
whether it is a buyer's market or a seller's market.
And the more that it's a buyer's market, as in
there's a lot of availability, prices are low, you have
a lot of options. If that's the state of the market,
the more likely a landlord is willing to negotiate with you. So,
(27:23):
for example, in twenty twenty, when the world was in
lockdown and there were you know, the vacancy rate was
about twenty percent in New York City, there was a
ton of wiggle room for bargaining. I was able to
get an extra free month out of my lease through bargaining,
just because management companies were so desperate to get people
in they'd agree to pretty much anything. But come this
(27:45):
past summer, for example, it had flipped completely. It was
no longer the buyer's market. It was one hundred percent
the seller's market. The management companies they had so little
apartments that they had literally lines around the block of
people who were trying to rent an apartment. And in
a condition like that, they're not going to negotiate on
anything because they will just go to the next person
(28:07):
who is willing to meet them at whatever their demands are.
So that all is to say, the state of the
market will determine a lot about how much you'll be
able to negotiate. But in terms of generally what's permitted,
you could negotiate maybe a reduction in amenity fees, like
maybe ask for like a discount for a certain amount
(28:28):
of months. You could say something like, I don't know
if I'm going to use these amenities, I'd love to
try them out. Is there any way I could just
get a couple months free. Maybe they'll say yes to that.
You could maybe try to negotiate the rent amount on
a lease. I would recommend dropping in increments of about
twenty five dollars and anything more than one hundred is
probably pretty extreme. You can also negotiate the terms. Say
(28:52):
the management company wants a twelve month term and you say, well,
that's not going to work for me. I'm going to
want this to end and you know two months after that,
I really want a fourteenth month lease. That's something that
you could also negotiate. You can negotiate the move dates,
and yeah, I would say those are the big things
that one is probably able to have some flexibility around.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
Is there anything that we can leverage once we're renewing
a lease, either to have the increase in rent reduce
or anything else of those? You know, is it possible
to still get extra months like you had mentioned, when
you're already living in a place that's hard.
Speaker 2 (29:27):
That's hard to get extra months In terms of what
you can leverage for a lease renewal. One thing I
really like to leverage is how good of a tenant
you've been. You can always come back and say, hey,
I haven't had any issues I've always paid my rent
on time. Whatever kind of good community service you can
pitch to the landlord is a good one because it's
(29:48):
always very welcoming. If you go beyond the good stuff
and you want to start getting into the more tussle territory,
you could keep track of the issues that the landlord had,
like if they didn't fix something that legally they were
allowed to fix, or if they weren't on time with
their lease renewal. Those are things that you could leverage
(30:10):
against them in order to get some kind of concession
and whatever the concession is. The best way to go
about it is usually asking for free things, not necessarily
like a reduction in your rent, but asking for one
month free. They're much more willing to negotiate on just
not charging you for a certain period of time than
they are to actually adjust anything on the lease or
(30:33):
lower the value of the property, because that hurts them
more long term.
Speaker 1 (30:38):
When are they legally supposed to deliver a lease renewal
side of curiosity.
Speaker 2 (30:43):
It gets very specific the amount of time that the
landlord needs to give you. On one hand, it depends
whether the apartment's rent stabilized or if it's market rate
if it's rent stabilized, they need to give you the
lease renewal at least thirty days in advance. If you've
been in an apartment for less than one year, If
you've been in it for one to two years, they
(31:04):
need to give it at least sixty days in advance.
And if you've been in an apartment for more than
two years, they need to give it at least ninety
days in advance. With a market rate apartment, legally they
only need to give you a lease renewal during those
date ranges if they intend to increase the rent by
(31:25):
at least five percent. If they intend to increase by
at least five percent, they need to follow those same guidelines.
Otherwise they do not.
Speaker 1 (31:33):
Is there any other final parting wisdom that you want
to share for folks who are trying to find an
apartment to rent for the first time.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
Yeah, In general, don't stress too much and find people
to help you out, whether that's a friend or a
family member, or using a broker who really understands the market.
It can be a lot of work, especially if you're
moving into a place that you've never moved before, and
the more support you can get, the better and I
think it'll just make your experience and the home that
(32:03):
you'll ultimately find a much better place. So make sure
to reach out through these kinds of connections as much
as you can. And like I said, if you're choosing
to work with a broker, I have always found that
when a person decides to just meet one broker who
they like a lot, and they create a really strong relationship,
it can lead to a really great apartment search.
Speaker 1 (32:27):
Yeah, that's great advice. And Mark, what if people want
to use you as their broker, as their agent? How
can we find you?
Speaker 2 (32:33):
Absolutely if you're looking for an apartment here in New York,
I'd love to connect with you. You can look at
my social on Instagram. I'm Mark dot r dot Metzger.
