Renters are signing leases for apartments they have never seen
Bidding wars, video tours and deposits wired in minutes: inside the fastest rental market in memory.
The listing went up at nine. By noon it had eleven applications, three offers above asking and a signed lease from someone who had only ever seen a ninety-second phone video.
Agents say the speed is the point. Units that sit for more than two days are assumed to have a flaw, which pushes applicants to commit before they have finished reading the terms.
What people are agreeing to
Tenant advocates report a rise in clauses that would have been unthinkable a few years ago: prepaid months, restrictions on guests and maintenance responsibilities pushed onto renters.
Landlords argue they are simply managing risk in a market where a single bad tenancy can wipe out a year of income.
Both sides agree on exactly one thing: nobody expects the pace to slow before winter.
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