13,000 NYC Apartments Are Empty… Why?

[@ntindo]

Seattle did this 15 years ago, demolished low income housing for new condos for the rich claiming it would stabilize rental costs. It had the opposite effect and resulted in homelessness increases 10x what it used to be.

[@jasonkoroma4323]

Then they didn't build enough housing in the first place which is the main problem.

[@CHIEF_420]

​@@jasonkoroma4323🧂

[@KallipolisCracks06]

@@jasonkoroma4323no it displaces people that can’t afford to live in these new prices and cities that they’ve lived in their whole life sometimes which is a domino effect and increases homelessness. It’s not because they didn’t build enough.

[@jasonkoroma4323]

@@KallipolisCracks06 Gentrification is a symptom, not the cause. The cause is that an area is desirable and people want to live there, which is not a bad thing. Gentrification is the result of there being not enough housing so people who normally have the income to live in "nice" areas are priced out of them and they move to previous less desirable locations, using their higher incomes to push existing residents out of their homes. The correct solution for gentrification is to let developers have at it and build enough housing for everyone where they want to live.

[@janeentumbao8690]

That's because wealthy people would rather take all that high rent money and put it towards a house or condo that they can own. Maybe the younger rich kids do that $5k a month for a shoe box. But that's still crazy.

[@cindynelson1558]

I realize that owners need enough money to keep the place going, however some of these owners haven’t spent a dime on the place in decades and now they’re squealing because they actually have to make some repairs.

[@Tenebarum]

They did this to themselves. Collected bloated rent for decades and didn't put anything back into them. Scumbags.

[@TheElleFactorAgain]

Great point

[@VAGGY8TH]

Exactly

[@twiggy6591]

Ok I’m not a genius or anything but if your laws make it more profitable to not rent an apartment to someone compared to leaving it vacant means you need to change your laws!

[@ljl6185]

This.

[@earlofsmeg]

I lived in Europe and there you can rent an apartment and renovate it yourself. The price of renovation is included in your contract, which means you don't pay that amount in rent. Those who are willing and can cover the cost of renovation should be able to rent a unit if they so desire.

[@doughayden]

100 percent ...

[@richardhaas39]

Sweat equity.

[@eustacemcgoodboy9702]

Is building an ENTIRE KITCHEN really something you want to do when you move into an apartment? $10,000+ just to have a kitchen? And then when you move out you have to rip out the kitchen and take it with you. No light fixtures, gotta put those in yourself too. I dislike that aspect of the German rental market.

[@earlofsmeg]

@@eustacemcgoodboy9702 No, it stays in. I took an apartment once and had to renovate it. I bought a kitchen and all did the repairs that were necessary and that amount I didn't have to pay as a rent at all. It's the same in Austria. I don't know about the other countries though. Basically you renovate it to live in without having to pay the rent. Know what I mean? I know a guy who invested in a three story house, in Austria, and it was his for the next thirty years. He could rent those apartments and a space on a ground floor for a store or bank or a bar. It was all. And he picked up a rent on all of it. After thirty years, he gave it back to the city. If you can't own a property because it's too expensive, this is the next best thing. If you have money to do it, of course.

[@653j521]

@@richardhaas39 You have no equity in a rental.

[@jaclynbannister1877]

After the Covid eviction moratorium, where landlords were forced to keep tenants housed without receiving a dime, many landlords who survived that hardship have chosen to keep their units empty. There are still hundreds of cases of landlords who have been waiting over 3 years to have their non paying tenants evicted.

[@yoyomo777]

I had a neighbor, a lawyer making 300k a year paying 400 a month whereas similar apts like mine were 3k a month. Happens everywhere in NYC. That’s the problem.

[@marcogallo2811]

Okay, that is one case, and it does not happen all that often. He would have had to have lived the there for decades before to have any price similar to that. I moved into a stabilized apartment in 2020 and it’s in the 2k range. Rent stabilized does not mean rent controlled or rock bottom prices. It means once you get in at a certain price, the landlord can’t jack up the rent by hundreds all of a sudden.

[@robertabray-enhus3198]

That guy probably lived in that apartment since he was a kid!

[@Matt90541]

That happens a lot in San Francisco too, high income people in rent-stabilized apartments. I knew someone paying 1300 when they should have been paying 3500.

[@Roel-o6k]

I don’t know how that can happen. Landlords usually raise your rent when the lease is up.

[@CrayonHarts]

The problem is not your neighbor paying 400 a month while making 300K. The problem is the corporations that are allowed to charge you the same apartment for 3K. There should be laws in place to regulate the rental market but there isn’t. This is the mentally these corporations want us to believe. Us against each other, rather than the wealthy corporations vs. the people

[@MalcomJones]

Even before this law, many landlords were reluctant to make apartment improvements. If given the opportunity to raise rent, many would do so and keep the apartments looking old and dirty.

[@AshleySpeaks4U]

OH yeah. Places I've lived. These kids are complaining about these places because they wouldn't ENTER where I used to. These places look fine. No black mold or roaches.

[@robertshelton3796]

I don't know why anyone would want to be a land lord of a rent controlled property.

[@eljoy5280]

They did this by filing fake apt improvements with the city and raising rents to push units out of stabilization.

[@pinchebruha405]

The more people living in an apt/building the more roaches and erosion of the entire building at a faster rate.

[@AshleySpeaks4U]

@@pinchebruha405 It's more expensive, yes. One thing not discussed is that a LOT of renters have zero incentive to take care of someone else's property for them, thus leave it filthy and cause some serious damages. So a lot of landlords assume leave their place empty and claim the loss of revenue on their taxes for a cut. ☹️

[@MC-vd8cw]

Some of these landlords have spent decades not making any improvements and trying to get people to leave. Now that people have left the apartments are so beat up it would cost more than they can recoup immediately to fix it. However that’s only part of the problem, many landlords are purposefully keeping the apartments empty to put pressure on the State to reverse the law. Some of the apartments in the video aren’t that bad, I’m sure they are a lot of people that could rent it for a year or two if it was on the market. Right now many businesses and people have left for other states where the cost of living is lower, this will continue to happen. Once NY becomes less desirable the price of the rents will go down and even market value apartments would cost too much to renovate because people with money would be moving to other states. With people leaving NY and apartments being empty plus high interest rates it’s only a matter time before some of these landlords will get their buildings repossessed by the banks. Maybe Blackrock will end up owning most of these buildings going forward.

[@brycenmccrary4193]

I agree! And a good bit of them were bought after the bust of 2008-9. Speeding gentrification. And now we’re supposed to feel bad for people who gobbled up foreclosed homes who doesn’t want to pay to fix their investment. I think there should be fair consideration of renovation for long-term owners, but these get rich quick investors should have squatters, lol.

[@shadowess1961]

Exactly! They're trying to strong-arm the state but they're hurting renters. NO one should pay 3k for an apt with a tub in the kitchen or living area.

[@ravannaschonlau6388]

I wouldn’t doubt that with the IMMIGRATION issue, the government/state will find a way to use these vacancies to house the immigrants. 🤔. Joe would love the idea. 😏

[@giao2380]

Why aren’t they using the deposits for the mess the renters before left?

[@shadowess1961]

@@ravannaschonlau6388 There are millions of immigrants in the US. MILLIONS.

[@Kingjay814]

I get that everyone wants to benefit. But Landlords have kind of dug their own grave. They’re complaining about maintenance and renovation costs. If a landlord actually cared they would have kept their units in good shape continuously. Everyone’s acting like all of a sudden 2000 apartments needed repairs done all at the same time. These property owners didn’t put any money into this units for years, then when their finally put in check for gouging prices, now they’re all crying foul play. Now they’re just keeping units empty to claim losses on them so they skirt around taxes. That entire city is such a “Live in the moment” mentality that even it’s own government run programs suffered. They didn’t perform basic upkeep on 3000 units to the point where it’s now more cost effective to tear down a building than to fix it?! WTF is wrong with that city. Problems like this only exist when greed and incompetence becomes more important than people.

[@gingerlee1917]

if the landlords cant afford maintenance then it sounds like they are in the wrong business and/or have overextended themselves. they should sell and get their books in order instead of complaining that they can't make more money. why are their woes so much more important than the pain they cause through their negligent business decisions.

[@653j521]

You are skipping over the pandemic when landlords gave tenants discounts to stay in the city, to not have a lot of apartments empty. That cost them a lot. The same thing happened in L.A. My nephew got freebies with his landlord basically pleading with tenants to stay. (Meanwhile, NYC tenants were flooding out into New England, raising prices there, making life a nightmare for the locals who didn't get paid NYC wages.)

[@robw1571]

In many areas of life it is cheaper to tear older buildings down than to renovate them. Besides in this case I'm not sure the cost of repairs is the sole reason for tearing them down. They want to build much bigger buildings which in almost any case it's cheaper to build new than to cobble on to an existing building never designed to handle it.

