I don't log any data other than the date besides what you put in the fields. I also don't connect the email address to the listing, it just goes onto a mailing list.
For now it is confidential, though I'm not sure how to reconcile the idea of an API with confidentiality - even when anonymity is involved. Perhaps I should just change it to 100% anonymous?
The only reason I even cared about it was because you stated it. It made me think this information SHOULD be kept private and think twice before letting it information out.
Does that message even need to be there? Is anyone concerned with it? Might be be better to put the message at the bottom instead. Those who care will look for a statement like that and others won't be distracted.
Hmm...I figured those people would select 1 BR and hit the Flex/Studio checkbox, but I guess that's not so clear? Maybe I should make it 0/Studio -> 5+ and then change the Flex/Studio checkbox to just Flex? Thoughts?
I had a hard time deciding whether to check the "Flex" box or not. I live in a 1 br/sort of 2br and I was trying to decide if it should be 1/Flex or 2/Flex. Should the number of rooms you choose include the sort-of/flex BR?
I'm not 100%, and I turn to HN for ideas. I will likely be providing a free search/compare service for apartment lookers, and eventually charge the landlords to manage their page or something. But any ideas you have I'd love to hear. Ultimately I'd like to make some sort of API to the data (ie: destroy the gatekeeper to this information that makes the market so hard for consumers), but that will likely be secondary to the main product.
I'd suggest taking the trends from TREGNY (but not the actual values, as they are skewed high). Then taking scrapes from craigslist, leaving off the outliers, and then fitting those values to the trend curves and adjusting based on the input you get from your form. There's a bunch of data out there already, might as well use it in conjunction with what ever you're doing right now.
Just started this project this morning, but the goal is soon! Once I get a decent product working for NYC it shouldn't be difficult to branch it off into other cities.
Also, every friend I have who tried to rent an apartment in São Paulo either failed or ended up with something wildly overpriced. If you could make this generic enough to use in other countries/cities it'd be great.
I easily could - the whole point is to avoid taking the information from the marketplace. The prices on craiglist are borderline fraudulent, and are meant to get you into the broker's office at which point they inform you "oh sorry that apt is gone, but here are 5 more that aren't as nice and twice the price!"
> The prices on craiglist are borderline fraudulent
The most attractively priced apartments advertised on CL are on there because they are great deals. There are thousands of people looking for the cheapest apartments, and when someone rents it, that means 999 other people get to hear "I'm sorry, that apartment is gone." Obviously I understand the frustration, since I've been on both sides of those conversations, and there are some brokerages that put out shady ads, but nearly all rentals are on the market less than a week, and smart landlords price their apartments so well they are rented within a day - just because apartments get rented is not evidence of a mass conspiracy.
I've actually had "ok" experiences finding apartments on Craigslist. However, here are practices that bug me:
- brokers and rental companies ALWAYS post in the "by owner" section. I've had agents from Citiapartments actually pretend to be the "owner!"
- brokers post in the "no fee" section but there are always fees.
- no photos... because everything that's a decent deal is also a dump.
- "Net Effective" rent prices in the listing. It's listed at $1700 but that's the "Net Effective" rent not taking into account your 2 months free after 14 months and waiving the fee we didn't tell you about which means that you're really sending us a check for $2150 every month but really, trust us, it's only $1700.
Brokers advertising as "by owner" should be reported, and if fee apartments are advertised in "no fee," those should also be reported. (Honestly, management companies are allowed to split off and have their own brokerage, so that they collect fees by renting the apartments they already own, and in that case they would advertise in "by owner," but it sounds like you were speaking of something different.)
Not having pictures is directly related to how fast apartments are rented - sometimes it's simply not reasonable or possible to gain access and go take pictures of an apartment before it is rented.
Net effective is slimy, but not prohibited, as long as it's labeled properly.
For what it's worth, I never advertise without photos and have never used net effective prices, which is my personal decision, but it still bothers me when people extrapolate from a few bad ads or ads they think are misleading and then disparage the entire industry. The real CL scams are much worse than what people are typically paranoid about real estate agents doing behind the scenes.
It's not a few bad ads, it's like every third ad.
I went through 15 experiences like what I described above and gave up and found my current place through a friend. I don't find it that "slimy." I just figure this is New York and that's how everything works... there's always some middleman trying to screw you. It's what the entire economy of the city is based upon.
As far as I can tell, almost every price listed by a management company for an apartment in a new development is "net effective," whether they list it as such or not.
It's disappointing to hear that you had such a bad experience, and if you're searching at certain price points I can see how you'd hit a bunch of brick walls when trying to find an apartment - having inside knowledge, whether it's through a friend, working directly with a management companies, or having a broker who knows what you are looking for, is always the best way to find a place.
> As far as I can tell, almost every price listed by a management company for an apartment in a new development is "net effective," whether they list it as such or not.
You're right - new developments and management companies are the ones who thrive on advertising net effective prices. They are not officially "brokers," so they are not held to the same guidelines and restrictions that brokers are, and they operate in an uncomfortable gray area when it comes to advertising on CL.
I definitely hear you - this is actually just an idea I had last night and just wanted to get some data. The response has really been pretty decent (I've got about 150 pieces of usable data).
My next step is to figure out exactly how to use the data. I will likely start with neighborhood pages, and move on to individual building pages once the data gets dense enough.
But I would love to hear your thoughts on product ideas - what info would you like to see? What comparisons/analytics on the data you know I have?
Well, as your friendly neighborhood real estate agent: What do you feel is so "evil" about the NYC real estate market, aside from using it as a provoking headline?
Apartment prices depend on the move-in date - an apartment may be rented at significantly less than its current market value if the tenant has been there for 10 years, while someone who just moved in to the identical floorplan will be paying quite a bit more. Comparing this smattering of prices is unhelpful, and is exactly why rental reports like the one linked above are based on average and median prices for apartments currently on the market or recently rented.