Or you can go to Corcoran dot com. You can
search for Mark Metzger as an agent and you can
find my contact information there.
Speaker 1 (32:51):
And that's Mark with a K, not a C AN
M E t Z G E R, which we will
also include in the show notes as well. Mark, thank
you so much for your time. This is super helpful
and I really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (33:02):
Yeah, it's been a real pleasure, Molly.
Speaker 1 (33:09):
So because so much of what we have talked about
today has been very New York specific. I highly recommend
checking out your city's Department of Housing website for details
about renter's rights and laws concerning rent increases and lease agreements.
You'll also be able to find links there to report
your landlord if they've neglected to maintain the property. But
here are a few other things I've learned from my
(33:30):
conversation with Mark. As you begin your search, websites like
Zillo and Redfinn can give you a good sense of
the market and how much your ideal apartment might cost. Brokers,
especially those who you're vibing with, can be an invaluable
resource and often show your apartments that have yet to
be listed online. But know that it is possible to
find an apartment on your own using online resources. Just
(33:52):
make sure you're keeping track of which units you've seen
and with whom. Thoroughly inspect apartments, check out that water pressure,
make a note of everything that needs repairing before you
move in. And while you might be able to afford
the rent, ask about additional costs like amenities and utilities,
and make sure they're in your budget before signing. Read
your lease carefully, especially the writers, because those will often
(34:15):
supersede the lease itself. That's all for today's episode. I
know I have learned a lot about my rights as
a renter and some really helpful tips for the next
time I have to search for an apartment, which I
hope is a far far time from now, because I
hate moving. I'm feeling more grown up with every episode. Honestly,
do I look more mature, Matt? Do I see more responsible?
Speaker 3 (34:36):
Okay, Molly, you look younger than I've ever seen you,
but that you seem so much more?
Speaker 1 (34:41):
But sure? Well, what is next on our tour of
grown up Stuff?
Speaker 3 (34:47):
Next up is buying a car? Leasing versus renting, used
versus new? What the heck MSRP means? What are the
latest must have features?
Speaker 1 (34:57):
Oh? Yeah, speaking, you must have features. I really hope
backup cameras now come standard. Let's just say I've had
a few incidences driving in.
Speaker 3 (35:05):
Reverse for the sake of other drivers on the road,
So you're navigating? I hope they are, but we will
be sure to find out in two weeks on the
next episode of grown up Stuff? How do a don't?
Speaker 1 (35:15):
And remember you might not be great in life, but
it never hurts to do your homework. This is a
production from Ruby Studios at iHeartMedia.
Speaker 3 (35:25):
Our executive producers are Molly.
Speaker 1 (35:27):
Sosha and Matt Stillo. This episode was engineered by Matt.
Speaker 3 (35:30):
Stillo and written by Molly Soshia. Special thanks to the
Ruby team including Eden Fixel, Rachel Swan, Krasnov, Amber Smith,
Nikia Swinton, Sierra Kaiser, Sierra Spreen, and Andy Kelly.
I once heard it said that moving is one of
the most stressful times in a person's life, right after
losing a job and losing a loved one. But despite
the stress of finding a home and moving, there's something
kind of freeing about getting a place of your own,
even if it's with roommates, because now you get to
set the rules. You get to make the choices on
home decor and furnishings or lack thereof. You get to
(00:27):
decide what home is to you and how to utilize
the space. While a number of young people these days
are choosing to live at home with their parents longer,
there are still a lot of people under the age
of thirty five dipping their toes into the world of
living on their own as renters. In fact, younger millennials
and gen Zers accounted for nearly thirty five percent of
all renters across the US, and that's according to US
(00:50):
Census data from twenty twenty one. Renting can be a
great way to gain some housing independence at a relatively
low investment cost, because, unlike buying a house where you
have to put up a large sum of money as
a down payment, renting typically only requires a first month's
rent and security deposit the ladder of which you should
get back when you move out, that is, if you've
(01:11):
left the place in decent condition, and occasionally you may
also have to pay a broker fee, but we'll get
into that more later. The point is, even with all
of these upfront payments, renting still feels simpler and more
feasible than buying a house for many of us. But
renting is not without its nuances or complexities. For starters,
(01:35):
it can be incredibly frustrating trying to find the right
place and understanding the coded language from apartment listings like
conveniently located bathroom just means you can microwave your breakfast
burrito from the toilet and the shower is next to
the refrigerator. Fear not, We're here to take all of
the guest work out of finding a home, and hopefully,
in the process we'll finally figure out the difference between
(01:57):
rent controlled and rent stabilized. So start taking because this is.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Stuff.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
Hello to one and all seeking guidance in the world
of grown up stuff. You have come to the right place.
