I worked with Matthew Ruggiero who helped me find an apartment in red Hook. he was very professional, incredibly easy to work with, and super friendly. He made the process of applying for and securing the apartment easy. He was always very prompt with replying to any queries and generally went above and beyond to make a potentially stressful process incredibly simple. I would highly recommending working with matthew at brownstone real estate for any of your real estate needs! read more

I found these guys on yelp about a year ago, and boy did they ever deliver. My wife and I were looking for agents to list our co-op in Kensington, and we happened upon Arny Cohen. He and Robert Bryan came by to check out the place and immediately struck us as honest, hardworking guys with lots of personality. Our cat also approved, so we decided to give them the listing. We got an above asking, all cash offer about two weeks in and were ready to close. Robert, being the scrupulous and well informed gentleman that he is, caught that we hadn't owned it long enough to avoid paying capital gains tax, so dissuaded us from the deal, instead encouraging us to wait. In this type of market it is VERY rare to have anyone remotely involved in your deal not pushing you to close as quick as you can - I'm sure it was difficult for Robert and Arny to walk away from a sure thing, but they did have our best interests at heart. We relisted with them with the intention of buying another place. They quickly got another (much higher) all cash offer that unfortunately didn't pan out, but that didn't stop them from tirelessly showing us open houses in the far corners of Brooklyn every single weekend of the past cold winter. Sure enough, another offer came in that they negotiated up close to asking from a lowball initial offer and we got into contract. We closed yesterday. Thank you, Robert Bryan and Arny Cohen for working so hard for us and having a good time while doing it, too. We really appreciate it! John, Mir, Zelda and Timber read more

Brownstone Real Estate - Real Estate Agents Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

After looking at tons and tons of places and using multiple realtors we ended up finding our apartment through Brownstone over a year ago and we love it. We got to see the apartment before it was even listed and negotiated and signed the lease that same day with a very reasonable rent. While we didn't fight their 12% broker fee (which is pretty standard), I know that it is negotiable. Our friends negotiated for a lower one. Anyway, while we worked with a few people there (Frank & John) our favorite was Laura who was a newbie being trained at the time. Maybe it was because she was just starting out in real estate, but she was the only realtor that kept in constant contact with us and would call when an appropriate property was becoming available for rent. Totally loved her, would use her again if she's still there. read more

Man, what a bummer. The whole time I was writing this review, I had two stars selected in the little box up there. But after reliving our experience, I honestly couldn't see how the second star was deserved, so I dropped it down to one. I reached out to Arnie to help facilitate our move from Denver to Brooklyn because of all of his stellar Yelp reviews. To say that I was let down is quite an understatement. I knew that finding an apartment in our preferred location would be a challenge, considering our desired price point and are large (70 lbs) dog. This knowledge is most of the reason that we decided to use a broker in the first place. From the get go, Arnie seemed completely disinterested in us and helping us find a place. He told us that we would have to increase our budget by $400-$600 to find a one bedroom in any of our desired neighborhoods. He told us that having a large dog would be nearly an insurmountable challenge. He told us that our timeline wasn't reasonable. And he told us he would keep us in mind and keep in touch. That last one is where I was really disappointed. I called him a few weeks after our initial conversation, and he had forgotten everything about that first conversation. Then when I called him a week later (the day before we were to arrive in town to search for the apartment), he had forgotten all of the relevant details to our search (our price point, our move in date, our desired neighborhood, and he even seemed surprised that we had a dog). Suffice to say, it was not a pleasurable experience. But, these things have a way of working out. My experience with Arnie led me to calling one of his competitors, and this time Yelp didn't let me down. She had us viewing apartments within 15 minutes of our arrival in Brooklyn, and we immediately found a perfect 1 bed in the perfect location for a little less than our budget. When he wasn't telling us that our search was hopeless, Arnie was a very friendly guy, and I'm sure that most of the time he's a great broker. But he certainly wasn't great for us. read more

Robert Bryan is the most patient broker in the city. We looked at no less than 60 apartments over a year and a half period until we finally found our apartment in Cobble Hill. He was an invaluable resource, always honest and never pushy and made the experience fun and educating. Could not recommend more!! read more

Listed my condo for rent with 3 local agencies, and Brownstone was by far the hardest working and most honest. All you need to know is that in the slowest rental month of the year (February), Arnie and Robert were able to get my apartment rented within a week and a half! I'm keeping this review short because there's nothing else to say except that Arnie and Robert were professional in every aspect! You are in good hands... read more

