10:55:30 | 2012-06-04
(New York, NY) — In the current New York City real estate market, there is no more sought-after property type than the rent-stabilized apartment. These apartments feature perks like limits on the amount landlords can increase rent and the guaranteed right to renew lease terms. Although many New York apartment hunters see these properties as an allusive dream in the market, they are actually more prevalent than many assume.
Despite assumptions that these apartments only make up a fraction of the New York market, many experts actually claim that these units can be found all over the city. Recent reports have even shown that there were more than a million rent-stabilized apartments in New York City. Although the numbers have been dropping, these rent-stabilized properties are currently making up nearly half of New York rental properties.
According to market experts, one of the biggest challenges that has renters discouraged in their hunt for these apartments is that they aren’t looking in the right neighborhoods. There are numerous neighborhoods within NYC that actually have a majority of rent-subsidized apartments. Renters looking to take advantage of these property types are encouraged to focus their search on neighbhorhoods like Inwood, Washington Heights, Kingsbridge Heights/Moshulu, southern Crown Heights, Highbridge/South concourse areas. All of these neighborhoods have more than 80% rent-stabalized apartments.
Experts suggest that renters narrow their search results to areas with a high-density of rent-stabilized apartments and then look for properties that will work within these constraints. Most of these apartments can be found in buildings with more than six units and that were built before 1974. The good news is that most of these properties are listed for less than $2,500. There are also a number of luxury buildings that are offering rent-stabilized apartments as they receive tax breaks for doing so.
When apartment-hunters begin to do their search for these rent-stabilized units they will want to look to the city-published lists of rent-stabilized apartment lotteries. There are also resources like the Rent Guidelines Board that can be consulted. Finally, renters should know that not all units will advertise that they are rent-stabilized; many times landlords must be asked first. With additional research efforts such as these, many renters are finding their ideal rent-stabilized apartment within the ever-challenging New York City market.
—Email richard@brokerpulse.com
