Moving to Brooklyn, NY? 9 Apartment Renting Tips

Dealing with Realtors, Understanding the Lease, Knowing Your Rights

© Ellen Freudenheim

Sep 15, 2009

Moving to the Big Apple? For recent college grads, newcomers to New York and others, there are some basic facts of dealing with real estate here that might be different from back home. The following won't help a person find that perfect apartment, but are essential things to know for first time renters.

Tips on Finding a Real Estate Agent in Brooklyn

1. All Brooklyn apartments are not "multiple listed" by brokers.In many cities, rentals can be advertised by an real estate broker--a practice called "multiple listing"--but it's not the case in Brooklyn . In other words, not every real estate agency has the same listings as the next realtor. Sometimes realtors do share listings, and sometimes not. There are a handful of huge realtors in Brooklyn such as Corcoran and Prudential Douglas Elliman who have a lot of listings (and also charge the highest broker commissions).
2. Each neighborhood in Brooklyn has its mom and pop realtors. Don’t overlook them. Sometimes they have great listings, obtained from friends, neighbors, or local folks, that the large realtors don’t have. To find a local realtor, just walk down the main shopping street in the neighborhood of one's choice, whether that's Williamsburg or Carroll Gardens.

Tips on Seasonality-When to Rent an Apartment

1. In terms of inventory, the best season for apartment hunting in NYC is spring and summer. Landlords often prefer to have tenant’s leases come due from May to September, when young families are moving because of schools, or college grads are coming into town to rent their first apartment.
2. However, there’s a silver lining for those who begin to rent from October to April. A person seeking to rent in the late autumn or winter might get a price break, because no landlord wants to have an apartment sitting empty for months. And, it's possible to negotiate a less-than-12-month lease sometimes, as landlords may be interested in getting back on the summer-rental cycle. However, be aware that lease renewal is an opportunity for landlords to increase the rent.

Tips on Landlords, and Tenants Rights for Apartments in Brooklyn

1. Read the lease. It's a contract, after all. Many landlords use a standard form lease, and it’s a good idea to become familiar with it. Standard leases are sold in larger stationary shops in New York City for a few bucks; just ask for it. There are two kinds, one lease for month to month rental, another designed for a longer period of time such as a year.
2. Negotiate. Not everything, but a lot more than one might think, may be negotiable. That includes the rent, the duration of the lease, and any special criteria such use of common roof or backyard space.
3. Pets are not welcome in all rentals.
4. A guarantor may be required. Young people without sufficient employment or credit history who are seeking to rent an apartment in New York City are often required by the landlord to have a legal guarantor to cosign the lease. In effect, the guarantor promises to pay the rent should the resident tenants default. Some landlords insist that guarantors live in New York State.
5. Brooklyn neighborhoods retain a small town quality: one's landlord may live in the neighborhood. In Manhattan, huge apartment towers might be owned by a corporate entity. However, Brooklyn rentals, especially in apartment buildings of 4 or fewer floors, may well be owned by people who live in, work in, or come from Brooklyn.
6. Landlords have obligations to tenants New York City law specifies the landlords obligations in terms of such details as crime prevention, smoke detectors, window guards and so on.

Tenants Rights in Brooklyn Apartments

1. Different laws apply in different situations. Different laws apply to apartments depending on how many rentals there are in a building. For instance, the NY State Office of Attorney General’s Tenants Rights Guide states, “Landlords of buildings with three or more apartments must keep the apartments and the buildings' public areas in "good repair" and clean and free of vermin, garbage or other offensive material."
2. New York has famously pro-tenant laws. You can read the Tenant's Rights Guide to learn more.

Getting Help When Dealing with New York City Bureaucracy

Finally, for questions regarding just about anything to do with the municipality of New York City, the hot line 311 is a helpful service. The operators there will not answer questions directly, but they will put a caller in touch with the proper city agency that can answer the question.

Most first-time renters won't get everything they long for in a Brooklyn apartment; in fact, almost nobody in NYC does. But college grads (and parents who may be guaranteeing the first year's rent) should the basics of renting an apartment, especially tenants rights, in Brooklyn.

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