Have been emailing with a couple agents here. So far they have been fairly cold and unwilling to help, despite that I'm perfectly qualified to rent. Not sure if they want to keep minorities out of the Cobble Hill/Carroll Gardens area, but it seems that way. Agree with Theo that I would NOT recommend working with Janet. read more

I'm a fairly frugal gal and also independent enough to have always hunted for apartments myself, but I knew that the real estate / rental biz in NYC was going to be a TOTALLY different beast than anything I'd dealt with before. Being a west coaster relocating from Seattle Washington to NY for a new job smack in the middle of Manhattan, you can imagine my trepidation as I scoured Craigslist for WEEKS and dug through dozens of fake/scammy ads. Even though the thought of paying a brokerage fee wasn't exactly enticing, I realized that I had a unique problem: I was only going to be in town for ONE WEEKEND and literally 3 nights / 4 days and HAD to secure an apartment FAST. Luckily for me, Yelp never fails and I stumbled upon so many stellar reviews for Brownstone Real Estate, that I thought I'd give them a shot. I found a gem of a studio in Park Slope, which I was interested in due to it's proximity to Prospect Park (I'm a distance runner afterall!) and immediately sent the broker an email about the listing about a week ahead of when I'd be in town. That broker ended up being Arny Cohen, and I could NOT have been luckier to have worked with such a darling of a man! Arny not only made sure that he secured a viewing for me, but even made sure that I had an early morning viewing before a few other people who were interested. If any of you have tried renting apartments in New York, you know how competitive and fast things go up and off the market - so the very fact that Arny actually "held" the apartment for me to look at was amazing in and of itself. I immediately fell in love with the space and literally ran to my bank to acquire the certified checks needed to get the ball rolling. Now, this next part is extremely embarrassing for me to admit but it's necessary to demonstrate just how great Arny was: there were complications with my credit score (fraud/id theft issue) - BUT here's the real kicker: Arny not only empathized with my situation (while I cried like a baby in his office for a good 20 minutes) but he went out of his way to vouch for me to the landlord about my character and that I was not lying about this issue. Arny could've easily just given up or not trusted me, especially since I'm moving from out of the state, but instead, he fought for me - which I never expected from anyone, let alone a real estate broker in New York! I ended up signing a lease for the apartment I wanted in TWO DAYS, which I'm pretty sure is a miracle record in New York! The LAST and final amazing detail? Arny called me 2 hours after the lease signing to tell me that he did the math wrong on his brokerage commission and informed me that I OVERPAID him! WHO DOES THAT?! I probably wouldn't have ever known or even bothered to re-check the math later on it! Instead, Arny was a real stand up guy and called me back to tell me that Brownstone would resolve the issue ASAP. All in all, I couldn't have asked for a better experience with Brownstone and I HIGHLY recommend working with them and Arny Cohen if you're looking for a space in Park Slope! I hope to stay at my current studio for awhile but if I need to relocate I'll definitely turn to Arny first! read more

As a single freelancer who had the daunting task of finding a new apartment in Park Slope after being out of the real estate climate for 13 years, I was anxious to say the least. My broker ended up being Arnie Cohen who assessed my budget against my very specific desires for living (park slope, sun drenched, hardwood floors, full bath, studio apartment on a beautiful street, near subway, will take cats) Most realtors weren't into working with me. Arnie warned it would be tough but he would try his absolute best. He also strategized what I would be willing to compromise for the budget I had. He was extremely thorough while I was being reviewed (I was looking during the most competitive time of the year) and walked me through the entire process. I not only got all of the above requirements to my dream studio within budget, I also got a great landlord. Arnie knows his landlords and matched me with one of the nicest and responsible ones I've ever met. The landlord showed up for the lease signing (sometimes you never meet them!) and another Brownstown employer, Christian, gave me a print of one of his photos as a housewarming gift. The result was I felt like part of the neighborhood instantly and I'm always sure to give Brownstown a hello when I walk by. Highly recomended! Erin G. read more

