Renting an apartment in the bustling metropolis of New York City can be an exciting yet daunting task. With countless options, neighborhoods, and rental terms to consider, many prospective renters wonder whether enlisting the help of a real estate agent is worth it. In this blog post, we'll explore why it's often better to rent an apartment with a real estate agent in NYC rather than going it alone.  

Rising costs in the city have made it harder for people to afford living in the neighborhoods they've always wanted. As a result, renters and buyers are now considering areas outside of their initial preferences. The next three neighborhoods experienced the most significant increase in interest among renters.

  Rendering of EOS at 10 West 31st Street With the rise of new developments in the city, people are expecting more offerings from their buildings. We’ve compiled a list of some of the best amenity-rich buildings that offer rental apartments for only around $4,000 a month.

Plans at 7 West 21st Street for the 18-story mixed-use tower is nearing completion. Developers Friedland Properties and architect Morris Adjmi teamed up with Stephen B. Jacobs for the project.

New York City is never short on breath-taking views. But what if you could see those views from the windows of your bedroom? We compiled a list (in no particular order!) of apartments with views that are second to none.

Photo: The Living Room at 605 West 42nd Street A new year has begun and rental predictions for NYC real estate in 2016 are already dynamic seedlings of thought. Although the city is a shapeshifting landscape with equally elusive intangible and concrete trends, it’s still fun to forecast the future.

It’s an old story at this point, but if you’ve been following the Manhattan rental apartment market at all, you know the drill: vacancy is down, rents are up, new construction is scarce, and concessions are rare. Among the many explanations as to how we got here - and there are plenty - one of the most prominent is that Manhattan is a small island where space is limited, hence the lack of inventory. The reality is that this real estate platitude is a lazy way of analyzing our current market, one which obscures far more accurate explanations. For instance, the tight credit market for large new construction projects, government restrictions such as historic districts, and long-standing preconceived notions about certain Manhattan neighborhoods have a far greater influence on Manhattan’s rental apartment inventory than the size of the island.

Let’s start this post off with some basic economic theory. As we’ve written before, inventory on Manhattan apartments for rent is at an all-time low. Landlords are receiving multiple applications for their apartments, and waiting lists have gotten as backed up as having twelve people on them. With demand skyrocketing and supply scarce, basic market laws tell us one thing: prices for apartments are going to be high.

We’ve already written extensively about scarcity in the rental inventory in Manhattan. A lack of available apartments will be one of the dominant themes of 2012, mostly due to economic uncertainty. The current economic climate has had the dual effect of preventing developers from constructing new buildings, and pushing people who would otherwise buy condos into the rental market. Yesterday the Wall Street Journal published figures that quantify the market’s scarcity. There will be roughly 2,230 apartments for rent in Manhattan that will go on the market this year, the lowest amount since 2005, when the figure was first counted. And the vacancy rate for all luxury rentals in Manhattan is 1.27%.