[@shadowess1961]

Exactly. For YEARS apartments, ugly ass not up to date apartments were renting because people would rent them so the landlords didn't think they had to do any upkeep and look at them now. Pffft!

[@shadowess1961]

@@653j521 giving discounts? When are they going to raise wages so that people can afford the rent they keep raising? That's why people moved to other areas. This is not just about rent, everything is connected. You cannot continue to raise the prices of everything in the city and not the wages or you will have a problem with homelessness or vacancy. People that work in the city should be able to live in the city.

[@retro_omi5174]

I live in Melbourne, Australia and appreciate your usual content but really enjoy content like this that reflects the difficulty in the reality of basic living in 2023 and beyond irregardless of geographical location. Good job!!

[@QHuda_A]

Educational, especially as a Canadian where we do not even have a national housing policy, and the housing crisis has been a reality for a few years. Your investigative report made me wonder about the number of vacant apartments in Toronto, my hometown.

[@gladiammgtow4092]

Mainland Chinese money laundering using real estate all around the world has priced all the locals out. The only was to fix this will be bloody revolution.

[@le_th_]

Respectfully, don't believe what you are calling "an investigative report". This landlord is a typical con artist who has been playing this game for DECADES. Building owners have been keeping their most affordable apartments empty for DECADES so they can use them as a tax write off against their most profitable apartments. This game is DECADES old, probably since WWII when rent control was first created? I kid you not...I got one of those rent-stabilized apartments waaaaay back in 1994, and it had been EMPTY for decades until the old Scrooge who owned the building died and his greedy adult children decided to rent the 5 empty units PLUS the 2 affordable commercial spaces on the ground floor that this empathy-deficient cheap skate had kept vacant for decades because of his narcissistic ego. Be careful what you believe...especially from someone so young and gullible, who isn't a native NYer, and is speaking like these are facts. This is not about a 2019 law....the landlords like to try and DUPE the new to NYC and the gullible who don't dig deeper and question the veracity of what they say. Remember, YTers are not here to tell the truth...they are here to create content that is considered controversial and or relevant so they can garner the most likes...

[@deanb6489]

This economy is screwing everyone from both ends! Landlords cannot afford to renovate, tenants cannot afford the ridiculous rent prices. Something has to give or more buildings will be torn down.

[@cryptarisprotocol1872]

The only way to fix this is set a minimum building height of thirty floors, and tear down every building below that and rebuild them to the standard. NY will only solve this by building up.

[@johnwayne2103]

It's not the economy, it's the laws in NYC and this B.S has been going on for the past 50 years. New Yorkers deserve the laws they voted for F them.

[@StephieGsrEvolution]

What isn't talked about is that landlords get tax breaks for empties. That needs to stop.

[@AssBlasster]

Landlords run housing as a business but are shocked that they could be failing lmao. Mneawhile renters have to deal with their BS and lack of available housing since public housing doesnt exist anymore

[@thatsmrshepardtoyou]

Maybe if they did the small renovations they should have throughout the years. maybe they wouldn't have such a problem now. Being a slumlord will get you no sympathy from me.

[@benbaker2965]

Even in a city of this size , 13,000 apartments left unrented is atronomical. This is a story that needs to be told. Excellent job, Cash, of covering this important issue.

[@m.314]

they will stay unrented if no one can raise rents

[@stevenroshni1228]

Idk where he got that number.

[@dmcentYT]

It’s actually 40,000 in total across NYC

[@chele-chele]

They represent approximately 1.3% of the total apartments in the city.

[@clairelivefreeordie2551]

No...they will keep them vacant until they can sell or the illegal aliens are deported back to their country of origin... who's kidding who here?

[@mayormc]

I like how they mocked the empty apartment which looked nicer than all of the numerous East Village and Soho hovels I inhabited 35 years ago many of which had the bathtub in the kitchen. Ah, the good ole days.

[@Gee-xb7rt]

honestly these things rent for cheaper than what they would go for here in Atlanta where we don't have rent control.

[@Tatokala]

I was just wondering if so much of renovation were necessary to live there. Heating, water supply and power has to work. Is that not enough? If the tenant wants new kitchen furniture or another paint or wallpaper on the walls can't he do himself?

[@user-wo7dl6tb2q]

@mayormc word! I lived on 7th Street between 1st Ave & Ave A in the early 90s and the majority of the apartments in my building had the tub in the kitchen. I tell people about those days and they are shocked!

[@taylorlibby7642]

My first NYC apartment had that feature!! Worked out great for parties

[@Gee-xb7rt]

@@user-wo7dl6tb2q yeah, that whole area was poor immigrant housing, i always wonder if people in the area still have bathtubs in the kitchen, not a lot of space to make a separate bathroom.

[@rubeen3504]

You know what they say " if you can't handle the heat, stay out of the kitchen" No one is obligated to live in nyc.

[@christinakcover]

This is a super important topic with so much complexity it seems. Thanks for making this video.

[@Afrocandy-gt1yz]

Hello mam please a really need your help I don't know what platform to reach you please

[@rakelbmarkaosdaughter7244]

One of my friends parents has had a rent controlled apartment for over 40 years. They pay less than $1,000 a month and have a 2 bedroom in Chinatown. Her parents won’t leave so she and her sisters made a deal to pay for renovations for the apartment because the rent goes up so little every year. They had to use the owner’s contractors. In the end it pay off because that apartment would go for over $4,000 a month now and her parents will be there another 20 years or more or one of the sisters can inherit it and stay there.

[@ironsword7]

That's one of the reasons against rent controls. Good for people who are already renting but incredibly bad for people looking to rent because very few want to supply housing if their return on investment is severely restricted.

[@jeretso]

At $950 a month the building will decline no matter how much you renovate the inside of the apartment. Grandkids will inherit it eventually. Meanwhile the family will use their saving to buy many properties. That's roughly $36,000 a year in savings untaxed and growing for generations. The city is the biggest landlord and losing millions of dollars a year thanks to their own laws. Every taxpayer in the city is subsidizing this family especially the ones paying $4,000 a month.

[@OldsmobileCutlassSupremeConver]

What's with the sense of intitlement. That's Private Property. The private property was someone's retirement and family investment. The same thing is starting to happen in California. It's easier to not rent.

[@skyqueen1148]

I would burn the building down when the tenants was out of town on a vacay. Being held hostage by a cheap ass communist would be intolerable to me.

[@fortunate14t48]

Why in the world would renters be allowed to “leave” a rented apartment to their children? Makes absolutely no sense because they don’t own the apartment.

[@darriendastar3941]

Great piece of 'citizen journalism'. Well done, Cash. Excellent piece of reporting.

[@MariaCarabin]

I agree! Interesting. So grateful for my 2 BR, 1.5k apartment on the edge of a Swiss town. We all talk about rents going up, especially in Zürich, but it's not as bad as NY yet, certainly!💕

[@653j521]

@@MariaCarabin "I have mine, lucky me."

[@MariaCarabin]

I meant it more in the sense of: prices are going up here as well, but I really feel for NYers, we really can't complain most of us here in Switzerland (many are). I am very grateful and understand how fortunate I am, to have this, as my salary is medium.

[@robertenglish3921]

maybe the apts are too expensive this crises deserves a bit of re-solving

[@lindagarrido4353]

@@MariaCarabin I am also grateful I made the decision to leave NYC for Rome (Italy) and now have a spanking brand new apartment with 2BR 2B, central AC and heat, W/D and dishwasher for 60% of what I paid for in NY. And I have a view which in NYC was limited to a brick wall! I watch these videos whenever I feel I miss NYC and consider going back. Thanks Cash for keeping it real and keeping me in Europe!

[@tamaristreeter5633]

Dude I can’t feel bad for these landlords. A landlord that owned multiple buildings had one stabilized buildings and let it get disgusting. It has over 3000 violation codes and multiple tenants asking for YEARS to get it fixed. He got $131 million dollars tax break… As much as I love living here, NYC has been notorious for not protecting the renters in these buildings. Now, it got so bad that we have to tear down buildings, kick people out, and there’s no guarantee on the future.

[@queenmommie100]

Wow no way in hell on earth would I ever want to live in NYC or any other big cities ever again in life 🤷🏽‍♀️. I lived in Jersey and Bmore that was enough city life for me 🤦🏽‍♀️.

[@tamaristreeter5633]

@@queenmommie100 I love living here and it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. Just know it is not exclusive to NYC; we just have people to report it. I remember seeing a TikTok of a man’s small town coercing with landlords to jack up prices and not fix some of their old buildings. Please, stay inform and get involved in your local government. I wish you the best!

