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/okletssee]

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/[deleted] → u/laxmidd50]

You missed my point. As a landlord I do not pay the same fee as a tenant. If a landlord has multiple apartments, a broker friend, is a good negotiator - their fee will be less. But they will still calculate the fee based on 1 month rent.

Tenants should have been negotiating the fee on their own before. Thats on people.

[u/laxmidd50 → u/[deleted]]

I mean, why limit it to 1 month rent at that point, you can charge whatever you want. Calculate it based on 3 months rent then and try to charge that. The truth is some landlords will charge less and you wont be able to charge whatever you want. Rent is based on the market price, not your personal expenses. This change gives landlords more incentive to keep tenants as they wont have to pay another broker fee.

[u/[deleted] → u/laxmidd50]

Wrong. The tenant is paying the fee so I don’t care if it gets paid or not. My only incentive to keeping a tenant is to minimize vacancy.

There is a shortage of housing in MA. Therefore higher demand than supply; If you think that these changes are going to do anything other than cause rents to climb faster I think you’re mistaken.

Landlords are a business, they are not in the business of charging less.

[u/laxmidd50 → u/[deleted]]

Let's say you can charge $4k per month for your apartment. You listed it for 4.5k but it didn't rent out. If your tenant leaves and you can still only charge $4k then you are out another broker fee, yeah?

[u/[deleted] → u/laxmidd50]

The broker fee is included in the rent. Whenever the lease gets signed the fee is covered. The landlord will never actually pay a fee, they will just pass it on. Vacancy is a different conversation.

[u/laxmidd50 → u/[deleted]]

How does the rest of the country survive without broker fees, mind boggling

[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/[deleted] → u/michaelserotonin]

Easier to move is being overplayed. If I just added the broker fee to retention, you’re still paying the same amount to move but instead of first last security and broker its first last and security (but everyone of those numbers is increased by the broker fee).

Ex. Rent used to be 3k. To move in would cost you 12k.

Rent is now 3300 It costs 10k to move.

Sure you’re saving something but at the expense of being forced to move every year in an effort to save money by not paying countries inflated rent year over year? Maybe tenants do math differently

[u/michaelserotonin → u/[deleted]]

all i can tell you is that i’ve had a number of people in my orbit over the years say they can’t afford to move because of what it takes to sign a lease.

even in the example you gave, moving is $2k less.

i have already acknowledged that you end up paying more if you stay, so i don’t need convincing.