As always, Matt and I are here to tackle all
of the adult things that no one really tells you
about like finding and leasing an apartment, which is our
mission for today's episode. Matt you and I have both
rented apartments in big cities like New York, and I
think we should start this episode off by sharing our
(02:29):
own personal renting pros and cons.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
Yeah, to get into the pros and cons, let me
tell you about a situation that I am in. So
I currently live in the same apartment that I have
lived in since graduating from college in New York. So
I've been here for eleven years, a long time. It's
funny because my parents were just visiting me and they're like, Matthew,
I never would have imagined when we moved you into
(02:52):
this apartment that you now live there with your wife.
And so, really the pros and cons that I'm trying
to get out here is that when you graduate colleg
you never really know whether or not you're going to
stay in the city that you maybe graduated in or
stay in the first city that your first job is in. Right,
You're not sure, and so renting can be wonderful because
it provides you, like a year or a two year
lease to get comfortable with the city you're in and
(03:14):
see whether or not you like it, and if you don't,
you can kind of pick up and move on after
that without investing a whole lot of money.
Speaker 1 (03:21):
Yeah, what I really love about renting is I'm not
responsible for a dang thing. If it breaks nothing. If
something breaks zilch, I just call up the landlord. I
call up the management company and I'm like, hey, this
isn't working anymore. You know, then they're responsible for replacing. Now,
the con on my end is it's not one hundred
percent your own space. You might not even be able
(03:43):
to do things like paint your room a different color
or you know, mount your TV because those are going
to put holes in the wall. So to help us
understand what we need to know about finding and renting
an apartment, we've invited Mark Metzker, a licensed real estate
agent in New York City with the Corcoran Group. Now
this group might sound familiar because it is the real
(04:04):
estate agency that Shark Tanks owned Barbara Corkran founded.
Speaker 3 (04:07):
Mark has helped more than one hundred New Yorkers find
their homes. And one important thing we want to note
is that a lot of what we will be discussing
may be more unique to New York.
Speaker 1 (04:17):
Say, that three times fast, Unique York, Unique York.
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Try to trip me up, but I just blew right
through it. But we're going to keep things as broad
as possible today and stick around for our takeaways as
will provide a few renting resources for other cities across
the country that may be helpful to you.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Mark, Thank you so much for joining us in your opinion.
What are some of the most reliable websites we can
be going to just get it started to even start looking.
Speaker 2 (04:45):
I think the best place to start is a website
called street Easy, which is run by a organization called Zillo,
which the rest of the country will likely use Zillo
for this same service, but here in New York City
we have a specific one called street Easy. What's really
great about street Easy is that you are only allowed
to have one listing per apartment, so you're not going
(05:07):
to have many different brokers or companies trying to list
the same exact unit. It's transparent, it's clear, and pretty
much anything that's on the market will be listed on
this website. And there's a really great interface for it,
and it'll let you put in what you're looking for,
like the different neighborhoods you might be interested in the
(05:29):
budget that you're looking at certain amenities that you might
want in your apartment, like if you want laundry in
your unit, whether that's a requirement or just a preference,
if you need an elevator, all kinds of things like that,
A lot of results will pop up for you. I
know a lot of people also like Redfinn as a
very similar resource, but I would say my bias is
(05:49):
definitely towards solo and street easy awesome.
Speaker 1 (05:53):
So I'm curious to you because you're a broker. Can
you just walk into any real estate business and say, Hey,
I need an apartment. Can I have a broker to
help me find that?
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Yeah, you can actually definitely do what you just said.
And if you're really just wanting to meet someone, you
can walk to an office, like you can walk to
my Corcoran office and you can knock on the door
and say hello, I would really like to work with
an agent on finding an apartment, and there'll probably be
fifty people who will flock at you to grab your
(06:27):
hand and help you out. Another way is to go
on our websites, like you could go to corcorand dot
com and you could search for different agents, you can
read people's bios and profiles and look at what people
have rented before to see if that person is someone
that you want to work with, or on the flip side,
if you're really just looking for a specific apartment that
(06:47):
you want to rent, you can just go to the
listings that are posted on the website, whether that's street
easy or a place like corcorand dot com or apartments
dot com. All of these listings are going to be
linked directly to an agent, and from there you can
then start a conversation about the ways in which they
can help you, because typically agents won't only be working
(07:07):
on one specific apartment. They can take you to lots
of other different places that also fit your needs. So
just starting up a conversation through a listing is a
great way to just get the ball rolling.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
What are the things that we need to be telling
these agents and brokers that we're working with to make
sure that we're getting and finding the right listings that
are within our budget that check all of our boxes.
