I prefer to ignore the outliers, DUMBO and Williamsburg. If you ask me the rental prices in those areas reflect...actually I don't know what they reflect. You'll find better deals on the Upper East Side, so it must have to do with that elusive cool factor. But you know what they say, if you have to ask...
But why does MNS leave out whole neighborhoods like Sunset Park and Windsor Terrace and Carrol Gardens? Nice of them to include Bed-Stuy, though, an area that wouldn't have even made the chart a few years back. And whatsabout Flatbush and...well, I guess we should feel lucky to be included. Still, $1200 a month just to have your own bathroom seems like a lot to me.
I get why they don't include Brownsville and East New York and Gravesend and Mill Basin...too far our or too culturally "undesirable" for the powers that be. It's kinda weird though to see that chauvinism reflected so blatantly here. Frankly, I'd LOVE to see what a studio goes for in East New York. Might be a great reality check.
Can it really continue to climb like this? Brooklyn's great and all...but that toilet is getting awfully expensive.
Thoughts?
21 comments:
I find it strange that Greenpoint is more expensive than Park Slope.
"Our data is aggregated from the MNS proprietary database and sampled from a specific mid-month point to record current rental rates offered by landlords during that particular month. It is then combined with information from the REBNY Real Estate Listings Source (RLS), OnLine Residential (OLR.com) and R.O.L.E.X. (Real Plus)."
MNS proprietary database = their open and exclusive listings; RLS, OLR, ROLEX = other people's exclusives, plus some open listings (major landlords) who distribute to everyone (includes IBEC and Alma in Fort Greene, Clinton Hill, Prospect Heights).
Obviously this data is flawed - in places where MNS doesn't have a large presence, they're relying on other's exclusives - and there simply aren't that many rental exclusives in Windsor Terrace, Sunset Park, etc. (and forget Brownsville and ENY - do you really think an agent from one of the major brokerages is going to work some cheapo rental listing out there? The commission to be earned isn't worth the hassle of having to physically go out there).
Carroll Gardens also has very few rental properties - it's mostly private houses, possibly with the owners renting out a floor via a craigslist ad - that won't be included in MNS's data.
As to PLG's numbers - quite a lot of rentals here will never get into MNS's data, as they are offered by non-REBNY firms that don't co-broke and don't post their listings on OLR - think of all the Abba lisitngs - Patio Gardens, etc. - the only way into those buildings is through Abba. You will never see them with any other broker.
I just got a listing for a big one BR in one of the nicest rental buildings in the neighborhood - $1350, rent stabilized, laundry in the building, live-in super. I'm showing it four times tomorrow and expect it to be gone by the end of the week.
And BTW according to Craigslist you can get a one bedroom in E. Flatbush/ENY for $750. No details as to actual location or photos, of course.
Greenpoint vs. Park Slope - flawed data (they don't get too much info on Greenpoint) plus a much broader range of housing stock in Park Slope (there are a few rent stabilized apartment left there - I know a few buildings on Fifth and Sixth Avenues as well as several on President and Union Sts.) - the only listings MNS is seeing on Greenpoint are the exclusives of other firms, which are generally the pricier properties.
You have actually hit on a nerve which I have been wanting to itch for a while. Can we do a simple poll here where people that rent in our nabe self-report what rent they pay. I for one pay $1800 for two bedrooms. Depending on the day I feel its either fair or outright outrageous. I also know that my building is rent stabilized and that my rent should realistically be around $1200 given that the last tenant paid around $930 a month. I need to pick this up with my landlord obviously. While market rate offerings are desirable to attract a certain demographic we also have to temper this with the ultimate desire that this neighborhood not go the way of those other inflated ones... at least not artificially by landlords who prey on unsuspecting tenants who aren't aware of the rules for rent increases. So there. Not sure if blogger has capabilities for polling but perhaps something like surveymonkey can be used. Happy to volunteer to put it together.
To rent or not, $1800 a month is about the going rate for a two bedroom apartment here, and it is very possible that that is the legal stabilized rent for your apartment, regardless of what the previous tenants paid. Every time a rent stabilized unit turns over, the landlord is immediately entitled to a vacancy increase of between 18% - 20%, depending on whether the new lease is a one or a two year lease. Additionally, a further 0.6% per year is added for each year the previous tenant occupied the apartment if it was for more than 8 years, so potentially right there you could be looking at a 25% increase right off the bat, making that apartment now $1162.50.
Furthermore, the rent the previous tenant was charged may have been below the legal rent - called a "preferred rent," these were often offered in less-desirable units or locations, which PLG was certainly considered as recently as 4 years ago (I rented some under these conditions at the time - the market simply would not support the legal stabilized rent). Again, once the unit becomes vacant, the preferred rent discount ends, and the rent is adjusted up to its legal amount, plus the aforementioned increases.
But that is before the Major Capital Improvements increase, which is the real moneymaker for landlords. Your landlord is allowed to add 1/40th of the cost of all renovations and improvements made to the apartment between the previous tenant and you to your monthly rent - that includes redoing the floors, the bathrooms, the kitchen, the appliances, etc.
