If you live in a rent stabilized or rent controlled apartment and you’re considering letting your landlord buy out your lease, you might think you need a lawyer.
You’d be wrong.
“That’s a huge—and costly—misconception. You do not need a lawyer to get the best representation and maximum buyout. You need an expert who understands the real estate market, knows how landlords think, and can expertly negotiate on your behalf,” says Benjamin Landy, founder of Lease Buyout Advisors, a company that helps rent stabilized and rent-regulated tenants get the maximum amount for lease buyouts.
Founded by a New York City real estate expert, for New Yorkers
A New York City native who grew up in affordable housing cooperative, Landy is a 13-year veteran of the real estate business, with experience working in numerous aspects of the industry including property management, acquisitions, and retail brokerage.
He’s also served on his local community board, Community Board 3 on the Lower East Side/East Village, where he repeatedly saw landlords taking advantage of tenants who did not understand the value of their rent-controlled or rent-regulated apartment.
“Landlords were sometimes offering less than 10% of what they should be paying, per market value, and the tenants were taking it because many times they didn’t know any better,” Landy says, who was inspired to create Lease Buyout Advisors last year.
The Lease Buyout Advisors advantage
"When approaching clients and explaining what I do, the most commonly asked question I get is, ‘But shouldn’t a lawyer be negotiating this for me?’ and I always give the same response: 'You wouldn’t hire an architect to sell your house, so why should you hire a lawyer to negotiate your buyout?'" says Landy. "Lawyers don’t necessarily understand the property value, or how landlords think. That’s where we come in, and it’s our specialty. Lease Buyout Advisors knows the true value, the market, and how landlords think. We understand the logic and finance that landlords use to make their decisions."
On average, says Landy, Lease Buyout Advisor’s clients receive 40% more money that than if they hired a lawyer or negotiated the buyout on their own.
How it works
Lease Buyout Advisors begins by conducting a comprehensive and multi-faceted assessment of the buyout value of your lease. The free assessment includes more than 30 data points such as current and future rent values, social influences, the partners in the building, what type of financing is on the property, and development trends—i.e., is the property a potential development site, etc.
“Our estimates match spot on how owners evaluate the buyouts, but at the end of the day, every buyout is different and we get very close to the number we ask for.”
Next, your buyout advisor will draft an eight to nine page valuation report.
“There is no pressure to move forward, everything is completely confidential, and we are totally transparent with everyone involved. We recognize that there has been an ongoing problem for years, and we just want the tenants to know that there is someone here, willing to fight on their behalf, even if they don’t move forward,” says Landy.
Advocating, advising, negotiating
After developing a current and accurate assessment of the value of your lease, Lease Buyout Advisors negotiates on your behalf. Your advisor is available at any time in the process to answer your questions.
“We go through every step of the process together, we explain why and what we’re doing, and we never pressure you to take the buyout,” says Landy. “Landlords appreciate our model because we show them why our number is fair for all parties”
Landy adds that while many rent-regulated tenants mistakenly think they have to wait for their landlord to approach them about a buyout, “That’s not actually true. About 95% of our clients actually ask us to make the first move and approach their landlord,” says Landy. "Sometimes making the first move can actually be beneficial for the tenant, but only if it’s done correctly. You don’t want to make it known to your landlord that you’re definitely moving out and just need some quick cash. Rather, let it be known that you’re willing to be bought out, but only if you can negotiate a fair and acceptable buyout price. If not, then you have no intention of leaving."
You only pay if you get a buyout
Landy offers another compelling reason to work with Lease Buyout Advisors: "You only pay us if you take a buyout you are comfortable with—and there is never any pressure to take that buyout, once negotiated. We charge a competitive fee structure, substantially lower than any legal fee you might incur, and you still walk away with more money than you likely would have had you negotiated on your own."
Providing the freedom—and funds—to move
To date, Lease Buyout Advisors has helped many longtime New Yorkers move out, and on, with bigger buyouts than they ever thought possible.
“We’ve worked with clients who have lived in the same apartment for 30 or 40 years, often with poor living conditions like peeling paint and leaky pipes. A lot of them always wanted to move but couldn’t because of the financial restrictions,” Landy says. “We help them achieve the maximum value of their buyout so they have the financial flexibility to move on to the next chapter of their lives; something that they have been waiting a long time to do."
Lease Buyout Advisors gets you the most money for your rent-regulated apartment lease buyout. So sit back, relax and let the maximum buyout settlement come to you. Call 212-655-9851 or visit our site today.
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