My partner and I met Eric Raynor from Apartment Rental Experts after he replied immediately (within minutes!) to our inquiry about two apartments we saw on Craigslist. We had contacted numerous agents about various apartments, but we ended up working exclusively with Eric because he knew the market well and was eager to help us find the right apartment. Over the course of two days, he personally drove us to see five different apartments. He was very helpful and knew all the right questions to ask to understand what we were looking for. In fact, Eric understood us so well that he found us the perfect apartment in a neighborhood we hadn't even considered! When we asked to sign the lease later that day, Eric even stayed at work late so we could see the apartment one more time (just to be sure) and complete the lease signing. Based on our excellent experience (and the wonderful apartment that Eric found for us!), we would highly recommend Eric Raynor (Eric at apartmentx.com) to anyone looking for an apartment in the Cambridge area. read more

We saw a beautiful apartment with Kody and were excited to move forward. Unfortunately their process was extremely sketchy. They wanted us to pay the deposit and sign the lease before being approved as tenants by the owner of the property. They claimed if we were not approved, they would refund the deposit, but that was not outlined in the lease terms so there was no guarantee the funds would be returned. I am not going to risk $8,000 for the chance to be considered and nobody else should either. This entire process felt very strange and we ended up walking away and finding something better with a different company. read more

Realtor Kody Adim got us a good place for a great price, but he was, at times, incredibly rude and unprofessional in an attempt to speed up the process. An example of one passive-aggressive thing he said was "Why do I care more about finding this place than you do?" Furthermore, based on his other reviews (look them up), we had strong reason to believe he lied about other people trying to sign the lease to pressure us into signing quicker. Highly recommend you do not work with him if given the chance. read more

I had a great experience working with Ryan Moore. He was attentive and able to find us a great spot in a short amount of time. Working with someone who didn't see us as only a check box or an opportunity for profit felt good. read more

If I could give a negative rating I would, most horrible experience. Saw two apartments which were shown by Kody, the first one apparently was wrongly priced in the advertisement so we bailed out. The second we went all the way of lease signing, credit checks and giving the deposit. The owner presumably decided to not like our offer after all the paperwork and deposit, still waiting for our deposit check which was supposedly sent via mail (thankfully we made stop payment on it). DO NOT GO with this broker !!!! read more

Ryan at Apartment experts did a great job in finding us a space last year in Somerville. During the busy season of rentals he was able to find us a place that fit our needs and budget. read more

Do not recommend working with Alex at all. He is extremely unprofessional and only cares about getting paid. Does not make you feel comfortable and gets irritated very easily. Awful!! read more

I cannot sing their praises enough - particularly Alex Szabo. I called at 5:15pm on a Tuesday in crisis, needing to move urgently and feeling pressured to sign a lease at a luxury condo complex. While it was the end of the workday and I was a stranger calling for general advice, Alex was so patient and kind and informed about greater Boston rentals. Sparing you all the details, while I didn't end up signing any of the listings Alex found, he undoubtedly saved me from the biggest mistake I could have made in signing with a luxury condo during this pandemic. For his integrity, honesty, and sage advice, I would suggest ANYONE needing to find a rental to call Apartment Rental Experts. Thank you for restoring my faith in humanity! read more

We had a very bad experience with Kody Adim. He got us an apartment which initially required a 6 month lease (to align with September cycle) even though we required a longer lease. He made false claims that he has assured that the rent won't increase more than 20% on renewing. Just after we moved we got to know that the rent after 6 months has been increased by 65%! That too we were made to decide about the next lease within a month of moving in. I would blame the broker more than the property owner since he just gave a lot of false information and assurances in order to make his sale. Very unprofessional. read more

Brandon Spellman and Alex Szabo are great! Throughout my life, I've dealt with numerous real estate agents---unfortunately, most were unsatisfactory and incompetent. However, Brandon Spellman and Alex Szabo are extremely professional and diligent agents, and made my transition to Cambridge from Los Angeles a lot easier. Throughout the entire process, they remained in communication and offered great advice. If you are looking to rent a property in the greater Boston area, Brandon Spellman or Alex Szabo will make your search a lot easier. read more

