Real Estate agents in Davis Square

[flixchick1986.livejournal.com]

Hello everyone! My boyfriend and I are thinking about moving to Davis Square (we currently live in Central Square) this August.

Does anyone have any recommendation for a good Real Estate office/agent in Davis? We're looking to rent, not buy, and for an agency that has the landlords pay the fee (preferably, not required). I'd like to head over there as soon as tomorrow to start looking for a place.

Also, is Davis a quiet place to live? Or does that depend on the luck of who your neighbors are? If there's a section that's particularly loud, please let me know... noise really bothers me, and I'm a very light sleeper. This is one reason I want to get out of Central Square.

Thanks!

Comments

Just some ideas...

[sungold123.livejournal.com]

I'm also looking for an apartment... it's very hard (but not impossible) to find a no-fee apartment through a realtor. I've had decent luck looking on Craigslist- if you go to the housing section, in the drop down box you can select "Apartments by Owner." I like this because it eliminates the middle-man and, usually, the fee. Also, most of the realtors in Davis post their apartments on Craigslist (in just the regular apartment listings, not the apts by owner), so that might be a good place to start, and if you see something you like you could head over to that realtor.

Personally, I've found Davis to be very quiet- I live right on Highland Ave., about 1/8 mile from the center of the square. Maybe others who live closer to Tufts have other opinions?

Good luck!!

Re: Just some ideas...

[dominika-kretek.livejournal.com]

FWIW, it's illegal for landlords to charge a fee. I definitely agree that Craigslist is the only way to go. The only service any realtor has ever provided me was a ride on the way to show me an apartment I wouldn't rent in a million years.

Davis is noisy if you live near the square proper, on Highland, Holland, or Elm. I would bet, but I wouldn't know from experience, that streets between the commercial part of Holland/Elm and Mass Ave also have some issues. But the more residential parts are pretty quiet.

Re: Just some ideas...

[sungold123.livejournal.com]

I think the how the fee works, is that the REALTORS charge the fee, and if the landlords want to make it more appealing for the tenants, they offer to pay all or half the fee to the realtors, so the tenants don't have to.

Re: Just some ideas...

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

Yes, this. That's why oftentimes you'll be more likely to see "no fee" apartments advertised close to or after Sept. 1, when a lot of leases are up: the landlords want to get someone in ASAP so the place doesn't sit empty, and are more willing to offer things like that.

Re: Just some ideas...

[dominika-kretek.livejournal.com]

That's true, and so one would think it would be obvious to landlords that it doesn't make sense for them to charge a fee. And yet, I can't tell you how many times I've seen an apartment that turned out to be advertised by the landlord's management company or some other agent who nevertheless wanted to charge a fee. It's plum illegal.

The other thing I found was that realtors all seemed to be showing the same hard-to-get-rid-of apartments from big management companies who were often themselves advertising on Craigslist. If you can figure out who these management companies are, you can go right to the source. If you have the time, you can take a look at buildings in neighborhoods you like, get the landlord's contact info (which is required to be posted by the front door) and call them yourself.

[on-reserve.livejournal.com]

I liked working with Eddie at Maven Realty. I don't know that you'll find agencies where the landlords exclusively pay. Most have a variety, usually the best I've find is when the landlord splits the fee (half landlord/half tenant) -- and I ESPECIALLY doubt you will find landlords willing to foot the fee for an August start date since August and September 1st are the biggest move-in dates around here. Landlords don't lack for tenants -- it's sort of the other way around in this area, this market, that time of year.

Davis is definitely quieter than Central but there are parts that are noisier. I find generally, the further you get away from the square, the quieter it is. I've always lived about a mile out from the square and never had major noise problems.

[lerta.livejournal.com]

I'll second Maven Realty. I've looked for apartments in Davis twice. (And ended up with places rented by owner through craigslist both times, most recently actually landing in Arlington.) But both times I did try several real estate agencies and Maven was by far the only pleasant one. Unlike everywhere else, they would actually just tell me if they didn't have any places that matched what I was looking for, instead of dragging me around to places that completely didn't match my requirements.

