I lived at Cleveland Circle for two years in an apartment managed by Red Tree (mostly Jerome Bibuld). In my 7 years living in Boston, I had never been treated better by any property managers. Jerome is professional, personable, treats his tenants with respect, and quickly takes care of any problems. The property owner was a jerk, but nothing new there. read more

Agent was extremely rude. There are far more trustworthy and polite realtors around.

Awful experience. worked with Micah Snyder for a rental. It was clear that despite being our broker he was working closely with the landlord very unethically. Below is just a sample of some of the things: We were accepted for a rental and when we got the lease it was full of illegal terms and conditions. Some of which were the following: Sec 18. The lease states we need prior written consent to install air conditioning units. landlord said it was no guarantee Sec 23: "Tenant(s) must own a plunger." plus implication that any plumbing issue would be the responsibility of the tenant Sec 25. Landlord would deduct from the security deposit to clean the apartment. This is illegal under Mass Law This plus a dozen other provisions aimed at not giving back security deposit back and other things. After we asked about having some of the illegal things removed from the lease, they retracted the lease and said we couldn't live there. At that point we didn't want to any more but I later learned that this too is illegal in Massachusetts. We found out later that the Broker, Micah, worked closely with the landlord so despite having an agreement to represent us, was clearly working against our best interest. DO NOT work with him or Red Tree. For your own sanity find another broker. read more

How do I begin to explain my experience with Red Tree Real Estate? My girlfriend and I found a place that had such great appeal and we were both excited about it. We toured the property with Nicole. Nicole is energetic and we enjoyed our time working with her. The listing allowed cats and dogs. The listing was also addressed wrong and some of the pictures also were for the upstairs apartment and not the one we were renting. We identified some punch list items we wanted to have addressed before moving in which were really reasonable: deteriorated grout in the tub to avoid mold, kitchen backsplash that had water damage, light fixture in the closet that had no string to turn it on, and patch and paint the walls. We had some basic questions like what part of the basement we could store stuff, questions of stuff already stored there and whether we could adjust to make some storage space, and assorted other questions basically for clarity. The entire process seemed to be going well when all of a sudden I got a call from Nicole that the landlord felt we would be bad tenants. My thorough questions certainly became demands and not ensuring on the contrary that we would be good tenants. It was when I spoke to Jerome Bibuld, the owner, that I was met with disrespect as a prospective client and the reason that I would avoid using Red Tree Real Estate myself. I found his number on their website and wanted to connect with someone I believed would hear me out so we could understand the concerns of the landlord. I wanted to ensure all parties that there was nothing but respect for the process. When people are dropping a ton of money on rent, they want to negotiate what can and can't be done, and any rules that should be followed. I assure you what I asked were not demands and I felt Jerome was like any human and would listen and fight for me as a client as he was for his landlord client. Instead I was berated on the phone using such words as "You just don't get it Wayne! My client doesn't want you and we don't want you!", "You are a great applicant." You are demanding, inconsiderate, type A personality. "The landlord doesn't want dogs or cats" (except the listing allowed pets, the landlord agreed, and the 2nd floor tenants have a puppy), the landlord doesn't want you to move in on 10/15 (even though the landlord agreed after we explained our situation), "the landlord is getting nothing she wants and we are bending over backwards for you" (except for our money) "You work for another property management company" (I am not sure what this has to do with anything. My job is as a workplace manager for a client in finance on behalf of CBRE). Many other things were said. I was too astounded at Jerome's disrespectful attitude especially when I asked if I could say something after he told me in so many words how awful I was to ask questions and have requests (not demands). As a humble individual I am not perfect, I can be tough, but business is tough. When people's money is at stake I would entrust that one would be thorough and negotiate and concede. This call with Jerome happened today and I am burying a member of my family tomorrow. It was wonderful timing to take our excitement in the face of sadness and attack ones character without understanding the person they are working with. They should represent their client (on both sides, landlord and renter) better. They should have some humility and understand that people are trying to find their best solution at the best rate in a tough economy. While I am not one to be offended, I was shocked at how I was treated and I hope that not one person gets the kind of return phone call from a realtor in the manner I received it. Steer clear of Jerome and I suggest another real estate agency. read more

Unlike most brokers in Boston, Steve McAvenia is the real deal. He is kind, genuinely cares about finding you a place, and will go the extra mile. Boston is littered with scam brokers but Steve will not lead you astray! From creating the custom apartment touring portal to getting my lease signed he was top notch. I'd recommend to anyone. read more

