I want to chip in here, but haven't had time to read through the entire thread, so apologies if I'm repeating info.

We moved to Manhattan in 2009, during the Recession, and got an amazing deal on a corner unit 1BD with an amazing city view, including the Empire State Building. It was a newer high rise, we were on 18th floor, Every amenity you could imagine. Loved that apartment. Anyway, we signed n 18-month lease (the max they would do at a time), and were shocked to learn about "market rent" and "preferred rent."

Market rent is the max they can legally charge you, and in this case it was like $6,500!!! But the "preferred rent" is a little more reasonable, we paid $3,000. The point is, the Market Rent is there so they can jack up your rent SUBSTANTIALLY at lease renewal time, up to that stated max. The belief that rent control laws mean they can only increase your rent up to a certain amount per year is misunderstood. That applies to the Market Rent figure, not the Preferred Rent.

In our case, by the time it was time to renew, things had started to calm down a bit in the real estate market, and they were going to increase our rent from $3,000 to $4,500!!! And it was all perfectly legal, because it was still under the Market Rent cap.

So just a little FYI, OP. Yes, you can get good deals right now on apartments you may not otherwise be able to afford, but be prepared to move before 2 years (unless you can get them to sign a longer lease).

In our case, we could have afforded the increase, but said FUCK THAT and moved to Westchester.