No Fee Apartments Brooklyn

First things first - the good news: you’re more likely to find no fee apartments for rent in Brooklyn than in that ‘other’ borough across the East River. What does no fee mean? It means you don’t pay the broker a commission for helping you find the apartment. If you’re checking out a no fee Brooklyn apt, is the broker helping out of the goodness of their heart? We wish. No, instead of you paying a fee, your new landlord pay’s the fee because the broker is helping the landlord fill her/his available apartments. Remember - every month an apartment is empty is lost money for the landlord. Because the landlord pays the fee, leasing the apartment becomes cheaper for you, which makes it more likely that you rent it. What you’re seeing with ‘no fee’ apartments is classic promotional marketing! No fee is like a coupon or a discount. The goal is to drive more interest, resulting in faster, easier sales.

Unfortunately, some of the best apartments can only be found by paying a fee for the reason described above. If a landlord knows they’ll easily find a new renter for their great apt, there’s no need to pay a broker for bringing them a new renter. Therefore, if the landlord isn’t paying the broker, they broker will in turn charge you. What’s a normal fee, or commission? Normally it’s a full month’s rent or 15% of a full year’s lease. The 15% will cost you more than one month’s rent. Let’s do the math. If your rent on your Brooklyn Brownstone apartment is $2,000/month, you’ll pay $24,000 over the course of a full year. 15% of $24,000 is $3,600, which is a lot more than a full month’s rent of $2,000.

What neighborhoods are least likely to have no fee rentals? DUMBO, Brooklyn Heights, Williamsburg, Downtown Brooklyn and Park Slope. Yep – you guessed it: the more in demand a neighborhood, the less likely you’ll find a great no-fee apartment.

Now that you understand how no-fee works, check out our list of all Brooklyn apartments for rent no fee. The list on the left has 20+ apartments, but to find the right apt for you – refine your search by choosing your desired neighborhoods, your max rent, and your move-in date. Plus select the amenities you can’t live without: laundry, dishwasher, elevator, etc. Refine your search by using Naked Apartments’ search tool at the top of this page.