RentsterNYC.com

Manhattan Apartment Rents Drop 9.4% as City Job Losses Mount

LRosenberg — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 16:26:42 +0000

By John Gittelsohn

Jan. 14 (Bloomberg) — Manhattan apartment rents dropped 9.4 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009 from a year earlier as Wall Street jobs vanished in the recession.

The median rent fell for all apartment sizes except two- bedrooms, which were little changed, according to a report today by broker Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate and appraiser Miller Samuel Inc. A separate tally by broker Citi-Habitats Inc. showed the average apartment price declined 7.3 percent for the year. The company didn’t report medians.

New York City lost 25,200 finance jobs in the 12 months ended Nov. 30 and the unemployment rate climbed to 10 percent, curbing tenants’ appetite for bigger and more expensive apartments. Joblessness also forced landlords across the U.S. to cut prices as the nationwide vacancy rate reached a record 8 percent in the fourth quarter, New York-based research firm Reis Inc. said Jan. 7.

“I don’t think you’re going to see a significant improvement, if any, in 2010, with unemployment in the 10 percent area,” Miller Samuel President and Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Miller said in a telephone interview.

The effective decline in Manhattan apartment costs was likely greater than either broker reported because the figures don’t reflect concessions such as a free month’s rent, Miller said.

About half of 2009 rentals came with such enticements, said Citi-Habitats President Gary Malin.

“These days, the landlord’s goal is to get tenants,” Malin said.

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Brooklyn Flea Market Moves to Incredibly Gorgeous Space. Wow!

LRosenberg — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 23:44:41 +0000

The ever popular Brookyn Flea Market has moved indoors for the winter. Just head over to One Hanson Place, just across from BAM (Brooklyn Academy of Music). The space is the iconic old Williamsburg Dime Savings Bank building, AKA One Hanson Place. Even if you don’t need to buy anything, you should see the space. It’s even worth the trip from Manhattan. Don’t get me started talking about the mosaic ceiling with a “starry night” effect, the inlaid marble floors, the superb wrought iron grillwork, the huge vaulted ceiling… Make you want to move to Brooklyn. Oh, it’s right on the edge of Ft. Greene and just a stone’s through from Atlantic Terminal.

It’s worth it: Click this link.

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5,000 Financial District apartments could be eligible for rent regulation

LRosenberg — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 19:08:10 +0000

Thousands of Lower Manhattan apartments could become rent-stabilized based on a recent court decision.

On Dec. 23, Housing Court Judge Bruce Scheckowitz ruled that a market-rate apartment in 37 Wall St. should be rent-stabilized because the building’s owner is receiving a 421-g tax break. In an echo of the Stuyvesant Town case from earlier last year, the owner of 37 Wall St. said the apartment did not have to be stabilized because the rent was over $2,000, but Scheckowitz ruled that it should be stabilized anyway. His opinion opens the door for tenants in other 421-g buildings to file similar suits.

“This is a major victory,” said Gitanjali Dadlani, a rent-regulation organizer at Tenants & Neighbors. “It sets a very strong precedent.”

While the Stuyvesant Town case dealt with J-51 tax breaks, awarded to developers throughout the city, the 37 Wall St. case centers on 421-g tax breaks, which were only given out in Lower Manhattan. At least 16 rental buildings below Murray St., with a total of nearly 5,000 units, are currently receiving 421-g abatements and could be affected by the ruling, including 90 West St., 63 Wall St. and 200 Water St. (See chart on Page 7.)

“It’s a great thing for the Financial District,” said Tom Goodkind, a Community Board 1 member who has been researching stabilized apartments. “This would bring us a more stable community.”

Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani launched the 421-g program in 1995 to give developers incentives to convert old Financial District offices into apartments. In exchange for doing the conversions, developers received up to 14 years of reduced property taxes. The tax breaks range from about $1 million to nearly $40 million. The program sunsetted in 2006.

The 421-g developers were allowed to rent the apartments at market rate initially; but for as long as they were receiving the tax break, they were supposed to guarantee tenants the right of renewal at stabilized rates determined by the Rent Guidelines Board.

Many landlords followed those rules, but as soon as the apartments hit $2,000 (and many of them started above that figure), the landlords used luxury and vacancy decontrol to remove the apartments from rent-stabilization.

