No Sure Deals

I thought a deal on a particular vacancy was imminent. Then some associate of the owner's offers them several hundred more dollars a month. I don't blame them for taking the offer, but it sucks for me (and for the person who wanted the space, but can't afford to match the other offer). Ugh. Another payday potentially down the drain.

Property Grunt Gives His Blessing to No Vacancy NYC

Lazy slacker that I am, I just now, as in, today, getting around to posting that Property Grunt likes this blog! Really likes it!

Grunt, just so you know, some of the snarkier, nastier tales of woe are in the NoVacancyNYC archives. I encourage you and everyone else to spend some time savoring my past brilliance. Ha ha. That was meant to be ironic. As always, I am working on yet more tales of woe and misery to bring you, explained in such a way that won't get me canned.


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Dammit I can't get that link thingy to work!!

I Heard a Rumor. . .

. . .That some brokers are charging outrageous fees for rentals. Like waaaaaayyyy beyond the standard 15% of the first year's rent that's common in Manhattan. Perhaps this will taper off until next summer, now that August is behind us.

The most I've ever charged (so far) was 20%. Well, actually we negotiated it down a couple of percentage points. Keep in mind, though, that the apartment was under $800 a month AND rent-stabilized. And gut renovated. So in other words, a rare deal worth every penny to the person who took it and probably won't move out for a decade.

Those August Days

August had me swamped. I was adjusting to a new workplace, dealing with a very busy time of year, and had many to-do's, both personally and professionally.

I know I've been a bad little blogger by not posting several times a day (or even daily!) and providing tons of linkage. Hopefully I won't be so MIA from now on, and we can pick up the snarky commentary where it left off. Dunno about the links, though. Seems other blogs like Curbed and Property Grunt cover that territory pretty well. Pathetic stories of broker hell? Those, my friends, I can provide.

In other news, I'm thinking of renaming this blog "Broker Bitch." Bitch--it can be a verb, a noun, or an adjective. Gotta love a word so flexible and adaptable. Woof!