Speaker 2 (07:30):
So the things I think one should really be clear
with a broker about is first, when they're moving, if
there's a specific date, that's very helpful. If it's flexible
that works too, but usually one can only rent an
apartment within a certain amount of time, like here in
New York, typically thirty days. If you're moving further out
(07:52):
than thirty days, like say it's April first today and
you're moving in July, that's probably not going to happen,
and the search is to want to start later, or
there's just going to be a small number of apartments
that are on the market already. The second thing you
want to be really clear about is your budget. As
you mentioned with the budget, you want to be clear
with the agent how much you are really willing to spend,
(08:15):
and you should give the agent, I think what your
desired amount is and what your maximum amount is, and
that'll allow the agent to really understand what the wiggle
room is and the different places that they can show you.
Here in New York City, there's often a broker fee
that's associated with finding an apartment, so you should also
be clear with the agent about if you're able to
(08:38):
pay the broker fee or not. How much you are
able to pay. Typically the amount is one month's rent
to fifteen percent of the annual rent of an apartment
is the broker fee, So you should just understand what
you're willing to do on that front regarding paying their fees,
because they do need to be paid at the end
of the day, and having a clear understanding of that
(08:58):
from the beginning is really helpful. There are apartments in
New York City that have no broker fee. These are
really wonderful apartments. This is when the management company pays
our fee instead of the tenant, So if you really
want that to be the situation, you should be clear
with the agent. But it also limits the possibilities of
(09:18):
what apartments you'll have access to, So there's two sides
to that coin.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
And finding the right broker too, What are some things
that you would recommend for ways to make sure that
you know even the broker who's showing us these apartments
is the right fit and really understands what we're wanting
and what we need. Sure.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
I think that's all about the relationship, and I think
the best way to understand that is to really start conversations.
This could be via email, this could be over a
phone call. This could be meeting someone in person for
the first time, but just getting a sense of whether
you gel with them and if you feel that they
understand you and what your needs are, and if you
get along with them. All those kinds of things can
(09:59):
play in to having a really great relationship with a broker,
And if it doesn't seem like the right fit, you
don't have to work with them. You can always go
and find a different broker. That's not a big deal,
but I do think there's a lot of benefit actually
to sticking with the same broker instead of just jumping
from apartment listing to apartment listing. Like if you're on
street easy and you find five apartments that you want
(10:21):
to look at that are all with five different brokers,
that becomes a big headache and it becomes a big
logistical confusion, and you don't necessarily have someone who is
looking out for you in the same way as if
you were only working with one agent. And also one
agent will likely be able to find apartment options for
you that aren't necessarily listed online, So there's a plothora
(10:42):
of options through internal connections or private listings that managements
will send out to brokers that'll open up a world
of possibilities of additional apartments that aren't listed online.
Speaker 1 (10:59):
Mark is right, there are definitely advantages to working with
one broker. However, if you're organized, you can't keep track
of it all yourself. It does take a bit of juggling,
and you may even want to create a separate email
account just for your apartment search. But that, along with
a really well organized spreadsheet of appointments and aged contact info,
can be a great way of keeping track of what
(11:21):
you've seen and who you've seen it with. It may
help you see a larger number of apartments because you're
seeing places that have been listed with a number of
different agencies. So I want to talk a little bit
about guaranteurs. Can you explain a little bit what it
means when you see an apartment and there's a guaranteur
(11:42):
accepted situation.
Speaker 2 (11:44):
Absolutely, having a guaranteur is a very beneficial thing. What
this means is when one is applying for an apartment,
they need to qualify in the landlord's eyes in order
to be approved for it. Here in New York, what
that typical means is that your annual income has to
be forty times the rent, like the monthly rent, So
(12:06):
say the apartment is two thousand dollars a month, that
means your income has to be eighty thousand dollars. In
addition to that, you need a good credit score, and
usually a good credit score means somewhere above six 't eighty.
If you don't meet those qualifications, which so many people
do not meet those, especially when they're very young, income
is a guaranteur. A guaranteur is typically someone who is
(12:30):
like a parent or a friend, someone who is well
established in their finances, who can basically stand up for
you in the apartment search in terms of qualifications. And
what I mean by that is the management company when
they're looking at who is going to be responsible for
(12:51):
the rent or any kind of payment on the apartment,
they're not looking at you, They're looking at the guaranteur.
So a guaranteur typically needs, at least in New York,
they need to make eighty times the rent, and they
also need to have a good credit score. But there's
lots of other considerations that go into that.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
So what happens if we don't meet that forty times
the income requirement and we don't have a guaranteur option?
Either are we just doomed or are there other options
we can still explore to get the apartment we want.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
You'll see the names Rhino or the guaranteurs or insurant.
