Everyone knows that the cost of living in New York City is astronomical, but Piper Phillips couldn’t help but laugh when she was presented with more than $10,000 in fees just to sign a lease – and that didn’t include the already high price of rent. Phillips took to her Twitter account (@pipercassidyphillips) to share the absurd interaction she had with a NYC real estate agent when she tried to rent a property.
In the video, which already has more than 400,000 views, she explained that she and her boyfriend were looking for their own place to rent after moving out of their two-bedroom pad they shared with another roommate. She told viewers that hunting for an apartment in NYC is equivalent to a “full-time job” while alluding to the insane requests she’s gotten from real estate agents.
When Phillips reached out to a realtor to inquire about a condo, she couldn’t believe the response she received. The agent sent her a lengthy email along with a price breakdown of outrageous fees. She was told that the condo would take three weeks to get approval and she would be required to show proof of income. There would be a 15% brokers fee for the condo, which Phillips estimated to be around $10,000.
There was also an inconceivable amount of building fees, including a $550 application fee and a $1,500 administrative fee. In addition, Phillips was expected to pay a $350 annual amenity fee per applicant and a $150 credit check fee per applicant. There was also a $150 move-in fee and a refundable move-in deposit of $1,000. As if all that wasn’t bad enough, Phillips was told that she would be charged an additional 5% of all of the afformented costs for the app admin fee. Visibly taken aback by the crippling amount of charges, she captioned the video, “Do [you] want my first born child at this point?”
Phillips was understandably stunned by how much money it would cost her to sign a lease before even paying the rental costs. “Are you freaking kidding me?” she said, before adding, “How is that legal?… If you are looking for an apartment out there, good luck.”
Viewers were equally as outraged at the onslaught of fees required to rent a property and the c comment section certainly reflected their disbelief. “Those fees look like they put a bunch of words together,” one commenter said, while another noted, “This condo clearly does not want their owners to rent out their units.” Another comment claimed to be local to New York City and commiserate with Phillips, saying, “That’s why I’m moving out of NYC after 5 years.”
Inflation and the rising cost of expenses for landlords are leading factors in New York City’s impossible housing market. While the soiree footage of NYC’s apartments keep getting smaller and smaller, the asking price to rent them out has continued to skyrocket.
