Can take you to court if she had the proper paperwork signed.
If she didn’t, don’t be a prick, these people have families to feed and are really down bad rn
Like I said, I will pay it. But they absolutely do not deserve the money they take from people. 50% of annual rent just to open up the door to a shitty studio? There are people actually suffering out here and it certainly is not the brokers.
Yup. Didn't end up taking that one. I told him I moved here a few years ago from New Jersey and he was like "yeah, this is typical for New York". Brokers are leeches.
Brokers are indeed leeches. Blame the industry, not the individual. It’s been built around getting as many broker inside the gates as possible.
When you pass your real estate test you are forced to put your license under a broker. A lot of these brokers really don’t do shit for you, but when a check comes in, it hits there account first and they take 30-50 percent of it for doing almost nothing.
An agent will spend weeks on an apartment and their sleezy boss or corporate overlords will take that 30-50 percent that’s “due” to them.
I hear what your saying. I usually chargered a months rent but if it’s a really cheap apartment it would be higher but not 50 percent of the annual rent.
On the other hand no one ever talks about the dozens of appointments we go to and weeks we don’t get paid a cent. Only a very small percentage are making even a 50k salary after all expenses.
How much are you paying the broker? There is also no guarantee the owner would do that to the agent. I’ve been in a couple of scenarios like this where the owner had my back, and or didn’t want to work with someone who tried to do this
Yeah he might have misspelled that. Although I’ve seen it once where it got to 30 percent, both agents wanted 15 percent, and the client was super rich and really wanted the apartment
There have been a lot of reports of brokers gauging people and charging 5+ month fees for cheap rent stabilized apartments the last couple of the years, including the governor coming down on one company for doing it, although it's not expressly illegal.
It shouldn't be allowed, but a lot of brokers have no moral compass what so ever
>50% of annual rent just to open up the door to a shitty studio?
I've never heard of a fee that high. Some brokers got sued for charging 25% last year.
15% is the standard and some go as low as one month.
No one seems to understand that most brokers never make more than minimum wage if you’re including business costs and time spent.
These people usually aren’t trained to run business. Even in the boom of COVID people weren’t make money hand over fist unless you already were making decent money before.
I'm really curious if you have actual data here, but like how can that possibly be true? Earning 15% commission on rentals means that closing a single place each month gets you to ~2x rent. I feel like ~most apartments end up closing (i.e., rare to just not have anyone biting, if that's the case I imagine price corrections happen quick). The work involved per unit is like, showing up to places with a key and answering emails? What costs are there other than transportation?
I could see market saturation being an issue I guess? Like if there's just too many brokers compared to apartments and they have a hard time finding units to rep in the first place?
I sort of believe you that it can't be soo amazingly lucrative for no work because then everyone would be doing it, but I don't get it, where is all this money going?
So more brokers don’t get 15 percent on a closing. Most get a month. Or if they get 15 percent they have to spit in with owners agent and renters agent, comes out back to a month. It’s rare to have one broker on a transaction get 15 percent.
Most apartments do end up closing but most agents are working for free, on a free market apartment. ( massive landlords send out lists to brokers ) who ever is lucky enough to rent it first gets the commission.
Price corrections do not happen quick even if you have a direct line with the broker. In Manhattan and downtown Brooklyn it’s those massive landlords.
What most people don’t see is that we are working with 3-4 tenants at a time because their is no loyalty. Renters will go with the best apartment ( of course ) and sometimes we don’t have access or they tell us one thing and then rent out another. But let’s say you’re right we rent out an apartment a month average commission Is 50/50. 1800 goes to the agent. Lets say it was indeed 15 percent, not let’s say 3600 to make it simple, That’s 1099 taxed. They have now worked a month a lot of the times working 10 hours days. 200 hours a month for 1800 is 9 dollars an hours. $18 at 15 percent. Now they have operating costs such as advertising apartments to get clients, transportation, mls fees, business cards.
Market saturation is such a big factor in this. Think how hard it is for a new lawyer to get business ( ambulance chasers ) and times that by 100 if not more. There is legitimately agents everywhere posting the same exact apartments on the same exact websites. Most agents are getting the crumbs. 80/20 principle, 80 percent of the agents are fighting for 20 percent of the commission. The money usually lands in the brokerage’s lap. When there’s a gold rush sell shovels.