Jamie Fedorko rocks my world. There is no question that you should use him as your broker if you value your time and need someone who is going to take care of things soup to nuts. From the moment I contacted him, Jamie was quick to respond and always focused on bringing ideas & solutions to the table. The apartments he showed me were spot-on. It's like he knew exactly what I was looking for - the character, the charm, the aesthetic, the energy of the neighborhood. Jamie negotiated hard for me on the terms of the rent. He ran interference with a tough soon-to-be landlord. He had my best interests at heart. And then came the time to move in. He continued to run interference with the landlord. He gave me advice of how to play hardball on certain things the landlord was unwilling to bend on. And, he recommended an incredible moving company. When I told them I got their name from Jamie, they gave me the VIP package, special pricing and accelerated timing. This guy is connected, and it benefited me every step of the way. I cannot say enough wonderful things about Jamie and Brownstone Real Estate. You'd be an idiot to go with anyone else! read more

After sampling a selection of so-so apartments, I happened upon Cristian Dobles at Brownstone Realty in a moment of pure serendipity. Lo and behold, not only did Brownstone have EXACTLY what my roommate and I were looking for (the price was right!), but the apartments we were shown were bigger and in amazing locations in Park Slope than we could have ever hoped for via Craigslist. The most amazing part about working with Brownstone was finding Cristian as a broker--the man was about to leave for the night when my roommate and I walked in on a whim. Instead of asking us to come back in the morning, Cristian sat down with us on the spot and showed us a beautiful apartment right in our price range that very night, then sat with us in the office as we filled out an application at 10:30pm. I couldn't have felt more taken care of with Cristian as our broker. Good-natured and kind, Cristian consistently went the extra mile to work with my schedule (not only did he show my roommate and me apartments after hours, he made himself readily available to me via cell phone at all hours). His brilliant communicative skills made the otherwise terrible stress of finding a NYC apartment significantly easier to deal with. Cristian really has a gift for working with people--and none of it is contrived. He's all heart, really listens to your needs and will walk you through the apartment process and paperwork every step of the way. I will definitely be returning to Brownstone next time I need an apartment. In a tough city like this one, I can't emphasize enough what a breath of fresh air it is to work with a broker that is so warm, welcoming and personable. read more

Jamie is the best! I wish I could rate HIM as opposed to just his employers, but I guess since they hired him, they get the big fan 5 stars. He is so special when it comes to this arduous task. WOW. He listens and shows you what you're looking for IN YOUR BUDGET- he doesn't waste your time with a bunch of junk or showing you gems that are $3,000 more than you have to spend. He is fantastic. read more

I don't know if this was just good luck, but I was really fortunate to meet only the nicest real estate agents on my apartment search earlier this month. I was looking on behalf of my mom, who is disabled, boy that is hard to write. But everyone I talked to was very, very sympathetic and helpful, I was just floored by the goodness. Greg di Gesu was no exception. Looking thru the listings on their web site (you should always do your research before going into the realtors office if you can - saves you some time, although granted, you might learn a lot from a face-to-face chat. He had all the best listings - centrally located in Park Slope and many on the ground floor, which is ideal for anyone who's not able to do a lot of walking. I called him, we met the same day, and we walked into just one apartment but I had already learned a lot from that visit. I was pleased to learn, that despite his winning listings, he wasn't an arrogant man - quite the opposite, just very friendly and sincere. As soon as he found out my mom could barely walk, he helped narrow my search down quite a bit, which was a great time-saver. Greg is just the kind of guy you want as your real estate ally- call him if you want something great! read more

Without a doubt the best experience with a broker I've had in the city. This coming from a guy who, at the beginning of May, was dead set on a 'no fee' apartment. My fundamental problem with the 'fee' is that you're so often paying a broker a month's rent just to turn a key... you've already done the footwork on craigslist. So to really impress me a broker would have to be more than a middle man. Jamie was more than a middle man. Over a month ago, my girlfriend and I started looking for a place together. I found myself fruitlessly combing the 'no fee' section of craigslist for weeks. After seeing a few miserable places, we finally decided to consider an apartment with a fee. Thank god we did because we almost immediately came across Jamie's ad for a rent stabilized one bedroom on Graham Ave. The price seemed too good to be true, a few hundred dollars under our limit. After reaching out through Brownstone's website, Jamie gave me a call almost immediately, and we set something up for the next day. He was punctual, professional and, most importantly, incredibly personable. The apartment was equally outstanding. Jamie made it clear that if it was not to our liking, he would happily assist us moving forward in our apartment hunt. How refreshing. The apartment was to our liking though, and we were whisked away to their Park Slope office to get the paperwork together. The catch, if you want to call it that, was that their broker fee is 12% as opposed to just a single month's rent. If they hadn't been so great, we might have balked at that. Jamie actually told us we could try to negotiate it down, but we were too excited about the apartment to stall the process. My girlfriend and I did the math and, even factoring in the high broker's fee, we came out just under our max at signing (meaning if we had signed for a place AT our limit, then paid first, security and one month fee on that). Everyone else we met in the office seemed delightful. One gentleman even rendered his desk to me so I could sort and print bank statements and the like. As an added bonus, the office was a short walk from Dram Shop, where the lady and I celebrated with a couple of burgers and beers after signing the lease. If you want my honest advice, I would still say avoid paying a broker's fee. When you realize that's impossible though, call Brownstone. read more