These are what we call third party guaranteur companies. These companies,
for a fee, will become your guaranteur, and these can
be a really great way to go about securing an apartment.
They're typically low cost. What you do is you go
(13:40):
onto their website, you put in your information, you put
in the apartment information, and they'll get back to you
with a quote about how much it'll cost to use
their service. So it's a one time fee, others it's
a monthly fee, and typically using a guaranteur service also
replaces the security deposit, which means you pay less money
(14:01):
upfront to the management company. So when you bring in
one of these services, they become your guaranteur for the
duration of the lease and you can get into the
apartment no problem. A management company will accept you pretty
much no matter what. The little asterisk on this is
that not all management companies work with all third party
(14:24):
guaranteur companies. So one thing that your broker can certainly
help with in advance is telling you which apartments except
which companies, if any, and so they can really help
narrow your search based off of what companies you may
want to use. If that's the direction you want to go.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
So when someone agrees to be your guaranteur, they're essentially
telling your landlord, Hey, if they don't pay the rent,
you can come to meet and I will make sure
it's paid. And here's the proof that I have the
money to pay it. But not everyone has someone who
can do this for them and pro that you make
forty times the monthly rent is a lot harder than
it sounds sometimes, so as Mark mentioned, there are these
(15:07):
third party guarant tour companies that you can hire. They
won't need to see that you make forty times the rent.
But these companies don't do this for free, and they
often have a fee of somewhere between sixty five to
one hundred and ten percent of one month's rent. Aside
from costs, what are the questions we should be asking
(15:28):
a broker upfront before we even see an apartment that
we might not think about.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Yeah, in terms of costs, I would ask about utilities.
Confirm what utilities are provided and which ones aren't. Here
in New York heat and water they have to be
included legally, and additionally, on top of that, usually the
tenant is responsible for electricity, cooking, gas, if there is
cooking gas, and then also the internet bill would be
(15:54):
the three things that the tenant would be responsible for. Often, large,
more modern luxury buildings will have things called an amenity fee.
So if there's like a nice gym in the building,
or a roof deck or dorman, or you know, any
kind of service or amenity that's provided to the tenants,
sometimes the building will require a monthly amenity fee for
(16:18):
the tenant to pay for those services, So you'll want
to check about that. Maybe you'll want to ask about
specific amenities, like if there's a gym in the building,
is there a cost for that? Is there storage somewhere?
Is there a cost for the storage? You can maybe
ask what the neighborhood is like, or what kinds of
like bars and restaurants are in the area. If you
(16:40):
care about that kind of thing, they can help guide
you on that front for sure.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
Yeah, excellent. You know, I think there are a lot
of things that we want to look at once we're
actually at the apartment. Obviously, we walk around, we see
the space, we get a sense of how big it is,
but what are some of the other things that we
should be double checking.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Advocate for people being as aware of the physical space
of the apartment as possible, which means like looking at
the walls, looking at the ceiling, taking note of any
like cracks or damages that may or may not be there.
Checking the water pressure is always a fun one, and
always seeing how long it takes for hot water to
(17:20):
start is a good one. In terms of water pressure,
you can always change out the faucet head to get
a different water pressure, but you know, that's a great
thing to check. I mean, you can check cabinets and
like see if any like hinges are off. But in theory,
the building should be able to fix any smaller issue
like that, and you really want to be in a
building where they will be able to do something like that.
(17:42):
One of the things I think is most important about
an apartment search that a lot of people don't think
about is not the apartment itself, but the building. I
think you really want to be in a good building,
and so you want to take note of the condition
of the hallways and the entry way. You want to
take note if there's any staff, if there's like a doorman,
(18:02):
are they friendly, do you get along with them? Do
the amenities seem to look like the things that you want.
If you have a chance, you can talk to a
current resident of the building, then ask them how it is.
Take note of anything that might not be working properly,
and think about that as the way in which the
management may interact with you throughout your time as a
(18:23):
tenant in the building. Because if there's paint peeling on
the wallpaper in the hallway, maybe they're not going to
come in and fix the cabinet in your apartment that
has come loose. So I really think that's very critical
to think about.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
We'll be right back with more grown up stuff how
to adult after a quick break, and we're back with
more grown up stuff how to adult. So once we
actually get to look at the lease itself, we'll sometimes
see terms like legal rent and preferential rent. Could you
(19:05):
explain some of these terms and how they relate to
what we're actually paying and are there other things that
we should be on the lookout for before we sign sure?