I worked with Sergei who helped my boyfriend and I find our apartment. Even though we didn't visit the apartment in person due to Covid, Sergei professionally handled all the questions we had. We just recently moved in and the apartment is everything we wanted and more. I highly recommend going through Apartment Rental Experts if you're looking for a great place in the Somerville/Cambridge area. read more

Rental brokers are useless and shouldn't exist in the first place, but our experience here (specifically with Ryan Moore) was especially awful. Ryan failed at the bare minimum tasks. He dragged the lease signing out over the course of several weeks. There is much more, but in short Ryan provided absolutely no value for a hefty fee of over $5,000. Maybe MA politicians will come around at some point and finally stand up for tenants by BANNING rental brokerage fees. read more

We went to look at a place and were told we had to submit a holding deposit, application and sign a lease agreement all to even have our application processed. I called the office to understand what protection they offered for us signing an entire lease without even being approved in case the landlord declined the application and was told there would be none. There would be nothing in the agreement protecting us from it being signed under other circumstances. It feels highly shady to be told to sign a legally binding contract without actually processing an application. We were told more than one party could be applying, meaning they could be sitting on multiple partially signed leases. What would stop someone from just signing it and considering it executed after we were declined and then we're legally bound to that contract? It's so bizarre and I've never seen a practice like it. When I told the office this they said that's how they'd done it for 20 years and I must not have rented in Boston before. I've lived rented in Boston for about 10 years, I work in this industry, I've literally never heard of someone requiring a signed lease at application. It's predatory and if it's fully legal, I'd be shocked. It's in bad taste and practice either way. read more

Had the absolute best time working with Dana Murray! Apartment renting in this area is pretty stressful, but Dana made this process a breeze. She sent me dozens of listings that fit what I was looking for, virtual-toured numerous apartments for me, always had an incredibly quick response time for my many emails and texts, and never pushed me to close on an apartment until I found one I loved. Will definitely be working with her again if I'm ever on the hunt for another apartment! read more

Personable people, but they don't really work with you or communicate well/openly. Getting information is like pulling teeth at times and I couldn't even move in the morning the start of my lease because the landlords they were working with hadn't finished cleaning or anything. After signing, Olivia Bittle was basically hands off on the whole process, wouldn't keep me filled in unless I reached out, and basically made the whole process more stressful. No one should have a career by being a middleman between a tenant and landlord, as it's just predatory. read more

Our experience with Apartment Rental Experts left us with a bad taste in the mouth. We felt rushed and devalued. The local housing market does not favor renters right now, and it shows in ARE's customer service. It is clear that the landlords are the real customers. It is in ARE's interest to get renters to sign a lease ASAP because you only pay them if you sign a lease, and once you do, you aren't their problem anymore. Jeremy repeatedy dismissed our concerns, sugar-coated legitimate issues we raised about properties, and pressured us into taking a place that wasn't right for us by talking about how bad the market is for renters and how we wouldn't find anything else in our range. Jeremy clearly didn't care about us, as he rushed us along the process and practiced poor communication. He wanted to rent us an apartment...not find us a place we would enjoy living. Once we signed the lease, he was even worse- rude and downright unprofessional. Now matter HOW bad the housing market is, I wouldn't go here again. Listen to me and the other reviews here- Apartment Rental Experts just isn't worth it, and you'll be living with the consequences months later. read more

I used these guys to find an apartment in Cambridge and had nothing but trouble. The initial experience was about what you'd expect from an apartment rental place - I contacted them about a specific ad, and the agent showed me 2 other apartments (that were more expensive) but didn't want to show me the one from the ad. After I insisted on seeing it, he finally showed it to me and I really liked it so I agreed to rent it. This is where it got even worse... they had a policy that allowed me to defer my fee by a month, but before the month was even up, they were calling one of my references and saying that I wasn't paying my rent and demanding that he pay them. WTF?!?! I've *never* missed or been late for a rent payment, and what right did they have to call a reference and demand money from him? That was absolutely insane. I ended up finding out later that the apartment they had rented me was an in-law, which according to standard Massachusetts Rental Law isn't even eligible for a standard apartment lease since it's not legal housing. I wasn't eligible for resident parking, and as far as the city and utilities were concerned, my apartment didn't even exist. My rental experience with these guys started out bad and just went downhill from there. I'd never use them again, and whenever people ask about rental places, I tell them to steer clear of this place. read more

