Summary
“Hey guys this is Batya Babayoff and I’m gonna be talking about the Housing Crisis in NYC. welcome to my podcast 😉
So as you guys know, we have had a huge housing crisis here in NYC in the last couple of years. We are facing a significant amount of low housing availability because nearly no place is affordable for - median-income families - or - homeowners are refusing to rent out their spaces due to the policies in place for tenant protection in NYC. On this podcast, I’m going to be talking about this issue talking to homeowners, real estate agents, and people. People like me and you - people who want affordable housing. I'm gonna wrap this up by discussing the potential solutions to this issue.
Batya: So, I'm here with Avi Benz - a homeowner in southeastern Brooklyn. Tell us Avi, Take me through the steps of bringing a tenant to come and live with you.
Avi: So first things first, you reach out to a local real estate agent, or a broker, or regardless of which, and it can either be someone that suggested or just someone local and generally the people that are looking to come and rent or people that are priorly leaving a prior apartment or something of the sorts. And so the real estate broker will actually do a background check to check for any criminal records and to see what type of ppl they're bringing you. They'll do a credit check to see if they had any bankruptcies or any problems with credit or things like that along the line. And then the next step after all of the background info is given and the application is filled out they obviously come to see the apartment, whatever they like so you know as homeowners we have to make sure it's clean and it's of the liking of the renters that are coming to take a look. And every time generally if you have people coming you know between week to week you have to make sure it's always clean which can be time-consuming. And then you actually get to meet with them, u get to see what type of people they are, how clean they seem. Or not clean. And based on that u can decide on who u bring in. It's very important you know you want to see what type of people you're bringing in especially today because of the way New York’s system is set up, it is generally very much against the landlord and it's very difficult to take someone out once u bring them in and generally, it takes quite a while when you're trying to get rid of someone which is difficult because at the end of the day us landlords, people forget, we still have to pay our mortgages and we still have to pay all our bills and everything. So we have to really make sure and especially it doesn't only come down to what’s written on paper, that’s the whole point of meeting them. You have to really make sure in your gut you know that these people are not going to be a problem. You're gonna be living with these people for X amount of time until they don't wanna be there. Generally, a big thing when someone comes is you wanna make sure to get a letter of recommendation from their previous landlords because u wanna make sure that they are not being evicted you wanna see their court details to see if they have been to court if someone tried evicting them ever. If they're problematic or not. You wanna see a recommendation from their boss see what type of people they are, see if they held the same job for a while or if they are floating between jobs. Generally, if they're floating between jobs then it could be that tomorrow they tell you that they can't pay bec they do not have a job and then the next day… and everything is so up in the air.
Batya: Okay so I can understand that this is a difficult and lengthy process, correct?
Avi: Correct.
Batya: Okay, and why do u rent out your unit?
Avi: Because it’s expensive to pay the mortgage, especially with the high interest rates in New York so every little dollar helps especially from the tenant.
Batya: Okay, and What would be some reasons you would not want to rent out your unit?
Avi: If I didn't need the money to pay the mortgage there would be absolutely no reason why I would get a tenant. A tenant at the end of the day they come in and you know - to their right - but they ruin your apartment to an extent. Basic usage but yes it does ruin it. If they have kids if they're a big family they use a lot of utilities - utilities are very expensive especially you know in New York where everything is more expensive. You have to worry about gas, about water - even electricity although everybody has their own electric meter there is some common area where you still have to worry about. So utilities are much higher generally when you have other people living in the same building or in the same house as you.
Batya: Okay and, are you aware, and I know you mentioned this before, but are you aware that if a tenant does not pay rent in NYC, you cannot evacuate them immediately?
Avi: Yes, it can take up to a year sometimes, and that's after having to take days off of work to go back and forth to court and having to spend money on a lawyer and all that and you still have to wait sometimes longer.
Batya: Right, and Does that affect your decision to rent out your space?
Avi: Of course if it was easy like it is in other states you know then I wouldn't think twice. Sometimes you know this question that you asked is a very good question because lots of times tenants come and say “Why is the process so difficult and so lengthy” and they just need to find an apartment and they need to move or they ask “why is it so expensive” and they don't realize that the sanctions that nyc places upon us landlords make it much more difficult for us to accept ppl w open arms because it's much harder so yes the job that you have and, where you're from and a sense of your history and stuff like that it does have a huge impact, however, if it was easier to evict then I wouldn't be too concerned with who is coming in and I would just try to help the person that I think needs help the most and if worst comes to worst you can always get rid of them but since that's not the case you have to be very very careful and do your due diligence.
Batya: Okay, and lastly, What is being a homeowner like? Do you have any issues with your tenants? Take me through some of your experiences.