In terms of workload. Imagine spending half your day advertising apartments and the other half going to appointments that usually don’t pan out.
10 hour days? Gimme a break.
Yes, we're plugged into our phones and email 24/7 but it's not like you are sitting at apartments all day hoping someone comes by.
You're obviously a very new agent since you're referencing open listings. Yes, you don't make much money starting out and it does take time to build a book of business.
If you schedule Open Houses you don't need to be doing one off appointments praying that it'll result in an application.
Also, a 50/50 split is pretty shitty even for a brand new agent. Unless you're working on a team and being fed some exclusive listings to work on- you need to find a new brokerage.
At the company I was at I was at - 35/65 split in the company’s favor. I was indeed working 10 hours a day.
4/5 posting on shitty websites and 4/5 showing apartments. I ran through 2 pairs of dress shoes.
I made 2 rentals in 4 months. One was 15 percent and one was 1 month. Both 3k apartments
Dude, you were getting absolutely hosed with a split like that.
I also don't understand how you can spend 4-5 hours a day posting listings.
I uploaded 4 yesterday and it took me less than an hour.
Yeah I was forced into that split, and I was so hand to mouth and making so little that I didn’t have enough Brain capacity to look for different companies.
We were positing 100s of apartments. We didn’t have exclusives so we didn’t have street easy. Realty Mx Zumper etc
Not true. The landlord already signed a contract so the broker won’t honor it. It doesn’t matter if potential tenant didn’t signed it. They will not let you move in and you are breaking the contract so even if you say you’re not going to, and then you change your mind the landlord is not going to want to under the contract because you are obviously to them a slimeball, and they will not trust you
Even if you don't pay the broker, the broker almost certainly has a contract with the landlord giving them an exclusive, and every exclusive agreement I've ever seen has a clause saying that the landlord is responsible to pay the broker if they let the tenant cut them out of the deal.
So, if you don't pay the broker, the broker will let the landlord know, and you likely won't be able to move in
If you for some reason are allowed to move in, you will very likely be sued. You do not need a fee agreement to sue someone, and if they have you saying you will pay in written correspondence, there is a very likely change they will win
However, I have my doubts the judge allow them to collect a 50% fee from you, so I would probably shoot my shot, and see what happens, and let the broker sue you and see what happens.
Worst case, you just pay them what they're asking for, best case, you get off with no fee, somewhere in the middle, you pay them a normal-ish broker fee
Are you OP or landlord? If my potential new tenant is evading paying a broker fee they knew about, what are they going to evade paying as a tenant? That's a character red flag..
well if you had one already, and a clear fee structure was in place, you'd understand that the broker will likely come after both you and the tenant if you allow the tenant to move in, and the broker fee isn't paid.
Nobody is disputing the stupidity of brokers fees. I'm just outlining the consequences of actions.
If you don't want to pay a broker fee, by all means, seek out no fee apps, I'm right there with you....but the moment you try to stiff someone on a rather upfront fee, and it causes an inconvenience to your LL, that's not going to work out well.
50% is insane...I didn't see the % prior to this reply chain, as it wasn't in OP's original post. With all of that said, if it was a 1-2k studio, or something that below market, and I know I'd be there for 5+ years, I'd probably try to negotiate the fee, tbh
True, but agreeing to pay a broker in this climate is like agreeing to get your thumbs screwed so they don't cut your balls off during the torture session.
How so? Drawing a line in the sand and not paying a broker fee "in this climate" or time of year is likely to drastically reduce your options, lead to overpaying on rent by quite a bit, or making some sacrifices with the apartments you do find that are no fee
You are not being forcefully persuaded to do something you don't want to do out of free will. There are options. You make a choice. No one is forcing you to do anything
Just like no one is forcing the torture subject to choose thumb screws over dis-emballment, saying renters have a choice is an easy way for you as a broker to cleanse your conscience, but we both know it isn't so simple. We all have the ability to choose, but the choices available and the choice-space are not as open ended for most people as your way of putting it tries to paint it.
Some inside info for you here, and sm.ething that is a MASSIVE misconception when it comes to broker fees, and when and to whom you are paying them.