So far so good! I've lived in NYC for 14 years and this is the second time I've used a broker (the first time was with Ideal Properties and horrendous) and, with the exception of the fact that they ran a hard credit check as opposed to a soft, everything has been super smooth and professional. I've worked with Joann and couldn't recommend her more. She's helpful, straightforward, and professional. Our lease signing is tomorrow and I hope that a few months from now, I'll be updating this review to 5 stars because everything is exactly as she said it would be. read more

So, this seems to be the place to get a good flat from. My current housemate got our apartment from this branch and some friends of mine got a nice one in Carroll Garden through another branch. Stepping into the office of an estate agent is never easy. I always feel they will try to get me to up my budget ... and I'm not wrong. Here again I was told that its not enough. I'm viewing an amazing apartment above my budget and a not so nice one which is right on the money. Of course I up my budget. I'm such a sucker when it comes to comforts. The estate agent I'm dealing with (Lisa) is an absolute sweet heart, who really seems to like her job. She's easy to talk to and understands my concerns. She shows me a good range of apartments. read more

Stop your search for the perfect broker now! Crisitian Dobles, Brownstone Real Estate's resident shaman/Don Quixote doppelganger, is on the case and willing to do whatever it takes so you can get the apartment of your dreams. My roommate and I's encounter with Cristian and Brownstone was serendipitous to say the least. We'd been looking at some mediocre places around Park Slope and just happened upon Brownstone on our walk back to the subway. Even though it was quite late and their offices were technically closed, Crisitian was eager to help us right away. Other brokers will not return your calls or will show you stuff completely outside of your price range, but Cristian will work hard for you and respects whatever financial limits you have set. He went over all the forms we needed to sign and if there were any hiccups along the way he handled them gracefully. He even talked on the phone with my parents at midnight to go over guarantor forms. Always calm and funny, his presence was an instant stress reliever, which is absolutely essential when you take on the Herculanean task of trying to find an apartment in New York City. read more

Apartment hunting in NYC is heartbreaking and makes you hate realtors. Callie French has restored my faith in the real estate species. She is professional, kind, friendly, always available and patient. She worked hard with us even though our apartment was a no fee. I can't thank her more and I would recommend people to move to Carrol Gardens just to rent a place through these guys. Thank you. read more

Extremely dissatisfied with the people here. They did not prepare the unit as agreed upon and told me the wrong move-in date. Instead of being apologetic they were incredibly defensive. As a result I am telling everyone I know not to do business with these people as they lack professionalism and general respect for people--even if you pay them over $4k in a broker fee. Do the job that people pay you for, stop running your business this way. read more

Irene is fabulous. I truly loved her straight forward personality and have not feel pressured at all during the process. I loved that she knew the neighborhood so well (she's from there) and was able to tell me some of its rich history. Since I met with her earlier in my Apartment search, I was unsure about some of my mandatory requirements so she showed me some things that didn't fit all of my "musts" so I could get a better feel for what was available. In total we saw 3 or 4 places the first day and I just saw another one (with her colleague) that she recommended yesterday. Brownstone is definitely one of the companies I would recommend reaching out during your search. read more