Avi: SO happens to be I'm very lucky we don't have any issues with our tenants. Our tenants are actually great people. But in this specific case our most recent tenant we actually took a leap of faith they are refugees but we did want to help them. We wanted to do our part when everything was going on with the war in Ukraine. And we got very lucky - we know some friends that weren't as lucky when they took people that they had no idea about but we got very lucky. However, at the end of the day being a landlord is very difficult you have to make sure to pay for maintenance you know it is a lot of expenses besides all the bills and the utilities that your tenants are using you know there's a lot of maintenance around the house and u have to make sure that everything is always working. If there's a problem you have to fix it. If you are in the middle of work and u get a call that something is not working you do not have the liberty to just continue working, you gotta stop - u don't have the luxury to just say hold on you gotta go gotta take care of it you gotta do what u have to do in order to make sure your tenants are comfortable. you always have to fix you have to pay for maintenance ppl to come once a year whether it is to do the roofing to do siding whatever it is you have to make sure that it is done
Batya: Alright, thank you thank you Avi Benz I appreciate it thank u very much.
Avi: Thank u have a great day.
Batya: You too
So just to clarify on what Avi was saying, It is stated in NYC’s “Housing Preservation and Development” website, that, “Changes to New York State rent laws, recently passed by lawmakers in Albany, make it harder for landlords to evict any tenant.”
So yea I do understand any hestitation that homeowners or landlords must feel when renting out to tenants.
Now we’ll be talking to – a real estate agent in NYC
[sound bites]
That is crazy yall. Here’s —
Tell us —, what’s your role here?
“I am a college graduate looking to rent out a place in the city”
And how's that going for ya? Are you finding it difficult to find affordable housing here in NYC?
[sound bites]
Okay, guys we've heard from the best, just to put in perspective from what — was saying, according to CBS News, rental prices in Manhattan are up to an average of nearly $5,200 in March 2023 while the average annual salary in Manhattan is $6,607 a month. That’s more than 50% of the average income spent on rent.
So what can we do to help this crisis? Cities can enforce affordable housing programs that provide incentives or partnerships with developers or homeowners to increase the availability of affordable housing units. So reach out to your local —- and urge them to —- [research and find the right words to fill in the blanks]
(Based on the interviews that I will conduct, I will incorporate some of the following statistics)
“Changes to New York State rent laws, recently passed by lawmakers in Albany, make it harder for landlords to evict any tenant.” https://www.nyc.gov/site/hpd/services-and-information/tenants-rights-and-responsibilities.page
“The only legal way to evict a nonpaying tenant is through a nonpayment eviction proceeding in Housing Court.”
https://www.nyc.gov/site/hpd/services-and-information/eviction-prevention.page#:~:text=Eviction%20Proceedings&text=The%20only%20legal%20way%20to,the%20tenant%20will%20be%20evicted.
“More than 13,000 rent-stabilized apartments sat empty for the past two years amid a heated debate over “warehousing” low-cost units, according to a new review of state data.” https://gothamist.com/news/more-than-13k-rent-stabilized-units-in-nyc-are-sitting-empty-for-multiple-years-report-finds
“The report found that 4.54% of all New York apartments are vacant as of 2021. That’s up from 3.63% in 2017, the last time the survey was completed.” https://www.thecity.nyc/2022/05/17/nyc-apartment-vacancy-rate-housing-emergency/
“Between 2017 and 2021, the city lost 96,000 units with rents less than $1,500. At the same time, the city gained 107,000 units with rents of $2,300 or higher.
The median asking rent for all vacant apartments was $2,750 last year, up 46% from $1,875 in 2017. To be able to afford that median vacant rent, a potential household would have to earn at least $110,000, the HVS found.” https://www.thecity.nyc/2022/05/17/nyc-apartment-vacancy-rate-housing-emergency/
A new report from StreetEasy says to keep housing costs below the recommended amount of 30% of your income, the average New York City renter must earn about $134,000 per year, which is almost twice the city's median household income.
"Already in New York about one-third of renters out there are spending more than 50% of income on rent," said Kenny Lee, an economist for StreetEasy.
https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/report-renters-in-nyc-must-earn-nearly-twice-the-citys-median-income-to-satisfy-the-30-rule/
Prices in Manhattan are up again this month to an average of nearly $5,200. (March 2023) https://www.cbsnews.com/newyork/news/report-manhattan-rent-was-at-nearly-5200-in-february/
As of Sep 23, the average annual salary in Manhattan is $79,285. Just in case you need a simple salary calculator, that works out to be approximately $38.12 an hour. This is equivalent to $1,524 a week or $6,607 a month. https://www.ziprecruiter.com/Salaries/-in-Manhattan,NY#:~:text=What%20is%20the%20average%20salary%20in%20Manhattan%3F,week%20or%20%246%2C607%20a%20month.