If you install the Archive Page addon Firefox[0]/Chrome[1] (I don't use Chrome, but the FF version works nicely) you can right-click on any link and select 'search link', or you can click 'archive link' which will queue the link for archival if it has not already been archived.
>In the past, there was some informational benefit for average Joe/Jane. Without internet, finding apartments, knowing which neighborhoods, buildings, or landlords were good or not was quite difficult.
Actually, we had these arcane things called "newspapers" that were filled with hundreds and hundreds of ads for apartment/house rentals, sales and even shares.
You figured out what you could afford and went through these arcane things and marked the ones that interested you. Then you gasp made a phone call to find out:
1. If the place is still available;
2. When can you come to look at it;
3. If you like it, snap it up (by writing a check[0]) before someone else does.
As for brokers, the ads generally noted that it was 'no fee' if the rental was direct with the landlord. Apartment shares were generally 'no fee' as well, since you were just moving in with roommates you didn't know.
I had some really weird experiences looking for both shares and apartments back in the 1980s and 90s. But it wasn't all that difficult or that much more time consuming than using the real estate websites these days. They're essentially the same thing, except with more photos.
I don't think I need to refute the overall glibness here, but in case you're looking for a place in the coming months/years: brokers are often the only ones who take checks these days. The last landlord I had who took a check was 15 years ago, since then it's been cash, bank transfer, or Zelle only.
>I don't think I need to refute the overall glibness here, but in case you're looking for a place in the coming months/years: brokers are often the only ones who take checks these days. The last landlord I had who took a check was 15 years ago, since then it's been cash, bank transfer, or Zelle only.
Firstly, I was talking about goings on 30-40 years ago, and GP's (incorrect) assertion that "In the past, there was some informational benefit for average Joe/Jane. Without internet, finding apartments, knowing which neighborhoods, buildings, or landlords were good or not was quite difficult." It was not.
As far as checks are concerned, I've been paying by check. The last time was for this month's rent.
Regardless, and I'll say it a second time in this message as you, apparently, missed it in the first message, my previous message was replying to the assertion that back in the 1980s/90s, it was much harder to find/get an apartment than now. It ain't true. I was there. I did it repeatedly.
The only real difference is that I don't have to go out and get the Village Voice or Sunday papers for the expanded classified ad pages. Oh, and more photos on the websites.
Edit: I went and checked and you, ics, were the GP to whom I referred. Please re-read my initial reply to you -- you obviously misunderstood.
I did not say it was much harder. I called your response glib because you appear to be reading much more into my response than was actually written and speaking on many assumptions. If you want a summary of my first post which was to an outsider asking why brokers exist in the NY marketplace, it is that there was some marginal benefit which now is even less in my opinion.
"In the past, there was some informational benefit for average Joe/Jane. Without internet, finding apartments, knowing which neighborhoods, buildings, or landlords were good or not was quite difficult."
Which I helpfully quoted at the beginning of my reply. I then (at the end of my comment) clarified that I was talking about 30-40 years ago.
I suppose if GGP has just as poor reading comprehension as you appear to have, they might have gotten confused. Which would be a shame.
That said, I assume at least a modicum of English proficiency and reading comprehension skills when posting here. Perhaps I should reevaluate that assumption.
>Can't wait they also get rid of these "destination fees" billed by nearly all hotels in NYC.
That's not going to happen. Such fees (at least in the US, AFAICT) are in most cities.
Besides, hotels are for tourists. And a tourist's job is to spend as much money as the city can get them to cough up. And that's true of every city/destination.
>That situation wasn't created by real estate agents, it was created by sub-inflation mortgage interest rates, and she solved it by deeply understanding what a home seller wants out of an offer. That's what a real estate agent is good for, and it's what I hope a larger percentage of agents are going to be good at now that the bad ones can't hide behind their monopoly.
That's as may be, but the law in question is specifically about rentals not sales. WRT rentals, the price is generally not negotiable, the terms (at least in NYC) are prescribed by at least three city and state agencies, and until now, despite the fact that the broker acted as the landlord's agent exclusively, anyone who signed a lease (as the tenant) had to pay the broker.
That's a very different situation, and not analogous to buying a home, except that (usually) you will live there.
>Remember, broker's fees don't go to the landlord. They go to the brokers! The only reason landlords use them is because they're free for the landlord.
What's more, the way it's worked up until now the landlord has many brokers to choose from. And brokers (especially in NYC) will have at least a dozen different folks who will want pretty much any decent apartment. Which allows the broker to charge outrageous fees because most landlords don't want to deal with the hoi polloi, just the folks vetted by the broker.
As such, the power asymmetry between renter and broker was astounding. Changing this will be good for the renter, that's for sure.
Brokers won't be able to get as much commission per apartment because the landlords will put the brokers on a flat fee annual retainer or something similar, because they have power (because they control the available inventory) to choose which broker(s) to work with.
All in all, it won't be so good for the brokers. Too bad. So sad. /s
>Unless you are saying that there is a shadowy secret organization that controls the world with space lasers and UAPs….
As you return home, henchman grab you, blindfold you and take you to my secret lair, then bind you to a table with a laser mounted on the ceiling pointed at the table. I walk up to the table and power on the laser and its beam slowly moves toward you between your legs.
Me: "You figured it out. SPECTRE rules the world with UAPs and space lasers!! And that's unfortunate for you."
I start to walk away...
You struggle with the bonds confining you to the table, to no avail. And with just a hint of panic in your voice:
Huh? What linux device might only have access to spotify? Pretty much every Linux distribution (with the possible exception of Linux From Scratch[0]) has multiple local apps to play music, both from the command line and via a gui in their standard package repositories.
Not to mention dozens of sites (if you can get to spotify you can get to them) that perform the same function.
apologies, i meant i only have a linux device with only spotify installed, because it's the thing i use. no, i'm not talking about music players, only streaming services.
you're completely right other services and software are available on linux. but the point i'm trying to make is, this tool is spotify -> others, but a common use-case is others -> spotify.
>apologies, i meant i only have a linux device with only spotify installed, because it's the thing i use. no, i'm not talking about music players, only streaming services.
>you're completely right other services and software are available on linux. but the point i'm trying to make is, this tool is spotify -> others, but a common use-case is others -> spotify.
No apologies necessary. I misunderstood your point, which is certainly a fair one.
And given your use case, I get your frustration. That said, there are, apparently, a number of Linux apps and plugins for said apps that will allow you to play not only local music, but streams from Spotify as well as from other streaming services.
I get that's not really what interests you, but it is an option if you choose.
I don't use Spotify, so I haven't looked for tools to convert to Spotify links, but I'd expect they're out there, given that the reverse exists.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nM4okRvCg2g
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