My boyfriend and I were looking for an apartment in Cobble Hill and were referred to Brownstone Real Estate by a friend who had had a positive experience with them. I called the office and was promptly set up with John Livia to view the newest apartments. Mr. Livia was extremely professional and considerate; he didn't rush us through the apartments but ensured that we were satisfied, answering all of my numerous questions. He even gave us personal insight into the neighborhood where he grew up, pointing out friendly bars and restaurants. Although he didn't pressure us to rush into an application, Mr. Livia was very realistic about the popularity of these apartments (and Cobble Hill) and I am very glad we heeded his advice. He found us a lovely apartment in a great location for a very reasonable price. Overall, I found Brownstone to be a very professional and welcoming company. The broker fee is high (12%) but worth it if you want to find the best apartments. I would definitely recommend Brownstone. read more

So you're looking for an apartment in Park Slope? Here is what you do: 1) Walk around the streets yourself and get an idea for which parts of Park Slope you're most interested in 2) Call Brownstone Real Estate. Request Arnie Cohen. Accept no substitutions, you want the best. 3) Tell Arnie what you want, your budget, and wait a week. Use that week to watch some Robert De Nero movies. 4) Meet with Arnie and have a great time seeing apartments that blow your expectations out of the water. Laugh as you quote Goodfellas together. 5) Walk back to Arnie's office, fill out paperwork, and hand him a few checks...you got it! THANKS ARNIE!!! Love, Sam and Aaron read more

We are looking for a house in the area covered by Brownstone Real Estate and so wrote to them online. After receiving no reply, we popped into their office today. Firstly, they had no idea that their online email address wasn't working. The real problem, however, was how we were treated. The front desk person called some agent over called David to assist us. He was seemingly reluctant to get up, slunk over and asked "what do you want then?" I was with a stroller, my wife and our baby and yet we were not even offered a seat. As I started to explain our requirements, he showed no interest and immediately said that they could not help us. We are giving 2 stars as opposed to 1 because this encounter was only a fleeting glimpse of how this place works. read more

After reaching out to 4 separate individuals at brownstone listings via Office Phone, Individually listed cell numbers, work emails, Notes left with reception I finally gave up. Frank in particular had to be hunted down for several days only to tell me the listings I was interested were rented. totally understandable as frank is the slowest agent I have ever ATTEMPTED to work with. several of his co workers spent days trying to get him to respond to my messages. when he finally did he said he would look at other listings to show me and get back to me. Never heard from him. Never heard from 2 other coworkers 1 who never replied and the other who said he was customer care and wanted to check up on my experience with the agency. when I told him I was having extreme difficulties getting in contact with anyone he never replied. THIS PLACE IS A JOKE. I am aware of the NY market and came with all my paperwork and a deposit, its crazy no one was actually able to help in any way shape or form. Would give this place ZERO stars if I could. 1 STAR because one coworker did reach out but told me he was unable to help since it wasn't his listing, sounds like all they care about is that brokers fee? how do you work for the same agency but you can't show me an apartment when no one else is even responding. read more

I was referred to Jamie Fedorko by someone who worked with him and found a great 1 BR on a lower budget in a nice area. My boyfriend and I had a 2 week deadline to find a place and looked at nearly 5 apartments a day on our own. We didn't have a huge budget but I was pretty stubborn about living in a nice neighbourhood in a decent sized apartment. For a while it really looked like that wasn't going to happen. Enter Jamie. He drove us around and showed us a bunch of places, and was really knowledgeable about the different areas and was honest and realistic about the market and what we might expect to find. Finally, we found this amazing apartment - Jamie called us the minute it became available, and we rushed to see it. It was in an amazing location, across Prospect Park, in an elevator building, steps away from the subway, flooded with light...it was too good to be true. We pretty much went for it on the spot. Of course there was an application process and because we had been living abroad all our financials weren't in the most convincing shape. But this is where he REALLY came through, making sure we had an iron-clad application and advocating for us like crazy until we got it. I would recommend Jamie to anyone - he was responsive and kept calling to check in on me through the weekend (while he was at a wedding!!!) and I'm still calling him up to ask him questions. So the reviewer below who said Jamie didn't return calls and isn't interested in clients with lower budgets got it wrong, because we had an amazing experience with Jamie. read more

Lisa French helped us to find the perfect home ! She has been super patient and understood our needs and hopes. On top of being super professional, she is the sweetest !!! read more