As a result, some landlords in this neighborhood (see 100 Lefferts Ave) do really over-the-top renovations - I've seen apartments there with very fancy stainless steel appliances, expensive ceramic tile in the bath, and new hardwood floors, as well as all-new and upgraded electric. That kind of work could easily add $500/month or more to your rent. The goal of all this being, of course, to get the rent above the stabilization ceiling of $2500, so that it becomes a market rate unit.
This is also why many stabilized landlords are quite happy to see their tenants moving out after only one or two years, so that they can get those nice vacancy increases.
If you really doubt that the rent you're being charged is accurate, you can take your lease to the DHCR and request a copy of the rent history - it will show all of the applicable filings and increases over the years, as the landlord is required to file this information annually for stabilized and rent controlled (pre-1971 occupancy) units. There's a DHCR office in Fort Greene on Hanson Place.
In my experience, floorthroughs in PLG range from $1500-$2000, depending on quality of finishes, yard access, etc. Many people pay less, but I'd say open market a floorthrough in a limestone will be $1800.
And Babs point on the lack of data is telling. If you dig down into those reports, some months in some neighborhoods have no data point at all.
And of course, none of those numbers reflect what longterm renters in RS units in the larger buildings pay. I think there are still lots of 2brs under $1k, they just don't ever turn over.
If you are a renter and have any reason to believe the landlord is charging more than the amount permitted under the rent stabilization law, you should act immediately to protect your rights and those of future tenants. The loss of affordable housing stock is a major problem in this city, at a time when most new jobs are in the service economy, wages are low and folks are struggling to make ends meet.
This article explains the issue and the process reasonably well and briefly: http://www.nyshcr.org/Rent/tenantresources.htm. I'd add that I believe there's a three year statute of limitations on getting overcharged $ back. But I don't believe there's any limitation on getting the rent set back to the lawful level. So even if you've been there 5 years, check it out and potentially save some $ in the future.
If there are a bunch a renters interested in doing this, I'd love to hear about it. Maybe post your experiences here to build our neighborhood's base of knowledge.
Nie zgadzam się z Tobą, ale ok
Actually, according to this DHCR fact sheet, a tenant has four years from the date of the first suspected overcharge to file a complaint with the DHCR. After that it's too late to even challenge it: http://www.housingnyc.com/html/resources/dhcr/dhcr26.html
$1350 for a one bedroom and live in super? That's a good deal.
Most studios start at at least $1000
Babs: Maybe because I'm a long-time resident of PLG (2+ decades now!:-D), but I feel like rents are ballooning out of control. One of my concerns is a company like Abba monopolizing most of the listings in the neighborhood and, IMHO, artificially inflating rents. How much of a concern for agents; if at all?
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Dynishal: Many tenant's just aren't aware that they are being overcharged, so they'd never know to report anything. For example, I moved within my building a few years back and found out that tenant that took over my old apartment is paying almost 60% higher rent than I did. My landlord's excuse was that he completed MCI, but all he did was paint and re-glaze the tub.
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Twój blog jest super ;)
1800 for a two-bedroom is insane! Especially so in this neighborhood where a lot of the buildings are barely maintained and many don't have on-site laundry. I guess I see it this way because I pay way less for my very large 2 bedroom apt while my upstairs neighbor who moved in six months after me, pays about 800 dollars more and their apartment was never fixed up after the previous tenant moved out.
1800 for a 3 bedroom in a poorly maintained building.
$1260, 1br, decent building, responsive super.
increase over last year's $1149
Clarkson ave between Rogers & Beford
right on! I did a profile on the place and its owner many moons back: http://theqatparkside.blogspot.com/2011/01/meet-lee-duch-maverick-man.html
$1750, large 2 bed, decent (not amazing) building with dysfunctional building laundry room. Lenox and Flatbush. Suspect many other tenants pay far less, and our place was certainly not renovated (much less cleaned) before we moved in.
We got far more space for our dollar here than anything in the other "edge" nabes, like northern Sunset Park, Kensington, 4th ave "slope" stuff, etc.
Ground floor 1br of townhouse on Fenimore Flatbush/bedford, $1500 w/shared backyard and laundry. Parlor apt and top floor apt (2brs) $1800 each. (stove gas/electric/internet extra.) A good deal compared to what else was available.
Large 2 bdrm (about 920 sq ft), was gut rennovated when we moved in 3 years ago, all new appliances, live-in super, pretty well maintained elevator building, laundry, Winthrop btwn Flatbush + Bedford, $1620.
Moved to Parkside between Rogers and Bedford in December. 1 br for $1200 in a quiet elevator building with a friendly live-in super. Gut-renovated before moving in, new appliances and new hardwood flooring. No laundry but large laundromat right around the corner. The apartment has an inexplicably long hallway entrance (seriously almost 40 ft) and makes the place feel bizarrely spacious.
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