The Old Bait & Switch

Beware apartment searchers in New York City! There are more crooked brokers out there than honest ones. Especially, be wary of anyone advertising on Craigslist.com. Don't get me wrong, I worship that site--it's how I sold my car. Craigslist rocks, and I recommend it to everyone I can. But the vultures who advertise on Craigslist will print anything to lure you to an apartment viewing.

For example, I searched on Craigslist for a midtown apartment in the "apts by owner" section. I did this to avoid dealing with a broker and fee. So here's what I came up with: "$2495 / 1br - Very Very Large 1Br(936sqft)/Doorman pre-war bldg." Sounds good, eh? I wanted to know more!

So I clicked the email link to request more info. My first tip-off that this was a scam was the email address: aptz2003@[deleted].com. Hmmm....what owner would have an email address like that? So I asked in my email, "Are you the owner?" The reply email gave me no phone number, just a first name of a guy saying he is a "private" broker for the owner.

So, tip #1 so far is: Don't expect the "apts by owner" section of Craigslist to feature apartments by owner. Tip #2 is: if the reply address has the word "apartment" or "rent" or any related term, this is a broker, not an owner.

The apartment sounded good, so I emailed Mr. First Name Only back and asked to see it. After all, it's five blocks from home. I gave him my home number. When we finally talked on the phone and were setting up an appointment, he told me "Oh, that apartment is actually $2695." (Did you hear my heart sink?) He went on to say there are three units available in that building, and the two $2495 apartments are much smaller than this tremendous "936sf" apartment.

I met Mr. Private Broker at the apartment Friday evening and mentioned the false advertising of the price. Good-looking and seemingly professional broker guy told me that "Oh, my secretary made a mistake...blah, blah, blah." Anyway, I still wanted to see the apartment. He said one of them was gone, but the BIG one (936sf) was still available. So I looked at both the remaining apartments. The second one was very nicely renovated but too small. The big one was very, very nice and spacious, but had no terrace (for Martin). And yet I liked the location and interior, and it was CLEAN and in my price range. I asked the broker how long it had been listed. He replied, "A day or two," and told me I'm the first person to see it. So I went back the next day to see it in the daylight.

As we waited for the elevator, another "broker" got off the elevator with two guys that he was going to show the same apartment to. My broker handed the keys to this other guy. I asked who the hell that was, and my broker told me, "Oh, he works for me." Hmmmm....an independent private broker with his own secretary and broker staff?

I was suspicisous, but screw it--I liked the big apartment and was afraid of passing it up and letting those other apartment hunters rent it out from under me. I was in a dilemma though because I hadn't even worked with the broker assigned to me yet, so I didn't have too much to compare this too. Plus I didn't want to pay $2695 for something advertised for $2495. As we left I told him I'd probably offer the owners a lower price, at which point he told me that if I got a lower price, I'd have to pay the one-month broker fee. Why was I not surprised? What a scam. The broker fee had been added to the rent on this "no-fee" apartment.

That's when I knew that I could have had this apartment for $2500 a month if I'd been able to go straight to the owner in stead of this broker person. Pissed me off. I'm not paying a &^%# fee to rent an overpriced, undersized Manhattan apartment.

So I thought about it. By this time, I still hadn't heard back from the broker that Microsoft assigned me, and I was in a dilemma about this apartment--because I'd allowed myself to become attached to it. Finally, my assigned broker called me back that afternoon and I told her about it. She was able to look it up in her special listing database (like the MLS for home purchases). She confirmed the price was set at $2695--over three weeks ago--not one or two days ago like the broker said. Thank God she called and had info about this apartment. Mr. Private Broker had lied to me twice. If that's the case, what else might he be lying about? That's when I decided I'd have to pass. If the listing has been on the market over a month, what's wrong with it?

Here are some other tricks that I've seen used on Craigslist (and other broker Web sites listing Manhattan rentals):

1. If the ad advertises x number months' free rent and the price is not a rounded number (like $2500, 2450, 3075, etc.), then chances are the advertised price is not the actual rent price. Rather, it's the "net effective" or average rent after you figure in the three free months. This is how brokers make a $3300 a month apartment look like a $3000/month apartment in their ads. I've seen this done in dozens of ads. It's a lie.

2. If the ad has photos, don't assume that they are photos of the actual apartment being advertised. I've been scammed this way once already (see earlier post). The broker will get you on site and then pretend they had no idea it was the wrong apartment or the wrong photos, blah, blah, blah.

3. If the square footage happens to be included in the ad, assume it is wrong. Brokers will do all kinds of tricks to make the apartment look bigger--including using fish-eye or panoramic lenses for the photos, and--even worse--touching up the photos electronically. Squishing the photo horizontally make the rooms look a lot bigger than they are. They'll include things in the square footage like terraces or balconies and other unheated square footage. And, assume they ALWAYS round up. 613 sf is "about 700 sf."

All in all, if you think renting an apartment in NY is easy, think again. And don't trust anyone. No one--especially brokers--whether they are affiliated with a rental company or not. Find out up front if there is a fee involved (whether the owner is paying the broker, or you're expected to pay the broker--either way, it comes out of your pocket in the end). Remember, even on ads that say "by owner" or "no fee," there may be a fee.

And if you use Craigslist, I encourage you to flag any suspicious or false advertisements. If an ad is flagged enough times by different people, Craig will remove it. But not until after you've been duped.