[@MrWhyShoot]

Nyc is notorious for PROTECTING renters, squatters, low rents, the reason why nyc is hard to live in is bec of the regulations. Regulations on housing market does not work. All nyc did w theres was put more apartments off the market

[@paulskierski8271]

Wow 13000 vacancies. Looks like there's some room for all the migrants after all now open all the boarded up shops and give them jobs🎉

[@joeydiaz5927]

You’re complaining about the vast minority of places and throwing a blanket statement out. Immature and entitled

[@JerrisEverydayPeople]

I really appreciate this turn in your channel. You’ve become an expert on housing and it’s good you’re reporting on this.

[@district5198]

Greed Greed Greed This is why cities need rent control and stabilization laws. Unwilling to rent the city should have every right to expropriate property and do as it deems necessary.

[@susanboucher9595]

Love your videos, Cash! Thanks for your hard work!!

[@user-hn6sk5fw4g]

Most of the apartments shown I would have rented. $700 vs. $4000 to $5000 for a one-bedroom. I will take the older appliances, along as they work and have done so. Back in the '80's, I had appliances that were probably from the '50's.

[@653j521]

Do they still work?

[@serebii666]

That 1-bed at market price would be at least 2.5k in NYC. Would you pay 2.5k for appliances from the 80s and an electrical, plumbing and heating system that needs total replacement?

[@CRAPO2011]

@@653j521 if you can find parts they run forever

[@allybearbear]

the apartment also looks like it just needs a good cleaning. the landlord didn't do anything after the last tenant left. they didn't even wipe down the sinks!

[@serebii666]

@@allybearbear Did you literally miss the state of the heating? The crumbling window frames? The electrical?

[@cindymar1606]

Why do I feel that the city and gov. are doing what they can to make it more harder for people to pay anything, own anything and do anything. It’s almost as if they WANT people to be homeless (if they’re the ones not making the money that they want). It’s always going to be profit over people- how cruel.

[@lashurediscussion4970]

That’s exactly what they want, and allowing it to happen.

[@ST-rj8iu]

yep. This is how they steal property. They are making laws forcing landlords to not be able to make money. They have to pay the bank and property taxes. These laws put them in the red to sell to big companies like blackrock.

[@georgewagner7787]

I'm not sure it's what they want. What (all) they want is to be reelected. Half of them are too stupid to see consequences bc they have no business experience

[@willdegra317]

this is the answer. but the people that support the government's "help" will continue asking for more. They don't realize that psychopaths in power kinda wanna use the power they give for their own benefit against us.

[@davidshipman1365]

They want you to have nothing and be happy by 2030. It's official

[@doylejodi7502]

Where I live; Ontario, Canada, there has been ‘rent-control’ for some time now. The only time ANY rental’s price increases significantly is after the tenant moves out and renovating takes place. Then, they can up it as high as they want to. Otherwise, it’s just a very small increase yearly. The owner can also give notice to kick a tenant out and say they or a family member is moving in, otherwise it’s difficult to remove a tenant.

[@ILoveTinfoilHats]

Not anymore buddy. Anything new isn't rent controlled

[@nancyvernon3017]

I dunno, something doesn't smell right. If landlords are losing so much $$, why aren't they selling the properties? Also the monthly rent payment is a landlords bread and butter. They can only make money, if the unit is rented. Imo, the alternative is to put the rent-stabe apartments back on the market. For those buildings that are safe to live in and only need cosmetic upgrades( flooring, painting, appliances, etc) Allow tenants to move into those bldgs. on the condition they do the upgrades ( under the guidance, permission of the landlord) In other words no black or brown paint allowed. This would likely keep the tenants in the bldgs longer bcuz they have invested their time & money. I believe this is one of the best solutions.

[@kathrynbaker8215]

That was the most understandable and unbiased piece of reporting I’ve seen in a long time. Great work!

[@ae2948]

Yes - many thanks to Cash for making this video and including actual facts. ( no propaganda, people aren't yelling over each other, no politician sound bites. Many many thanks. )

[@suseyq4559]

When listening to a vlog about Maui on a major network, the reporter said this and that. He appeared to bring facts. Then, at the end, they dubbed in “Republicans don’t want to spend money” as if that statement referred to Maui, which it didn’t. It was an unnecessary jab. That’s why people will listen to Cash and are veering away from network reporting. Great job Cash!

[@clairelivefreeordie2551]

Unfortunately this video will be demonetized...but thank you Cash for great reporting!@

[@markstewart4501]

unbiased? law in 2019? Rent controls in NY have been their FOREVER-ish. 2019 was a little tiny ass tweak...and CASH CASH CASH Jordan made an almost NOTHING BURGER into 13,000 empty apartments into a '2019' thing....He didn't report, he said he is stupid OR he is spinning the sh!t out of it.

[@bebel1934]

Unbiased? Clearly paid for by the landlord association

[@karenneill9109]

I live in Vancouver, BC. We have a vacancy tax now. If you have a property that nobody is living in, you have to pay 2% of its value in tax every year if you’re a foreign owner, 0.5% if your a Canadian citizen or permanent resident. Our issue here is purchase of property for investment purposes, but a similar scheme might help in New York.

[@653j521]

What happens if the NYC landlord can't afford that? Do the next residents get worse and worse conditions until that apt is a slum? Does the landlord sell and the building declines under the next slumlord? Does it end up being razed? Isn't that what the current laws were supposed to prevent but just made more complicated and unworkable?

[@HouseOod]

@@653j521 2019 was to make everyone behave like my mother so they would have to sell. Everything is created to reward yimby. B4 2019 the rhetoric smeared ALL tenement orders. Now press has done a 180 citing covid but if rent prices are up, there should be no problem except small owners are tenderized to sell if they are not used to squatters. Mom endured voon fee young and his brother in law refusing to pay and refusing to sign a lease for over 20 years for a $1000 3 bedroom marked down from 1400 per their request. Belkin burden Saud they had never seen a rent roll like my mother's where she repeatedly lowered Markey rents per tenant requests. One of them even cynically sued us AFTER getting her 2k rent reduced to 1900 on the renewal for giving her a deregulated lease but the previous tenant FED EXED her original deregulation paperwork that I had given her that I couldn't find MY copy of and from what I can see the case dragged out for years and she might have gotten her legal fees covered with the settlement. We were not slumlords but nyc govt is super corrupt and frankly abused us bcuz they could. It was aapi hate and doing John lam a favor cuz everybody cozies up to the big shot. This is a city of massive hypocrites.

[@Music_Lover26]

​@@653j521There has to be a fund to assist landlords who really cannot afford it to make these apartments livable. It is much more costly to house homeless people in hotels and other makeshift solutions than to assist landlords in fixing up empty apartments. I have little sympathy for landlords, but realistically, we have to do something to get these apartments back out there instead of being warehoused.

[@ctgctg1]

They have the same thing in Toronto as well. The issue is that if the city wants to keep the rental process affordable, then all rentals should have a cap on them.

[@karenneill9109]

@@653j521 The issue in Vancouver is different, but the number of unoccupied homes has decreased significantly, and there are actually apartments that don’t rent in a day.

[@dianecarlberg8002]

I love these videos Cash makes to show what is going on in NYC, especially when accompanied by a fellow realtor.

[@kamiiu]

people working minimum wage 40hrs a week can't even afford a room in NYC. it's horrible.

[@richard09able]

Considering the number of apartments cumulatively in the city that are rent controlled a separate office should be set up for maintenance, monitoring, and management of rent controlled apartments. The landlords & tenants would need to have leasing/ rent approved by that office in addition to repairs and rent adjustment reviews based on annual income assessment such as annuity or semiannually. The solution would force landlords to utilize the housing stock for intended purpose and the renters would pay rent based on pre-determined percentage of their income. Now who will take this idea and run? This can be used in any city.

[@stephenhavilland]

Cash-I really like the direction you have taken with this type of video "looking under the hood" of the astronomical cost of real estate in New York City. Well-intended laws can have unintended consequences-which is what you have documented. If you can talk with someone who can present some modification of the law that might work better, could you please present it to us? I know that this is asking a lot, and that it might take some time to uncover. Keep up the good work!

[@DreamingRealist]

Thank you for showing a part of New York that goes behind the picture perfect illusion most influencers show online. Your reports are always interesting.

[@irecarmi22]

No matter what is happening, Cash will be working hard!! Have a great week!!

[@reggiesaidit513]

This is a con , as a real estate investor. I will tell you that most landlords pull 10-20 percent from the rent to ensure that they have money set aside to pay for future repairs. You don’t do repairs and then rely on raising the rent to cover those repairs. That’s not good business. If that landlord had money to start on those repairs, he had money to finish them. If he took a loan out to cover repairs, that September loan payment is due . Not counting the money he is losing in monthly rent .

[@willdegra317]

When government makes more laws to "help" tenants they push out the good landlords more and more. Eventually you end up with slumlords who don't care about doing the right thing. Government steps in to "help" tenants, making the situation worse on the slumlords, leaving only the grimiest roach like slumlords who can survive anything. I was a landlord in Cincinnati. I never took Section 8. Section 8 would allow me to charge more, but those places are always worse off. Government problems aren't solved by more government.

