“Not a Dive After All” via the NY Times

Another lead story on rentals this past weekend in the New York Times real estate section. This one’s about first-time renters and the affordable apartments that can can be found for less than $1000 per tenant. Not only in far-flung neighborhoods like Washington Heights and Sunset Park, but also on the Upper East Side and Park Slope. The best thing is that these apartments are nicer than ever before, with dishwashers, windowed bedrooms and charming exposed brick walls. Real the full article HERE. Picture is also via the Times. Looks like these ladies scored a sweet place!

Tom Colicchio’s Rental Kitchen via Apartment Therapy

Apparently, Tom Colicchio lives like a lot of us! In spite of a gorgeous-looking and huge NYC apartment, he still cooks in a small rental galley kitchen. How does he make it work, Top Chef style? Find out all about it on Apartment Therapy and in the NY Times. He does have a dishwasher though–cheating! (j/k, I have one too now…)

More News from the Rent Guidelines Board

According to an article in today’s New York Times, the Rent Guidelines Board, which oversees proposed increases in rent for tenants living in rent-regulated apartments, there will be an increase in 2009. Despite wide-spread calls for a rent freeze or even a decrease, the RGB has stated that rents will likely be raised between 2% and 4.5% on one-year leases and between 4% and 7.5% on two year leases, despite a stagnant economy. The increases are supposedly to help landlords cover rising expenses. FYI–the RGB has never lowered or frozen rents since its inception in 1969.

More coverage over on Curbed.

Can’t Make Rent? Throw a Party!

This past weekend’s New York Times real estate section covered an emerging trend of unemployed and hard-up people throughout the city throwing rent parties to raise money. For those unfamiliar with the concept, you invite friends and acquiantances over to drink and dance and give a small donation which will be applied to paying the rent. Read the full article HERE.

Curbed Coverage of Rent Regulations Board

Issues of rent control and rent stabilization are controversial and downright contentious. It’s a thorny problem, so I hesitate to post about them much. I lived in a rent stabilized unit for a few years, but I also know some small-time landlords who are struggling financially as much as their tenants right now. Regardless, I know people are interested in this issue so I’ll point you to the coverage that can be found HERE.

One Bedroom Bonanza!

I went out with a customer yesterday, looking for affordable one bedrooms in the East Village. We saw some really great stuff! I showed her units between $2000 and $2400.

This one bedroom on Second Ave has an unusually large living room, the bedroom fits a queen and has a big closet. Although the kitchen is not brand new it is clean, well laid-out and definitely usable. Seems like a good deal at $2100 (may be slightly negotiable)

Time Out NY: “Lower Your Rent”

The cover story of this week’s Time Out NY is all about rents falling throughout the city. For the most part, the reportage was well-done and non-alarmist and there was some practical info on how to speak with your landlord about getting a reduction.

Read the article Here and Here and take a look at my coverage on the fall of the rental market and how to negotiate with your landlord.

“How to Reduce Your Rent”

“Further Tips on Negotiating With Your Landlord”

“Renegotiating the Rent?”

Will Tenants Join Landlords to Fight Property Taxes?

Via the NY Observer:  There are proposals afoot to change the NY State property tax laws.  Currently, the property tax burden is not equally shared among all residents of NYC and it is single family home owners that pay the least relative to the amount of space they occupy. Owners of multi-family buildings would like to make tenants aware of the percentage of their rent that goes toward property taxes, “maybe we ought to insist to our owners, when they send their rent bill to tenants, state, like ConEd does, only in much bolder print, that 20 percent of your rent is going to the City of New York in taxes” and see if they can possibly enlist tenants in the fight for a more equitable tax structure.  I do worry that media coverage of these issues is a tricky thing and I would urge you to do your own research about the reality of taxation in the city before drawing firm conclusions.

See this post for earlier coverage of the tax burdens of renters

Landlords Must Make Buildings Greener, Pay for it Themselves

I saw this via a link on Brownstoner . The NY Post reports that a city initiative will have the owners greening large older buildings with environmentally-friendly and energy-saving capital improvements. Tenant advocates were concerned that the costs of these improvements would be passed on to rent controlled tenants. Instead, the mayor’s pointman for this initiative, Rogit Aggarwala, states that city leaders pledge to prevent costs being passed on because increased energy efficiency soon pays for itself.

New Exclusive: 2 Bed/2 Bath With Laundry in the Apartment

This new listing just came in, right off of Astor Place where everyone wants to be! 1400 square feet of brand new renovations featuring a huge living room with showcase windows, open kitchen with stainless steel appliances and granite countertops. Two huge bedrooms that can fit king-sized beds, two full baths and your very own LAUNDRY ROOM in the apartment! Currently priced at $5000, I’m hosting open houses on both Saturday and Sunday from 12:00-2:00. My email is on the side-bar if you want to come by and see these unique units.

Rent Stabilized Tenants Can Expect Small Rent Increase

According to the NY Daily News, this year the Rent Stabilization Board (the body that sets the amount of rent increase that rent stabilized apartments can expect every year) has thrown tenants a bone. The increase will likely be modest because landlord’s reported a relatively small increase in operating expenses–the metric which is used to determine the percentage that rents can be raised. There was an outcry last year as rents were raised 4.5% on a one year lease and 8.5% on a two year lease. This is good news for non-stabilized tenants as well because many landlords follow these guidelines to avoid mass tenant exoduses. Of course, on non-regulated rents there is no limit to how much they can be raised in a given year and it is up to landlords to decide.

More than a Quarter of New Yorkers Pay Half Their Income in Rent

Via the NY POST: According to Representative Anthony Weiner, more than a quarter of New Yorkers are paying half their income to their landlords. This number was highest in the Bronx with 33.1% of residents dedicating half their income to housing while 23.7% of Manhattanites paid rents that equalled half their yearly incomes.

“Rents Fall as Unemployment Rises”

Via the Bloomberg News Service. Using recent statistics provided by my agency, Citi Habitats, Bloomberg reports that rents have fallen across the board by as much as 5.9% in some neighborhoods and categories. This does not mean that every apartment in every neighborhood is cheaper–it’s the over-priced, the luxury, the amenity-heavy units that are feeling the biggest drops as people city-wide tighten their belts and eliminate unnecessary luxuries from their budgets. Still, people looking for more affordability are in luck, as there are more and better apartments available all over town.

East Village Has highest Vacancy Rate in the City

via EV Grieve.

I find this fascinating because I work down in the EV all the time, I speculate that many of the vacancies are in apartments that should not be lived in anyway–below-grade basement studios, sad neglected apartments in poor repair. Maybe this will inspire some landlords to fix up their places? A girl can dream…

Stay tuned for the Citi Habitats March stats, to be posted here later!

More Coverage of the Landlord Renegotiation Phenomenon

New York Magazine asks if right now is the time to negotiate with your landlord. Read about it HERE.

I’ve been covering this question for some time: HERE, HERE and HERE