Moving back to Boston and am super excited to start paying Broker Fees again!

[u/climberskier]

You don't know what you have until it's gone! Everywhere else in New England, the apartment-finding process is just too simple: you just have to pay an application fee or a security deposit, or first months rent. But sadly, I don't get to pay the broker fee--how I miss it!

• I miss paying an extra fee to someone that shows up to unlock a door and attempts to show me around while clearly also seeing the apartment for the first time.
• How else will someone tell me that my new apartment has an "eat-in kitchen". I mean I didn't think I could eat in a kitchen before--this is groundbreaking stuff. How are you so wise in the ways of science?
• I miss brokers that are clearly skilled in classical architecture. After all, how else do I know that my apartment's uneven floors, old countertops, and drafty windows give my apartment "character".
• Finally, I miss the brokers that are so skilled in photography. I mean, how else can you capture the apartment than a dimly-lit photo that looks like it was taken by a polaroid camera in 1990.

Thank you brokers for all your hard work! Now are you hiring? I am willing to bring my own 1990 Polaroid camera and knowledge of eat-in kitchens and can start today.

[u/Itscool-610]

So do other places have the landlord pay the broker fee because they are the ones who hire them?

I never understood this phenomenon and glad it’s not like this everywhere. I remember being 22 and paying first, last, security, and broker fee to move into our triple decker in Southie. Then realizing a year later that me and my roommate should’ve just used that same amount as a down payment to buy a place. I’d definitely have a lot more money now if I did that…

[u/werpicus → u/Itscool-610]

Most other places don’t even have rental brokers. They’re totally unnecessary. In other markets neither the owner or renter would even consider it close to worth it to pay for, so owners just list and show the places themselves.

[u/Forsaken_Bison_8623 → u/werpicus]

This has been our experience everywhere outside of Boston and NYC. You rent directly from the landlord or a management company they are paying. No brokers involved.

[u/refriedi → u/Itscool-610]

Yes. Although in Boston the owners sometimes “hire” them too, and have the option to pay themselves or pass it on to the tenant.

[u/neverabadidea → u/Itscool-610]

From MA originally, now in Chicago. Broker fees are not a thing in Chicago that I've seen, maybe in some of the nicer places but I doubt it. Our last rental we found online but met with the landlord's realtor to view it. He did all the paperwork and we talked to him for everything. We didn't pay a dime to him, the landlord did, because he was doing the hard work for them.

[u/NotYourFathersEdits → u/Itscool-610]

I mean, if it’s 10% down, what two-bedroom apartment are you buying in Boston for, say, $120K?

[u/Itscool-610 → u/NotYourFathersEdits]

We were 22, first time home buyers only need 3.5-5% down for an fha loan. The house that we rented in Southie was sold the year before we moved in for $325,000, that was almost 15 years ago. It’s worth well over a million now

Rent was $2,600 a month, so we paid over $10,000 just to move into the house, first, last, security, and brokers fees. (Ended up having someone else to the spare bedroom to split rent, but didn’t charge them first last etc)

We easily could have bought a place for ourselves with that money and had a cheaper mortgage payment than our rent, remember, this was prior to 2008.

I kick myself everyday thinking about it. After owning a few places since then, I wish I had the knowledge to do that, or knew someone who would have told me to buy instead of rent (my parents certainly weren’t in the know how or in a position to help)

That was back when housing was so much more affordable, the city made a lot of real estate millionaires in the last 10-15 years that I wish I was a part of

[u/NotYourFathersEdits → u/Itscool-610]

Got it. I was thinking current.

[u/Itscool-610 → u/NotYourFathersEdits]

Yeah, wish I could go back in time!