So the 2012 rental season has finally arrive and had a some time to get revved up….and revved up it certainly has gotten.  The February 1st apartment hunters are out in full force and the good deals are getting snatched up pretty quickly.  The large landlords & management companies have, for the most part, discontinued all of their wintertime incentives (free month rent, waived security deposit, complimentary gym membership, leniency on application approvals).  They have also discontinued what is referred to in the brokerage industry as ‘O.P. apartments’, that literally means ‘owner pays’ the commission.  And to you, the renter, that means there’s no fee.  Remember you can rent a no fee apartment by going directly through the landlord / management, or you can rent a no fee apartment through a real estate broker when the landlord is paying their fee.  During slower times of the year, owners will often incentive local real estate brokers to show their apartments by paying their brokerage commission.  When the market firms up, they have no need to pay the real estate brokerage commission, as they have no problem either renting it directly to a tenant, or having real estate brokers show and rent out their vacancies collecting their commission directly from the customer.

All of our indicators are saying that the rental market will continue to get better as we proceed into the springtime and summertime months.  What does that mean for you?  If you’re looking to move, you should start doing it sooner rather than later.  The longer you wait the more renters there will be in the marketplace competing for the same deals.

Both the New York City and the national economies have been improving (albeit slowly), and NYC job growth usually outpaces that of the rest of the country.  When NYC has more job openings, more people are moving in to and around the city.  It’s always good to know what’s affecting the NYC apartment rental market so you can plan accordingly.

Good luck apartment hunting!