(more…)

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U.S. apartment vacancy rate hits 30-year high

LRosenberg — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 18:26:16 +0000

Let’s skip most of the news report. We’re only really interested in the NYC marketplace. Here’s what the Reuter’s article had to say about NYC:

Higher priced rental properties in Manhattan drove the vacancy decline, while apartment buildings in more middle-class boroughs such as the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens haven’t been able to dodge the bullet.

On average, close to 60 percent of all rental buildings across the New York metropolitan area lowered their rents from the third quarter.

Year-over-year, effective rents in New York fell by 5.6 percent, making 2009 the worst year for landlords by this measure. This was even worse than the 3.8 decline in 2002, when New York reeled from the after-effects of the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. (emphasis mine)

Here’s the link to the Reuter’s article.

So what does this mean for us?

It means that if you’re looking in the luxury/high end of the market, you can drive a pretty good bargain. Negotiate and then negotiate some more.

If you’re in the middle market, the overall asking rents have come down and you can get more for your money today than at any time in the past two years. Feel free to make an offer that’s below the asking rent, but don’t get carried away. You might get a little bit off, particularly if you’re a strong applicant.

If you’re at the low end of the market, you’ve seen some modest price reductions, but not too much. Again, feel free to make an offer, but don’t expect more than $25 or $50 off the asking rent.

Where this market can help you is if your renting qualifications are a little weak. If your income is a little weak for the apartment you want, or you have only so-so credit, you are more likely to be accepted today than at any other time in the past few years.

So go ahead and press your (temporary) advantage.

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The Heidi Klum of Foot-Models Sues Apartment Building

Nadine — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 20:50:06 +0000

November 24th, 2009 Matt DiChiara

Christina Ambers, the famous hand and foot model, alleges that she and her husband (who was formerly employed as a doorman at the building where Ms. Ambers lives and now resides with her at that address) have been the victims of a hostile ostracization by the building’s workers and tenants.

Attorney Joshua Price has filed a suit on the couple’s behalf with the Manhattan Supreme Court, hoping to be compensated $10 million dollars for their troubles. Those troubles include, but are not limited to, refusing to make repairs, refusing service normally extended to residents such as haling cabs, delivering packages and greeting guests, and at least one instance of below the belt physical assault.

We’ll withhold judgment until we hear updates, as any judicious observer should, so here are the facts of the case according to various media outlets:

The plaintiff’s story alleges that fellow residents lashed out at a love they just could not understand. According to the couple’s attorney, a romance between the doorman and a resident was an unendurable encroachment on the rigid caste system of the Upper East Side of Manhattan and both employees and other residents of the building have tried to force them out of their home in retaliation. (more…)

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So…Did apartment rental prices fall in 2009?

Nadine — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 20:25:26 +0000

You bet they did. This is from Bloomberg.com:

Manhattan Apartment Rents Fell 7% on Unemployment

Dec. 22 (Bloomberg) — Manhattan rents fell as much as 7 percent in the year ended Dec. 15 as the recession helped some tenants move up to larger apartments for less.

Rents for studio apartments dropped 7 percent to an average of $2,247 a month in the period, the Real Estate Group of New York said today in a report. One-bedroom apartments fell 5.6 percent to $3,262. Both figures are for buildings with doormen.

“The biggest difference between this year and last year is the amount of inventory,” said Andrew Barrocas, chief operating officer of the Real Estate Group of New York.

Rents in Manhattan are falling as unemployment climbs. Seasonally adjusted joblessness in New York City rose to 10 percent in November, the state Labor Department reported Dec. 17. The city lost 25,200 finance-related jobs, including banking, securities and commodities, in the year ended Nov. 30, including 700 last month.

In buildings without doormen, studio apartments fell by 3.8 percent to $1,921, while one-bedrooms fell less than 1 percent to $2,636.

New luxury rental buildings with amenities such as doormen include the 1,359 unit on West 42nd street as well as 808 Columbus, part of a five building complex in development on the Upper West Side, Barrocas said.

The reporter on this story: Oshrat Carmiel in New York at ocarmiel1@bloomberg.net.

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Investor collapse puts 1,100 East Harlem homes at risk

Nadine — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 21:41:06 +0000

By: Alex Frean for the TimesOnline.co.uk

The collapse last year of Dawnay Day, the sprawling British investment company, which sank under £750 million of debt, has put more than a thousand rent-stabilised apartments in New York into foreclosure, leaving their tenants in limbo.

