Tetran CEO and co-founder Ruke Keragala writes that both LEGO and Transformers toys were an inspiration when designing the modular furniture.Tetran consists of a variety of standardized modules, blocks and cushions that can be fitted together to create just about any item of furniture you can imagine. You can see a gallery of 88 configurations here and the Tetran website here.

Let’s get started with a few of the photos that I think are entirely doable when you find your rental apartment in NYC. Keep in mind that you’ll need a little imagination to envision this modular furniture in most NYC rentals, but it won’t be too hard.

Picture this setup in your NY apartment rental. Perfect for entertaining in style.

If your rental apartment in NYC doesn't have enough clothes closet space, imaging this setup. But pick on of their other colors.

NYC rentals would look far better if they came with a walk in closet like this. But they don't. Now you can put up your own.

It's just like being back in college again. Only more efficient. And it's your own NYC rental.

This post originated from http://www.Rent-Direct.com/blog Your Studio is a Great NY Apartment Rental With Lego-Like Furniture This is the blog for Rent-Direct.com and RDNY.com - New York's largest and most trusted No Fee apartment rental service. RDNY.com

This post originated from http://www.Rent-Direct.com/blog Marriage for All! Congratulation Pres. Obama for Taking a Stand! This is the blog for Rent-Direct.com and RDNY.com - New York's largest and most trusted No Fee apartment rental service. RDNY.com

How do I tie in a story/video about the New York Times morgue with a blog about New York apartments, particularly a blog about apartments for rent in New York City? I admit it, it’s a bit of a stretch except for this… What would life be like in New York City without the Times chronicling the large and the small, the significant and the mundane about our great city? The Times, for better or for worse, is our institutional memory and the morgue at the Times is the place where our memories about everything grand and once important lives. It’s the memory center of our collective brains. It is one of the signal treasures of this city and this country.

I’ll admit that I never gave much thought to the people who work day and night three levels underground in the NY Times morgue. But having seen the video above, I can no longer forget that hundreds of thousands of man-hours, if not more, were devoted to saving these scraps of our history.

The New York Times, I salute you for this treasure in our midst. Oh, and one last word about New York apartments for rent- the morgue has cataloged the history of residential real estate in its files. What a joy to look back at old apartment for rent ads from 50 years ago and discover that it only too a few hundred dollars per month to live on Park Avenue with the swells. Thanks NY Times.

Is Marilyn Monroe looking at old ads for New York apartments for rent in the Time's morgue? I wonder.

This post originated from http://www.Rent-Direct.com/blog The Morgue is Alive at the New York Times This is the blog for Rent-Direct.com and RDNY.com - New York's largest and most trusted No Fee apartment rental service. RDNY.com

His main argument boils down to this; rent stabilization, rent laws, and construction costs are the main reasons rents are so high. Particularly rent laws and rent stabilization which protects tenants. Without these laws, developers would assemble blocks with many low rise buildings, knock them down, and build high rises. The result would be many more apartments for rent in Manhattan, which in turn would drive down rents.

While it sounds convincing, and there is much truth to his argument, I argued that it is not the rent laws nor rent stabilization that is causing our high rents right now. The current shortage of apartments is mainly due do the financial collapse of 2008-2009 which caused new building construction of rental apartment in Manhattan and other parts of the city to collapse. My argument was that, given enough time, more buildings are being planned and are in the pipeline. The lead time to build new buildings is measured in years, not weeks, so it will take a little time until a significant number of new units starts to come on the market. That – and the recovery of the sales market (meaning that mortgages become readily available again) will move many renters out of rental buildings and into homes that they purchase, will greatly increase the supply of available rental apartments, and thus will soon result in lower rents.

Now there is some evidence to support my argument. Today, The Real Deal, an industry publication for the real estate industry, has an article entitled “Manhattan apartment landlords increasingly gut renovate buildings in pursuit of higher rents“, which profiles the gut renovation of a 128 unit rental building at 2nd Avenue and 28th Street. The first paragraph says essentially what my argument is.

The white-hot rental market and the shifting demographic of renters has compelled more New York City landlords to invest in extensive renovations of their rental properties, according to the Wall Street Journal. Landlords of apartment buildings 10 to 30 years old are spending millions to gut renovate well-located buildings and raise rents 10 to 40 percent.