This company is atrocious. Pretty much all the apartments listed in Cambridge were represented by agents, so I sucked it up and contacted ARE about one that I was interested in. I made an appointment with one agent, which got postponed, and when I arrived for my viewing, the original guy wasn't there and they foisted this other guy on me. I was pretty desperate to begin with and just needed a living space ASAP, so I went with the substitute agent, who said the original craigslist post had already been sold, then took me to some of the dumpiest hovels I've seen in a developed country. Seriously, a garret would have been better because at least it's not in the basement. At every showing the agent urged me to sign sign SIGN! in the most obnoxious tone. And after I said I didn't want to see any other places, the agent continued to call me for weeks after the fact. Maybe I look like I can't tell a shithole from a living space suitable for human beings with a modicum of living standard or something. It could have been just that one agent, because other people have found decent apartments with ARE, but any company employing anyone that hustles college students into living in one of these robbery-bait rat traps should be ashamed of themselves. read more

Unorganized, young and unmotivated. I met with Jake, a 20 year old, who had no idea what he was doing. Print wrong references: check Unable to find keys: check No charm/ whit/ ability to sell: check 90 minutes of my life I wish I could have back. read more

I was super disappointed with my experience with ARE. I found a listing that I liked on CraigsList on a Friday morning and emailed them right away with specifics about what I was looking for. I heard back from an agent within the hour, and he sent me the standard broker questionnaire (when do you want to move in, what's your price limit, do you have pets, etc.). He emailed me soon after to tell me about other listings that I might like. So far, so good. We planned a time to meet the following morning, and I thought that was that. Then I got a series of emails throughout the day about how he was trying to confirm with the landlords that we could go then, then about how he couldn't reach them, and finally about how the apartments wouldn't be available to view until the following week. Could I come in on Monday morning? No, I could not. This lady works a 9 to 5, Dolly Parton style. The next I heard from him was Monday morning, telling me that both listings I'd wanted to see had been rented over the weekend. How interesting! Seeing as they allegedly weren't being shown until Monday. Especially interesting because I kept seeing the listings repeatedly posted on Craigslist after that. There just doesn't seem to be any communication between brokers at places like this. read more

I happen to think that most people who give low-end reviews on apartment rental companies are really just people with poor expectations of what costs what, and how many crappy apartments really exist in Boston. That being said, I try not to hold it against rental companies who attempt to move crappy apartments. They're everywhere and sooner or later someone is going to live there. But let me say this about Apartment Rental Experts... if you can get them to return your calls/return your emails/stay in contact with you long enough to actually see an apartment (a David Blaine-esque feat of astonishment that will leave your peers begging to know how you pulled it off), you'll be treated to the most exclusive collection of garbage apartments that $1400 can buy. You figure out real quick why they never post photos of their apartments. A couple different agents showed my girlfriend and I a few different places. The only one that was moderately clean/structurally sound was doubling as a quasi-legal massage business at the time. The agents were very polite in person, and were very cordial and professional in handling the news that I don't want people knocking on my door looking to get their ears candled. read more

The roommate and I used ARE about 2.5 years ago to find our current place just outside of Porter. We used the Davis Square Office. And we found a great apartment. So that's a big plus. They had the listing from Grove Properties and that got us the place. Sure, it looks like a funeral home, but it's perfect. But basically, the guy just took us somewhere on a list. And the negative: We had Randy. He was nice but real estate clearly wasn't his thing. Nor were cars as he drove us around in what looked to be his grandpa's 1984 Mercury Grand Marquis. And the fact that the other people who worked in the office made fun of him in front of us. But the best was both my roommate and I in the year after we moved in ran into him separately. And to both of us he was all, "Hey, come meet my friends! This is Graham/Jeff, he rented a place through me." Dude we spent about 3 hours total in your presence. We're not friends. Not even real estate friends. The man rule is we nod at each other, perhaps say Hi, and then keep going. Man rule. So minus some stars for that. He no longer works there, so no worries about getting a stalking visit from him. read more

