A $1,100 “rent-controlled” apartment! A $1,100 apartment is rare in most parts of the country these days. It’s WAY below market rate in NYC, even in the worst parts of town. And once you get in, they can’t toss you out and your rent almost never goes up.
An up-front fee of $15,000 to get into such a deal seems fair to me. Prospective tenants should do a quick break-even analysis on a market-rate apartment vs a “rent-controlled” apartment with a big up-front fee.
Allow me. If he’s saving $1,000 per month (easily), then he breaks even at 15 months and, after that, he’s in the money. It ain’t rocket surgery.
This is an old article but I remember hearing about other celebrities who were benefiting from rent controlled apts in NY.
https://fcpp.org/2005/12/19/celebrities-love-new-york-rent-control/