IrishMammy38

Hi,

Can anyone recommend a brilliant New York realtor that they've used themselves?

We are moving to White Plains NY and need a good contact for rentals.

Many thanks.

Pulaski

Most realtors don't "do" rentals, and those that do aren't going to show you a comprehensive range of options. Look at the real estate / rental web sites such as trulia, zillow, rent.com, padmapper, craigslist etc.

sir_eccles

The technical term is "broker" and for NY can be very useful, be prepared to pay a significant broker fee.

Bob

Dont' know what the rate is in NYC, but in Boston, it's 1-3 months worth of rent, usually.

Now, if you're not in a market that is quite so hopping, then the landlord will usually pay and/or the rate might only be a half months rent.

Orangepants

My cousin is a "brilliant" New York realtor. Not sure if he does rentals - he is with Halstead Property.

Pulaski

Perhaps the only occupation to make realtors look like over-worked, underpaid professionals.

FWIW When we lived in Westchester County we went straight to the landlord's on-line posting and rented direct from him. I seem to recall we had to pay a fee to the web site (I don't now recall which one it was), but I believe it was less than $100.

rpjs

We went to a couple of realtors in Westchester and found an apartment through one - I guess the guy who handled rentals there was a "broker" rather than a "realtor" but if it quacks like a duck... The fee wasn't too outrageous either, and he actually realised he'd over-charged us a bit and returned the difference. I was gob-smacked having dealt with only British lettings and estate agents before...

Anyhow, the guy we used was Doug Benson at Sotheby's / Hudson Homes in Tarrytown. That's a little bit out of the WP area (but much nicer than WP IMO!) so he may not be able to help directly but might be able to point you at people closer to WP, if you really want to live in the Maidstone of Westchester.

A bit of a longer shot, but you could also try Maria Graca, who was our landlady in Tarrytown and then was our realtor when we bought in Sleepy Hollow. Again, WP isn't really her territory but she might know somebody.

TheNewYorker

I have also used Maria Graca - she helped me buy my home back in 2008, and is wonderful for finding property in Westchester! She mainly knows Tarrytown, Sleepy Hollow, Briarcliff area. However, I know she has a couple of properties in White Plains at the moment.

jaffy23

Are you looking for a house or an apartment? If the latter, go straight to the rental office onsite and save the realtor fee (and oil heat bill, though that's nearly past us for the year!).

Home | 15 Bank Apartments
One City Place | Luxury 1, 2 and 3 bedroom apartments | Downtown White Plains, New York
White Plains Apartments in Westchester County | Avalon White Plains

Friends of ours rented a house in White Plains and worked with Rosemarie Smalheiser. , Order By Exclusive, Price, Page 1 Homes for Sale & Real Estate - she was good and on the renters side!

Sarah

Apartment Ratings and Reviews | ApartmentRatings can be a handy website. I wish I'd looked at it before I had my 8 months of cockroach infested hell in Philadelphia 7 years ago. It would've saved me a lot of money and insect-related trauma.

Bob

Only problem with it, a lot/most? People who post on it post because they have a beef with their landlord for whatever reason, so a lot of the gripe could also well be BS.

md95065

You might very well think that, but the National Association of Realtors® would probably disagree ...