[@12ealDealOfficial]

Section 8 was helpful to my single mother back in the early '90s. But she had a section 8 apartment for a year until she completed her education. She worked her ass off and met my dad, then they moved on. But most people in Section 8 don't treat it as temporary. People abuse it and keep the honest people from having a temporary seat. Section 8 is helpful but not controlled or handled efficiently. Good faith is lost on parasites.

[@gonfreecss5105]

My good friend made a rookie mistake and subletted his apartment out, come covid, one of the sublets turned into a squatter and drove all the other sublets out and refused to pay rent. Took many months to evict, paying attorney fees, eviction, repairs and damages, squatter walked away without paying a dime by playing the victim; or so they thought anyway. Overall being a mom and pop landlord is just not worth the hassle and stress. Some tenants just feel entitled and crap all over landlords, but respect is earned both ways, bad landlords gives the good ones a bad rep too. So problem tenants can go take their entitlement to big corps and see how they take care of it.

[@SeaUnicorn]

what does squatter mean?

[@MaryanneN_]

@@SeaUnicornsomeone moved in and refuses to leave. Very expensive and almost impossible to get rid of them

[@janeblogs324]

@@MaryanneN_ they have to leave to get food at least once a week. Its easy to do a stake out but the owners aren't dedicated to the task

[@redstang70]

​@@MaryanneN_impossible to get rid of them via convential (legal) means yes but otherwise very easily done.

[@sugadre123]

I appreciate that you said "bad landlords gives the good ones a bad rep too". People like to talk about bad tenants but alot of landlords are scum. I guess humans are humans on both sides of the equation

[@MoonlightSonata214]

I call BS on a lot of this. A $400 paint job that would take 3 years to recoup in rent at a $10/month increase? A tenant would be thrilled to get that apartment and paint it themselves. I'm sure they would happily paint it whatever color the landlord specified. And replace the radiator knob. There were things that the landlord wouldn't have to spend any money having someone do because a tenant would be happy to do it themselves. And that apartment that was supposedly abandonned mid-reno? BS on that one too. Nobody is going to leave their power tools there and walk away. Things that might need a licensed person to fix, like some plumbing or electrical matters, are way outnumbered by things many people would fix themselves if they were allowed to rent these apartments. There is no excuse for the thousands of vacant apartments owned by the NYC Housing Authority. They could fix them and rent them NOW. How did they get a 700% increase in empty apartments in one year (2021-2022)? Obviously the apartments were recently occupied, so they should be in rentable condition with little to no work. New Yorkers need to either make the NYCHA get off the pot, fix the apartments and rent them, or do whatever is necessary to replace the people who are obstructing that process. There are enough people needing apartments that they could mount MASSIVE protests, bringing tons of negative publicity until the apartments under City ownership are fixed and rented. The only city-owned apartments that should ever be vacant are those scheduled for repair and are only vacant for a temporary period. New Yorkers need to vote to enact a law requiring the city to do the necessary repairs within a specific amount of time and then rent the apartment(s) again. Apartments that are not bringing in any income are an unnecessary burden on city taxpayers. Housing advocate and elected city officials saying much more needs to be done??? Why aren't these same elected city officials FORCING something to be done? Isn't this one of the issues they would have been elected to fix???

[@ddurlon]

The only proper response IMO

[@moremiaj4786]

They probably need to force these landlords to sell those individual apartments so that people own, not rent those apartments. The people could then fix them up themselves. I am sure there are more people willing to buy those units, than could afford to rent them.

[@danielmankinde1706]

@@moremiaj4786 do you know the difference between a condo an and apartment?, btw theyre not even allowed to turn them to condos. cus if they could they would have done that, renovated it and sold it way since, why is the city setting renovations limits, when inflation has been practically 40% in the last 4 years since the law passed

[@rpvitiello]

The landlord is required by law to paint the apartment every 7 years in NYC regardless what the tenant does. Even if they let the tenet paint, they are required, by law, to paint before they rent.

[@rpvitiello]

@@moremiaj4786not everyone can afford to fix up a property while working a job. You also can’t DIY as much in a building with multiple apartments, where if you screw up, you could damage dozens of other peoples home.

[@beingkitschroeder2507]

When I was a rental agent in downtown Boston way back in the dawn of time (the 1980s), there weren't many rent controlled units, but there was rent control in general. Rents had a legal cap on how much a landlord could raise them.

[@dcg590]

Which is completely unfair to landlords/ business owners. Should t there be a cap on taxes and insurance?

[@eattherich9215]

@@dcg590: they are running a BUSINESS where everything has a cost. Can't afford to be a landlord, get out.

[@imacyclepath440]

@@eattherich9215Ok, so by that logic you understand it is a business. And the tenant is the CUSTOMER. If they can’t afford the rent then live someplace else. No one is forcing them to live there. If a landlord owns their property and wants to improve it then they should be allowed to make it beautiful and charge what someone is willing to pay. You can’t build BMW and expect a customer to pay a for the price of a Toyota Corolla. An apartment is a physical thing that needs to be designed and built and maintained. It’s a commodity. A private landlord does not owe you anything. Just like the local pizza shop does not owe you anything. If a nice restaurant gets to dictate their prices so should a landlord. If you want big daddy government to take care of you then move in NYCHA. But they’re the worst landlords in the city. I wonder why. Oh, and go buy some of AOC’s ‘Eat the Rich’ merch for like $60 a shirt. Why isn’t she giving those shirts away for free? Or is she trying to make money for her campaign fund. Hmmmmm.

[@Water_is_Sacred777]

You make an excellent point. That's capitalism at work but I think the difference of a housing unit and a car is housing is a human right. If we don't view housing as a basic human right then the tent cities will continue to grow to infinity.

[@imacyclepath440]

@@Water_is_Sacred777 Ok so since housing is a human right can we all live in mansions?! Bottom line is if you want the government to provide housing, fine, but don’t expect private landlords to do so. Lobby for the government to expand their housing to people that can’t afford housing. But don’t infringe on people’s personal property rights. But you have to understand that the laws the local government has passed towards NYC property owners actually reduce the amount of housing. It disincentivizes building housing. Which decreases supply, which in turn increases demand and drives up prices. The government (legislators actually) do not understand business. Because they receive their income through taxation. They don’t need to be efficient at their job. They will receive the money no matter what. If the government was a privately owned business they’d be out of business. In this specific case let’s look at the NYC Housing Authority. They have so many violations against their buildings that if they were a private landlord that landlord would be bankrupted by the fines. But they don’t have to answer to themselves. Every government website sucks and is impossible to navigate. But we are forced to deal with them because there is no recourse. Because they don’t answer to anyone. They can suck at their job and we have to deal with it.

[@mindinsideout]

These are landlords that have not maintained their buildings in decades and now complain that they can't afford to fix. This apartment is an example of that. It's basically a typical apartment in the 80's

[@atom22xy]

Landlords don't mind the empty apts because then they can declare them as losses when filing their taxes. They win no matter what.

[@MiaTheodoratus]

My last Apt was rent stabilized. The landlord would do fake renovations with fake paper work. Example- the bathroom was super small and only needed about 6 floor tiles. Every time the Apt would be vacant he would do paper work for 50 sq ft of tile and new toilet ect. None of these repairs were actually done-they just scammed it to increase the rent. I figured it out and file against the, and got about 17,000 back from the landlord cause of the scam. So the laws are there for a reason.

[@Gee-xb7rt]

I seem to remember a time back in the 70s when NYC landlords burned their own buildings down rather than rent them to collect insurance, easier money. I think I have had maybe two honest landlords in my 42 yrs as a renter.

[@rhondawitherspoon2758]

@@Gee-xb7rtExactly. Cash is leaving these details out, because he knows most of his audience aren’t New Yorkers.

[@653j521]

@@rhondawitherspoon2758 He has a short time and stuck to his point well.

[@rhondawitherspoon2758]

@@653j521 he had enough time for his (bought and paid for) agenda.

[@JLau-janbgobh]

There is a difference between renovation and repair. Landlords were doing complete renovation of their stabilized apartments and taking the receipts to the housing authority and getting the apartments destabilized because of the amount spent on the apartment. Before 2019 the landlords were able to do this if they spent a certain amount on apartment renovations and therefore were able to charge the much higher market rents for these apartments. If they simply did repairs to these apartments, which would cost them much less in most circumstances, these apartments would be definitely rentable in their stabilized rates.

[@paulconner4614]

I agree. Both apartments shown in this video were in good enough condition to rent. There was no need to drop a bunch of money into them.

[@Schubes5]

Hopefully something can be done about this soon, as a result of NYC being so expensive, my childhood neighborhood is being gentrified at unprecedented levels.