I would never recommend Red Tree as a service for anyone looking for an apartment in Boston. I found the apartment myself through a listing, all the realtor did was open the door for us to walk in. The girls currently living there answered the questions for us, not the realtor. Upon leaving we requested to be shown more apartments in the area but also to apply for that one. We were sent the application, but never any additional listings. We paid the deposit for the app, were accepted, and then IMMEDIATELY hounded for the rest of the money. Repeatedly being asked for the remainder of the thousands of dollars when we were never given a due date anyways. I had to drive to my realtors house to drop off the money which is just so weird. The other time I dropped off checks, I had to leave them in a box outside the Red Tree office which has a slot so big you can just reach your hand right in. But it was apparently so urgent I couldn't wait until the next day for the office to be open! Upon signing the lease, I found multiple discrepancies in the contract, therefore had to be re sent a new lease because things were "overlooked." Later, we were contacted about needing to open an account for the security deposit, and they were rushing us yet again. But it's funny because any time I reach out to my realtor with a question, it takes days for them to reply. When they need something it must be instant, but when I have a question I'm ignored. Waste of a brokers fee entirely, do not recommend. read more

I worked with Joe Mastrovito and had a great experience finding my Brookline apartment. He sent me a personalized link that regularly updated of apartments that met my needs. When I found the perfect apartment, Joe was easy to reach, shared my excitement, and was communicative and professional the entire time. I was able to tour the apartment that night and apply the following weekend with success. Joe went above and beyond to help us with the application process- even during evenings over the weekend. I highly recommend working with Joe if you're a young professional dealing with the 9/1 Boston madness! read more

I had the pleasure of working with Nicole and although I ultimately opted for a sublease, i am extremely grateful go her for all of her time and dedication! She took me to see so many places, and for circumstances on my end, none of the places she found worked out. I would 100% recommended working with her! read more

If you work with Red Tree, we highly recommend working with Lee. He helped us search for an apartment during this difficult market. He was very quick with follow up and incredibly accommodating. Not to mention he is upfront and honest and his knowledge of the market in the Boston area is vast. We will definitely be working with him in the future. read more

We had an extremely pleasant experience with Arthur who helped us purchase an investment property. We couldn't be more pleased with his knowledge, experience and service. Everything from the first showing to the closing went smoothly. It went like a well oiled machine. In fact, we liked the service so much, that within the next 2 years we purchases 2 more properties with Arthur! We wouldn't dream of working with anyone else. He is prompt, courteous, respectful to our wishes, willing to accommodate our super busy schedules, and an expert in his field. Every single one of these investment properties proved to be excellent money makers. We can't recommend Arthur at Red Tree Real Estate high enough! read more

Micah Snyder is our current real estate agent and we have a mostest budget for the Boston area, and are looking after prime move in time for this city (Sept 1). Regardless of the restrictions, Micah has been incredibly insightful about what is available; has given us many options all within our price range; and is continuing to help us even though our applications haven't been accepted at a few places. We are thankful for his kind nature and how easy he makes communication and meeting! Could not recommend him any higher. read more

Now that I've moved in to 81 Beechcroft, it's time to update this review. In addition to the before mentioned problem of unenforceable provisions in our contract, I have had many other issues. The apartment has tons of problems--broken windows, a non-functional front door, a trash pile outside, etc. Brandon, our broker lauded this property despite it very clear flaws. The trash pile outside was clearly visible and not shown in any of the virtual viewings. I'd recommend avoiding redtree and especially anything rented by John Bannon. The only reason I don't give this one star is because the bare bones of the building are OK. It's just in bad shape and needs tons of maintenance. Redtree should have advised us of this fact. DO NOT TRUST THESE GUYS FOR VIRTUAL VIEWINGS. read more

Red Tree Real Estate - Trash pile - Real Estate Services Near Me - Brookline, Massachusetts

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I got a text message from Aaron telling me he'd be showing my apartment. My current landlord entered into a lease with new tenants a month ago. Also, the text message said he added my wife and I to a group chat called "Shit heads." So, y'know, cool. read more

Red Tree Real Estate - 1. Our current landlord leased our apartment a month ago. 2. Isn't it customary to *ask* before confirming a showing? 3. What the fuck? - Real Estate Services Near Me - Brookline, Massachusetts

