Fresh out of law school in 1998 I naively thought my $110,000 annual salary would make renting an apartment a breeze. I targeted a newly constructed building on the lower East Side that did not require a broker's fee. The $1,600 monthly rent kept me well below the 40 X salary formula the building used to qualify prospective tenants. But as anyone who has ever rented in New York knows, it's never that simple. Despite my salary and credit history, the building required a guarantor. Considering that my salary made me the highest paid person in my entire extended family, there was no one I could turn to. I fumed as I watched recent college grads earning a fraction of my salary breeze through the application process and get apartments on the strength of their parent's finances while my protestations fell on deaf ears. Thankfully, it worked out fine in the end, I moved to and fell in love with Brooklyn and saved a lot of money, but I wouldn't have minded the option of using a service like Insurent. Insurent is an institutional guarantor that for a fee between 4.5% and 11% of your annual rent, will guaranty your lease. It's not clear how many buildings participate in this program, but it seems like an idea that could take off in New York. When even lawyers at fucking White Shoe law firms can't rent a fucking apartment in this town without a fucking guarantor (about how I felt back then), I'd say the need is clear. And from a landlord's perspective, an institutional guarantor seems no more risky than an individual guarantor. For those willing to pay the premium, Insurent might be the ticket to scoring that killer $2500 studio. Sunday, March 16, 2008
When A Six Figure Salary Isn't Enough ...
Fresh out of law school in 1998 I naively thought my $110,000 annual salary would make renting an apartment a breeze. I targeted a newly constructed building on the lower East Side that did not require a broker's fee. The $1,600 monthly rent kept me well below the 40 X salary formula the building used to qualify prospective tenants. But as anyone who has ever rented in New York knows, it's never that simple. Despite my salary and credit history, the building required a guarantor. Considering that my salary made me the highest paid person in my entire extended family, there was no one I could turn to. I fumed as I watched recent college grads earning a fraction of my salary breeze through the application process and get apartments on the strength of their parent's finances while my protestations fell on deaf ears. Thankfully, it worked out fine in the end, I moved to and fell in love with Brooklyn and saved a lot of money, but I wouldn't have minded the option of using a service like Insurent. Insurent is an institutional guarantor that for a fee between 4.5% and 11% of your annual rent, will guaranty your lease. It's not clear how many buildings participate in this program, but it seems like an idea that could take off in New York. When even lawyers at fucking White Shoe law firms can't rent a fucking apartment in this town without a fucking guarantor (about how I felt back then), I'd say the need is clear. And from a landlord's perspective, an institutional guarantor seems no more risky than an individual guarantor. For those willing to pay the premium, Insurent might be the ticket to scoring that killer $2500 studio. 
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9 comments:
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Another reason why I love chicago..its a big enough city without the nonsense of an overcrowded insane NYC.
:-)
I feel the same way about Atlanta. Its reasonably priced and you still get good eats. :)
is that were you ended up? Good for you. I hope all is well.
Yes, I left SC last October. Hope all is well with you too.
SC? you must be feeling the dirty south. :-)
all is well.
SC was definitely the dirty south. But Atlanta is what some call the blue island in the red sea.
Interesting. I am curious about how latinos do in the bible belt/dirty south.
There are lots of people from South and Central America here. You see them mostly hanging around Lowes or Home Depot waiting to pick up work. That whole concept seems so third world to me. I haven't run into any PRs but I am sure they are around. Speaking Spanish is such a novelty in the south -- when Southerners hear it -- they act like its not one of the most widely spoken languages in the world. Hell they don't even know that Puerto Rico is part of the US. Atlanta, obviously is more progressive but South Carolina and most parts of GA are still stuck in the civil war era. Here in ATL you see people from all ethinic and religous groups and hear a variety of languages.
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