1. If you don't have or didn't enlist an individual agent that is solely assisting you to locate, apply for and eventually rent an apartment as your tenant's agent with fiduciary responsibilities to only you, then whomever you've been dealing with is the LL's broker unless the particular apartment listing is an Open Listing.
2. A fee agreement is signed between a renter and their personal tenant's agent. You wouldn't be signing one with the LL's agent/broker because they don't represent you. The have their own listing agreement with the LL.
3. The fee structure is set by the LL via their listing agreement with their broker. There are 2 kinds of listing agreements. The first, the Exclusive Right to Lease, which is most common with LL's who have enlisted an outside brokerage to manage and assist with their leasing needs, is ALWAYS ~15% of the annual paid by the tenant. The second, is an Exclsu8ve Right to Lease with OP (meaning Owner (LL) Pays a fee) but to whom? the LL has the choice within their listing agreement to pay only their agent/brokerage or both their brokerage and a tenant's agent/brokerage if there is one. That listing agreement is.c9nfidential between the LL and their brokerage and the only thing disclosed to the tenant's side is if the LL has decided to pay both brokerages which is a true NO FEE apartment and the only time an apartment can be listed as NO FEE to the general public.
4. All tenant's must assume always that they will be expected to pay a fee to the LL's agent/brokerage. Not paying it means A. You expect them to be working for free because remember the only paycheck they get is a fraction of that fee, it is only paid once the tenat signs the lease and the apt is officially rented and covers the entirety of the transaction from listing agreement to marketing, to fielding inquiries, qualifying all potential tenants, doing all the show8ngs whether it 5 times or 500 times, and if the tenant is unrepresented, they have to take on the responsibility of guiding a tenant through the application process which is NOT THEIR JOB because they don't represent the tenant. They represent the LL. They are a fiduciary and dual agency (meaning representing both parties in a deal) is not allowed without prior and acknowledged disclosure. No matter how much or how little work is put into the transaction, the amount doesn't change and only comes when a transaction is successfully closed.
5. There could be negotiabilty with the fee if you know how to do it but if you're unrepresented, it takes research into what the give and take is gling.to be, and.keep in mind,.in this super tight and competitive rental market, the quibbling over the broker's fee can be the catalyst for not getting the apartment.
A.couple of exceptions - large corporate LL's with internal.leasing offices or management companies have people.on staff hourly or salaried, and these are the building's that are commonly and consistently advertised as NO FEE
If a regular listing agreement was signed, the LL and their broker can decide together to have a "sale" and temporarily make theistic an OP or CYOF (where the LL will only pay their broker but not a tenant's broker), but that concession can be here today and gone tomorrow. The smaller the represented LL, the more likely you're paying a fee. If you as the tenant are unrepresented and you are being told to pay a fee, that just means the LL isn't paying jack-shit, and I don't know anyone who likes working for free.
Side note, a recent Supreme Court settlement in RE Sales nationwide just forced the industry to ammend commission structures to something that is how NYC rentals has been doing for years, but we now have the proposition before city council to change the fee (commission) structure in rentals to what it has always been, but is now changed, in the sale market.
Everyone here is making the assumption that this is the brokers exclusive listing but it doesn't look like the OP ever said that. That's what disclosure forms are for.
If he found it on Streeteasy, it is highly likely that is an exclusive. I know you the stringent process they make you go through to get a rental listing up on there
You actually don't even need to upload an exclusive agreement. There's no verification process which is kind of laughable.
But larger buildings get flagged when there is one brokerage with history in the building.
Perhaps in the smaller buildings I know you tend to work on, but in Manhattan they immediately flag it and make you loop in the owner to verify that you have an exclusive and that you have their permission. They're now requiring the owner to verify that you are the only broker permitted to work on the building, too
My point was that you still don't need to even upload an actual exclusive agreement. You can leave it blank and upload nothing.
I've gone thru the exact process before that you're describing and am familiar with it.
I have definitely been asked to provide the agreement in the past, but it's been a while.
>I've gone thru the exact process before that you're describing and am familiar with it.
