Negotiating with a NYC broker

March 16, 2008 8:53 AM

Looking for advice in negotiating with a NYC apartment broker. I know they're all "scumbags" etc, but I find myself in the position of working with a broker and an apartment I want to go for.

Yesterday in speaking with him I asked if there was any flexibility in his fee and he said "wish I could, but I can't." I pretty much just left it at that. The fee is 15% which is essentially 2 months rent. Insane! I have researched a bit and found that the apartment has been on the market a few weeks (longer than many), and we have another option, potentially with another broker. But my fear is that he'll just say, "OK, bye" because he can charge the full fee to someone else who walks in the door. What other bargaining chips do I have?

posted by pithy comment to work & money (8 comments total)

Ultimately, your leverage in any such situation is that you'll walk away if the price is more than you're willing to pay. If you'd really like to have the apartment even if you have to pay 15% then you're bluffing when you try to negotiate the price lower. That's not to say that bluffing doesn't work, and I'm sure you will get good suggestions for how to do it with low risk, but you should be aware that you're bluffing and that it's impossible to completely eliminate the risk that you'll lose the apartment by doing so.
posted by winston at 9:11 AM on March 16, 2008

and we have another option

Did the broker not make you sign an agreement before dealing with you? If he did, then you owe him the commission even if you go around him to rent the apartment.
posted by winston at 9:13 AM on March 16, 2008

15% may be extortion, but it's also pretty standard in New York. Call him back and say, "we'll take the apartment, as long as you'll accept 10%," and you might get away with 11 or 13, but then again, he might just decide you aren't worth the hassle.
posted by boots at 10:14 AM on March 16, 2008

I've never dealt with a broker who charged less than 15%. During the days of a fatter economy, some were charging 20%. The only negotiation that could possibly happen is between you and the lessor.

my fear is that he'll just say, "OK, bye" because he can charge the full fee to someone else who walks in the door

This is, IMO, the only point that matters, because it's true. All it takes is one person saying "yes".

winston- I'm assuming the "other option" is another apartment.
posted by mkultra at 10:29 AM on March 16, 2008

You may be able to negotiate a few points down if you agree to pay him in cash instead of check or money order, and within 24 hours. Be sure to base it in dollars instead of percentage points so he doesn't have to do the math, so if the fee would have been 15% or some random number like $2060.15, ask him if he'd just take $1700 in cash, that very day.
posted by mochapickle at 12:55 PM on March 16, 2008

15% is pretty high for a broker. 12% makes more sense.

But, listen, if an apartment is listed with brookers, you're going to have to pay him the fee no matter what he does. My current apartment went as follows. He did not show us the apartment (the landlord did), my roommate and I actually never met him. In fact, we only communicated with him twice via email. And we still owned him 12%. Welcome to broker land.
posted by Stynxno at 1:41 PM on March 16, 2008

Yup, 15% is standard (in Manhattan) and almost impossible to get around. You might try asking the broker to see if the landlord will knock $50 off the monthly rent to mitigate the broker's fee (I've had brokers offer to do this), but unless you're a stellar tenant, that's usually a pretty hard sell, too.
posted by CiaoMela at 8:02 AM on March 17, 2008

Whatever you do, talk them down. Can't hurt to try. You can usually get them down to 12%, and I've even heard about people getting them down to 10%.

Play hardball. The broker is not your friend.
posted by Afroblanco at 9:40 PM on March 17, 2008