Sometimes having too many options feels more overwhelming than having too few. If you’re on the hunt for an NYC apartment, you might feel like finding the perfect place to lease is like finding a needle in a haystack. After all, there are dozens of viable neighborhoods and thousands of rental options available. One excellent way to narrow your search and save money on your housing is by finding a “no-fee” apartment. With a no-fee apartment, you rent directly from the landlord instead of going through a real estate broker. The typical broker fee is between 8-15% of the annual rent or 1-2 months’ rent. So, while it might seem more difficult to scope out apartments on your own, it means substantial savings. Here are some helpful resources for finding a no-fee apartment in NYC:
Craigslist
It might sound cliché, but when you use it correctly, you find just about anything on Craigslist. The key to a productive search is exclusion rather than inclusion. Start by filtering your listings to “by owner” or “no fee” and then start adding search terms. You’ll find your results are much higher quality than if you try to include every listing you can find.
NYBits
Though it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles of other favorite real estate sites, NYBits chiefly lists no-fee apartments for rent. You can search by apartment size, building type (apartments, condos, or co-ops), property managers and brokers, and neighborhoods. See recently posted no-fee rentals and view regularly updated rental statistics, so you know the going market rates for different communities.
RentHop
If you would rather the site do the work for you, there’s RentHop and its “Hopscore” rating system. High-quality listings get higher scores, while lower quality listings get filtered to the bottom of the list. You can further filter listings by “no fee” or “reduced fee.” The site verifies all listings with a phone call to ensure everything presented to browsers is legitimate and deserving of its ratings.
If you are interested in seeing an apartment right away, RentHop has a map-based search option that displays local agents and brokers who have opted-in to the RentHop system as available neighborhood specialists.
CityRealty
CityRealty allows users to scroll through tens of thousands of NY real estate listings for sale or rent across 56 different NYC neighborhoods. You can filter to view rentals, narrow the price range, or select your favorite areas. With the advanced search feature, you can focus the search for rentals, which primarily displays no-fee apartments. CityRealty also has a fantastic blog filled with info on new building construction and helpful NYC real estate tips.
UrbanEdge
Also listed in our article on the best NYC rental apps, UrbanEdge is worth another mention. This site caters exclusively to no-fee listings by owners, so you don’t even have to sort to find a broker-free apartment.
Apartment searches have come a long way. Using these helpful tools, you just might find the perfect apartment much faster and easier than you thought. When you do find the right place, we’d love to help you move into your new apartment. Imperial Moving & Storage is a full-service moving company based in Manhattan. As a top-rated New York mover, we offer residential moving services across the City to make your moving day easy!
