Rent prices rose by an average of 14% last year, and it doesn’t look like those heart-clutching price hikes are going to stop any time soon. For anyone wondering exactly how much they’re getting ripped off in this rental hellscape, there are tools like RentHop RentCompare, which is specifically designed to help renters in New York City figure out if they’re overpaying or underpaying for rent. While the app is specific to NYC homes right now, the price tool is still a great way to explore how much different neighborhoods cost and help you see where you stand in the current rental market.
Here’s how you can use this rent compare tool, no matter where you live.
How to use RentCompare
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RentCompare is an interactive tool that allows renters to compare a rental price across the average rent for an apartment’s size and neighborhood. On renthop.com, you enter your email and your neighborhood, current rent, apartment size, and amenities. Then, RentCompare reveals how it compares to similar apartments in the area.
The goal is to “put the power back in renters’ hands” by showing them whether their current rental price is below the average for apartments in the neighborhood with the same bedroom size. Of course, you may pay more than the average renter if you’re also paying for amenities like a doorman, roof deck, or in-unit washer/dryer (my greatest dream).
Consider what these famous fictional New Yorkers were “paying”
If you’re looking for an apartment in NYC, you can use a rental listings site like Zillow and compare the listed prices to comparable apartments listed on RentHop’s RentCompare. And if you live somewhere that is not NYC, you can use Zillow to compare rent prices to what is most likely a much more affordable city. Or, you can still play around with tool—just pretend to be some of your favorite famous New Yorkers.
A few years back, Insider got to the bottom of how much NYC’s most famous fictional apartments actually cost. Plug in some of the truly exorbitant apartment prices below and see whether or not Seinfeld was getting a fair deal. (What’s the deal with getting a fair deal, am I right?) (Spoiler: He was getting a great deal, considering the fun fact that Seinfeld’s TV apartment is physically impossible). Mess around with these wild home prices:
- Friends (90 Bedford Street, West Village): $2 million
- Sex And The City (66 Perry Street, West Village): $600,000
- Seinfeld (129 West 81st Street, Upper West Side): $900,000
- Big Daddy (16 Mercer Street, SoHo): $2.5 million
- The Cosby Show (Brooklyn Heights): $11 million
- Succession (specifically Kendall Roy’s ex-wife) (Tribeca’s Woolworth Tower Residences, Tribeca): $23.355 million (This one was pulled from Architectural Digest.)
Keep in mind that rent varies across the city, while most fictional New Yorkers seem to get the luxury of living on the Upper West Side. Last year, GBSN Research found that the median rent is $3,550 in Manhattan, $2,850 in Brooklyn, and $2,400 in Queens.