{"id":20,"date":"2008-10-11T05:12:57","date_gmt":"2008-10-11T09:12:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.renthop.com\/news\/?p=20"},"modified":"2023-07-24T14:48:13","modified_gmt":"2023-07-24T18:48:13","slug":"how-much-does-an-apartment-broker-cost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.renthop.com\/blog\/how-much-does-an-apartment-broker-cost\/","title":{"rendered":"How much does an apartment broker cost?"},"content":{"rendered":"
New Yorkers often believe they are receiving a lot of valuable services from apartment brokers, and because of that, they conclude broker fees are both legitimate and well-deserved.\u00a0 At RentHop<\/a>, we agree that apartment brokers have been vital to the Manhattan <\/a>rental market for decades, but in recent years the services have become increasingly more expensive and unnecessary.\u00a0 To see why, let us enumerate all the services an excellent Manhattan broker traditionally provides:<\/p>\n 1.)\u00a0 Advice on desirable neighborhoods, telling you where you should live<\/p>\n 2.)\u00a0 Mathematical assistance, calculating what you can afford given your resources<\/p>\n 3.)\u00a0 Listings data, including building addresses and landlord contact information<\/p>\n 4.)\u00a0 Apartment filtering, showing only the units that meet your criteria<\/p>\n 5.)\u00a0 Hunting companion, holding your hand through the viewing and showing process<\/p>\n In exchange for these services, a typical broker will charge 15% of the gross contracted rent.\u00a0 For a $2,000 studio, that amounts to $3,600 on a one-year lease, or $300 a month.\u00a0 That means your effective rent has actually gone up from $2,000 to $2,300.\u00a0 Of course, if you renew the lease directly with your landlord, then you won’t need to pay the broker fee in future years… but only if you really decide to stay there.\u00a0 In our experience, job changes, roommate considerations, and landlord rent hikes cause many New Yorkers to change apartments much more frequently than they expect.<\/p>\n