Speaker 2 (19:15):
Absolutely, yeah, Lisa. There's a lot of what I like
to call legalies in these giant documents, and so I
understand the frustration of not wanting to read through them,
but I advocate for anyone to completely read their lease
before they sign anything, because you never know what might
be in there, the big things that you want to
be looking out for. You want to confirm the rent amount,
(19:38):
and as you mentioned, sometimes the rent amount here in
New York can look different when there's something called a
preferential rent. A preferential rent comes into play when the
apartment is a certain legal rent. So in a rent
stabilized apartment, the city will have actually determined an amount
that the rent of the apartment will be. Say you know,
(20:01):
you have a one bedroom on the Upper West Side
and it's rent stabilized, and the city has said, this
is worth twenty nine thirty seven and eighteen cents. That
is what we've calculated and determined. And the landlord goes, well,
that's higher than what I want to rent it for.
And so in order to legally go below that, what
they do is they have what's called a preferential rent,
(20:23):
which is the amount that they are offering you. So
even if the city says the legal amount is that high,
the landlord can say, my preferential rent is twenty five hundred.
That's what i'll offer to you, and they'll outline the terms.
And this always comes in a rider that is attached
to the lease. Riders will always overrule anything that is
(20:46):
said in the lease, so often what you really want
to be paying attention to when reading a lease are
the writers that come at the very end, because that's
where it'll get specific about how the landlord wants to
run the lease.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
Another term we may come across when reading a lease
is rent stabilized or rent controlled. We hear this term
a lot in New York, but these days it seems
even harder to find an apartment that actually falls into
either of these categories. But New York isn't the only
city with rent stabilized or rent control housing. Earlier this year,
Boston City Council approved the Home Ral Petition, which is
(21:21):
now with the Massachusetts legislature. If it becomes law, the
city of Boston will be authorized to implement rent stabilization
to units. And in Portland, Maine, residents just voted against
changes to a rent control law. This means that the
city will maintain its current guidelines, which only allow landlords
to raise the rent by five percent when a new
tenant moves in. These are terms that are thrown around
(21:44):
a lot, rent stabilized versus rent controlled. What are the
differences between these two.
Speaker 2 (21:51):
Well, I'll go a little bigger and I'll say here,
in New York there are three types of apartments. The
most common is what's called a market rate apartment. This
means that it's not regulated by the city. The landlord
is basically allowed to do whatever terms they want, set
whatever prices they want. They can increase the rent however
(22:11):
much they want. This is your standard apartment. The next
tier of apartments is what's called rent stabilized, which is
a certain list of apartments. It's about two million units
in the city that New York City has regulations over.
They're allowed to control these apartments, and through many crazy determinations,
(22:32):
they have decided which ones are rent stabilized and which
ones are not, and what the prices are in all
of this, but if you find an apartment that says
that it's rent stabilized, what that means is that the
city is protecting you from the landlord in a lot
of ways, and they are regulating the landlord in terms
of what they are allowed to do. The biggest benefit
(22:54):
is that it caps the amount that a landlord is
allowed to increase the rent from least term to the
next least term. It's not a set number like in
the history. It's not just like it's two percent every
single year. What New York City does is that there's
a rent regulation Guideline Board. I believe that's the term
that convenes, and they determine on a year to year
(23:16):
basis what that percentage is going to be. So, for example,
during the lockdown of twenty twenty, they determined that it
would be zero percent. A landlord would be allowed to
raise the rent zero going from one least term to
the next. The following year, I believe they determined it.
It was a complicated thing. It was like it was
somewhere around two point five percent, but it split between
(23:39):
the first six months in the last six months. But anyways,
rent stabilized means that you have a lot of protections
from the city. In addition to the benefit of the
rent being able to only increase by a certain small percentage,
you're allowed to legally sublet. You have a lot more
protections when it comes to what the landlord is allowed
to do to the building and how they're allowed to
(24:00):
treat you, and if you ever need to go to court,
God forbid. You got a lot backing you, which is
very very helpful. You brought up the third, which is
rent controlled. Rent controlled is a really crazy situation. If
an apartment is rent controlled, it means that the same
tenant or their descendants in some way have been living
(24:21):
in that apartment since before nineteen seventy eight.
Speaker 1 (24:24):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (24:25):
Yeah, so prior to nineteen seventy eight there were different
rent guidelines. So for example, I knew someone who had
a grandmother who was in a rent control department. She
moved into the apartment in the nineteen fifties and when
she passed away, the rent was about five hundred dollars
and market rate was about fifteen thousand dollars. To give
(24:46):
an example of what it really means to be in
a rent control department, it's a very extreme difference. Likely
one is never going to find a rent control department
on the market because the tenants aren't going to move
out and not gonna list it. And if the landlord
gets a rent control department, they're going to like do
the legal changes that they're allowed to do in order
(25:07):
to bring it back to market rate. So never expect
to find rent controlled. If someone says that they're looking
for rent controlled they usually mean they're looking for rent stabilized.
