3 ways to find a rental before it goes on the market (and get a good deal)
- Find someone who wants to break their lease to lock in a lower rent and avoid a broker’s fee
Just make sure to vet your potential roommate or sublet before you move in.
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Finding a New York City apartment is never easy, and with rents currently near record levels, landing a cheap place can feel next to impossible. Take a tip from experienced renters and get a good deal by snagging a unit before it hits the market.
Typically landlords raise rents when market-rate renters vacate—landlords turn over the apartments and bring rents up to what other comparable apartments are renting for. So skip the freshly listed apartment and lock in a lower rent by moving in with someone who already has a lease (the roommate route), taking over a lease (known as a lease assignment), or subletting.
In addition to getting the benefit of a lower rent, you'll avoid paying a hefty broker's fee.
In a lease assignment, for example, “the incoming tenant takes over whatever the current lease is—including the price,” said Phil Horigan, founder of listing website LeaseBreak. “You’re getting yesterday’s price, essentially,” Horigan said.
Read on for three ways to find an apartment before it hits the market.
Use your social (media) network
A survival skill many successful New Yorkers develop is the art of knowing someone—which comes in handy when you need something. Can’t get tickets to that sold out show? They know someone who works for the venue. Want to hit that new, pricey Manhattan club? Find a friend of a friend who knows a promoter. Can’t get reservations at your favorite restaurant? Not if the host is your best friend’s second cousin.
When searching for an affordable apartment, it’s best to tap your large—and preferably local—social network. Perhaps a friend is looking for a roommate in a nearby neighborhood, or an acquaintance is looking to sublet their unit.
Either way, it hasn’t hurt to ask around in my own experience. I found my second apartment after my then-partner realized an acquaintance was looking for a new roommate. The two-bedroom unit—at $950 a month each—was big, near a lovely Brooklyn park, and came with a separate kitchen and living room.
But before you start packing, make sure to vet your potential roommate by asking a few key questions, and tour the unit to ensure it meets your standards and that it’s real. Online con artists have taken to impersonating real estate brokers and creating fake listings on Instagram to try to con renters out of their cash.
Find a renter who’s about to move out
If you’re moving to NYC from out of state, you might not have the vast social network here needed to find an apartment. Luckily, there’s an app for that.
Giulio Colleluori founded Leaseswap NYC, an app he launched two months ago to help tenants find new renters to move into apartments they plan to leave. Leaseswap NYC’s more than 500 listings are mostly from New Yorkers vacating their units at the end of their lease, though Colleluori says there are some users looking to break their lease early.
Colleluori started Leaseswap NYC as an informal spreadsheet he posted on Reddit after his own difficult search for a new apartment. He first got the idea when he was in line for an open house and realized that everyone on that tour had an apartment they were leaving—a potential unit he and his girlfriend could rent. He posted a spreadsheet on Reddit with apartments listed by renters, and hundreds signed up.
Unlike other rental apps, Leaseswap NYC’s users aren’t guaranteed an apartment. Instead, the current tenant will refer you to their landlord who could elect to rent to you, decide to put the apartment on the market, or go with another prospective tenant.
But on the plus side, you’ll know what you’re moving into. The reviews from existing tenants are brutally honest.
You’ll find renters lauding their living situations, with descriptions including: ”responsive super,” “perfect location,” and “great building.” And you’ll find tenants who did not love their units; “very pricey for what you get,” “landlord is lawful evil,” and “we did not have working heat all winter,” were all posted on different listings.
Colleluori hopes his users will be able to score a cheaper apartment because they’ll have a better chance of securing a unit before it goes on the market.
“This all came from the assumption that the best apartments never go on StreetEasy,” Colleluori said. “If you have a great apartment and you have any friends who are looking for housing…then you just pass it to your friend.”
Find someone who wants to break their lease
Most renters who sign a 12-month lease in NYC intend to stay for all 12 months. But life occasionally throws you a curveball.
Tenants might need to relocate for their job, move in with their partner, or maybe they even won the city’s coveted housing lottery. All of these are reasons users of Horigan’s website Leasebreak decided to list their apartments for rent online this year, he said.
Leasebreak lets users scroll through thousands of apartments that tenants need to offload, either through a sublet, an assignment, or the eponymous lease break, Horigan said. Plus, a few landlords offer short-term rentals directly on the website, he added.
A renter who wants to break their lease early is often motivated to find a replacement to help leave their building on good terms with their landlord. If they have to move quickly, they might even be willing to slip you some cash to sweeten the deal, and you’ll also be able to find rentals that have more flexible start and end dates, Horigan said.