[flixchick1986.livejournal.com]

I just called, and he was really nice. Thanks for the recommendation!

[mmouse9799.livejournal.com]

I used John Lowenstein at Red Line Realty. (No fee apt. for a Sept. 1 move-in)

It's up to the owners of the property who pays the fee, not the realators. You just need to find a place where the owner pays it. When you call realators, you can specify that you want a no-fee place.

[dominika-kretek.livejournal.com]

If you call a realtor to get a no-fee place, be wary of the following tactic: they show you a really cool apartment, and you decide you want to put an application in. When you show up to do this, you discover there is a fee (either because they tell you or it is stated in the paperwork). If you put in the application, and the application is accepted, you must pay the fee whether you rent the apartment or not. Do not put in an application unless it states clearly who is paying the fee, and it's not you.

I've also seen this tactic with no-pets apartments. You say you have a pet, they show you a no-pets apartment, then when it comes time to put in an application, if you don't put down that you have a pet, and are accepted, you have to pay the fee even if you find out later that the landlord won't accept pets and you decide not to rent it. This is why you must always write down on a lease or an application that you have a pet, even if people wave their hands and say, "Don't worry about it."

It is true that this is probably fraud, but how are you going to prove it in court?

[flixchick1986.livejournal.com]

ooh wow, thanks for the warning... as if finding an apartment wasn't hard enough...

[icecreamempress.livejournal.com]

John is great. I have several friends who have had great experiences renting through him.

[janet-carter.livejournal.com]

I also recommend John/Red Line Realty (other realtors told us there was nothing on the market for the move-in date we wanted and tried to show us things that didn't meet our needs at all; John found us a great apartment that was listed for an earlier date, with a landlord who was willing to be flexible on the date after John asked.)

[wellstar.livejournal.com]

Another vote for John Lowenstein. He's a low-key guy--doesn't try to push things on you, and really takes your feedback into consideration when creating his list of places to show you.

[jamiesquared.livejournal.com]

I live off Broadway/Russell and to be honest...I sometimes forget I am even in the city. It is super quiet, there are a lot of trees and tons of birds chirping away during spring/summer.

There are a lot of streets like mine even closer to the square. I would assume the further off the main square area the quieter it is.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

I live ten minutes away on Teele...really, really quiet. And I live near a frickin' tequila bar.

[ryanwanger.livejournal.com]

Davis on the whole is uber quiet as soon as you step off any main roads. I live on Cottage right now, which is the street adjacent to Elm and it's basically silent at night.

Here and there you might find occasionally noisy neighbors, but my previous house was on a block with a ton of 20 something renters, and there were never noise problems.

[ron_newman]

Is the Central Square noise mainly from the open doors of live-music clubs? (We have some live music here, too.)

[flixchick1986.livejournal.com]

No, I live fairly close to the Middle East, but that noise doesn't reach us. It's mainly the neighbors and the homeless people outside. I mean, no offense to them I suppose, but they do like to shout at each other a lot.

[curiositykt.livejournal.com]

I recommend Ball Square, it's very quiet.

[ron_newman]

Though maybe not on Sunday mornings, with everyone lining up for breakfast?

[curiositykt.livejournal.com]

true. though I'm half a block down the cross street, so mostly they don't bother me. the loudest thing that regularly wakes me up is the trash collectors.

[flixchick1986.livejournal.com]

uh oh. when I lived in LA, the trash people woke me up every day at 7am. I don't know if I can do that again...

I wish they could invent comfortable earplugs. Or I wasn't so sensitive to noise.

[curiositykt.livejournal.com]

They come around 8:30 on fridays. These days I'm generally up before them. unless it's a holiday week and thus they are on saturday, but they are pretty quiet. recycling's later and much more noisy.

[flixchick1986.livejournal.com]

oh ok, as long as it's not an every day thing, that's fine!

[dylanesque29.livejournal.com]

Seconded. I live on Willow not a minute from Broadway, and noise is never an issue.

[flixchick1986.livejournal.com]

Thanks everyone!