Speaker 1 (25:20):
As the cost of living prices increase in a number
of cities across the country, there have been a lot
of conversations around rent stabilization and rent control, and many
residents are fighting for more of those options as a
means of keeping housing more affordable. But as Mark points out,
these are two different things. According to an article in
Forbes written by the CEO of rent Tech, direct rent
(25:42):
control means the local government dictates how much an owner
can charge and rent. Generally, this rate is locked in
at this amount thanks to rent controlled. That's also how
Monica and Rachel from Friends afforded such a spacious two
bedroom in the West Village. Monica had inherited the least
for the rent control department after her grandmother had passed away.
Rent stabilized, on the other hand, provides owners more flexibility
(26:04):
on rent increases, but as Mark states, a designated committee
within the local government determines how much landlords can increase
the rent from year to year or lease to lease.
But we now know that there's a limited number of
both rent controlled and rent stabilized apartments, and there are
only a handful of states that actually provide rent control departments,
and there are some that outlaw rent control altogether. So
(26:27):
if this isn't an option to us, what are some
of the other ways we can negotiate the best deal
for an apartment.
Speaker 2 (26:37):
The first thing one should do if they're trying to
negotiate is trust their broker. Let their broker do all
the negotiating for them, and trust that the broker knows
what's an appropriate negotiation and what's not, because I can
almost promise you that they have a better relationship connection
and understanding of what the landlord will allow and won't
allow in terms of bargaining on any game and lease.
(27:01):
The second thing one should be aware of is what
the current state of the market is. They should know
whether it is a buyer's market or a seller's market.
And the more that it's a buyer's market, as in
there's a lot of availability, prices are low, you have
a lot of options. If that's the state of the market,
the more likely a landlord is willing to negotiate with you. So,
(27:23):
for example, in twenty twenty, when the world was in
lockdown and there were you know, the vacancy rate was
about twenty percent in New York City, there was a
ton of wiggle room for bargaining. I was able to
get an extra free month out of my lease through bargaining,
just because management companies were so desperate to get people
in they'd agree to pretty much anything. But come this
(27:45):
past summer, for example, it had flipped completely. It was
no longer the buyer's market. It was one hundred percent
the seller's market. The management companies they had so little
apartments that they had literally lines around the block of
people who were trying to rent an apartment. And in
a condition like that, they're not going to negotiate on
anything because they will just go to the next person
(28:07):
who is willing to meet them at whatever their demands are.
So that all is to say, the state of the
market will determine a lot about how much you'll be
able to negotiate. But in terms of generally what's permitted,
you could negotiate maybe a reduction in amenity fees, like
maybe ask for like a discount for a certain amount
(28:28):
of months. You could say something like, I don't know
if I'm going to use these amenities, I'd love to
try them out. Is there any way I could just
get a couple months free. Maybe they'll say yes to that.
You could maybe try to negotiate the rent amount on
a lease. I would recommend dropping in increments of about
twenty five dollars and anything more than one hundred is
probably pretty extreme. You can also negotiate the terms. Say
(28:52):
the management company wants a twelve month term and you say, well,
that's not going to work for me. I'm going to
want this to end and you know two months after that,
I really want a fourteenth month lease. That's something that
you could also negotiate. You can negotiate the move dates,
and yeah, I would say those are the big things
that one is probably able to have some flexibility around.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
Is there anything that we can leverage once we're renewing
a lease, either to have the increase in rent reduce
or anything else of those? You know, is it possible
to still get extra months like you had mentioned, when
you're already living in a place that's hard.
Speaker 2 (29:27):
That's hard to get extra months In terms of what
you can leverage for a lease renewal. One thing I
really like to leverage is how good of a tenant
you've been. You can always come back and say, hey,
I haven't had any issues I've always paid my rent
on time. Whatever kind of good community service you can
pitch to the landlord is a good one because it's
(29:48):
always very welcoming. If you go beyond the good stuff
and you want to start getting into the more tussle territory,
you could keep track of the issues that the landlord had,
like if they didn't fix something that legally they were
allowed to fix, or if they weren't on time with
their lease renewal. Those are things that you could leverage
(30:10):
against them in order to get some kind of concession
and whatever the concession is. The best way to go
about it is usually asking for free things, not necessarily
like a reduction in your rent, but asking for one
month free. They're much more willing to negotiate on just
not charging you for a certain period of time than
they are to actually adjust anything on the lease or
(30:33):
lower the value of the property, because that hurts them
more long term.
Speaker 1 (30:38):
When are they legally supposed to deliver a lease renewal
side of curiosity.
