Are you a property owner that wants to sell their condo, investment property 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.
Do you know a property owner that might need real estate help? Refer me! I provide great and professional real estate services across all five boroughs.
In my last post, I wrote about how I recently worked on a beautiful one bedroom apartment listing in Ridgewood. The apartment had high ceilings, modern finishes, and was in a great location.
Tons of potential renters called about renting the apartment, and many asked to review a video of it beforehand. In recent years, video tours have become pretty common in the real estate world. Some tenants decide on their next apartment based solely on videos.
But I’m telling you: a video does not provide enough information about your possible future home (at least, that’s my opinion).
In terms of this Ridgewood apartment, after tenants reviewed the video, almost all them confirmed that they were still really interested and wanted to view ASAP before some other tenant snagged the apartment.
Based on this initial response, I sort of assumed that everyone that came to view the apartment in-person would want to move forward with it. But that wasn’t the case. A handful of them didn’t like it because they realized there were factors which were a turn-off that they had not noticed from the video. That included:
Proximity to the above-ground M subway line — The train can be noisy at times. In the video I sent, there is no indication of how close the above-ground M train is to the building — it runs literally right outside of the front entrance, so close that the front facing apartments can wave to commuters if they wanted to from their windows.
While the unit I was working on was in the back of the building, a tenant in this rear apartment can still potentially hear the train screeching by from inside (when I first listed it, I didn’t think this would be a factor, but some tenants mentioned it when they came to view – an immediate disqualification for them).
Although I really like this Ridgewood location, some people realized that they did not like it when they arrived at the building.
Another turn off was that this unit was at the top of a fourth floor walk up. While I like the top floor, some people who visited were immediately not interested because it required climbing up four flights of stairs. (This is something I can potentially mention to tenants before they schedule showings that might save both of us time – I can’t change the walk up.)
Reviewing videos can be a good way for tenants to review layouts, amount of light in the apartment, or other details about the unit before deciding if its worth it for them to come visit. But I am telling you: it is not a sufficient way to make a truly educated decision about your next apartment.
I understand if you are physically unable to view the apartment in person. But if you can, you should. For everyone’s sake. Yours, mine, and the landlord’s. You don’t want to be unhappy in your living situation, and I and the landlord don’t want you to be unhappy. No video will convey how you feel walking around the neighborhood, or if you like the vibe of the building, nor show other small details which could be a deal breaker for you. I’ve heard stories of people forgoing in-person viewings, relying on just a video, signing the lease, and promptly asking the landlord to let them move out shortly after moving in because they don’t like the neighborhood or the building.
Going off a video for your next apartment can be a risky maneuver. Tenants — you want to be happy. This is your home. Landlords, you want happy tenants, therefore you might consider making sure your real estate agent is providing in-person tours whenever asked and whenever tenants are able.
Are you a property owner that wants to sell their condo, investment property 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.
Do you know a property owner that might need real estate help? Refer me! I provide great and professional real estate services across all five boroughs.