I rented a fantastic apartment through Apartment Rental Experts. The apartment was an exclusive listing, so if you're interested in Cambridge rentals, I'd go visit these guys. Ask for Walter Klinke who showed me the place originally and has been very responsive during the move-in process as well. read more

I was very close to giving this place one star. I had an appointment with Zaher, and he basically stood me up. Frustrated, I found some wifi and got online. My roommate sent me the phone number for a realty company, and I figured I'd give it a shot. I called, Sarah answered, I told her what I needed. She said she could show me some stuff. I said I'm in Central Square now. She said, "Come on over!" She immediately showed me several pretty awesome apartments. Sarah was very honest about everything and did not pressure me at all. She asked me what I liked and didn't like every time we left a place so she could figure out what else to show me. I fell in love with one place, and was filling out paperwork in a half hour. My roommate is in Spain, so the process got a little convoluted, and we had to show unusual amounts of paperwork to prove our assets. And it is taking quite a while to get a final confirmation. (Don't ACTUALLY know if we officially got the apartment yet.) But in the end, I expect to be incredibly happy with Sarah and Apartment Rental Experts. And it was only when I was telling Sarah my story about Zaher standing me up that I found out that they work for the same company. Apparently Zaher is leaving, so he wasn't putting much effort into the job. But don't worry, that means you won't have to deal with him when you call Apartment Rental Experts! read more

So just to be clear: I haven't actually completed a rental through ARE in Central. This is a review of the service I did receive. My fiancee and I were visiting Cambridge from San Francisco to find an apartment to move into on December 1. Weren't going to be in town for long, and it was kind of short notice. Having read good things on Yelp, we dropped into ARE on a Sunday afternoon. Tim Schmidt was the only guy in the office, and had a couple of appointments already set up that day, but was gracious enough to sit down with us right there, talk about what we were looking for, and then take us around to a couple of very nice units that afteroon. In the end we found the place we rented through another agency, but Tim was nice enough to call us back a couple of days later and see that we'd found a place and ask if we needed help with anything else. I told him that we were covered, but if we wanted to find a new place once our current lease was up, we'd definitely be coming back to Apartment Rental Experts in Central. It's true! We will! You should too. read more

I worked with Derek Roy at ARE to find an apartment before I start graduate school in the fall. Derek was faced with a challenge: a low budget, 3 roommates spread across different geographies, and a desire for a top location near Central Square. He delivered on all of them. My rooommate in Boston worked closely with Derek to find our place and throughout the process was impressed by how honest Derek was about the locations we were about to see. Most importantly, however, Derek works for his clients. Given that all of us were in different locations and had different needs, Derek was ready to negotiate on our behalf with the landlady and the tenants. He tried to get us an earlier move-in date, different lease arrangements, and more. He never once got annoyed by 'one more request' emails and was diligent in getting back to us. So if you're looking for a skilled, honest, and competent agent who will go to bat for you, look up Derek! read more

I can only speak to my experience with Brandon Spellman, but that experience was worthy of a solid review. Working with Brandon was an terrific experience. Despite having limited inventory that suited our needs, Brandon worked hard travelling from out of state on weekends to meet our needs. A few specific points of excellence: * Fast response time to text whenever we had a question * Willing to work with us through the Christmas and New Year holidays as we sought a home * Willing to immediately take us to show other inventory in the area after a showing * Had all paperwork accurately marked up with term adjustments (pets, lease length, etc.) every time. I have never had this happen with a realtor before * Did not try to charge me suspicious fees that are illegal in MA. This shouldn't need mentioning, but in the Boston area it has to be. * Grew an excellent beard over the course of our interactions. read more