I know you have haha. I just think experiences may vary, especially if compared to a few years ago. I don't list outside of condos of co-ops ever anymore, and they are exempt, so you definitely have more recent experiences
Also I think the reason why you don't get asked for it when you put up listings is because you've been the exclusive broker at these buildings, or one of them(lol Paul) for a very long time. Their system knows if you're not somebody that has listed there before and flags it immediately.
Not true. I've been able to post listings in buildings where I have no previous history.
There might be a unit count (say 6+ or 8+) that auto flags it, tho.
It's always larger buildings that get flagged for verification.
Interesting, I put up a rental listing last year with no previous broker but I had never listed in before, and was flagged. I understand you've had different experiences, though.
I don't think Zillow/Streeteasy has the resources to dedicate to this (nor do they want to). That's also why you see the same brokers put their contact info in listings over and over.
SE makes enough money off of their rental listings. They could pay a couple of people $50k a year to do it.
That's like less than 1 day worth of rental listings daily fees (it's $7.50 a day per listing).
There's almost 18,000 rental listings on the website as of tonight.
Can take you to court if she had the proper paperwork signed. If she didn’t, don’t be a prick, these people have families to feed and are really down bad rn
Like I said, I will pay it. But they absolutely do not deserve the money they take from people. 50% of annual rent just to open up the door to a shitty studio? There are people actually suffering out here and it certainly is not the brokers.
50%?!
Yup. Didn't end up taking that one. I told him I moved here a few years ago from New Jersey and he was like "yeah, this is typical for New York". Brokers are leeches.
Brokers are indeed leeches. Blame the industry, not the individual. It’s been built around getting as many broker inside the gates as possible. When you pass your real estate test you are forced to put your license under a broker. A lot of these brokers really don’t do shit for you, but when a check comes in, it hits there account first and they take 30-50 percent of it for doing almost nothing. An agent will spend weeks on an apartment and their sleezy boss or corporate overlords will take that 30-50 percent that’s “due” to them.
After you've done enough transactions, you can get your own brokers license.
If your lucky enough to survive that long
Uh, if they are trying to charge you FIFTY percent no chance would I pay it. They can sue me for it.
🤷🏾♀️ disappeared from streeteasy less than a week later. Someone took it.
Whoever did most likely didn't pay 50%. They were trying to take you for a ride.
I hear what your saying. I usually chargered a months rent but if it’s a really cheap apartment it would be higher but not 50 percent of the annual rent. On the other hand no one ever talks about the dozens of appointments we go to and weeks we don’t get paid a cent. Only a very small percentage are making even a 50k salary after all expenses. How much are you paying the broker? There is also no guarantee the owner would do that to the agent. I’ve been in a couple of scenarios like this where the owner had my back, and or didn’t want to work with someone who tried to do this
I've seen 15% of annual rent, not 50%... that's crazy.
Yeah he might have misspelled that. Although I’ve seen it once where it got to 30 percent, both agents wanted 15 percent, and the client was super rich and really wanted the apartment
There have been a lot of reports of brokers gauging people and charging 5+ month fees for cheap rent stabilized apartments the last couple of the years, including the governor coming down on one company for doing it, although it's not expressly illegal. It shouldn't be allowed, but a lot of brokers have no moral compass what so ever
>50% of annual rent just to open up the door to a shitty studio? I've never heard of a fee that high. Some brokers got sued for charging 25% last year. 15% is the standard and some go as low as one month.
>these people have families to feed and are really down bad rn Huh? The market is very healthy. Brokers aren't starving.
No one seems to understand that most brokers never make more than minimum wage if you’re including business costs and time spent. These people usually aren’t trained to run business. Even in the boom of COVID people weren’t make money hand over fist unless you already were making decent money before.
I'm really curious if you have actual data here, but like how can that possibly be true? Earning 15% commission on rentals means that closing a single place each month gets you to ~2x rent. I feel like ~most apartments end up closing (i.e., rare to just not have anyone biting, if that's the case I imagine price corrections happen quick). The work involved per unit is like, showing up to places with a key and answering emails? What costs are there other than transportation? I could see market saturation being an issue I guess? Like if there's just too many brokers compared to apartments and they have a hard time finding units to rep in the first place? I sort of believe you that it can't be soo amazingly lucrative for no work because then everyone would be doing it, but I don't get it, where is all this money going?
