Here was me writing in October 2007, during a very different New York real estate market:
Never have so few earned so much for working so little. It’s not that rental agents are lazy (the successful ones, far from it) or unscrupulous; it’s that they now operate where two slightly symbiotic forces drive their commissions higher.
Rents have gotten really high. ... The majority of rents in the majority of neighborhoods are higher than at the start of the year and much higher in many cases than one or two years ago.
Demand remains great, too. The Manhattan vacancy rate, according to brokerage Marcus & Millichap, should finish the year below 2 percent. Vacancy rates are similarly low in Brooklyn ...
But the rental market's changed profoundly in just the last few months. It's not so easily lucrative being a New York rental agent anymore. read more »
