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258 points JumpCrisscross | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0.21s | source
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CraigRo ◴[] No.42131882[source]
Most people here don't realize that there are two different markets:

1) Free market apartments: with tenants not having to pay broker fees up front, LLs can and will come up with workarounds. E.g. 'move-in-fee' of 5k or a 'move-out' fee. They will be able to charge more, especially on renewal leases.

2) Rent regulated apartments: LLs can't play those games, but they can say 'only available if you hire such and such a broker', or they might only list the apartments on a website that operates on a subscription basis where they get a cut somehow. Or, at the margins, this is a significant cost for money-losing units, so they might just add those units to the list of units permanently off the market.

I do expect brokerage fees to decline somewhat, and this may affect pricing for streeteasy and zillow and the other advertising portals, but this is not going to be a huge change, and is going to hurt a bunch of low-income tenants.

replies(3): >>42131976 #>>42132145 #>>42132170 #
1. Eridrus ◴[] No.42132145[source]
I think you are misinformed about market rate apartments, very many of them still required you to pay a broker fee of 1-2 months rent on signing.