[@angelaburress8586]

Which is a good thing because it was more than likely run down 🤷🏽‍♀️🤷🏽‍♀️💁🏽‍♀️💁🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️

[@ams914]

Nothing can be done. This is inevitable.

[@georgewagner7787]

In the Philippines, you can't buy property unless you're Filipino.

[@Aireck174]

I dont see NYC ever changing their voting habits which is what it would take to get any real change. If anything they will vote for progressives like AOC who will make living costs worse

[@eviltepes1837]

Gosh, you’ll blame the crime. But here’s the thing Cash, and it’s something you’ve talked about, it’s greed Cash. It’s millionaires owning buildings (or at least people who want to be millionaires) and doing the easy thing to do. Provide fewer features, less maintenance, less space, and charge more money for it. In the simplest terms, there is a large supply, and the demand has been dropping off. But the prices are going up. “We have to make up the money we aren’t making on empty apartments by charging more!”, is a horrible theory, and decreases the desire of more people to move into those apartments. There are smallish apartments that you show us selling for $1million. With two bedrooms. And they are NOT the exception. Rent in most of those places is higher than the mortgage payments would be for the same property. So, why is crime up? The people with barely enough to scrape by will ALWAYS go to crime. Working three jobs doesn’t pay the bills Cash. This increases aggression and anger, and, of course, hunger.

[@michaelharris6157]

Kinda funny how right before Covid they made it even harder to live in NYC with insane rent prices. Makes me think why aren’t they renting these places out? With the monthly cost you’d think 1-2 months rent to fix it up is a drop in the bucket to get that monthly income coming in for the landlord

[@fty-ys4ni]

The solution could be finding tenants who will pay for the renovations out of pocket and issuing inspections to make sure what needs to be done is actually getting done in order for them to remain occupants

[@littlebrothermoneywithmich6178]

Imagine the backlash from the headlines: NYC LANDLORDS EXPECT TENANTS TO FUND RENOVATIONS 😂😂😂

[@VandalParty]

Also, part of the problem is the cost of those renovations. People who need to live in rent-stabilized housing can't get anywhere close to paying for renovations on that level. That's why they need rent-stabilization. To renovate a 3-bedroom railroad apartment on 88th st. that is in a similar state as shown in this video (that I had my eye on for awhile) would cost $146,000 to bring back up to code. You know many people with that kind of money?

[@fty-ys4ni]

@@littlebrothermoneywithmich6178 every other country allows tenants to renovate their apartments/flats because they’re looked at as more permanent living situations than temporary. Without it, century old buildings would never get upgraded. A lot of the buildings in New York will eventually need to be torn down because they are not well maintained

[@littlebrothermoneywithmich6178]

@@fty-ys4ni As a landlord myself. I use part of my profits to upkeep the property. That's the whole value proposition of a landlord and tenant. If the landlord is just in it to distribute profits to shareholders without upkeep, then they are violating the business agreement.

[@roythousand13]

That's actually a good idea!

[@melodymcminn4107]

Your channel just keeps getting better and better. Please keep up your good work Cash.

[@tommydv]

Thanks, Cash! This is the best video you have ever done! As a NYC resident, I am glad you are helping to bring attention to this problem. They need to build more affordable housing!

[@Papichoochoo1969]

What da hell is the definition of “affordable housing”?

[@georgewagner7787]

Even the city housing is only affordable tomiddle class

[@fredsimon8732]

Who is "they"?

[@honeyblue2902]

affordable housing I guess would just be the same stuff they call 'luxury' (shiny looking apartments made cheaply) but priced at a fair rate (like some .odd percentage of your income. No more building, just do maintenance on what's already there and make more policies to benefit the ppl who actually need a place to live rather than the ppl buying up all the property for profit.@@Papichoochoo1969

[@le_th_]

If you are a NYC resident, how do you NOT KNOW this old scam???? Building owners have been DOING THIS FOR DECADES!!! How do you NOT know this? Building owners have been writing off their cheapest apartments as a loss on their taxes, and allowing their high-end apartments to be the income earners, all so they can get the loss for the tax break (so they pay the lowest taxes...or none...possible on the real estate that they will someday sell for a massive profit). Seriously, this CON GAME is as old as rent control itself. Been happening since the 50s, at least...and rent control didn't even start until the 1940s...

[@LisaSoulLevelHealing]

New york is terrible for landlords. Thus, there is no economic benefit outside of appreciation, which is a waiting game. Virhinia is investor friendly, so its easy to get mutally beneficial housing between tenant and landlord

[@kevinbyrne4538]

There are tens of thousands of vacant apartments in Massachusetts. The laws are so biased in favor of tenants that small landlords refuse to rent. A tenant will move in, not pay rent, plead poverty, and then it may take 4 years to finally evict the non-paying tenant. If tenants expect to live free at the landlord's expense, then they shouldn't be surprised that there are no apartments available.

[@Dudeguy1112]

Landlords shouldn't have been allowed to let their units fall into disrepair for so long. They get huge tax incentives in exchange for making a percentage of their units rent stabilized, and then just let them rot until the tenant is forced to move out. The landlords still profit off the backs of the taxpayers, and working people get jack shit. The city needs to at least charge these landlords fines equal to the tax breaks they received, and/or start fining them for vacant units.

[@sugarshaker9162]

Your information is incorrect all the landlords get from the government is taxes and a hard time and then they're told they can't charge enough rent the law needs to change and let business run their business and the government needs to keep their nose out of it then people would have more places to live at a lower price supply and demand simple

[@meladversity]

@@sugarshaker9162 being a landlord is not a job and i can only laugh at the peope in the video saying they can't afford renovation because the profit will come after 30 or 40 years with a rent increase of 10 dollars. what's with the rest of the rent that is incredibly expensive for no reason in new york? they are making SO MUCH profit and have been for YEARS, not putting anything back into the apartments, and now wine about not being able to increase it even more?? unbelievable. they could always sell for a HUGE profit and go on with their lives

[@serebii666]

"let their units fall into disrepair for so long. " tf? How ignorant are you of basic serviceability life expectancies of building materials? "They get huge tax incentives ... The landlords still profit off the backs of the taxpayers, and working people get jack shit." Oh? how huge? Because even the city, the single largest landlord, and does not have a profit motive unlike the private sector, can't afford it's own renovations. "start fining them for vacant units." So the city will bankrupt itself by sending fines from one department to another? lol

[@HausofPatronus]

Jordan - I’ve been watching you for years and hats off to you stepping up and giving us some quality local News coverage on a topic many cities are struggling with. There are so many good nuggets in this coverage.

[@jsm2687]

I'm just happy to see how Cash has 4x his subs. I remember he only had like 132k when I first subscribed. Keep creating, man!

[@MkingJaCari]

Big man - just came across your channel, I think your videos are relevant so I’ll starting watching!!!! Nuff respect

[@childrey14]

Yeah this 2019 law and more recent ones is why I left NYC. With the money I saved and made in 10yrs I purchased a nice home outside of Boulder, Colorado with 2acres. Retirement🍻

[@webshiva]

The problem isn’t rent stabilization - it is that landlords have figured out how to make money from vacancies.

[@HouseOod]

How?

[@DWilliam1]

@@HouseOodread my comment on the original page.

[@t-win5050]

Tax shield for loses of overall portolio of business@@HouseOod

[@dissidentfairy4264]

It's possible they get more tax write-offs with them empty without the hassle of trying to collect rents.

[@dojocho1894]

The rich ju use can use their million dollar high rises as tax breaks and launder money through them They changed the law no need to live in it.

[@lizlewis2580]

It’s the tax laws. Landlords with empty apartments should not be able to write the losses of on their taxes. After a certain amount of time being unoccupied their taxes should increase.

[@gailhitson7340]

The developer and landlord creates the binding HOA's that have enough power to be written into the deed. Other homeowners groups cannot enforce anything unless the law also supports them. Even then they have to get the city government and the law to respond to whatever the problem is, and they don't like getting involved in such disagreements. It's the government that gives HOA's, developers, and landlords their power to do what they do. At the same time, those governing do nothing to keep that power in check, without also giving them several ways around it.

[@gailhitson7340]

@@serafinacosta7118 Developers can award themselves large monthly fees for doing absolutely nothing, and the law backs them up. In North Florida, for example, condos sell with an enormous HOA fee, which usually covers costs for upkeep of community areas, grounds maintenance, etc. These are normally legitimate costs and can be accounted for to the owners. However, in this area they usually charge a few hundred dollars for a nondefined fee that goes every single month to the developer....either for a certain number of years like 20 - 30 years, or for life. It stays attached to the condo, just like the HOA fee, the mortgage, taxes and insurance costs. The state gave them this ability, even though the development costs are factored into cost of the condominiums. Yes, a developer may have more costs than can be mortgaged into the condominiums, but that can be accounted for yearly and paid off by the owners. These developer fees aren't regularly accounted for by the developers, and are just another way they can wring out more and more profit beyond what is decent and previously allowed. This dirty trick has spread around the United States, and in Florida, was just another recent scam between certain individuals and certain politicians. Disgusting.

