Apartment rental agencies in Cambridge/Somerville?

[greenlily.livejournal.com]

Hi folks. I'm looking to move into a new apartment in Cambridge or Somerville for August 1, and I'm thinking about going through a rental agency to find one.

A quick glance at Craigslist seems to imply that Apartment Rental Experts and Maven Realty have many rentals in my chosen locations within my price range. Anyone willing to comment on their experiences with either agency? Or to recommend another agency? Thanks much.

Comments

[gandalfgreyhame.livejournal.com]

My experience with Apartment Rental Experts was pretty shitty a couple years ago, though some of it (e.g. lying to me about a landlord's pet policies and fees and such) would probably depend on the particular agent you got. (They also weren't willing to work with my schedule at all when showing the apartment after I had given notice that I wasn't going to renew the lease. )

Edit to add: So I'm not being completely negative and can give some suggestions too, the guy at Red Line Real Estate (http://www.redlinerealestate.com/) was super nice, he just didn't have much that matched my (very particular) requirements and would accept cats. I ended up finding a place through craigslist that just happened to be represented by an agent who were perfectly reasonable (Gateway Real Estate - http://gatewayreg.com/).

[contradictacat.livejournal.com]

I just found a place through Maven Realty, so I can tell you that the person I worked with (Peter) was really nice and helpful, but while we found an awesome place, we were kind of rushed through the paperwork. As in, "signed a lease at 9pm the very same night we saw the place" rushed. So, while I haven't moved in or met the landlord yet (which does make me nervous), I'm hoping I needn't have worried and things are good and on the up and up.

I'll also put in an anti-recommendation for Mari Morgen from Charles River Associates (I think is the name of the group), since after an unfortunate and tense exchange while putting down the deposit, she decided to talk up the "well, I don't even have to rent to you...there's lots of other people who want this apartment..." and generally making it sound like she was doing us a HUGE favor by...just doing her job.

[wellstar.livejournal.com]

It's been almost a decade since I used him, but I had two very good experiences with John Lowenstein at Red Line Real Estate (http://www.redlinerealestate.com/) in Davis. His website is (if I recall correctly) not particularly good, but he was great in person and on the phone.

[vibrantabyss.livejournal.com]

As a landlord... with much trepidation, I used an agent for the 1st time ever end of last year. A.R.E. is who brought in my current guys, and I was pleased with the whole way the process went. They were by far the most responsive group, and as far as I can tell, my new tenants are quite happy as well.

[lonelyholiday.livejournal.com]

I never went directly to an agent to find an apartment myself, but I do have this: one time I planned to go through Craigslist, but first (on a whim) called the number posted on a building I liked. It turned out that building had no vacancies, but they had another property with an apartment very similar to what I was looking for in an even better location. It worked out perfectly, was literally the first and only apartment I looked at, and they didn't charge me a fee.

So I'd suggest that! If there's a building or location you like, it's worth cold-calling 'em. Even if you can't get in there, it may be a really easy way to find something comparable without an agent.

But if this is being tagged for future reference, I want to agree with the first comment about Apartment Rental Experts, as an outgoing tenant. Our landlords (whom we loved, not implicating them here!) used ARE to find new tenants when we were leaving, and we were really unhappy with how they handled it. I understand it's never going to be convenient to have prospective renters come into your home while you're still living there, but this kind of went beyond the normal inconvenience I've dealt with, leaving other places.

(I also understand that it's the landlord and the prospective tenants who are actually hiring the agents, so they probably don't care about the feelings of the outgoing tenants. But, you know, that was a bridge burned. I wouldn't use ARE to look for an apartment, just based on my experience from the other side.)

[pvfirenice.livejournal.com]

I've gone through Eddie at Maven Realty twice (the second time totally forgot we had worked together a few years before). They have some nice apartments that they don't put up on Craiglist. We ultimately went with a MR flat we first saw online but every place he showed us was amazing. We were never rushed and we found the perfect 4bdrm apartment wtih only 3 people. Once we signed the lease he was super accommodating in showing prospective flatmates the apartment for us. i really can't recommend him enough.