Yesterday a group of tenants staged a protest at the Bank of New York Mellon, which holds the mortgage on the East Harlem apartment buildings, demanding that the properties be sold to a “responsible” owner who will maintain affordable rents.

Dawnay Day is a classic case of ambitious investors overreaching themselves in market they did not really understand.

For the thousands of low-income tenants who occupy the apartments that the company bought, the price of this folly is a Christmas spent worrying that they may lose their home.

The company, run by Guy Naggar and Peter Klimt, purchased 47 rental buildings, which contain more than 1,100 apartments, in New York City’s up-and-coming East Harlem neighborhood for an estimated $225 million in 2007, at the height of the property market. (more…)

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How to Get a Security Deposit Back From a Landlord

Nadine — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 20:15:03 +0000

Thanks to the New York Times for this always needed advice:

How to Get a Security Deposit Back From a Landlord

By JENNIFER SARANOW SCHULTZ

Given the state of the economy, there’s no shortage of stories about debt-saddled landlords delaying repayment of security deposits.

Take mine. After moving to San Francisco from New York in January, my husband and I tried for months to get in touch with our landlord and get our deposit back. Good tenants, we had always paid our rent on time, including the rent for the last two months of the lease when the apartment was vacant (we didn’t want a bad reference down the road), and left the apartment in perfect condition. Naturally, we expected to have no problem getting our deposit back.

But when we finally connected with the landlord at least four months later, she informed us that she simply didn’t have the money to pay us back. Her excuses — that many of the apartments in her buildings were now vacant and that she was renting our old place out for much less than we paid — left us scratching our heads (wasn’t she supposed to keep our money separate?) and wondering what we should do next.

Janet Portman, a lawyer and author of “Every Tenant’s Legal Guide” and an e-guide on getting security deposits back, said such situations were unfortunately pretty common these days, especially for tenants whose landlords are going into foreclosure or bankruptcy and may be broke. (more…)

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I just saw this on craigslist. Caviat emptor.

Nadine — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:23:23 +0000

BEWARE OF SCAM On Apt. Rentals!

Date: 2009-12-21, 8:56AM EST
Reply to: hous-gujv6-1519402854@craigslist.org

Some crooks just tried scamming me. They promised the most gorgeous apartment in Manhattan but refused to show the place to my friend unless I wired them some money. Almost fell for it as the ad was so promising, the place was gorgeous, free pick up when I land and when I checked out the address, it was a real apartment building.

BEWARE OF SCAM on Apt Rentals

My friend who lives in the city googled the building and the picture on the website and the model apartment is the one the crooks used to put on their ad. Just a warning, please be careful and do not be tempted, they will be so nice when they reply to your request. Most of them really know the city well so they may have some people working with them in NY or they just do a thorough search about NY so they will sound like they are legit.

IF THEY DO NOT TO AGREE TO SHOW THE APARTMENT BEFORE YOU DECIDE TO RENT IT, DO NOT TRUST THEM. THEY ARE SCAM! if they do not have paypal, they are scam!

BE VERY CAREFUL !!! GOOD LUCK !!!

Location: NYC
it’s NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

PostingID: 1519402854

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I’m Back!

Nadine — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 00:38:38 +0000

Whew, I’ve been busy this past year.

We’ve never, ever had so many no-fee listings in the RDNY.com database like we’ve had in 2008-2009 (so far). I used to be a part-timer in the Listings Dept, but in Sept 2008 I was made full-time, so I didn’t keep up with the blog like I used to. And I missed it!

I’m going to post news at least once a week from now on because there’s so much happening in rentals in NYC.

The big news is that rents are indeed coming down in most neighborhoods, and almost every landlord in the city will negotiate the rent with you if you have good credit and can afford the apartment. The Village in Manhattan will always be pricey because of the restrictions imposed by all the Historic designations. The best bargains are still in the Upper East Side and Jersey City.

There’s a new option for those of you who want to live in Brooklyn: lots of condo are now taking renters because this is a tough market to sell condos. The good news is that you can get top of the line construction that you’ll never find in a rental building; the bad news is that they’re not cheap. One of the newest Brooklyn condos that changed into rentals that we’ve added to our database is this one in Bushwick:

It’s really pretty.

Neither I nor RDNY.com were paid for this blog item. I merely want to show you that a condo builder’s loss can be your gain. We have listings for a studio from $2200 to a 3-bedroom unit for $2750. This is a GREAT time to be a renter in NYC.

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