‘I feel so guilty’: the highs, lows, and hustle of New York housing brokers

As rental applications surge, jobseekers have flooded to the industry. It's often far less appealing than they thought

When Keyan Sanai moved to Manhattan and started working as a real estate broker in 2014, he was eating 12 to 15 cans of tuna a week to keep costs low. I said to my friend, My mouth tastes like a fistful of old pennies all the time,'" he says. After a doctor's visit, he found out he had mercury poisoning.

His first few years as a broker were rough. Working at a boiler room" brokerage, he got acquainted with what he calls the dark underbelly" of the industry. The script is basically to lie to people: Put up [an ad] that says no fee', and once you get 'em in, say, Oh, that's rented, but I have something else,'" he recalls managers telling him. He says they insisted their employees just get [the client] out to the appointment, then pump the fear and pressure them into making a decision".