NYC landlords chime in...

[Luis Rodriguez]

So my fiancé and I will be closing on our first home in two weeks. We bought a duplex. My realtor told us we should ask $2K for rent. He told us that we should stay around the average rent, you don't want tenants looking around and think they're overpaying. I've taken a look at what has been available and other 3BR 2 baths for $2K get snatched up pretty quickly. Most of the homes in the area are older homes. Our home was built in 2004.  The apartment offers hardwood floors through out, huge master with its own bathroom, central air, storage space, and a balcony. We're thinking of charging $2200, I put up an ad on CL and we've gotten a few replies. Currently on zillow,trulia, and CL there are no similar apartments available. Thoughts ?

What kind of income requirements do you guys follow for tenants in NYC ? Do you charge a late fee ?

For tenant screening we'll use smart move. We know NYC laws are very pro tenant so we want to make sure we get this right the first time. 

Any other advice would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.