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NYC Landlords Aren’t Actually Making Much Money


April 1, 2014 | Andy Cush

Yes, if you live in New York — especially if you live in Manhattan or the trendier parts of Brooklyn — you’re probably paying too much for rent. But your landlord probably isn’t exactly making bank from your monthly check.

A post at RealtyTrac catalogs the best and worst counties in the U.S. for rental returns — that is, the average rent of an apartment against the median sale price of a home — and, as it turns out, Manhattan is the last profitable county in the country for landlords, with an average rent of $1,852 and median sale price of $887,000, and Brooklyn (fourth worst), Westchester (ninth) and Queens (sixteenth) aren’t far behind.

To calculate annual gross yield percentage, RealtyTrac multiplied average rent by 12, then divided median sale by the product, to find the portion of a home’s cost that’s returned to a typical landlord each year. Struggling NYC property owners might consider moving to Detroit, whose home county is apparently the most landlord-friendly in the U.S.

(Photo: @Martin Haesemeyer)