Why Are Short Term Rentals in New York City So Expensive?
If you are new to the short term rental search, you may experience sticker shock. How could a 400 square foot three month furnished rental in Manhattan cost $3800 per month, especially when the exact same apartment may only cost $2000 per month as an unfurnished 12 month rental? Many short term renters just give up their search at this point.
Why Are Short Term Rentals Between 1 and 12 Months So Expensive?
First off, most condos, coops, and rental buildings in Manhattan do not allow rental leases of less than one year in duration, and condos, coops, and rental buildings make up most of the available rental inventory in Manhattan. This means that the available short term rental options for Manhattan tenants are extremely limited at any given time. With low supply and great demand come high prices.
Second, those landlords who are offering furnished short term rentals are taking on some sizable costs, and they need to cover these costs by charging higher prices. A lot of landlords who are in the short term rental business acquire their short term rental inventory by signing long term leases with other landlords, furnish the apartments, and then rent them out short term. One of the biggest costs these short term rental landlords have is their ongoing fixed rental costs. They have constant pressure to make sure they minimize vacancies as much as possible. These short term rental landlords also have the additional cost of acquiring and in some cases storing the furniture.
Are All Short Term Rentals in Manhattan Expensive?
The good news is “no”. At Leasebreak.com, we have many different types of short term rentals including the type mentioned above which are valuable and fill a great need. However, we also have a very affordable type of short term rental called a “leasebreak” *. In fact, we have the largest known inventory list of “lease breaks” in Manhattan for a website of this kind. The tenants who are living in these apartments originally signed longer leases, but then something happened in their lives (got married, had a baby, purchased a home, got divorced, etc. etc.), forcing them to exit their lease early. These apartments are posted on our website by tenants directly or by real estate agents on behalf of tenants. The tenants are usually just looking to cover the costs remaining on their lease, and sometimes they even offer incentives. The prices can’t be beat! There are no short term rental premiums for these listings! Sometimes, the tenant will even opt to keep the furniture in the apartment, which may work if someone is looking for a furnished rental!
Please feel free to post and search for a short term rental on Leasebreak.com. For the foreseeable future, it is a free resource! If you have any questions, you can reach us at [email protected]. Happy short term rental hunting!
*Note that we use the general term “lease break” here but when posting on our website, the poster of the listing is asked to categorize the type of “lease break” into a “sublet”, “lease assignment”, or “leasebreak”.