To agent or not
by astanhaus
For anyone not apartment hunting in New York City, please disregard the following.
If you are or aspiring to be a renter in New York City, listen up.
An agent is a necessary evil.
I was hoping to avoid using an real estate agent to find my rental apartment. I didn’t want to pay a fee to someone whose job I have done myself in other cities. But my experience tells me that checking craigslist and calling the #s on“for rent” signs works in every city other than New York.
Simply, I would not have found my to-be apartment without my agent. And I’m so happy I met one as fabulous as mine.
Takeaway: an agent’s fee is inevitable, so pay it, and enjoy the apartment hunt while someone else does the legwork.
(Originally published on Amanda Stanhaus’s financial literacy blog: XO, Bettie.)