Are you a property owner or landlord that wants to sell their asset or needs to rent an apartment or retail space in New York City? Call or text me: Sam Moritz, licensed real estate agent, 203–209–3640.
“Is there laundry in the building?”
I get asked this from renters and buyers, a lot, when they ask about a listing. The idea of laundry, to me, seems sort of insignificant— is having laundry in the building of your next apartment that big of a deal? Apparently, it is.
Here are the facts: if there is laundry in your unit, it is worth about $200 more per month if you’re renting it, or if you’re selling a condo — it’s worth about $30,000 more. If it’s only in the basement of a building— you’re only looking at a small increase.
I was with a client yesterday, showing him a rental. He was a nice person and we talked about having laundry in the apartment or building. Laundry in the apartment was great, he said, but he didn’t care much if it was in the building, because he would routinely have to wait for machines to become available. In this scenario, he would bring his laundry to the laundromat.
Personally, I’ve lived in buildings with laundry in my unit, in the basement of my building, and then some where there was no laundry at all. When it was in my apartment, it was a very nice luxury, having to take only a few steps away from my couch to wash my clothes. But in another situation, I didn’t mind having to walk to the laundromat. (Then again, this particular laundromat was only a block from me, so it wasn’t a huge deal. It would probably be very annoying if I had to walk ten minutes to the laundromat in some cold weather. But then again, is it annoying to pay a few extra dollars to have your laundry dropped off? They’ll fold it for you too!).
It just seems crazy to me — laundry, of all things, is the number one thing that people ask about. How about asking about a balcony? Natural light? Apartment renovations? These are things that are asked, but not more than the question: is there laundry in the apartment!?
But the truth is that, if there’s laundry in the unit, you could fetch a bit more on the price for your apartment.
Are you a property owner or landlord that wants to sell their asset or needs to rent an apartment or retail space in New York City? Call or text me: Sam Moritz, licensed real estate agent, 203–209–3640.
I have been associated with EXR for six years.