[@willdegra317]

after a certain amount of time the amount the government steals from them to give to Ukraine should increase. We know how you're voting

[@taylorlibby7642]

One of the other reasons that rents in NYC are so ridiculously outrageous right now is because of how difficult it is to build anything new in the city.

[@Demopans5990]

And also because all the plots are taken. Half of NYC is surprisingly single house suburb

[@norristhompson5937]

Rent stabilization hurts mainly small landlords and some tenants knows how to play the system and live off of the landlords

[@keezjordan1619]

Apartment pricing scam everywhere. If 1 bldg raises price they all do, called fair market price. Crap! Its prices gouging on huge scale.

[@darkangelkate3950]

There is repair and there is renovation. Landlords could fix these apartments to live in. But they want to gentrify them so they can demand more rent. Unfortunately/ fortunately most people cannot pay the exorbitant rents the Landlords want to charge.

[@jennifersmall4027]

If you increase the supply of apartments, you lower the overall price for all. Basic law of supply and demand.

[@ProfesionalAP]

​@@jennifersmall4027but there is a problem, the size of the city, you cannot increase... Unless you put more soil around the Manhattan jajaj. But seriously, there is no more space in NY and everybody wants to live in without the money

[@ams914]

That's not true, people can afford it. The rich. That's how it works, unfortunately. Whether they are rich from the US or from other countries, they will fill those apartments.

[@t-win5050]

@@ams914 yes but what makes these places desirable is services like the guy that makes your bagels and high end food etc. If you price them out to where they got live in CT....then there is shortage of hourly workers...Rich need to stop exploiting and be fair.

[@cryptarisprotocol1872]

⁠@@t-win5050 Jennifer pointed out the issue and people still bury their heads in the sand, the reply to her talked about soil when most apartments in NYC are 5 to 6 floors tall usually and if the city just started to demolish these and aggressively demand and enforce that buildings be 30+ stories/floors tall then the rents would crash as you have a sudden flood of supply. The smaller the building in a city the more I hate it as a New Yorker, it’s just an extreme inefficient use of living space that makes zero sense in any metropolitan urban centre.

[@iomis2001]

I live near NYC and know so many people who act like struggling to survive in NYC is an achievement. I'd rather live 45 miles away and have enough money for things like vacations or even simple things like going to a movie once in awhile to enjoy my life. Just being able to pay rent and buy food for most of your life is dumb, just so you can say you survive in NYC. Life is too short to just work and never have any fun. I can visit NYC and enjoy what it has to offer and leave when I am done visiting. You can't enjoy NYC if you can't afford to do anything in it.

[@653j521]

Who do you expect to provide the things you enjoy there when you are looking down your nose at them?

[@maargenbx1454]

You sound like someone who wishes they could live in NYC because you think it’s something to brag about, but you can’t afford it. I don’t think living in NYC is anything to brag about. I live here because I love it. I love walking to work, I love not needing a car, I love easily getting together with friends at the spur of the moment, I love walking to great restaurants, museums, plays, concerts, etc. I grew up on Long Island, I’ve lived in Virginia, Florida, Canada, France, and Italy. I can’t stand American suburbs, and I especially hate car culture. While I love living almost anywhere in Europe, the only place I ever want to live in the US is NYC. Yes, I have savings, yes I travel…I even have a private backyard here (I live a few yards from Gracie Mansion) so I have friends over to grill and watch outdoor movies…I certainly enjoy my lifestyle here.

[@iomis2001]

@@maargenbx1454 I don't wish to live in NYC at all. Also you sound like you can afford it and good for you. I make 80k a year and prefer not to struggle, because 80k is barely making it in NYC. I do love to visit NYC, but I also love to visit Tokyo, but neither place is a place I wish to live.

[@shadowess1961]

Everyone doesn't think like you. Manhattan is a beautiful city and it's not a flex to say you live here. People that live here love the city even if you don't.

[@maargenbx1454]

@@iomis2001 I can understand not wanting to live here, I just didn’t see why you think anyone lives here just to brag about it. A lot of us actually just love it. Many of my neighbors have been living here 30-50 years.

[@YochevedDesigns]

That first apartment was not so bad. I've seen worse, and I've certainly lived in worse. The apartment I'm in right now hasn't been updated since 1962, the year it was built. If the problems are all cosmetic, then let the tenants take on the decorating tasks. They might enjoy painting, putting up new cabinet fronts, etc. Give them a long lease at a fixed price, as long as they agree to do the majority of the work. Anyone with a shred of DIY skills could snag a great deal. Of course asbestos, lead, and mold are huge concerns, and should be addressed professionally.

[@ksavage681]

Exactly. Just fix broken windows and water pipes. Let the tenants paint and do minor repairs.

[@joywebster2678]

But you can't guarantee the tenants work quality or choices

[@serebii666]

You live with 60 yo electrical systems?! And Plumbing? Heating? Appliances? Elevators? and Windows? Gurl, you in danger! I assure you, your apartment absolutely has hidden issues that are not cosmetic. That is the basic fact of materials that are way past their serviceability lifespan.

[@ohcarie]

Those landlords needed to do those repairs for decades probably, suddenly now they’re complaining? I call BS.

[@charlesklein1025]

New York is so overrated! I left it years ago moved to Hackensack, New Jersey where I got twice as space for half the price, with all different kinds of international restaurants on Main Street. And the great thing is I'm only minutes by bus from the city!

[@iLoveLeatherNYC]

Two sides to every story. If there is a labor shortage then the training industry needs to be ramped up, plenty of people need jobs. Landlords should not be able to get credits or tax deductions for units they don't rent otherwise what is the incentive? Keep in mind Landlords ultimately want UNregulated apartments so they can charge the maximum for the unit, anything less then that they will cry and say is unfair. The middle ground seems to be tenants who want a "fixer" upper should be offered that and the landlord gets some rent oppose to nothing.

[@eattherich9215]

Make is uneconomic for a landlord to have empty properties.

[@galp3197]

@@eattherich9215 Any apartment, even none empty

[@vintagepanj]

Sadly, this is happening everywhere. San Francisco is completely deserted, people can't afford to live there. It's a country-wide crisis in the making Thanks for making this video. Somethings gotta change

[@SteffiReitsch]

AHAHAHHAAHAHAH Nobody lives there anymore, it's too popular.

[@LvegasCupcake]

I agree! If I didn't own my house in Las Vegas I could NOT afford the rent in an apartment. It's out of control!

[@TaraLeighParks]

I know a lot of these buildings. Used to live in Manhattan. Landlords should've kept their buildings up as needed, instead of just letting things get so bad. That saves money over time.

[@serebii666]

"Landlords should've kept their buildings up as needed, instead of just letting things get so bad. That saves money over time." Huh? Those buildings in the video are all well past their serviceability life expectancies, they are nearly or more than 100 years old. Plumbing has to eb replaced every 20-30 years regardless, flooring too. Appliances go bad within 10 years, Roofs at most survive 50 years. No amount of intermediary maintenance will stop the requirement of expensive renovation down the line, that is simply the reality of real estate. The insane cost of living of NYC had, the increase in required certifications and service profession salaries, especially over the past 30 years already foreshadowed this issue - it was a collision course. That is why that Public housing project want to tear the building down and build anew, even that would be cheaper.

[@TaraLeighParks]

@@serebii666 When you don't maintain basics as needed, it causes other problems. It creates and compounds them. A bad roof leaks down to the basement. It hurts gutters. etc. Maintaining it over time helps prevents a lot of extra work all at once even though a new roof or plumbing will be needed at some point. That's common sense. You don't just own a building and never maintain it. You don't just buy a building or house and say, "Well, this roof has to be replaced in the future so let's just let the ice pound the shit out of it until we get leaks that reach the basement without ever maintaining it and if the plumbing backs up, we'll shit in this bucket."

[@serebii666]

@TaraLeighParks replacing a leaky roof is not "basic maintenance" but exactly the big ticket major renovation that is necessary regardless of basic maintenance, simply from the fact that materials age out of serviceability. Thank you for confirming EXACTLY what I wrote. Basic maintenance, I.e. repainting, replacing faucets or electrical covers does not change anything about the fact that you will need to do complete overhauls of the building envelope and systems every few decades. Congrats, you played yourself.

[@TaraLeighParks]

​@@serebii666 I didn't say roof replacement is basic maintenance. I said a bad, leaky roof shouldn't be allowed to continue leaking, creating other issues. A leaky roof doesn't always require a replacement. Instead of ignoring leaks for years, repair them if possible so the leaks don't degrade the rest of the building and create other big ticket items, like replacing all the floors or stairs that rot. I added the word "etc." above.