This review is specific to Eric Raynor who brokered my lease at Forest Court Apartments in Cambridge. It's my understanding that ARE is the exclusive brokerage company for these particular apartments, so if you want to live here you'll be going through them. Eric was very responsive to all of my emails which I really appreciated. He was also a big help in ensuring that I got my keys when I needed them (outside of normal business hours) which tells me that he's committed to making your move smooth even after the broker's fee has been paid. I did have some issues with ARE, though: their Craigslist postings are overwhelming in frequency and also weren't consistently accurate (one place that looked great ended up having the wrong move-in date and was in a completely different location, and another that we saw was advertised as a two bedroom but was really a one bedroom with a dining room). But Eric was a good broker and the apartment is really nice, so if you're wanting to go through ARE to find an apartment I recommend seeking him out. read more

1 star because after all the hullabaloo, I had to change my appointment and then I didn't get to see any apts at all. I contacted an agent at Apartment Rentals Expert in 4 separate emails, giving details of the craigslist ad for each of 4 apts I was interested in. Throughout my contact with them, I updated my search and sent emails with ad details that I saw on craigslist or on AptRentalX.com's website. The agent first thought I was a private real estate agent trying to poach his database and didn't believe that I'm searching for an apartment for a relative. My name is on the email and it's a very unique last name, so I would have appreciated some initiative to google and check my credentials. Instead I get a couple of emails asking why my relative wasn't contacting the agent directly etc. After clearing up the misunderstanding, we set up some appointments to view apartments. +1 star because the agent did touch base with me again later in the week to review the apts. On the day of the viewing, the agent called me for a change of viewing time (which we couldn't make), so we changed the date instead. It was an easy change for us because we didn't have any other apartments to view. The next morning, the agent called to say that the apts we were to view were taken off the market, so we had to cancel the apts and we didn't to view any apts at all. In the end, we decided to make use of the free time to visit 100 Memorial Drive, and rented an apartment there within an hour. It's been a day and a half since the agent last cancelled our appointment, and he said he would contact me again if he had anything that met our requirements. No emails, no phone calls. Ping me on yelp if you want the name of this agent. It might just be him with disappointing service. read more

I reached out to Aparment Rental Experts last spring after seeing a listing that I was interested in. I came with a bunch of demands: Aug 1 move in date, allows cats, low budget, walking distance to Harvard, AND I was moving from Iowa and therefore wanted as much info on the places (floorplans, pictures, videos, etc) as possible since I wasn't able to come and see places in person. I'm sure I was needy and horrible. Derek Roy was absolutely willing to work with me on all of these things, and we emailed back and forth about various properties for about a month. He went to a few properties and took videos, and he listened to my concerns about specific apartments instead of trying to push me into something I didn't want. He was incredibly friendly and accommodating and made me feel much better about the move. HOWEVER, after a month, he completely stopped responding to my emails. I'd like to assume that he got busy with other customers, but it would have been nice to have some sort of explanation. I ended up renting from someone else who definitely earned that full fee. So, five stars for putting up with the neurotic mess that was me seven months ago. Minus two stars for blowing me off. read more

I attempted to work with two realtors from apartment rental experts. The first one completely ignored my apartment requirements and showed me a unit that was a complete dump. After mentioning my disapproval all I got was a rude and sarcastic "well you're in the city" in response. The second realtor seemed friendly enough initially but never showed me a unit that I had asked about. The only thing I had gotten back was that she was checking in with the owner - after that I never heard back from her. Bottom line is, go with Apartment Rental Experts if you want rude, unprofessional realtors and an exercise in futility instead of an actual apartment that fits your needs. read more

