Snippet of a conversation I had in New York

(recreated from memory)

Dude: We don’t have a lot of furrboes in New York.
Me: Furrboes?
Dude: Yeah, For Rent By Owners – F-R-B-Os. Brokers control all the rentals. If you want to rent an apartment, you have to pay a broker a fee.
Me: Right. FRBOs. I’ve heard about the setup here. I guess it’s no skin off the landlord’s back if you’re paying the fees.
Dude: Well, the FRBOs that you can find on Craigslist are all way overpriced because the landlord knows that people will pay more to avoid the broker fee.
Me: Bizarre.

It does seem strange that the landlords in New York make consumers pay their marketing costs, but with rents continuing their upward march, perhaps the landlords don’t notice the money they could be capturing in higher rents.