Speaker 2 (30:43):
It gets very specific the amount of time that the
landlord needs to give you. On one hand, it depends
whether the apartment's rent stabilized or if it's market rate
if it's rent stabilized, they need to give you the
lease renewal at least thirty days in advance. If you've
been in an apartment for less than one year, If
you've been in it for one to two years, they
(31:04):
need to give it at least sixty days in advance.
And if you've been in an apartment for more than
two years, they need to give it at least ninety
days in advance. With a market rate apartment, legally they
only need to give you a lease renewal during those
date ranges if they intend to increase the rent by
(31:25):
at least five percent. If they intend to increase by
at least five percent, they need to follow those same guidelines.
Otherwise they do not.
Speaker 1 (31:33):
Is there any other final parting wisdom that you want
to share for folks who are trying to find an
apartment to rent for the first time.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
Yeah, In general, don't stress too much and find people
to help you out, whether that's a friend or a
family member, or using a broker who really understands the market.
It can be a lot of work, especially if you're
moving into a place that you've never moved before, and
the more support you can get, the better and I
think it'll just make your experience and the home that
(32:03):
you'll ultimately find a much better place. So make sure
to reach out through these kinds of connections as much
as you can. And like I said, if you're choosing
to work with a broker, I have always found that
when a person decides to just meet one broker who
they like a lot, and they create a really strong relationship,
it can lead to a really great apartment search.
Speaker 1 (32:27):
Yeah, that's great advice. And Mark, what if people want
to use you as their broker, as their agent? How
can we find you?
Speaker 2 (32:33):
Absolutely if you're looking for an apartment here in New York,
I'd love to connect with you. You can look at
my social on Instagram. I'm Mark dot r dot Metzger.
Or you can go to Corcoran dot com. You can
search for Mark Metzger as an agent and you can
find my contact information there.
Speaker 1 (32:51):
And that's Mark with a K, not a C AN
M E t Z G E R, which we will
also include in the show notes as well. Mark, thank
you so much for your time. This is super helpful
and I really appreciate it.
Speaker 2 (33:02):
Yeah, it's been a real pleasure, Molly.
Speaker 1 (33:09):
So because so much of what we have talked about
today has been very New York specific. I highly recommend
checking out your city's Department of Housing website for details
about renter's rights and laws concerning rent increases and lease agreements.
You'll also be able to find links there to report
your landlord if they've neglected to maintain the property. But
here are a few other things I've learned from my
(33:30):
conversation with Mark. As you begin your search, websites like
Zillo and Redfinn can give you a good sense of
the market and how much your ideal apartment might cost. Brokers,
especially those who you're vibing with, can be an invaluable
resource and often show your apartments that have yet to
be listed online. But know that it is possible to
find an apartment on your own using online resources. Just
(33:52):
make sure you're keeping track of which units you've seen
and with whom. Thoroughly inspect apartments, check out that water pressure,
make a note of everything that needs repairing before you
move in. And while you might be able to afford
the rent, ask about additional costs like amenities and utilities,
and make sure they're in your budget before signing. Read
your lease carefully, especially the writers, because those will often
(34:15):
supersede the lease itself. That's all for today's episode. I
know I have learned a lot about my rights as
a renter and some really helpful tips for the next
time I have to search for an apartment, which I
hope is a far far time from now, because I
hate moving. I'm feeling more grown up with every episode. Honestly,
do I look more mature, Matt? Do I see more responsible?
Speaker 3 (34:36):
Okay, Molly, you look younger than I've ever seen you,
but that you seem so much more?
Speaker 1 (34:41):
But sure? Well, what is next on our tour of
grown up Stuff?
Speaker 3 (34:47):
Next up is buying a car? Leasing versus renting, used
versus new? What the heck MSRP means? What are the
latest must have features?
Speaker 1 (34:57):
Oh? Yeah, speaking, you must have features. I really hope
backup cameras now come standard. Let's just say I've had
a few incidences driving in.
Speaker 3 (35:05):
Reverse for the sake of other drivers on the road,
So you're navigating? I hope they are, but we will
be sure to find out in two weeks on the
next episode of grown up Stuff? How do a don't?
Speaker 1 (35:15):
And remember you might not be great in life, but
it never hurts to do your homework. This is a
production from Ruby Studios at iHeartMedia.
Speaker 3 (35:25):
Our executive producers are Molly.
Speaker 1 (35:27):
Sosha and Matt Stillo. This episode was engineered by Matt.
Speaker 3 (35:30):
Stillo and written by Molly Soshia. Special thanks to the
Ruby team including Eden Fixel, Rachel Swan, Krasnov, Amber Smith,
Nikia Swinton, Sierra Kaiser, Sierra Spreen, and Andy Kelly.
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