If you're apartment hunting in Cambridge on a student schedule, then best of luck to you my friends, because you'll really need it. In our case, ARE gave us our edge in this crazy game. My future roommates and I were on the verge of paying $4,400 for used IKEA furniture that we didn't even need just to secure an affordable place within walking distance of Harvard. It is such a landlord's market that the current tenants renegged on our arrangement when we asked for a list of what the $4,400 would include, saying the next people in line didn't require the list and they didn't have time in their busy schedules to write it. $4,400 for who-knows-what. Hopefully fine china and a stocked wine cellar at that price. Right when we were on the verge of making what in hindsight would have been a bad decision (feeling the HRES pressure,) I contacted Tim at ARE about an apartment that was posted without phtoos. He got right back to me and was completely candid about the fact that he hadn't been inside that building, but told me as many details as he could. When I said I had hoped to take the following day off of work to come to Cambridge and find a place, he gamely agreed to show me the apartment that day even though it's his day off. He asked if I minded if he brought his 3yo son. I did not! He was doing me a favor. (And of course his son turned out to be well-behaved and adorable.) That night, before driving to Cambridge the next morning, the roommates and I had a conference call where we were not feeling so good about our options and weren't sure what I would find behind the door of a place without photos. September 1 would be too late a lease date for us, and August 1 seems all-too-rare. We knew July 1 start dates were going fast. When we hung up that night, I checked the listings one more time and saw a description of a place that sounded ideal for us, through a different ARE agent. Even though it was long past business hours, Tom Rowe picked up the phone. I explained I was going to see an apartment with Tim the next morning and Tom said he'd work out a showing of this place with Tim and the current tenants--and he made it happen, within 12 hours. Long story short: I was signing on the dotted line for the perfect place for us, 24 hours after contacting ARE, and half a day after the apartment was listed. The communication has been flawless, and Tim and Tom are both super nice guys with good (trustworthy!) vibes. Before driving down Tim emailed us a "good-to-know" packet explaining the real estate market in the area, as well as the steps you need to take to secure a lease and things to be prepared for. When my roommates and I requested floorplans we thought it might be a longshot to get them, but Tom went to the apartment, took measurements and made a floorplan FOR US. THAT DAY. That's my idea of service, especially in the high season. The ONLY reason I can't go to the five-star mark is that there was a fee: a full month's rent ($2,500.) I realize this is pretty standard in this market, and obviously I think it was worth it to go through ARE, but there is still sticker shock for people coming from other cities. That said, we got an ideal location and the landlord seems great. We also got a July 15 lease start, rather than July 1, so headaches were minimized and everyone walked away happy. Our lease became official today. Hedge your bets with ARE's help! Good luck! read more

I was able to go see some apartments a couple weeks ago with Jake. To be honest I read the review burning him, and felt obligated to say something! Young, Yes Odd, maybe New, definitely But, Jake was nothing but up front about everything we were interested in. He helped us by going out of his way to contact NSTAR to get utility averages, he was able to get a great sense of what we were looking for in an apartment, and in the end was someone we felt like we could trust. The only reason keeping this from a 5 star rating, and why we didn't rent from him, is because we were able to find something through another agency that had listings ARE didn't. Over all, I'd say my experience with Jake was a total relief compared to the generic tools that you deal with in real estate. I'll definitely keep ARE in mind if I decide to move to Cambridge! read more

Apartment Rental Experts made the harrowing experience of apartment-hunting a wee bit better. First, I should explain my scenario: My future roommate and I are moving to Boston September 1st (when every single student and young professional seems to be moving as well). We both work in the non-profit world and are both on tight budgets. AND to top it all off, we both currently live out of town, making the whole process far more complicated. So, in order to find an apartment, I decided to come to town for a few days and essentially met with 5 different brokers in 1.5 days, promising myself and my roommate that we would sign a lease before leaving Boston. Of all five agencies that I met with, Apartment Rental Experts was by far the best. I first worked with Giovanni who listened to our priorities, carefully searched for appropriate places, found places that were perfect fits for us, and was not salesman-y at all as we went on showings. Seriously--my roommate and I wanted a 2 bedroom apartment in Cambridge, very close to the T, with a porch, for $1600 or less for Sept. 1st and, lo and behold, he found us a bunch of awesome options! I fell in love with the first place I saw because it fit our criteria exactly, and even then, Giovanni was honest about it possibly getting rented out fast, but also not pushing me to sign for it right away. Unfortunately, my roommate and I were a tad too late in applying for our first choice and another broker nabbed the second choice before we got the application in. BUT even then, Apartment Rental Experts fixed it all. The minute we found out the apartment we applied for had just been rented through another broker, Eric (because Giovanni was out that day) found us a few more options and within minutes, whisked me out the door to see two fantastic apartments and immediately put in an application for a really great place. The place we ended up choosing is also one of the many exclusives that Apartment Rental Experts has, meaning that when we put in our application and checks and took it off the market, it was essentially ours, pending credit approval--no brokers to compete with! Though I hope to not have to move (because really--my new apartment seems simply awesome), if I do, I will definitely be coming back to these guys. They're really friendly, professional, listen extremely well, have some truly great apartments, and not once did I feel pressured. Moreover, they were great about communicating with us and checking in without being the lease bit pushy. If you need an apartment in Cambridge, just give them a call! read more

