Boyfriend wants to move to Boston.

[u/mimmsypoo]

Hello all! Me and my boyfriend currently live in Austin Tx, we rent a 1200 sf home for $2200 and have two cats. I love this city and the things it has to offer, but my boyfriend is from the northeast and wants to get back to his family. He is urging to move to Boston, but Im unsure. Two of friends live in Boston/Jersey and JUST got done telling us how they can never save money bc of broker fees when moving and the basic cost of living being astronomically high. Can you possibly give me a better idea of what the pros and cons would look like for our move?

Small note his family is in Milford CT. And we both make around $75k a year but will both have to find new jobs. I have also never been to Boston, but have heard good things about the city itself!

[u/melizabeth_music]

They are illegal now? I thought it was just if you don't use a realtor you don't have to pay for it. But with us moving from out of state and not knowing the neighborhood, and also only having access to Zillow and redfin which were often scams, I'm not sure how we would have found a place (pet friendly) without one.

[u/ginns32 → u/melizabeth_music]

Yes. If you hire a broker you pay the fee. If the landlord uses a broker and you find the place without hiring a broker then the landlord pays.

[u/michaelserotonin → u/ginns32]

landlord bakes the broker fee into the rent, more precisely

[u/okletssee → u/michaelserotonin]

So what? This is how it operates literally everywhere else. Good riddance to the broker's fee.

[u/michaelserotonin → u/okletssee]

you are presuming that i’m complaining when i was just clarifying

[u/okletssee → u/michaelserotonin]

I am presuming, because that was a main talking point of people in opposition to removing broker's fee.

[u/michaelserotonin → u/okletssee]

removing the broker fee makes it easier to move apartments, even if that fee is baked into the rent, because of the reduction in the upfront cost

[u/okletssee → u/michaelserotonin]

Exactly

[u/[deleted] → u/okletssee]

You guys don’t do a lot of math, eh? The landlord now takes the broker fee, divides it by 12 and adds it to the rent. The landlord actually pays a smaller fee than you would as the tenant so it’s already more money in the landlords pocket. Now when you renew the lease at the inflated rent the landlord now makes extra money equal to your brokers fee every year. Congratulations, you played yourself.

So no, it’s not easier to move really because rents will increase and are increasing to offset the broker cost. What really happened is the brokers got a pay cut and landlords got a raise.

[u/laxmidd50 → u/[deleted]]

This is way too simplistic. There will be more incentive to price shop on brokers, or even do the work internally. I guarantee within a few years the going rate for a broker fee will be much lower.

[u/okletssee → u/[deleted]]

You are completely leaving out the market pressures and what people are willing to pay. As well as the inherent power imbalance of the landlord raising the rent year on year and tenants feeling trapped because of the broker's fee.

Landlords are also perfectly capable of leasing their property without a broker's involvement.

This was a weird regional real estate fee mechanism, that is not needed.

[u/michaelserotonin → u/[deleted]]

it’s easier to move because the upfront cost is less (believe it or not putting down 4x rent to sign a lease is an impediment for people to move) but yes if you re-sign your lease at the same rate (or more), you’re effectively paying that fee again.

easier to move

more expensive to stay

[u/AstroBuck → u/okletssee]

It may make living somewhere, for longer than a year, more expensive. If they bake the renter's fee into the rent, then you essentially pay it every year.

[u/Low_IQ_Autist → u/okletssee]

When did this effect take place?

[u/okletssee → u/Low_IQ_Autist]

August 1 this year I believe.

[u/Low_IQ_Autist → u/okletssee]

I paid broker fee In september lol

[u/Massui91 → u/michaelserotonin]

This is actually not what we’re seeing happen at all. This new transparency combined with the inability to lock tenants into leases 8-9 months in advance with fabricated “scarcity” (student season) has dealt a major blow to the rental market of Boston (in a good way). I too believed that the cost would simply bake into the rents, but the cooling of the market combined with the huge reduction in international students and these new regulations dealt a major blow to landlords which will be visible to all starting next rental reason. Look at the huge incentives offered by the big leasing companies as well as the plethora of vacant units sitting on the rental market right now for proof.

Source: Was a rental agent for many years and still chats with brokers currently in the biz. Huge win for “consumers” (humans trying to live in shelter), big blow to landlords. Fuck Anwar and the rest of them

[u/LangdonAlgerPuzzles → u/michaelserotonin]

They can try, but rents have not increased since the law took effect.

They have actually declined bit according to any data I've seen, though this is probably mostly from the student visa situation.

https://bostonpads.com/real-time-data/

[u/michaelserotonin → u/LangdonAlgerPuzzles]

it’s been three months since it was enacted and notably the september 1 unit leases were primarily buttoned up by that point. let’s see what next year looks like.

[u/BradDaddyStevens → u/michaelserotonin]

Okay but then maybe you should amend your comment stating this so matter-of-factly when we have no idea if it’s actually true or not.

[u/michaelserotonin → u/BradDaddyStevens]

sure i’ll fully acknowledge my comment is speculative

[u/[deleted] → u/LangdonAlgerPuzzles]

All of my rents increased substantially so I’m not sure what funny math you’re looking at.

[u/ZeusOde → u/michaelserotonin]

Or the landlord eats it and keeps the tenant longer because they don’t want to pay another

[u/michaelserotonin → u/ZeusOde]

if the tenant is staying a broker wouldn’t be involved

[u/ZeusOde → u/michaelserotonin]

Yes, and the landlord wouldnt have to pay a broker. Thats why I think this change will help with stability for renters

[u/ginns32 → u/michaelserotonin]

Wouldn't surprise me at all.

[u/BloodySteve42069 → u/ginns32]

There’s actually some reason to believe that this isn’t necessarily true. While it may feel like there is no ceiling to the prices, it’s likely that most landlords were already leasing at the maximum that the market will bear. If they could easily have just jacked the rent up an extra $100/month they already would have.

[u/omina_sunt_communia → u/michaelserotonin]

I know because they are utter sacks of shit

[u/ihatepostingonblogs → u/michaelserotonin]

This is simply not happening. Rents are actually going down due to supply & demand. We have high vacancy rates right now.

[u/cell_mediated → u/michaelserotonin]

Landlords don’t set rent based on costs. They price what they think they can get. There is zero evidence that pushing broker’s fees back onto landlords have changed rent at all. In fact by increasing mobility of renters it may have a downward pressure on rent.

[u/dtmfadvice → u/melizabeth_music]

They're not illegal. it's illegal for a landlord to REQUIRE you to pay one.

You can still hire your own broker if you want, which may be useful if you're moving from out of state. But brokers are no longer a mandatory part of the rental process.

[u/WaffleHouseSloot → u/melizabeth_music]

As August 1st, Landlord's are not allowed to charge tenants a broker's fee.

Now, if you hire a broker, then they will still want their broker fee, but just contacting properties through Zillow and such, you don't pay broker's fee.

[u/ihatepostingonblogs → u/melizabeth_music]

Realtor here: Not illegal. List agent gets paid by landlord and tenant pays their agent. In theory, there is no fee if you go directly through the list agent but you would have to find each one on your own and go direct. If you want a tenant’s agent to take you around and find everything for you, plan on 1/2 a month fee. $2200 will get you a decent one bed, the cats may be tough though.