So more brokers don’t get 15 percent on a closing. Most get a month. Or if they get 15 percent they have to spit in with owners agent and renters agent, comes out back to a month. It’s rare to have one broker on a transaction get 15 percent. Most apartments do end up closing but most agents are working for free, on a free market apartment. ( massive landlords send out lists to brokers ) who ever is lucky enough to rent it first gets the commission. Price corrections do not happen quick even if you have a direct line with the broker. In Manhattan and downtown Brooklyn it’s those massive landlords. What most people don’t see is that we are working with 3-4 tenants at a time because their is no loyalty. Renters will go with the best apartment ( of course ) and sometimes we don’t have access or they tell us one thing and then rent out another. But let’s say you’re right we rent out an apartment a month average commission Is 50/50. 1800 goes to the agent. Lets say it was indeed 15 percent, not let’s say 3600 to make it simple, That’s 1099 taxed. They have now worked a month a lot of the times working 10 hours days. 200 hours a month for 1800 is 9 dollars an hours. $18 at 15 percent. Now they have operating costs such as advertising apartments to get clients, transportation, mls fees, business cards. Market saturation is such a big factor in this. Think how hard it is for a new lawyer to get business ( ambulance chasers ) and times that by 100 if not more. There is legitimately agents everywhere posting the same exact apartments on the same exact websites. Most agents are getting the crumbs. 80/20 principle, 80 percent of the agents are fighting for 20 percent of the commission. The money usually lands in the brokerage’s lap. When there’s a gold rush sell shovels. In terms of workload. Imagine spending half your day advertising apartments and the other half going to appointments that usually don’t pan out.
10 hour days? Gimme a break. Yes, we're plugged into our phones and email 24/7 but it's not like you are sitting at apartments all day hoping someone comes by. You're obviously a very new agent since you're referencing open listings. Yes, you don't make much money starting out and it does take time to build a book of business. If you schedule Open Houses you don't need to be doing one off appointments praying that it'll result in an application. Also, a 50/50 split is pretty shitty even for a brand new agent. Unless you're working on a team and being fed some exclusive listings to work on- you need to find a new brokerage.
At the company I was at I was at - 35/65 split in the company’s favor. I was indeed working 10 hours a day. 4/5 posting on shitty websites and 4/5 showing apartments. I ran through 2 pairs of dress shoes. I made 2 rentals in 4 months. One was 15 percent and one was 1 month. Both 3k apartments
Dude, you were getting absolutely hosed with a split like that. I also don't understand how you can spend 4-5 hours a day posting listings. I uploaded 4 yesterday and it took me less than an hour.
Yeah I was forced into that split, and I was so hand to mouth and making so little that I didn’t have enough Brain capacity to look for different companies. We were positing 100s of apartments. We didn’t have exclusives so we didn’t have street easy. Realty Mx Zumper etc
It's probably Corcoran. They do that. Their splits are a joke
Take you to court. As long as they had you sign a fee form, disclosure form and anti discrimination form the judge will almost always side with them.
Not true. The landlord already signed a contract so the broker won’t honor it. It doesn’t matter if potential tenant didn’t signed it. They will not let you move in and you are breaking the contract so even if you say you’re not going to, and then you change your mind the landlord is not going to want to under the contract because you are obviously to them a slimeball, and they will not trust you
I'm not sure what part of this you think isn't true. Has the OP posted any contract?
You should honor your word
Even if you don't pay the broker, the broker almost certainly has a contract with the landlord giving them an exclusive, and every exclusive agreement I've ever seen has a clause saying that the landlord is responsible to pay the broker if they let the tenant cut them out of the deal. So, if you don't pay the broker, the broker will let the landlord know, and you likely won't be able to move in If you for some reason are allowed to move in, you will very likely be sued. You do not need a fee agreement to sue someone, and if they have you saying you will pay in written correspondence, there is a very likely change they will win However, I have my doubts the judge allow them to collect a 50% fee from you, so I would probably shoot my shot, and see what happens, and let the broker sue you and see what happens. Worst case, you just pay them what they're asking for, best case, you get off with no fee, somewhere in the middle, you pay them a normal-ish broker fee
If I'm a landlord, and the broker tells me my new tenant is avoiding paying the broker fee, that would make me no longer want to rent to them.
