In the Greater Boston area, the broker’s fee is usually an entire month’s rent. According to Zumper, the average cost of a Boston apartment was just over $3,000 in November. That puts total move-in cost (first and last months’ rent, security deposit, and a broker fee) at a total of at least $12,000.

Apartment hunters in New York City got good news on Wednesday when the City Council there passed a bill that would largely compel landlords, not tenants, to cover broker fees, that expensive charge tacked on to the cost of signing an apartment lease.

New York City appears to getting rid of broker fees. In Boston, where 65-percent of residents rent, it's still an issue.