[@serebii666]

@@TaraLeighParks " I said a bad, leaky roof shouldn't be allowed to continue leaking," Which... requires replacement. Either realize that basic maintenance has nothing to do with the still necessary replacements of elements past their serviceability, or realize that that maintenance is still not cheap. "A leaky roof doesn't always require a replacement." Fundamentally a leaky roof means that the damp-proof membrane and vapour control layer that separates the roof finish from the underlying structure has failed, most commonly through age as UV breakdown, or puncture from point load, like hail or animals. At that point it is indeed necessary to replace the whole layer, which require removing and replacing the roof finish itself, whether shingle, tile, zinc, or asphalt. "repair them if possible so the leaks don't degrade the rest of the building" how to say you don't understand what is maintenance without saying so. lol. " like replacing all the floors or stairs that rot. I added the word "etc." above." The lifespan of floor finishes is itself entirely based on the material and frequency of wear. Carpets last at most 5-10 year, vinyl 10 years while wood can last up to 80-100 years before regular sanding down reduces it to nothing and splinters. But those floors are also incredibly expensive compared to the former. You are still entirely ignorant to what is actual basic maintenance. I again repeat, the elements that keep that apartment from being able to be rented have nothing to do with basic maintenance. They are the materials that need to be replaced regardless after a set period, because the materials, even well taken care of will still break down as they are exposed to humidity changes, oxidation, temperature extremes and sunlight. That apartment needs to have its internal systems replaced. No amount of "basic maintenance" i.e. repainting, polishing, dusting, weeding, replacing broken window panes etc. changes that fact. You are entirely hopelessly unaware of the sheer expense building maintenance and renovation require and the constant nature of it. The environment is frankly an incredibly harsh force.

[@ToxicDeflect]

How can you say that someone with 3000 units at 700$ and for nyc that’s very low bringing in $2,000,000 a month or $24million per year can’t afford to renovate ? It’s all capitalistic greed

[@Knights_Oath]

The reason it's cheaper to tear a building and build a new one. Is asbestos and lead abatement, the number of contractors that are certified to handle asbestos is few and they charge through the nose.

[@BrianC815]

Maybe it's because people are finally waking up to the realization that NYC has nothing so spectacular to offer to justify the outrageous financial commitment required to live there. Between the astronomical rents, the ridiculous 40x income requirement, and the overall sky-high cost of living (rent excluded), NYC is quickly pricing itself out of reality.

[@HouseOod]

I think they have high paying jobs for out of town er's which I think is stupid.

[@jakebuttrum6826]

The reason why 13000 apartment are empty is because the rent is too damn high

[@viccmillions]

miami next

[@653j521]

You didn't watch the video?

[@shadowess1961]

@@653j521 That's a NYC quote from years ago. Rents have always been an issue so this is not a new discussion.

[@AnthonyLauder]

it is quite the opposite: the rent is too low to make it worth renovating them.

[@shadowess1961]

@@AnthonyLauder If they keep raising the rent then they should keep raising the wage. EVERYTHING cannot continue to be raised but the wages.

[@marysander36]

They have done it to themselves. Forever charging more and more for rent a single family can't afford to rent an apartment. The landlord ends up renting anywhere from 2 - 6 people that are all under contract to supply him with rent independently from each other, to maximize the space for rent. Between taxes, refurbishment costs, replacement of appliances, insurance blah blah blah. They need all they can get plus make a profit. They aren't doing it for free. Now we have families that are headed for low income housing, cuz who can afford an apt with two adults and two kids? I admire you Cash, for being able to afford what you do!! Its a round robin, and still being able to take your family back to Japan to make sure your children know their whole family! Kudos to you and your wife!!

[@doughayden]

I'd argue it's the Governments fault for dictating to landlords what they can charge ... rent controls have never worked as they mess with the free market ... example the same government that set the rent control increases taxes that can't even be covered by the law they set to keep rents low! Never mind energy and interest rate increases that are not part of the equation

[@eattherich9215]

'They aren't doing it for free.' Landlords aren't doing anything for free, but instead of reinvesting SOME of the rent money into the upkeep of their properties, they put it all in their back pockets and then complain when their dereliction leads to expensive repairs. If you can't afford to be in the landlord business, get out.

[@Ianprodu]

Many people in the comments are missing a very important point to all this...these building are not typically owned by mom and pop landlords. These are owned by massive investment firms who have made the calculation that leaving these empty for the meantime will make them more money. Whether that is because they plan to sell the whole building when the market reaches highs or because they are lobbying the government to change the laws to look out for them and not renters...We should not be sympathetic to these companies as they are only looking for what will make the most money when our country that is going through a massive housing crisis.

[@tysonflowers1125]

So basically the rent regulated apartments not being rent out because the landlord is saying since I can't bump up the price to where I want nobody gets it then. But doesn't the landlord loosing money when the apartments empty 🤔

[@danielmalinen6337]

I suspect that it is the same phenomenon as in Finland, the apartments are under the control of private investors and the investors (as landlords) have calculated that it is more profitable to keep the apartments empty than to rent them too cheaply to the poor. As a result, it is necessary to build more apartments in order to avoid a housing crisis and a shortage of apartments because people still need a place to stay and shelter, but the new apartments are sold to private investors because they pay more for the apartments to the construction companies than the cities pay and the cycle continues.

[@gailhitson7340]

If it's more profitable for landlords to keep rentals empty, then it's the responsibility of those governing to change policies and rules in order to remove an ineffective "incentive" that has a negative effect of causing vacant rentals all over the city.

[@colettewilliams3575]

Taxing those empty apartments would help solve the problem.

[@MamaCarola1]

Warehousing apartments in NYC is nothing new. Landlords were doing it back in the 1980s when co-ops were the new thing. I don't believe that any landlord "renovating" an apartment is spending $50K. They've had to prove for decades that the renovations cost what they claim. NYCHA might be the worst landlord in the city, mainly bcuz of its size. It was also mismanaged for decades. While it sounds like there are a lot of empty units there are some valid reasons, such as tenant transfers for security reasons (they have strict guidelines & must go thru an approval process). Also some have been so badly damaged, sometimes due to water leaks, mold or fire damage, but also occasionally due to prior tenants. Not sure that tearing down an entire complex to build bigger is the answer tho when you learn about Cabrini Green in Chicago.

[@eattherich9215]

Landlords must be keeping stablished flats empty because the law does not allow them to jack up the rent. I bet if the City proposed to tax unoccupied properties, those landlords would have an incentive to get the empty units fit for rental.

[@MamaCarola1]

@eattherich9215 I think at 1 point fining them was discussed but it never happened. The landlords have a big lobbying group & you know they donate to politicians when it comes to election times.

[@jaycitowilli6428]

You gotta check out Linden Houses in East Ny Bklyn. That development is being transformed inside and out. Definitely looks like something's happening in that area of brooklyn.

[@jeretso]

The city government owns 3,300 empty apartments and can't make enough money to open them up. Taxpayers own those apartments and continue to lose money. So taxpayers are subsidizing rent control. No way voters will give up their rent control benefits.

[@Tainoblazed]

I’m old enough to remember when landlords had to burn buildings In order to recoup money back from a building they couldn’t sell.. we’re slowly returning to that moment. It was their fault then. It will be their fault now.

[@beachbumsailordude]

Great video as usual Cash! Thanks. There are always people who say, "Well if they just got rid of rent stabilization then the market would be fair and overall prices would come down". That is total B.S. Landlords are in this to make money and all that would do is drive those apartments up to market rent. The problem is too many people in too small a space. Everywhere you look here in NYC they are building new apartment buildings. The apartments are so small and the rents are sky high! Oh but they give you nice appliances and finishes. Who cares??? I want to have a decent amount of space and closets. These things look like high class jail cells. If I didn't have to be here I would leave in a heartbeat!

[@beachbumsailordude]

@@chemicalfrankie1030 The demand is MUCH more than that. Prices will go down for the market rate people but they will skyrocket for the rent stabilized people. If you are paying $2,000 for a 1 bedroom rent stabilized and a 1 bedroom market rent is going for $4,000 what happens to you? Answer: you get creamed!

[@georgewagner7787]

He's right. 13,000 units won't make any difference in the other prices. we have 107,000 migrants coming in

[@beachbumsailordude]

Another issue with this is that Cash shows that apartment that hasn't had a dime put into it in 50 years. So now when nobody will touch it the landlord doesn't want to renovate. Well shouldn't landlords be renovating apartments every so often???

[@beachbumsailordude]

@@chemicalfrankie1030 Then eventually rent stabilization goes away and those older people who are trying to survive but for some reason have to move are moving to a refrigerator box on the street. That's basically what you are suggesting.

[@beachbumsailordude]

@@chemicalfrankie1030 Well at least some of us have affordable rents now. RIGHT??? How about someone who is in a walkup who can no longer walk up?

