How not to go broke when moving to a new city

When signing a lease, expect to pay your first and last months’ rent, along with a security deposit, before moving in. It’s “basically unavoidable,” Anderson said. If you use a broker, you might also owe a one-time fee of as much as 15 percent your annual rent.

But prospective tenants are finding new opportunities to negotiate through “landlord concessions” — financial perks that landlords offer — according to New York City data from StreetEasy’s Long.

Concessions usually take the form of waiving at least a months’ rent, or recouping a broker’s fee, Long said. The share of StreetEasy’s listings with concessions rose to 16 percent in December, compared with 9 percent a year earlier.

Landlord concessions could save thousands on a new apartment lease, but they can be easy to miss. They are sometimes only offered when asked, and many applicants aren’t prepared to negotiate he said.