After writing the bad review below I discovered I was not alone and Callie is no longer with the company. Also the owner reached out to ask what happened and provided his cell phone for me to call. I called and explained in details what happened. He listened and took full responsibility. Kudos for two reasons: one is: putting your face in front of an annoyed customer. Two: welcoming the feedback and take full responsibility. Mistakes happen and a company that has the courage to reach out and show that this is not how they do business is a great experience to have. And will definitely give them another chance. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- First of all we are all relieved by the fact that these people are becoming obsolete and tech will finally put them out of business. I met very few real estate brokers in my 10+ years in NYC that could add value to the process of finding a home. Caroline (Callie) and Brownstone Real Estate, brought negative value to the process. And this is without considering 12% fee they charged. We were the first to see the place. We gave them the deposit to take the place off the market. Agreed to meet owner and bring documentation in a week. During that week we were harassed by Callie calling me and my girlfriend multiple times a day because her boss pressed her to get the broker fee. On top of that she wanted us to sign a lease that was not reflecting what we discussed. The document wasn't even updated from a standard one to reflect our agreed requests. i needed to amend the contract and rewrite it myself. When we needed to bring the document I asked if I could send soft copies. She insisted in printed ones, and when I brought all the documents she scanned and emailed it to the owner! When she showed the apt we noticed dead roaches in the basement. She said all was taken care of, and they were in fact dead. When we moved in, we discovered the basement was infested and it took 3 weeks to get rid of them. The pictures she took of the apt were very bad (what else is your job as a RE agent?!). We barely took this place into consideration from them. When the old tenant moved out would have been the perfect moment to take new ones. Do you think they did? When she gave us the document to say she was also representing us (so all fee for herself!) she said: "I work for the owner but in reality I work for you". The reality is: it's a racket and they are there only to collect the fee. They don't care about anything else. We had huge problems with the apt and after we moved in never heard a word from Brownstone Real Estate. They didn't even inform the owner of all the issues that needed to be fixed and I spent almost a month after moving in, to fix all of this directly with the owner. My advice is: do not use them, they don't care about their customers. If they are representing the other side make sure you have your own broker, to deal with them and bring some professional behavior. Good luck! read more

Funny, I never thought of placing a review for Brownstone in the 10+ years I've been working with Vincent Fiore. I was looking for their address and realized they were on Yelp. I would highly recommend Vincent and his colleagues. Without going into specifics, he has always treated me as he would a family member. When you deal with anyone in the service industry that's all you can ask for: good service, delivered quickly and reasonably. A few years ago, I had a problem with a tenant he helped me and the tenant separate in an amicable way. Consummate professionals. read more

We had a great experience here with Lisa French! We were visiting from Ohio for only a couple days. Lisa first emailed us a list of places to get an idea of what we prefer before setting up 7 visits for us in one day, essentially spending the whole day showing us around Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, and Cobble Hill. She was super nice and we got a great feel for each different area as we walked around. Eventually we found two places we liked and couldn't have been happier with our experience. read more

My husband and I had a great experience with Lisa French. She was lovely to work with and selected beautiful apartments for us to visit. She was very helpful and attentive to our needs and criteria (even when they kept changing!) and went above and beyond in assisting us in our search. We recommend her enthusiastically! read more

We loved working with Lisa! She showed us exactly what we were looking for and made the process quick and fun. She was so responsive and made sure all of our questions were answered. I would recommend everyone to use brownstone and Lisa! read more

In my first post grad school apartment hunt in New York City, I left no stone unturned. Websites, newspapers, and plain old pounding the pavement. Virginia Dobles at Brownstone was recommended to me by a friend and although I didn't end up renting through her, I wanted to. It was rare to have a broker respond to me with such kindness, especially given my limited budget. Heck, it was rare to have a broker respond to me at all. Virginia was knowledgeable, realistic, and friendly. I would definitely contact her for my next move. read more

When I moved to Brooklyn, a friend said that one of the most important things was to find a nice broker, and I was luck to find not one, but two when I stopped by Brownstone. John DiMartino and Lisa French were amazing professionals, calling, texting, emailing me with new options and walking around the neighborhood showing me a lot of places, all within my price range with no catches. Thank you so much Lisa and John. read more

