I've been doing this for many years now and have learned that regardless of where the economy goes, what direction Wall St. takes; there will be a huge surge in the rental market in the next 4-6 weeks. Stastically speaking warm weather brings change of address for many current and hopeful New Yorkers.
In a business where planning as well as timing is everything, the city and outer boroughs will see hoards of people seeking to come here, upgrade or sometimes downgrade in NYC.
Simply put: Rents are going to increase as lack of supply and heavy demand for inventory increase. Now is the time to get a "deal" before the rush. Some factors to consider that can make your search more challenging: if you are a pet owner, landlord incentives (free rent, partial payment towards broker fees, delayed move-in on apartments that are immediate occupancy disapearing, shaving a few dollars of the asking rent),having less than stellar credit. As the busy season approaches landlords become increasingly un-willing to "work with tenants". They in turn can become more demanding in what they require and also tend to become pretty inflexible to any specific needs the prespective tenant(s) may have.
I'd suggest to anyone who is thinking about moving, it may be best for you to move earlier, if you can't handle the roller coaster ahead.
That said, I'm currently doing push-ups and drinking energy drinks in preparation of the spring/summer season which is actually my favorite. I love a challenge :)and I enjoy making the seemingly impossible, quite possible. I am known for managing to keep a cool head, holding hands and offering free therapy to my clients until they are able to secure a lease.
I hope you were educated by my long seque-way into an article I'm posting. I see similar articles like this one each season.
Apple a renter’s market
Bargains may bloom as cold winds of real-estate slide hit New York
by patrick arden / metro new yorkMAR 20, 2008
MANHATTAN. As the rest of the nation has been caught in a dangerous real-estate roller coaster, New Yorkers — and especially Manhattanites — have told themselves that their city’s prized real estate was not subject to the same bubble economics. And the numbers have agreed: last year ended with the average price of a Manhattan apartment at a whopping
$1.4 million, a record.
Such lofty prices help explain why New York is a city of renters. But a report released yesterday found that rents for one- and two-bedroom apartments in Manhattan went down last month — and the rental market is considered the last place economic woes would be reflected.
According to the Real Estate Group, which examines Manhattan rental listings under $10,000, the average rent on a one-bedroom apartment in a doorman building was $3,578 this month, 2.3 percent less than a year ago. Two-bedrooms in doorman buildings cost $5,265, a 5.2 percent drop from their average rent in March 2007.
Declines were seen in Harlem, the Upper West Side, the Upper East Side, Midtown West, Chelsea, Gramercy Park, the East Village and SoHo. Prices were up, however, in Midtown East, Murray Hill and the Financial District. And many studio apartments still rose last month.
“Anticipated job cuts and the depressed dollar seem to have planted the seeds of doubt in the minds of many New York consumers,” said Daniel Baum, chief operating officer of the Real Estate Group. Baum believes “just as many people want to live in Manhattan today as they did two years ago,” when rents were skyrocketing. His advice? If you’re planning to move, move now.
. Crystal Green - Licensed Real Estate Salesperson - Level Group New York, NY