[@Goooooo]

Appreciate what you're doing! Two things not considered in the landlord argument would be the increase in property value the owner realizes when the building is improved and also the inflation value of the building over time. As someone who works in real estate and owns rentals, these items are more valuable in the long run than rent collection.

[@gailhitson7340]

Exactly. The money spent often results in a corresponding increase in the property's equity. It's not like they spend the money and it's just gone or donated to their tenants. Then they'll also see a good return on the increase of rents, but that's supposed to be spread out over the lifetime of the improvements. The improvements will also raise the reputation of that building, with an increase in rented units due to the increase in popularity. Landlords are scamming, in my opinion, when they try to recoup all of the costs of a rental unit's improvements in just five or ten years, like some try to do.

[@mammon310]

​@@gailhitson7340You hit the nail on the head, the landlords want to recoup their investment too quickly, not realizing that their lack of investment in the community will ultimately be the downfall of the property, it is these greedy, narcissistic practices that will become their downfall, rich people that live like kings but aspire to be gods.

[@gailhitson7340]

@@mammon310 ...........and behave like apes.

[@gailhitson7340]

You're correct, in my opinion. I have owned real estate and been a landlord. The true value has always been in building longterm equity, and as an enormous hedge against the devasting effects of inflation run amuck. Rents and retained deposits just help in the costs of repairs, maintenance/upkeep, upgrades, property taxes, and insurance. IMHO. When I think about rising rents in New York I get perturbed. I know for a fact they're scamming people and sucking them dry. The run away inflation rate is in part their fault, yet they keep pushing it back onto the tenants who cannot afford to pay it. Real estate prices don't double in 3 or 4 years, like they've done since Covid arrived on the scene - not without an external reason.

[@mammon310]

@@gailhitson7340 There is clearly a divide in lifestyle, when someone gets too comfortable to a certain level, they lose touch with their community and humanity goes out the window. To keep a society running, those few fortunate souls must sacrifice for the greater good, I'd rather have a dope ass neighborhood even if it costs me a percentage of my profits.

[@hawkeyes4768]

when u see the taxes, insurance and bills for owing one of these then you know why

[@Lyons_T-BAG]

Yeah its crazy. You look at some of the homes for sale on street easy. You pay 4 to 6M+ on a small apartment and then you're paying 15K+ for the rest of your life with taxes and maintenance.

[@Gee-xb7rt]

I follow taxes and insurance on my building, and my landlord lies straight in my face about them. Landlords are scummy trashy greedy nasty psychopaths for the most part.

[@dcg590]

The entitled ones only know how to complain and know ZERO about business

[@ksavage681]

Landlords knew what they are getting into.

[@shadowess1961]

Then sell your building. It's a business so you don't get to whine about how much it cost to be in a business you chose.

[@tufavoritogringo8437]

In the beginning of the pandemic they purposely held up on renting out apartment’s in sunnyside queens because prices were dropping because people were moving out hundreds of apartments. And then when it opened back up those same apartments went for a sky rocketed price.

[@Knights_Oath]

They will actually pay less taxes and get more writeoffs for operating at a loss. By not renting these apartments out. While there are scummy landlords all around, not all of them are super wealthy and would go bankrupt trying to fully renovate these apartments.

[@fannycraddock99]

Another very different video Cash. It awful that with so many people homeless that there are so many empty apartments! It seems to be a catch 22 situation that needs resolution fast! Thanks.

[@MrBrownnn696]

The problem I feel is the owners are scared if they rent it out the government does another lockdown an they are forced to house someone for free an they aren’t getting that money back… remember lockdown for 3 years that’s something that would keep me from renting out a apartment if I had one in the city…

[@brotherdon007]

I don't get it , renters would jump on those apartments for decent rent in a minute and put the time in themselves to paint and put some TLC to better the place, renting one bedrooms for $4500 is not being realistic for the average joe working at the local coffee shop or restaurant , landlords need to work with potential renters and find s solution and quit crying theres no money in it, people don't have much empathy for landlords that own million dollars worth of property and cry how theres money in the rental to market for renos ...

[@susanmasino6198]

Great info, Cash! Love your videos!

[@hernanruiz6683]

Gritty people, the more money they have, the more they want, they do not care about humanity and in the mean time people are living on the streets and now they have the nerve to complaint about homeless living on the streets in this country, cause this is happening everywhere. 👎

[@MickyAvStickyHands]

It’s meant to squeeze mom and pop landlords. Big business can throw their unused profits at these repairs knowing they won’t get them back for decades in exchange to cut their tax obligations. Small owners need that money back. Big business will swoop in and buy these places from distressed mom and pop owners for deep discounts. And all New Yorks will be at the mercy of big business.

[@HouseOod]

But at least they had the fun of mocking gauche nobodies for their home depot caliber renos. 117mottstreet was better than our unrepaired house in Queens but the new owners locked us out of my leased units which sent me to thr ER twice and my mom twice. Thr house unlikd 117mottstreet hasn't had hot water for 3 years along with broken heat and electric while mom.emptird her bank accounts making emergency repairs even after foreclosure auction. Nyc raised our property taxes to 190k per year then lowered assessed value so that we were over the threshold to trigger foreclosure bcuz after 5 years of litigation mom still refused to sell to John lam AND our own attorneys committed malpractice to smear us AND judge DeStefano sealed my response of canceled bank Checks disproving ny lawyer Brian shengjin Yang LYING ie committing perjury that we owed him legal fees and judge DeStefano did not file the reason for sealing and now he's promoted to admin judge of Nassau County Supreme Court. Awesome. That's life on the plantation.

[@thatgirlPAIGE94]

I could watch your videos all day long 🙌🏾 My father is NY (Inwood Long Island) born and raised and he still can’t believe how high rent is nowadays 😮

[@Afrocandy-gt1yz]

mam please a really need your help I don't know what platform to reach you please

[@jck-pn]

If the landlord can't keep it up to standard then they shouldn't be allowed to keep it.

[@danielmankinde1706]

ever heard of private property? , so the government wants to come in and dictate how much you can recoup on your renovations, 15k cap. even if it may cost 100k, skilled labour is min 25-30 dollars an hour in newyork, the goverment also dictates a floor in wages, and the market dictates the prices of materials. after all these if you cant get it done withing those parameters, the COMMIES want to come take your unit.

[@henryostman5740]

Since the Housing Authority is part of city gobermint all renovation work need be done by either city workers or union contractors, I bet it would cost well over $100k to do a fairly cosmetic reno on one of these units, a serious problem would easily be a quarter million. It cost the city about half a million per unit to build an apartment so you know why they don't build any. The idea is to have the building decay to a point that it can't be rehabbed, then tare it down and build a new market rate unit. The city does things to its tenants that a private landlord would be sent to jail for. The city awaits the cleansing fires of nuclear antihalation.

[@adamm2716]

if someone paying rent won't even improve their apartment for their own enjoyment, then homeless will surely destroy a free apartment. people don't appreciate what's given to them, its human nature

[@sapphirelane1714]

Your journalistic-style videos are my favorite! Did you go to school for journalism? Thanks for making my nights enjoyable, as always!😁

[@NS-xt5wv]

Landlords could offer a deal “renovate to rent”, so a person who rents does a renovation but gets to live for free a year or two (or whatever would be an agreed period), otherwise a place will keep decaying and will end up costing way more for a landlord than if they rented it with no profit.

[@easylivinglife6284]

Honestly the apartment you just saw was aight. As someone who wants to move to new york, if I could get that place for cheap, I'm talking less than $2k/month - a lot less- I would consider it. I slpet in the woods for 3 years in the army. I can handle a shoddy appartment.

[@alotsoflovem]

Whats also very sad and embarrassing in the USA is how many of those homeless people in NY once served our country. Unfortunately, that's how they are given thanks, to live on the streets to fend for themselves. Its not fair.

[@653j521]

@@alotsoflovem He wants to move to NY. He chooses a competitive environment. This isn't a sad case. This is his choice. It very much IS fair. He could live in the upper Great Plains no problem but that apparently isn't his dream. He didn't say he was homeless. He said he slept in the woods in the army.

[@starrynight2600]

You still need to take into consideration the price of food, utilities and cost of living in NYC is very expensive.

[@marklanger1627]

@@alotsoflovemThat is an exaggeration. Many homeless pretend to be veterans when they panhandle.But I agree that one homeless veteran is too many.

[@EmpressEley]

The problem is no repairs have been done for a significant amount of time.. ie the profits they made without doing any upkeep for previous tenants.. so now that it costs sooo much the owner doesn't want to reinvest into his own business without the benefit of a monthly upcharge 😅😂 interesting

[@colettewilliams3575]

The landlords are simply angry that they can’t gouge renters the way they want. Maybe tax the empty apartments until they’re rented?