A peek at my new book: Guerilla Guide to Renting in NYC

The real estate brokerage world in New York City is a political machine. Theoretically landlords and other real estate brokerages are supposed to like doing business with each other. This is not the case. Some agents and some landlords will blackball certain agents, agencies, and their listings, as well as their customers (you). One landlord told me “That agent is crazy, I won’t rent an apartment to anyone he brings my way.” Another friend opened a new real estate agency and the big New York City brokerages refused to show any of his listings or allow any of his customers (you) to rent an apartment hoping to shut him down.

Rental consumers are in the dark about the workings of the fiercely competitive real estate market. Especially the rental market. It’s an insane machine. Not only do renters in the city pay through the nose for an apartment in the form of fees; but making it all the more so absurd is that if you are in the hands of the wrong agent, you will lose the opportunity to get accepted for the apartment of your choice.

And it’s not your fault.

When my AptStar clients go directly to a landlord, that landlord doesn’t even know I am pulling the strings in the background. There is no one to like or dislike. You are making direct contact with the owner. And the owner, if you do things in the way that I will outline here, is going to like you. 100% is going to like you, and that means you will rent a better apartment and you will not be paying the broker fee.

I believe that you, the renter, should not have to pay outrageous broker fees. Rents are high enough in New York City. I took on the rental industry over a decade ago and have been on an epic ride ever since. This book takes that to a new level. I want to help as many people as I can and this will enable me to do that: help you in ways that have never been shared before.

An early AptStar client was completely in love with an apartment he had seen through a broker, and of course, it had a big 15% broker fee attached to it. I had an idea: I discovered that the landlord owned a coffee shop just across the street from his coveted apartment.

What did I do? I sent him to the owner’s coffee shop, instructed him to have a cup of coffee at the counter, get on the phone, and complain about how difficult it is to find an apartment. This caught the attention of the landlord/coffee shop owner who then showed the very same apartment.

My strategy saved him thousands of dollars. Remember, he had already seen the apartment through a broker.

So, for the naysayers who say it can’t be done. It can.