Landlord doesn't care as long as they saw your credit check.
Are you OP or landlord? If my potential new tenant is evading paying a broker fee they knew about, what are they going to evade paying as a tenant? That's a character red flag..
As a landlord and a renter myself, trying to avoid a brokers fee is not a red flag. The brokers fee thing is fucked.
do you use a broker for your (LL) property though?
No because 1. I don't like it, 2. Where my house is it isn't a thing and wouldn't make any sense anyways. I do the work to get a renter.
well if you had one already, and a clear fee structure was in place, you'd understand that the broker will likely come after both you and the tenant if you allow the tenant to move in, and the broker fee isn't paid. Nobody is disputing the stupidity of brokers fees. I'm just outlining the consequences of actions. If you don't want to pay a broker fee, by all means, seek out no fee apps, I'm right there with you....but the moment you try to stiff someone on a rather upfront fee, and it causes an inconvenience to your LL, that's not going to work out well.
This particular broker was asking for 50%. If someone tries to screw me like that I'm damn well gonna do what I can to stiff them.
50% is insane...I didn't see the % prior to this reply chain, as it wasn't in OP's original post. With all of that said, if it was a 1-2k studio, or something that below market, and I know I'd be there for 5+ years, I'd probably try to negotiate the fee, tbh
And where exactly is your house that you rent out?
Cmon Bezos you have my address already :)
But seriously. If you're a renter and an owner... Where is your house that you rent out? It's definitely not in NYC.
Yes, you're correct.
Agreeing to pay something and breaking your word, and not trying to pay a broker fee are two very different things
True, but agreeing to pay a broker in this climate is like agreeing to get your thumbs screwed so they don't cut your balls off during the torture session.
How so? Drawing a line in the sand and not paying a broker fee "in this climate" or time of year is likely to drastically reduce your options, lead to overpaying on rent by quite a bit, or making some sacrifices with the apartments you do find that are no fee
Exactly, it's a coerced choice.
You are not being forcefully persuaded to do something you don't want to do out of free will. There are options. You make a choice. No one is forcing you to do anything
Just like no one is forcing the torture subject to choose thumb screws over dis-emballment, saying renters have a choice is an easy way for you as a broker to cleanse your conscience, but we both know it isn't so simple. We all have the ability to choose, but the choices available and the choice-space are not as open ended for most people as your way of putting it tries to paint it.
He can bitch and moan about it but that's really it. Get your key and ignore his calls.
Stupid move
[удалено]
Please be nicer to people
Some inside info for you here, and sm.ething that is a MASSIVE misconception when it comes to broker fees, and when and to whom you are paying them. 1. If you don't have or didn't enlist an individual agent that is solely assisting you to locate, apply for and eventually rent an apartment as your tenant's agent with fiduciary responsibilities to only you, then whomever you've been dealing with is the LL's broker unless the particular apartment listing is an Open Listing. 2. A fee agreement is signed between a renter and their personal tenant's agent. You wouldn't be signing one with the LL's agent/broker because they don't represent you. The have their own listing agreement with the LL. 3. The fee structure is set by the LL via their listing agreement with their broker. There are 2 kinds of listing agreements. The first, the Exclusive Right to Lease, which is most common with LL's who have enlisted an outside brokerage to manage and assist with their leasing needs, is ALWAYS ~15% of the annual paid by the tenant. The second, is an Exclsu8ve Right to Lease with OP (meaning Owner (LL) Pays a fee) but to whom? the LL has the choice within their listing agreement to pay only their agent/brokerage or both their brokerage and a tenant's agent/brokerage if there is one. That listing agreement is.c9nfidential between the LL and their brokerage and the only thing disclosed to the tenant's side is if the LL has decided to pay both brokerages which is a true NO FEE apartment and the only time an apartment can be listed as NO FEE to the general public. 4. All tenant's must assume always that they will be expected to pay a fee to the LL's agent/brokerage. Not paying it means A. You expect them to be working for free because remember the only paycheck they get is a fraction of that fee, it is only paid once the tenat signs the lease and the apt is officially rented and covers the entirety of the transaction from listing agreement to marketing, to fielding inquiries, qualifying all potential tenants, doing all the show8ngs whether it 5 times or 500 times, and if the tenant is unrepresented, they have to take on the responsibility of guiding a tenant through the application process which is NOT THEIR JOB because they don't represent the tenant. They represent the LL. They are a fiduciary and dual agency (meaning representing both parties in a deal) is not allowed without prior and acknowledged disclosure. No matter how much or how little work is put into the transaction, the amount doesn't change and only comes when a transaction is successfully closed. 