Proceed at your own risk
Pros
The rent isn’t as bad as everywhere else
Cons
Landlord puts a bandaid on severe issues and never ever, I mean ever fixes anything. He refuses to hire anyone to do the actual work and attempts and fails at everything.
Advice to the owners
Hire someone to manage the property
I only stay for the amount of space
Pros
Apt is a good size and the location is nice for walking access to both Bushwick and Bed Stuy, and multiple bus and train options to the rest of Brooklyn and the city. Neighbors have historically been friendly but multiple units are empty now. Rent for new tenants is reasonable again, after being high for a few years. I would only recommend to a friend if they were handy and able to take care of things themselves and they needed the space for the price, which is a decent deal for the area, although high for the quality.
Cons
The layout is awkward, one huge bedroom, one large bedroom (but it’s the connector from the huge bedroom to the rest of the apartment, huge bedroom has a separate entrance so often the folks in that room have to exit the apt and re-enter down the hall for the kitchen, bathroom, living room), one very small bedroom. Living room and kitchen are small. Appliances are second hand. Flooring is very cheap, tiles break, laminate is uneven and breaks or nails come up to snag or stab you. Leaks are common and reoccurring. There have been mold issues. Repairs are done by the landlord and not well done. Lacks adequate smoke alarms. Doors swell and locks don’t work or stick frequently. Exterminator comes erratically and with no notice so sometimes no one is home to let them in. Landlord very rude over text and phone, blames tenant for any issues with the apartment, even obviously externally caused problems. Bad mouths tenants to each other expecting sympathy. Landlord did not offer flexible payments due to covid hardship and was not open to negotiations with a group of tenants together, but did ultimately agree to some discounts to back rent for tenants on a per apartment basis. Multiple tenants moved out.
Advice to the owners
Work on your communication skills and your empathy, treat your tenants like you would like to be treated. Take care of your building and invest in maintaining and improving it instead of spending the least possible and doing the least.
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