Secondly, from what I know and truly believe, rents NEVER go down.
As someone who signed a lease in Manhattan on 9/8/01, let me assure you that is not the case. I could have gotten the place at LEAST $300 cheaper a week later. Rents still weren’t back where they were pre-9/11 when I left NY in August 2003. Obviously, 9/11 was a once-in-a-lifetime shock to the real estate market(let’s hope), but all it takes is one unexpected tragedy. Earthquake anyone?
No reason to live in fear, of course, but it CAN happen.