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How To Find Condo Owner In Manila?

How to look at listed condo units for rent WITHOUT involving broker?

  • I'm moving for the 4th time in Chicago. By now I have a pretty good handle on what buildings/prices I'm interested in and feel confident negotiating on my own; I would greatly prefer not to have involve a broker. Since condos for rent often provide better value than managed apartment buildings, I would prefer to find a good deal on a condo unit. Through looking on padmapper/craigslist and other local real estate sites, I am able to access the MLS listings that show available condos for rent. However, almost all these listings redirect you to contact a real estate agent- none appear to give you direct access to an owner. I have seen 3-4 listings for the same place by different real estate brokers, so it doesn't appear that any owners have given "exclusive" access to one broker, but are allowing anyone who can rent the unit to try. How can I find access to the owners and cut out the middle person? I'm guessing this is not easily possible since the system is set up to benefit the brokers, but wonder if anyone has recommendations for sites or ways to find units without needing assistance. I should add that most of the units I'm interested in are in mid or high-rises, so I can't walk up and down the block trying to find "FOR RENT" signs that may give me easier access to an owner. These buildings may have a community posterboard with listing, but these are restricted to me since I won't be able to get in the building. Most of my motivation is to prevent the owner from having to pay half month's rent to the broker, thus potentially being able to split some of the savings with them. If this will limit the selection of places that I'm able to see then I'm open to working with an agent, but was hoping to find a bargain on my own. As I've mentioned, I have no trouble finding duplicates of the same postings for the same place, but none will give me contact information for the owner. Thanks in advance!

  • Answer:

    I am one of those landlords who has a non-exclusive agent listing my condo in a mid-rise in Chicago. It's nice that you want to say the owner money, but chances are it's not going to happen. If you did find someone who allowed you to bypass their broker, it's not likely to save you any money because most broker listing agreements take all the broker fees out of the first month's rent, which is going to be $XXXX whether you pay it to the landlord, to the broker, or it's split between them. You can certainly look up the owner at the county website, but the owner is quite likely to refer you to her broker to handle your rental application. The agent does a lot of screening, checking rental histories and such that I am not going to do on my own, for which I pay him a fee. Like JimN2TAW says, this system is not set up to give the broker some benefit he does not deserve, but to allow me to contract out an annoying part of being a small time private landlord: primarily vetting tenants and setting and handling showings, but other things involved with the HOA, as well.

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the system is set up to benefit the brokers No, it's set up so that the owners don't have to deal with you directly. it doesn't appear that any owners have given "exclusive" access to one broker, but are allowing anyone who can rent the unit to try. No, it appears that the owners have given the exclusive right to lease the apartment to brokers who are members of the Multiple Listing Service.

JimN2TAW

Owners list with real estate brokers because they do not want to deal directly with renters: they don't want to personally deal with the hassle of finding tenants, repeatedly showing prospective tenants the unit, or taking emergency calls for repairs in the middle of the night. Locating such an owner's personal info and contacting them directly sounds like a bad idea: you're entering 'stalker' territory there, and getting contacted out of the blue by someone who says they're a prospective tenant would probably just freak those owners out. After all, having a layer between you (the prospective tenant) and them (the property owner) is exactly why they have chosen to pay the real estate broker to manage the property: the added cost to them is worth their peace of mind.

easily confused

andruwjones26 Get a google voice number forwarded to your smart phone and use the app to call in and out when dealing with potential bait and switchers. Nuke it when you've got a place.

Buttons Bellbottom

My experience, unfortunately, is that a lot of brokers place listings on Craigslist, e.g., just as ads-- in other words, bait and switch. Gets you to get in touch with them, you tell them what you're looking for, and they'll show you places that may or may not be what you originally saw on CL. That is to say, there may not be an owner to get in touch with for the original listing. "None" giving access to an owner is surprising, but I guess it probably depends on the market. In your spot, not wanting to deal with a broker, I would just keep an eye out for non-broker-placed listings. Keep in mind that it may not look as good initially, or look overpriced compared to the broker-placed listings.

supercres

Have you tried domu.com? I know at least one couple who listed on condo themselves (no broker) on there.

dovesandstones

MLS is run by realtors. They do not want you to connect with the owner on your own. The owner might also not want that. You can look up the name of the owner at the http://cookcountyassessor.com/Property_Search/Property_Search.aspx#block1b and perhaps find the owner's phone number, but don't be surprised if they regard you as an unwanted caller.

ubiquity

I'm an owner of a rental condo in Chicago, and I use a broker because I don't have the time to deal with seeking out, vetting, touring, and adminstrating potential renters. I could care less about the money I have to pay the broker because I get to write it off on my taxes. It's worth it to me to not have to deal with potential renters on the front end. In fact, when my unit comes up for rent, I even offer an extra bounty to the broker who gets me my tenant, if the tenant stays for the lease term, in cash. Those brokers will fall all over one another to get me the best, most awesome tenant. Ohhhh, also, you say you are looking at mid- and high-rises. Many condo buildings like that on the north side require owners to use a broker. It's in the HOA bylaws.

juniperesque

supercres, that is exactly why I wanted to avoid agents- I've been part of the bait-and-switch before, then found myself receiving spam calls days after breaking off contact. The last place we rented we did through an agent, even though we found the listing ourselves (on a community board)- they did draw up the contract and handle other issues, but I knew the owner wasn't happy having us write a check for the first half months rent directly to the agent. After hearing from multiple owners here, I understand the important part brokers play in the process. Thanks for the great answers so far!!

andruwjones26

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