NWR: Apartment Hunting

CortneyAndKevin Posted: Jan 30, 2014 03:44 PM

NWR: Apartment Hunting

Hey Girls! So its time for me to start thinking about where we are going to live. Probably move out anywhere between April-June. We are both from East Islip and both work out of West Islip. My big question is should I use a realtor (what's the benefit/ do they charge you if you wind up not finding one with them)? And any opinions on the Fairfield complexes (I like the ones on lakeland ave in bohemia but they are a bit pricey. Any advice would help! TIA!!

Alimm729 Posted: Jan 30, 2014 03:48 PM

NWR: Apartment Hunting - Long Island Weddings

A Realtor does all the work for you, if you're not into actually hunting. The only catch is that you have to pay them in the end, usually one months rent.

I'm not a huge fan of the Fairfield complexes for a few reasons. They buy up smaller complexes, give them cosmetic face lifts at minimal cost (ie: not quality) and charge an arm and a leg. When we were renting a Fairfield apartment (in West Babylon) the rent was set to go up over $500 the second year. We got out of there. But, I have a friend who rents in Deer Park (Dix Hills?) and loves it. I think it depends on the actual property.

Lori0413 Posted: Jan 30, 2014 04:21 PM

NWR: Apartment Hunting - Long Island Weddings

You have FM

emmac Posted: Jan 30, 2014 04:24 PM

NWR: Apartment Hunting - Long Island Weddings

I lived at the Avalon on Melville a few years ago and loved it. Gym, pool, party room and the apt was sooo nice, more like a condo than apt.

cets1290 Posted: Jan 30, 2014 05:07 PM

NWR: Apartment Hunting - Long Island Weddings

i would not use a realtor.. we just bought a house and did just find without one. I don't really think they do all that much to help you, and I think it's a waste of money to have to pay someone to look on MLSLI for you...

MrsDtoBe Posted: Jan 30, 2014 09:34 PM

NWR: Apartment Hunting - Long Island Weddings

I spent a lot of time on websites like Trulia and Hotpads looking at different places. The only bad part about apartment hunting is that a lot of times the listings require you to look at them with a broker. I tried to get around it by contacting the management company directly to sign the lease through them and avoid the broker's fee but by they took a long time getting back to me and FH and I LOVED the apartment and didn't want to miss out.

We paid a broker's fee and our broker did literally NOTHING. At the end of everything, the amount of money we paid between first, last, security, broker's fee, and all the BS fees they come up with could have probably bought us a co-op in the area but I wasn't ready for that commitment yet. Definitely avoid a broker if you can - you can do the same thing yourself!!!

brookie6978 Posted: Jan 30, 2014 10:14 PM

NWR: Apartment Hunting - Long Island Weddings

Fairfields are very overpriced in my opinion

KTF11 Posted: Jan 31, 2014 09:44 AM

NWR: Apartment Hunting - Long Island Weddings

We used a realtor when we got our place. Her fee was one months rent. We thought that was a lot so we negotiated and split the fee half and half with the Owner .

luckyerialc Posted: Jan 31, 2014 09:52 AM

Re: NWR: Apartment Hunting

Posted by cets1290

i would not use a realtor.. we just bought a house and did just find without one. I don't really think they do all that much to help you, and I think it's a waste of money to have to pay someone to look on MLSLI for you...

Hmm interesting. How does that work then? Don't you need to contact the realtor when you find a house you like? Or is that one working with the seller directly?

cets1290 Posted: Jan 31, 2014 10:29 AM

Re: NWR: Apartment Hunting

Posted by luckyerialc

Posted by cets1290

i would not use a realtor.. we just bought a house and did just find without one. I don't really think they do all that much to help you, and I think it's a waste of money to have to pay someone to look on MLSLI for you...

Hmm interesting. How does that work then? Don't you need to contact the realtor when you find a house you like? Or is that one working with the seller directly?

there's a sellers agent and a buyers agent. If you use a realtor to help you buy a home, that would be the buyers agent. They are there to help you find the place you want to buy and I feel like they are unneeded.

We looked around on our own and when we decided to put an offer in, we had to do that through the seller's agent. Almost every house sale involves having to work with the seller's agent, but you don't have to pay them. They take a commission off of the sale of the home, so essentially the person selling the home is paying that agent

ETA: Side Note: This is why alot of people who are selling homes try to sell it on their own without a realtor. If it's 'for sale by owner', the seller gets to keep all of the profits and won't have to give a % of the sale to a realtor

luckyerialc Posted: Jan 31, 2014 10:34 AM

Re: NWR: Apartment Hunting

Posted by cets1290

Posted by luckyerialc

Posted by cets1290

i would not use a realtor.. we just bought a house and did just find without one. I don't really think they do all that much to help you, and I think it's a waste of money to have to pay someone to look on MLSLI for you...

Hmm interesting. How does that work then? Don't you need to contact the realtor when you find a house you like? Or is that one working with the seller directly?

there's a sellers agent and a buyers agent. If you use a realtor to help you buy a home, that would be the buyers agent. They are there to help you find the place you want to buy and I feel like they are unneeded.

We looked around on our own and when we decided to put an offer in, we had to do that through the seller's agent. Almost every house sale involves having to work with the seller's agent, but you don't have to pay them. They take a commission off of the sale of the home, so essentially the person selling the home is paying that agent

ETA: Side Note: This is why alot of people who are selling homes try to sell it on their own without a realtor. If it's 'for sale by owner', the seller gets to keep all of the profits and won't have to give a % of the sale to a realtor

This is great to know, thank you!!

ASemderWedding Posted: Jan 31, 2014 01:25 PM

NWR: Apartment Hunting - Long Island Weddings

Using a Realtor for apartment renting has it's pros and cons. One of the biggest pros is the fact that they can get a hold of private listings that aren't available for viewing anywhere else.

Our current apartment we used a broker. The one before it we just found the complex ourselves.

Fairfield apartments are completely hit or miss. It really depends on the complex you're looking at.

CortneyAndKevin Posted: Jan 31, 2014 06:47 PM

NWR: Apartment Hunting - Long Island Weddings

Thanks guys!!! I will take all this advice!

larlynn Posted: Jan 31, 2014 08:01 PM

NWR: Apartment Hunting - Long Island Weddings

If you're ok living in a private house and not a complex, definitely ask around.....people are always trying to rent apts in their 2 family houses or their co-ops. I found my apartment because my salon's bookkeeper's dad was looking for a tenant (though this is in Queens). It's a steal, no broker's fee and he is always brining us all sorts of goodies!