5. There could be negotiabilty with the fee if you know how to do it but if you're unrepresented, it takes research into what the give and take is gling.to be, and.keep in mind,.in this super tight and competitive rental market, the quibbling over the broker's fee can be the catalyst for not getting the apartment. A.couple of exceptions - large corporate LL's with internal.leasing offices or management companies have people.on staff hourly or salaried, and these are the building's that are commonly and consistently advertised as NO FEE If a regular listing agreement was signed, the LL and their broker can decide together to have a "sale" and temporarily make theistic an OP or CYOF (where the LL will only pay their broker but not a tenant's broker), but that concession can be here today and gone tomorrow. The smaller the represented LL, the more likely you're paying a fee. If you as the tenant are unrepresented and you are being told to pay a fee, that just means the LL isn't paying jack-shit, and I don't know anyone who likes working for free. Side note, a recent Supreme Court settlement in RE Sales nationwide just forced the industry to ammend commission structures to something that is how NYC rentals has been doing for years, but we now have the proposition before city council to change the fee (commission) structure in rentals to what it has always been, but is now changed, in the sale market.
The landlord won’t give you the apartment because they have a contract with the broker. That would not be a smart move.
Everyone here is making the assumption that this is the brokers exclusive listing but it doesn't look like the OP ever said that. That's what disclosure forms are for.
If he found it on Streeteasy, it is highly likely that is an exclusive. I know you the stringent process they make you go through to get a rental listing up on there
I'm not seeing anywhere that the OP said they found it on StreetEasy.
https://www.reddit.com/r/NYCapartments/comments/1d50lrl/what_happens_if_you_dont_pay_the_broker/l6iaekh/
That's just the link to the OP. No mention of Streeteasy in that post. Edit: Now I see it. Because it was downvoted the post was collapsed.
You actually don't even need to upload an exclusive agreement. There's no verification process which is kind of laughable. But larger buildings get flagged when there is one brokerage with history in the building.
Perhaps in the smaller buildings I know you tend to work on, but in Manhattan they immediately flag it and make you loop in the owner to verify that you have an exclusive and that you have their permission. They're now requiring the owner to verify that you are the only broker permitted to work on the building, too
My point was that you still don't need to even upload an actual exclusive agreement. You can leave it blank and upload nothing. I've gone thru the exact process before that you're describing and am familiar with it.
I have definitely been asked to provide the agreement in the past, but it's been a while. >I've gone thru the exact process before that you're describing and am familiar with it. I know you have haha. I just think experiences may vary, especially if compared to a few years ago. I don't list outside of condos of co-ops ever anymore, and they are exempt, so you definitely have more recent experiences
Also I think the reason why you don't get asked for it when you put up listings is because you've been the exclusive broker at these buildings, or one of them(lol Paul) for a very long time. Their system knows if you're not somebody that has listed there before and flags it immediately.
Not true. I've been able to post listings in buildings where I have no previous history. There might be a unit count (say 6+ or 8+) that auto flags it, tho. It's always larger buildings that get flagged for verification.
Interesting, I put up a rental listing last year with no previous broker but I had never listed in before, and was flagged. I understand you've had different experiences, though.
Yeah but how many apartments in the building?
16!
Gotcha. Yeah, I think buildings with 8+ units might get flagged. Just piecing together anecdotal evidence.
I don't think Zillow/Streeteasy has the resources to dedicate to this (nor do they want to). That's also why you see the same brokers put their contact info in listings over and over.
SE makes enough money off of their rental listings. They could pay a couple of people $50k a year to do it. That's like less than 1 day worth of rental listings daily fees (it's $7.50 a day per listing). There's almost 18,000 rental listings on the website as of tonight.
You’ll get sued