Is it better to use an agent or list rental on your own in NYC

[Bin Chen]

I have been struggling with this question for a while now and am not sure what the best course of action is. There are pros and cons of both.

Pro of using a realtor:

In NYC the landlords generally doesn't pay the realtor 

Saves time answering calls/emails and showing the apartments

There is a $125-$199 fee per 2 weeks to list on streeteasy/zillow/trulia/hotpads.

Cons: 

They charge a fee to the tenants. From what I've seen its 1 month to 15%. For a $2,500 a month apartment that can be $2,500-$4,500. Potential tenants will most likely not want to pay this and opt to look at no fee listing only. 

At the end of the day the potential tenants are looking at total costs. If they can save a couple thousand upfront they might even opt to rent a place that's slightly more expensive just because its no fee.

Am I missing anything? Do the pros outweigh the cons? I would definitely go with a realtor if everyone else were also using realtors but there are a couple rental buildings in my area that lease internally so there are several no fee apartments in the area. 

[Alex Furini]

@Bin Chen. Ill just add my two cents as a investor who self manages in NYC.

I run an architecture firm full time and self manage, maintain, and list all my properties. Screening tenants myself is important enough that I find time in my schedule to do it.

My response is from the point of a small landlord less than 20 units. If you are one of the big boys and have a bunch more properties or items on your plate, then this doesn't really apply to you in my mind.

I find that if you want something done right you have to do it yourself. The only person who is looking out for your best interests is you. That is not to say Brokers aren't hard working individuals, but in the end it's your property and once the lease is signed their job is done. You however, are linked to the newly acquired tenants for a year minimum.

I personally would rather spend my time screening the tenants. As most landlords will tell you, a bad tenant can really try your nerves and/or bank acct. Trust me I know, and I will do just about anything to avoid bad tenants. In NYC evictions can take 6 months  min easily. 

With a broker, you are not screening the tenants the way you would really want to. I.E. Phone screenings, screening them in person during the showing, screening all their documents personally, etc. etc. We all have different processes set up for screening tenants. It's multi step and a good solid screening process is paramount. With a broker, the screening pretty much starts and ends with the credit/background and documents. I have had plenty of potential tenants come view properties who had amazing credit and income, but horrible personality traits which would make them nightmare tenants. As a self managing landlord, my job is to spot the bad eggs in the very limited amount of interaction time I have. People can look great on paper, reality can be quite the opposite.

I have tried using a broker twice over the last few years because it is taxing time wise to fill apartments. My experiences were less than stellar. In the end with both, I ended up finding qualified tenants to fill the vacancies instead of the broker. 

Good luck.