Our experience with Brownstone Realty started great; they were responsive, considerate and sincere. We have been in the market for over a month and only after 5 viewings, Brownstone found us an apartment within our budget and location that we wanted and even give us a bottle of wine after we signed the lease. For making us feel like a valued customer, (5) Stars. However, things started going south after we moved in. There was a list of problems ranging from hot water, heat, sanitary, smoking, bedbugs and etc. Granted, none of the latter has anything to do with a broker but we've now learned to take any advice with a pinch of salt. I should have questioned 'how well?' when they said they had worked with the landlord for years, scrutinize on 'how good?' the landlord actually is by learning to look for clues that says otherwise. For making me kick my own bottom. (-1) Star. On the other hand, if in fact they knew the landlord at all. Then, it begs the question why did Brownstone recommend us to any buildings owned by our current landlord in the first place. For making us feel gullible, (-1) Star. Looking back, we are starting to question if the 12% broker fees was reasonable? Registration, 5 viewings, +/- 15 correspondences, application filing and lease signing; assuming it took 10 hours for all this work, half of which were on weekends and at a rate of 1.5 equals to a total of 12.5 hours. Divide the sum per the total fees paid meant they were compensated at $201.6 per hour. For charging us more than our lawyer and giving us ill advices, (-1) Star. Our situation might be an isolated incident and to be fair, Brownstone did fulfill their end of the contract. But for anyone else out there looking and regardless of whom you might be working with, take our experience as a reminder to keep prudence and haste in check. Understand the sales pitch, strategy and justification for any services rendered to avoid similar pitfall. To this end, for making us feel like we have been left holding a bag of lemons, (-1) Star. read more

I contacted Arnie Cohen a few months ago based on his great yelp reviews. My partner and I had looked at some terrifying no-fee apartments that looked out to gas stations and brick walls...we'd also met a few brokers who were really...unimpressive. Anyway, Arnie called me right after I emailed him, we planned a visit and found the perfect apartment in a fantastic part of Park Slope. He really does care about his clients, and that makes a big difference when you are navigating the housing process in NYC. Larry Weiss from Brownstone was also the listing agent on the property we ended up leasing, so we worked with him as well. He's a great guy - he even came over to our apartment when we moved in and helped us find our electric meter. These guys go the extra mile!! read more

We contacted Brownstone Real Estate to look at several properties in Park Slope. Callie and Lisa French were both very response, friendly, and helpful. However, the units available in their portfolio (this was admittedly in January, the off-season of the rental market) seemed to be consistently well over-market for the area. Often the apartments we saw lacked the amenities or renovations that other places right around the corner had, despite being 200-300 more expensive per month. In short, I would certainly recommend contacting them if you are in the market for a rental apartment in the Park Slope area, but make sure that you are also in contact with other brokers (particularly if you are new to area) as you may find a better deal elsewhere. read more

I would never use this company while looking for a rental apartment in Brooklyn. Our agent there, Janet, blatantly lied to us about an apartment for which we applied. She and this agency are not to be trusted. Period. Look elsewhere if you want to live in the neighborhood - there are plenty of other good brokers - just not here. read more

I had the pleasure of working with Lisa French; she is an amazing realtor! She is very knowledgeable about Brooklyn, and she curated an itinerary for me of really great listings. She is very patient and so kind- I would absolutely work with her again! read more

I was fortunate enough to be referred to Brownstone by an old colleague who used Jamie Fedorko to find her a wonderful place in Cobble Hill. After seeing some pretty crap places (its true, I came from San Francisco, so I was expecting a bit more for the $,) I saw a craigslist ad for a place that looked like a good fit in Carroll Gardens. The broker, Cristian Dobles, was not only prompt in responding, but super friendly. He told me before I walked in the apartment that I was going to fall in love with the place and absolutely want to live there, and he wasn't bullshitting me. I was looking in the $1800 range, and this place had nearly everything on my 'list'. Hardwood floors, lots of light (and skylights!), a roofdeck, a *true* 1 BR, working fireplaces, plenty of storage, and a washer/dryer included. I'm moving in on Monday. On top of showing me around the neighborhood, and answering my plethora of questions (being new to NYC,) Cristian and his wife were kind enough to give me a lift to my friend's gallery after the paperwork was signed. AND they recommended Al Di La and Frankie's, so they win points for that, as well. Overall, it was a seamless and easy process, finding an affordable, cute place in a fabulous neighborhood! read more

Apartment hunting isn't necessarily fun but working with Lisa French made it much more manageable. She showed us many apartments and went above and beyond by going back and forth many times with a couple of landlords whose properties we were interested in in order to address some of our reservations and/or cost concerns. She was very professional, very helpful, and also very nice. We felt bad that we ended up not renting one of her apartments but would definitely work with her again if we move. read more