Last week, The Wall Street Journal carried an article by Laura Kusisto entitled, “Permits Climb As Developers Up Their Bets“. Here are the first two paragraphs:

Manhattan is starting to shake off its construction doldrums and could see the first flurry of building activity since the recession, according to the city’s Department of Buildings.

Manhattan experienced a 169% spike in new building permits issued so far this year, according to the buildings department, which issued 35 permits for construction including hotels, apartment buildings, an “affordable housing” development and an art gallery in the first four months of 2012. That is up from 13 in the same period last year.

The image below tells the story and I rest my case. It’s wasn’t the rent laws that caused rent to spike to an all time high. It was the freeze on financing for development projects and the general conditions of the recession/depression that caused building to stop. With the improvement in the economy and the unfreezing of financing for development projects, we’ll soon see lots of new apartment rentals in Manhattan – and the rest of NYC.

Apartment rentals in Manhattan will see prices leveling off or declining once all these new project are built.

This post originated from http://www.Rent-Direct.com/blog Follow-up to “Why The Rent is Too Damn High – or Not” This is the blog for Rent-Direct.com and RDNY.com - New York's largest and most trusted No Fee apartment rental service. RDNY.com

Manhattan apartments, of which there are a few pictured in this photo, are setting record high rents these days.

Looking to rent an apartment in NYC? Be prepared to pay! That’s the word our from Citi Habitats latest monthly report. Here are some of the key stats from the report:

• April rents are about 3% higher than were they were in April 2011.
• The average Manhattan rent is now $3,429.
• The average rent in a Manhattan walkup building was $3,199.
• The average rent in a new Manhattan doorman building was $5,300
• The Manhattan apartments vacancy rate is now only 1.16%.
• Landlord concessions are now almost completely absent from the market except at the very high end.

What’s the cause of this surge in rental prices? Lack of new inventory – which means that very few new apartments have come on the market, since housing construction in Manhattan came to a standstill in 2008 and 2009. Building are just gearing up now for a whole new batch of buildings, but they won’t be ready for occupancy anytime soon.

If you are looking to rent apartments in NYC, or more specifically, if your looking at Manhattan apartments, you will definitely want to save as much money as you can.

The broker commission on the average apartment rental in Manhattan is $6,1722 (Average Manhattan rent of $3,429 X 15% of the first year’s rent). Imagine that! To rent the average apartment in Manhattan, you would have to spend over $6,000 for the broker’s fee! Insane!

With RDNY.com, 100% of our New York City apartments are no fee apartments. The commission that you will owe to RDNY.com is $0. Does it make sense to look for an apartment for rent in New York any other way?

This post originated from http://www.Rent-Direct.com/blog Surprise, Surprise…Apartments in NYC Hit Rental High This is the blog for Rent-Direct.com and RDNY.com - New York's largest and most trusted No Fee apartment rental service. RDNY.com

Let’s clear up the misconception right now; There is no difference between a fee apartment and  no fee apartments in New York City. None. They are the very same apartments.

There is no difference between "fee apartments" and no fee apartments in New York City.

The only difference between a fee apartment and a no fee apartment is how you saw the apartment. If you saw the apartment with a licensed real estate broker or agent, you will owe them a fee if you wish to rent the apartment. This is a “fee” apartment.

If you saw the very same apartment without a real estate broker or agent, you would not owe anyone a fee upon renting the apartment. None. This is a “no fee apartment”.

It’s that simple. Really. It’s that simple. So do you want to pay a fee? No? Then use RDNY.com. All of our apartments are guaranteed to be 100% no fee.

Of course, you will be giving something up. You will give up the pleasure of having the broker or agent hold your hand across the street, open the door for you, and then point out which room is the bathroom and which is the kitchen.

If you’re as smart as we think you are, we trust that you can cross the street without someone holding your hand (nice as that is). We trust that you know how to open the door yourself. And we trust that you’ll be able to figure out which room is the bath room and which room is the kitchen.

If you can do those things on your own, then you’re ready to find a no fee apartment in NYC. All on your own, with the help of RDNY.com.

This post originated from http://www.Rent-Direct.com/blog Are No Fee Apartments in New York City the Same as Fee Apartments? This is the blog for Rent-Direct.com and RDNY.com - New York's largest and most trusted No Fee apartment rental service. RDNY.com

People do not want to pay the huge broker commissions necessary to find a good rental apartment. But there are almost no other companies devoted to bringing you 100% no broker fee apartment listings. With RDNY.com, we guarantee that every apartment is 100% no broker fee – or your money back.