[nurrynur.livejournal.com]

My landlord used ARE to find new tenants when we were moving out. One agent we worked with was nice, gave us a fair amount of notice when a showing was scheduled, usually told us when there was a cancellation. Another agent that was allowed to show our place was an utter asshole and never told us when a showing was cancelled (even if we called and asked), refused to reschedule appointments when none of us could be home (and didn't want to agree to not show our place if nobody could be home -- our landlord had already given the agency a copy of our keys).

From the rental standpoint I think their fees are awful for the amount of service they actually provide.


HUGE HUGE HUGE disrecommend for Alcove Realty. I emailed them with all the information about what I was looking for, etc, the page promised a call back from an agent. Well, an agent did call me back, but then she made me go over all the requirements on the phone - saying that she didn't have access to the email account that would have gotten the form details from the website. After I spent all that time on the phone with her (on a Tuesday) and she promised to call on Wednesday. Well, I called on Thursday, and got a different person. He spoke to the original person who said she had no idea who I was. So I had to repeat the whole spiel AGAIN for the new agent.

Their properties were totally bait and switch with the apts they advertised on craigslist "not available anymore" but oh, they have something great for only $300 more a month or whatever.. And a week later, they were still posting those same apts on craigslist with "available now" in the listing.

[whowehavetofear.livejournal.com]

The people at Maven Realty didn't seem to be interested in our business [I'm assuming because we couldn't afford much in the way of rent]. The people at Apartment Rental Experts in Porter Square found us an amazing [Seriously, all our guests comment on how great it is] two and a half bedroom in the heart of Union Square with a super awesome and responsive landlord who hasn't raised our rent from $1350/month since 2009. I recommend Apartment Rental Experts to everyone and probably wouldn't bother with Maven if we ever need a realtor in the future.

[intuition-ist.livejournal.com]

i get the feeling landlords go to ARE when they absolutely positively have to rent the place. i was the outgoing tenant, and I must have been contacted 15 times for showings over the course a week or so -- it felt very much like the sharks were circling. 4-5 different agents, different sets of of college-age or just-graduated tenants with each agent. i did not give them my keys, so they had to go to us for the showings, which they were very polite about.

i can't say i'd recommend them if you're a renter, though.

[mindstalk.livejournal.com]

I used a couple of agents from the Davis Square ARE to find my place and it seemed good on my end. And while they all spam Craigslist with ads for apartments, I remember the ARE ones being more informative and detailed, which seemed a good sign.

[lillibet.livejournal.com]

He's the brother of our real estate agent, Lynne--I believe Jo has also worked with him. I've never met him, but that's where I'd start if I were looking to rent.

[she-of-emeralds.livejournal.com]

Oxford Street Realty on Mass Ave. got me my lovely apartment--lady name of Jackie White was my agent. I don't know what their price ranges are but you should check them out. Good luck!

[enveri.livejournal.com]

Maven was who we went through for our place, but... I'd like to offer an explanation for the rush.

We moved to Davis from Chicago, my husband came out a month before I did to find a place. 4 times, he took the time to send me photos. 3 times, I said 'okay, let's do it' only to find the apartment had been leased in the 6-12 hours it took us to make a decision.

So.. when we got our place, he texted me, said 'I'm signing a lease, I really hope you like it'. I love our apartment, but as he was signing paperwork, 3 people came in asking to look at it.

We did use ARE as well and they were very good about showing us things in our price ranges, but none of it... was really what we were looking for. (ie, we didn't want coin-op laundry, we have cats, etc). I do remember spouse being shown a place on Beacon St that we were going to sign for, except the landlord said absolutely no pets, and the listing was cats/dogs ok. I'm not sure if that miscommunication was with the landlord or the realty agency.

[somerfriend.livejournal.com]

Why did you start using an agent? I get all my tenants though craigslist.

[daviscubed.livejournal.com]

I am of the mind of boycotting (in a personal, not-organized way) ARE and Maven because they overflood craigslist with their ads in an abusive manner (Maven in particular, last time I was looking for an apartment).

[vibrantabyss.livejournal.com]

Because of a bad experience that way.

[elerz.livejournal.com]

worked with Roy at Boston Rental Exchange right in Davis and he was WONDERFUL. went out of his way to find apartments that met our criteria, was always able to work with our schedule, and we found the perfect apartment.