This review is for the agent Walter Klinke specifically, ask for him: While we did not end up renting from Walter, he was incredibly courteous and responsive. I received replies to all my questions within several hours and he exerted no pressure at all to sign anything that we saw. Very diligent and quite quickly got a sense for what we were in the market for. read more

We saw an apartment, liked it, said we would take it. Kody Adin told us that the owner would only do a six month lease "to line up with the September busy months". We offered to go a longer 18 month lease rather than do six months. Kody said the owner wants to make sure the tenants are good people but they will resign the same lease. " Another family is interested, you need to sign now". As you can see this rental agent pulled it on another renter below. We fell for it and signed the lease but thankfully the owner got greedy and didn't want to wait six months to jack up the rent. We were asked for 500 dollars more than the amount we signed for...because we have a 12 lb dog which had disclosed before ever seeing the apartment and signing the lease. I'm so grateful. I can't imagine how much more she would have tried to bled out if us had we paid all that money to move, broker's fee etc at the end of six months. We would have been stuck. Also, now I know no six months leases for this girl EVER. The last thing he told us is that no one will do a year lease if it's not September. Lies. We had no problem with it when we got here. He is shady. But I'm grateful. He reminded my southern self to trust nothing. read more

I found this company incredibly difficult to get in touch with and rather evasive. I was first in contact with Al Jean-Baptiste who insisted that in order to set up showings he required that potential renters call and talk with him on the phone. Ok, so I call once, and he's unavailable. I leave a message. I don't hear back. So I call again. Same thing. I brush it off and figure I'll find another apartment In the course of looking on Zillow and Apartment Finder, I come across another one of their listings that I'd really like to see. This time I was in touch with Brandon Spellman. Brandon was very responsive initially, but ultimately unhelpful. There ended up being two apartments that looked like they could be good fits--one was furnished, one was not. He emailed me multiple times adamant that I needed to understand that one of them was furnished, and that it might not be a good fit for me. I said, ok, but I'm open to an already furnished apartment. I'd really love to see it. After that he said he would try to set up showings for both, and then I never heard from him again. I understand that the rental market is busy and I'm sure very stressful for rental agencies, but I also feel like it's important to be responsive and respectful of potential clients, and I never felt like that with this company. I ultimately ended up renting through Channing Real Estate, because I felt the brokers there were responsive and courteous and listened to what I wanted. read more

I worked with Chris at Apartment Rental Experts and left with an overall positive experience. I originally responded to several Craigslist postings listed by ARE, and asked to see them all. However, in the end I wound up only getting to see 2 out of the 4 that I requested with only vague excuses being offered why the other ones couldn't be shown -- I'm guessing the other listings were "owned" by other agents so my agent couldn't access them. To make up for this, Chris offered to show me around town and look at 5 more apartments that fit my criteria. Unfortunately, 3 of these were complete disasters, and the other two were too far out of my budget. In the end I went with another real estate agency due to a better apartment fit. Chrs was a very courteous, fast, and respectful agent (didn't pull any high pressure sales tactics on me) -- definitely recommend. read more

Finding an apartment is very stressful, but these guys helped me settle into a nice place. I was very keen on a specific location and I got it. Although by the time I found the place I had looked at more places than I could remember and months had passed. If you are having trouble finding a place give these guys a try. read more

Just worked with Nathan Kirby to find an apartment in the Cambridge area. He was very nice, courteous, and professional. He had descriptions of the places, had all his keys ready when we showed up, and helped us fill out the necessary paperwork easily. We've looked at a lot of dingy apartments, and he helped us find something that fit what we're looking for. Ended up with a fantastic new place. His manager is also a great guy. Nice office, overall. I'd send someone back to them in a heartbeat. One note: they are at 929 Mass Ave until at least Spring 2010, due to fire damage at their regular offices. read more