Over the past 17 years, we’ve worked very hard to earn your trust.  We operate at the highest standards of integrity and bring you current information that is constantly being updated.

Our user comments on Facebook show you what our renters think of us. People are constantly mentioning the great level of service from us.

We’re an online company, so it would be easy to hide behind the web. But we don’t. We’re very available to you, because we know that so many of our customers want to have their questions answered by someone they can trust. After all, we are not commission motivated. We have a one time fee for using our service. After that, we just want you to have the best experience possible and we want you to rent the very best apartment at the lowest possible price. We have no reason to want to see the rent that you will be paying be any higher than necessary. We are not charging a commission, so we’re not looking for little ways to jack up the price range that you are looking in.

As Susan Murren-Azad said on Facebook,

This is a wonderful service where you can find the apartment you want without paying a costly broker’s fee.

This post originated from http://www.Rent-Direct.com/blog Renters Say Some Nice Things About RDNY.com on Facebook This is the blog for Rent-Direct.com and RDNY.com - New York's largest and most trusted No Fee apartment rental service. RDNY.com

Manhattan apartments for rent ought to come with window boxes. Even renters want the fun and satisfaction of growing their own min-flower garden.

The above photo shows that a beautiful window box need not be complicated. There are only two items in the boxes above. Ivy, which grows year round and is difficult to screw up, and tulips. Bulbs are simple. Buy them in a bag at the nearest Lowe’s, Home Depot or plant shop and stick them in the ground either very early in the season or very late in the Fall. That’s it. Add water occasionally and watch the beauty grow.

What a simple and beautiful idea. Layer your flower boxes on the stoop. Ah, NYC rental apartments need more flowers!

Renters, you too can have flower boxes. Don’t wait for someone else to start first. Flower boxes are simple, creative, enjoyable, fascinating, restful, and beautifying all at once. You can’t go wrong and everyone will appreciate your efforts.

A special thanks to BrooklynRoofGarden.com for posting these lovely photos.

This post originated from http://www.Rent-Direct.com/blog West Village Window Boxes Usher in Springtime in NYC This is the blog for Rent-Direct.com and RDNY.com - New York's largest and most trusted No Fee apartment rental service. RDNY.com

This photos is from BrooklynRoofGarden.com. When looking for an NYC apartment rental, check out the window sills for a window box.

Window boxes along the railing of the Hotel Delmano in Williamsburg. It gives the no fee apartment in NY across the street a lovely view.

Amaryllis grows in Fort Greene window box. Don't you think all NYC rentals should have such lovely flowers growing.

For more beautiful photos of flower boxes and closeups of the flowers themselves, visit BrooklynRoofGarden.com.

This post originated from http://www.Rent-Direct.com/blog More Flower Boxes From Brooklyn Apartments This is the blog for Rent-Direct.com and RDNY.com - New York's largest and most trusted No Fee apartment rental service. RDNY.com

Wouldn't New York rental apartments look great with many more window boxes?

Manhattan Rental Apartments Should Have Window Boxes.

So should apartments in Bronx, apartments in Queens, and apartments in Brooklyn.

We spend a lot of time concerned about the interiors of our apartments, yet adding a flower box brightens up both the exterior and the interiors of our apartments. There are few more satisfying things than watching your window plantings grow and create their own peaceful corner of the world.

When adding window boxes to your windows, there are three things to concern yourself with. 1. The box itself has to be suited for the type of window sill you have, 2. The box has to be properly fastened to the window to avoid any danger to pedestrians below, and 3. You need to give some thought as to what to plant.

Focus on #3 first. Here are some great sources of planting information:

• From Better Homes & Gardens
• From Window Boxes for Dummies
• From The National Gardening Association

As for buying assembled flower boxes, there are a million links in google. One of our favorites is SimplyPlanters.com. The following two images will give you a sense of their inventory.

Any of these boxes would look beautiful from the windows of your Manhattan rental apartment.

Wouldn't it be nice to see apartments in Manhattan sporting such lovely window boxes?

This post originated from http://www.Rent-Direct.com/blog Manhattan Rental Apartments Should Have Window Boxes This is the blog for Rent-Direct.com and RDNY.com - New York's largest and most trusted No Fee apartment rental service. RDNY.com