The Money Pros: Take advantage of winter to ice a New York City apartment deal
If you can brave the temperatures, winter is a hot time to find a cool deal on a new pad.
BY GARY MALIN
SPECIAL TO THE DAILY NEWS
Monday, December 22, 2014, 11:15 AM
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LIGHTPHOTO/GETTY IMAGES/ISTOCKPHOTOThe city may be on ice, but winter is a great time to find a new apartment. With higher vacancy rates, you have more bargaining power.
The Money Pros are standing by to take your questions.
Q . I’m moving to New York City for a job and they want me to st art right after the first of the year. I’m afraid that due to the holiday season, the coming weeks are going to be a horrible time to look for an apartment.
What are the pros and cons of looking for a new rental at this time of year?
A. With all the hustle and bustle that accompanies the holidays, no one wants to move during this season unless they have to.
However, other than having to brave the sometimes frigid weather, there are really no “cons” to apartment searching in December.
There is no other time of year when conditions are more aligned with your agenda than this month.
During winter, the city’s vacancy rate rises, rents tend to fall, and owners are more likely to offer move-in incentives (typically one month of free rent or payment of the broker’s fee) to drive traffic to their properties.
The reason is simple: Supply and demand.
Summer is the “busy season” for the rental market, due, in part, to the flood of college students who arrive in our city in search of housing.
In fact, our company brokers twice as many rental transactions during summer than we do during winter.
Because you are competing against fewer people, your apartment search can be a more deliberate process. In the summer months, a prime apartment may get rented in a matter of hours after being listed.
In contrast, during winter, apartments tend to sit on the market for days or even weeks.
While a few landlords “stagger” their leases so their apartments turn over during the summer months, overall there is more available inventory during winter.
Rather than having very limited options, who doesn’t like the ability to pick and choose?
This slower pace gives you time to think about your decision before signing on the dotted line.
Overall, you can expect a much more enjoyable leasing process when compared to the summer whirlwind.
Also remember, a vacant apartment is a landlord’s worst enemy. For this reason, owners are more open to negotiating the monthly rent during winter than they would at other times of the year.
Related service providers like movers are also less busy this month. Because of that, it may be easy to secure your first choice moving date and score a bargain rate.
While I am sure you would rather be relaxing by the fire with your loved ones this season, for motivated apartment seekers, the cold winter months often offer the rental market’s hottest deals.
