NYC Apartment Hunting: Why won’t rental brokers answer me?
Intro
How do NYC Real Estate Brokers Get Paid?
Why Broker’s Aren’t Answering You
Conclusion
Intro:
When moving to NYC, you will probably find yourself coming into contact with several Real Estate Brokers. If you work with ApartmentsTogether, we will help you skip brokers and broker fees at all costs. Regardless, sometimes brokers are the ones you will see advertising listings online and as you start to reach out them to schedule tours, you will notice how
Some brokers are ruder and less professional than others.
Some brokers are very pushy
Many brokers will not answer you or will stop responding.
In NYC, the way the apartment market is structured can leave renters feeling like GoldiLocks; with some brokers being too pushy but then other brokers not answering at all. Where are the brokers who are just right? Oftentimes, renters who try to schedule tours are left hanging, unsure as to why the broker/agent has stopped responding or didn’t respond in the first place. In this blog, I hope to provide some insight, from a former broker, as to why this occurs. Furthermore, we’ll be covering some things renters should and shouldn’t say when trying to tour/rent an apartment through a broker.
How Do Brokers Get Paid?
To first understand why brokers won’t answer you, it’s important to understand how they get paid. Brokers are paid exclusively off of commission, and typically they get paid when deals get done. This means that if they aren’t closing deals, they aren’t making any money.
So what do brokers do? They try to maximize the number of people who are reaching out to them, and unfortunately, this leads to several practices that end up making renter’s lives harder and more confusing. These are all strategies brokers employ that we at ApartmentsTogether help renters avoid:
Brokers will post fake, super nice photos, when the actual apartment looks nothing like them, in hopes of maximizing the number of renters who will reach out to them.
Brokers will leave up apartments that are already rented to keep renters reaching out to them.
Brokers will post listings and will try to charge you fees when you could've went directly to the landlord yourself.
Because brokers are trying to maximize clients and therefore maximize deals, all of these strategies do make sense. So now you’re probably thinking, “But wait, if brokers are trying to get paid, why aren’t they answering me?” Well let’s get into it.
Why Brokers Aren’t Answering You
Now that you understand how brokers get paid, you can start to understand why a broker may not answer you. In this section, we will first cover some basics as to how brokers operate, and then we will get into specific things you may have said or did to result in a broker ignoring you.
Broker is Legitimately Busy
Before we get into the specific things you should/shouldn’t say when reaching out to brokers, it’s important to note that, even if you say and do all the right things, there are still some reasons a broker won’t answer you. For example, perhaps the broker is incredibly busy with showings and missed your message. Brokers and agents can be overworked and overwhelmed by clients, especially if a listing they’re advertising is incredibly desirable. Most renters don’t understand just how many people are reaching out to some listings per day. Brokers will attribute their time where they see the best chance of a deal occurring/closing.
Another “more legitimate” reason a broker won’t answer is the unit already has an approved application and the broker is in the final stages of closing ANOTHER client (even though the listing is still being advertised). Some brokers will try to phrase it as they don’t want to waste your and their time. Some brokers will even leave listings that are already rented up, in hopes of collecting clients who will reach out to the ad. Usually these brokers will answer though, with some prompt explaining other listings they can show you (you can probably go directly to management on some of the listings they share- let us tell you where you can skip a broker fee!).
In any case, good brokers should be respectful and responsible enough to answer you at some point (although many won’t bother).
Pushier Doesn’t Mean Better
In the introduction of this blog, I mentioned how some brokers will be super pushy, but then others will ignore you outright. While this blog is about getting brokers to answer you, one important thing to note is that if a broker is being really pushy, that can be a big red flag. Why? Because demand for apartments in NYC is so high, if a broker has an amazing apartment, they really shouldn’t have to be pushy! Literally, good listings can get 60-100 people reaching out a day. The pushy brokers are sometimes acting in this way because their listing sucks and they're desperate. Curious about other red flags? Schedule a call with our team.
Is it something I said?
Ok, so now that we’ve covered the basics on why brokers act the way they do, let’s get into specific things you may have said to result in a broker not answering you. As mentioned, brokers ONLY get paid when deals get done. So this means that if you as a renter aren’t actively showing them that you’re likely to be a deal, THEY WILL NOT ANSWER YOU. As a renter, to get the maximum number of responses from brokers, you will need to show them you are both serious about the apartment, and qualified.
Here are some examples of things you SHOULDN’T say:
“My move in date is flexible”
Brokers want people who are looking to rent immediately, and are desperate. Showing you’re flexible will not help you.
“I just started looking”
If you just started the process, brokers may think you aren’t worn down enough to make a decision yet OR that you probably don’t have a great idea of the market yet.
Anything that shows it’ll be harder to get approved.
Brokers want to work with organized, qualified tenants to make “best use” of their time so they can maximize their deals. Now there are Fair Housing Laws that require NYC brokers to answer “less qualified” tenants or those with Housing Vouchers…from what I’ve seen, that straight up doesn’t stop brokers, who are literally caught by testers every year marketwide for not following Fair Housing Policy. If you think you are a victim of discrimination or a breach in fair housing, you can call the New York State, Department of State at (518) 474-4429 or the New York State, Division of Human Rights at (844) 862-8703.
Anyway, some things that (legally shouldn’t but technically might) hurt you:
“I have a bad credit score”
“I have no credit”
“I having a housing voucher”
These are a few things that may make it harder to get approved, which in turn will make brokers less likely to answer you if you bring them up.
“I just started my job”
“I’m international”
Many international renters don’t have credit scores or SSN, which can make it harder to get approved for an apartment.
New hires are seen as having less job security than more established employees, so may be best to not mention that right away. Also, if you are a new hire, a student, or an international applicant, then using guarantors or a 3rd party guarantor services will make you more of a “desirable” tenant to landlords, and therefore a more “desirable” client to brokers.
Is it something I did?
Again, brokers get paid when deals get done. THEY JUST WANT TO MAXIMIZE THEIR DEALS, so there are a few things you could do during and after touring with the broker that will get them to start ignoring you.
You were very picky.
It’s ok to have preferences and I don’t judge you for knowing what you want and standing up for yourself BUT…unless you have an exclusive with that broker, if you show that you are difficult and picky when it comes to apartments, they may start ignoring you. No apartment in NYC is perfect, and those who are willing to compromise and are less picky are more ideal clients for brokers.
You took a long time to answer them
As mentioned, a good way to get brokers to answer you is to show that you are serious about the apartment. If you are trying to schedule a tour at a listing you really like, then being aggressive and following up several times may actually help you in getting a broker to answer you (although it may hurt your bargaining power should you decide to negotiate). Email them, call them, text them…whatever it takes until the tour is scheduled. Taking forever to answer will show you aren’t that serious about the unit, and brokers may return the favor.
Conclusion
As discussed, if you LOVE a listing, then the trick is to show the broker/agent that you're serious about the listing, ready to make a move, and THEN ask the question if you have one. Otherwise, they may not answer. In my opinion, it’s better to get them answering, and then you can stop responding if you change your mind.
One of the hardest and most frustrating parts of moving to NYC is working with apartment brokers. Obviously not every broker is bad, but when demand is at high as it is for NYC apartments, many brokers feel they really don’t need to provide a quality service to get paid. At ApartmentsTogether, our primary focus is working with renters to help them avoid broker fees, bad brokers, and bad landlords. Have a question about our service? Schedule a call here.