I've made one appointment to see an apartment tomorrow morning from craigslist, but that was the only one I found that meets my requirements. My boyfriend really wants to be a 5-10 minute walk from the T stop, so that limits our options (so Ball Square is out).

[curiositykt.livejournal.com]

really? it takes me almost exactly 10 minutes to walk to davis from Bristol Road.

[flixchick1986.livejournal.com]

oh really! I was just looking at a map, and it seemed far. but if not, great, because I saw some available apartments around there. thanks!

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

If it really does take you 10 minutes (I find most people well-underestimate how long it takes them to walk places), then you walk much faster than normal walking speed.

[ron_newman]

My usual walking-speed estimate is 3mph == 20 minutes per mile.

Re: Just some ideas...

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

I live a block from Tufts, Most of Ball Sq. is a 10 minute walk.

[swingchickie.livejournal.com]

i had great luck with metro realty, i used gigi but not sure if she's still there. she has great relationships with a bunch of the bigger rentals in the area and gets the scoop on places before they're even listed.

i forget the name of the apartment realty place right down the street from store 24, but they sucked.

[sungold123.livejournal.com]

Boston Rental Exchange?

craigslist ftw

[cthulhia]

when I was looking, I'd notice that the fee apartments seemed cheaper. (In theory, non-fee apartments raise the rent enough to make-up for the landlord eating the fee). I suspect a lot of the realtors will list the cheaper apartment multiple times, but it's always gone before I even get a chance to call.

my usual mode is to scour craigslist, find some plum listings exactly too late, try a rental agency and see nice but overpriced or squalor, and then get a reasonable last minute deal directly with a landlord.

[cos]

I live in Central Square and it is very quiet here. It really depends on exactly where you live, and the same goes for Davis. If you live right by the first couple of blocks of Elm I expect it'd be loud, but if you live on, say, Winslow, you could be two blocks from the T stop and have almost no noise. It's not a reason to get out of Central, both squares are the same in that regard (I live on Washington near Norfolk, also about two blocks from the T stop, and it's very quiet here).

[whitefire.livejournal.com]

"noise really bothers me, and I'm a very light sleeper. This is one reason I want to get out of Central Square."

I hope this doesn't mean that we'll be getting more butthurt complaints about aircraft noise in a few months.

[enochs-fable.livejournal.com]

no, apparently it only took five hours! (see below)

[flixchick1986.livejournal.com]

haha I didn't get your comment at all until the comments below were posted...

[kidsmokes.livejournal.com]

Davis is extremely quiet, but the planes are loud/annoying if you're not asleep. Especially in the summer cause I leave my windows open and whenever a plane goes by I have to turn up the volume at least 4 notches. It's not really that much of a nuisance though. The garbage men are pretty loud too but thats about it.

[righteousness-1.livejournal.com]

Davis is a fantastic place and quiet as long as you don't get a houseful of noise lovers who like to party past midnight next door. When the planes fly over Davis, especially on a quiet street, don't plan on a nice lie-in. They start at 5:45am.

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

My place, on Willow, is as loud as any place I've ever lived. Main roads will be, though. But please do read through the noise tag here in the comm to learn about the airport noise before you get in.

[flixchick1986.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the airplane warning. Airplane noise isn't really the kind of noise that bothers me. Loud neighbors (bass from music), banging trucks, screaming people outside... the inconsistent random noises are the ones that bother me. And they built a building literally next to our bedroom window last year, so there was no escaping the construction noises at 7am every day for an entire year.

But I read the previous threads on this airplane issue, and I'm really surprised it's caused such an uproar... perhaps I'm underestimating the noise? Maybe I should sit outside any apartments I'm considering for a while to see if it's under the flight path (haha the thought of me having the time to do this is hilarious). Is it really that bad?

[righteousness-1.livejournal.com]

North West wind. Quiet Street. Airplane every 40 seconds. All set!

But yeah, if you don't really mind them, all you got to worry about is noisy neighbors.

try... http://www.craigslist.org

[medicine-health.livejournal.com]

You could try... http://www.craigslist.org

ta

Dave

Property for Sale (http://www.haart.co.uk)