Sketchy business practices. I'm sure their properties are nice, but their method of doing business is subpar. They withheld specific documents from us just so they could shop around the place a little longer. When they finally sent us the form they informed us that another tenant gave an offer above asking price because while they were showing the place around they told people that we were seriously trying to pick up the place. This type of used-car-salesman tactics is insulting to say the least. To hold off on giving us the forms necessary to finalize our lease so you can pit us against other buyers isn't just bad business practice, it's just indecent. When I brought this up to them, they informed me that this is just the "Boston Market and that's how it goes." Working in sales for the last 7 years I can tell you that this behavior isn't typical of any section of the United States. It's just a sketchy tactic for sketchy people. read more

I have been working with Jerome for rentals/purchases well before he opened Red Tree. He is honest, HIGHLY knowledgeable, hard working, and will give it to you straight up. During my home inspection a couple years back, the inspector was very impressed about the amount of information Jerome knew. He helped my buy my condo and also sold it after it only being on the market FOUR DAYS! No open house was even needed!! Can't wait to find my next home with Jerome. Thank you so much J & Red Tree! read more

Most professional and hardest working brokers I have ever worked with. My wife and I worked with Arthur Deych to buy a condo in Brookline. He took the time to explain the process, guided us in narrowing down a neighborhood we are considering, and told us the caveats involved in buying a property in that specific area. Then, once we found the condo that we loved, Arthur helped us evaluate it and place a wining bid. After that, he was able to recommend a team of people (from mortgage specialists, to lawyers, to handymen and inspectors) who were also very professional, responsive and thorough Throughout the process, Arthur was available any day of the week, and at any time. He helped us immensely in dealing with the bank's many requests and helped smooth things over when there were issues with documents from the seller's lawyer. read more

DISCLAIMER: This review is strictly for Kevin Chan of Red Tree Real Estate (RTRE). I've never really felt the need to create a Yelp account to review a business or anything but my experience with Kevin Chan was extremely off-putting and annoying, to say the least. I was looking for apartments around Boston, and came to this great listing from RTRE, and so, naturally, I messaged them. Unfortunately, Kevin Chan was the one responsible for that listing. The initial exchange was pretty standard, with questions regarding the tenants & the rooms being tossed around. That said, on his 4th email to me (I counted), Kevin asked, and I quote, "are you looking at different areas or working with multiple realtors?" I was taken aback with the response but I replied yes, and wondered whether there was a problem (as I have seen realtors that had an almost exclusive listing on the market) to which he replied: yeah, to be honest most realtors right now have the same units, 80-90% of them share the same database. That line weirded me out a bit because I was unsure of whether he wanted to encourage or discourage me in seeking other realtors. I decided to just proceed with the conversation because I honestly could not afford time to care about "80-90% of realtors sharing the same database." Kevin then asked whether all 3 of us (me & 2 more roommates) would be available for a house viewing. Since we're completely different people, with different schedules, AND range from students to working individuals, that would be almost impossible unless he wants to do a viewing at 10pm. Also, it was a VIEWING and not a lease signing (which could also be done remotely now, with the help of technology) that I would document in videos & photos for my roommates. I explained just as much to Kevin & added that I am readily available for a viewing since I live close by anyways. Kevin, being the amazing agent he is, told me: "Ok just let me know when you can all be available I should be free 7 days a wk Sent from my iPhone Thanks in advance, Kevin Chan" Perfect. Thanks, Kevin. I'm sure the other 80-90% other realtors that share the same database with you would be thrilled to have a potential customer. read more

Arthur Deych, and his whole team at Red Tree have been nothing but the very best. Very knowledgeable, helpful, quick to respond and without a doubt goes the extra mile for you. Very highly recommend - professional, efficient, treats you with respect. He found us our perfect house, and sold ours in the first week. read more

Completely unprofessional with no business ethics. I was interested in a place listed by Carl Stephens, so I reached out to him to inquire. When I gave him my background, he said that me and my fiance were at the top of the list of potential candidates and so we set up an appointment to look at the rental listing. The realtor whom I had been working with the entire time also reached out to Carl to confirm our appointment. Later on that day, someone called me and did not leave a message. I called back, and the person that answered said he was Carl's assistant and was just verifying my information. Um, since I called them from my cellphone and the assistant just called that number back, I'm not sure how that is verifying any info. Regardless, leave a message instead of just dialing and hanging up. When we arrived, Carl looked surprised to see my realtor with me. I guess he assumed that we were not working together. He showed us the place, and said if we had any questions to just e-mail them to him and he would find out the answers. When we left, he said we were still the top candidates and we expressed to him and our realtor that we were very interested in the listing. I got home and e-mailed him the questions and he said he would forward them to the owner. Keep in mind, these were fairly reasonable questions (I wanted to know if lawn maintenance and snow removal was included, along with how many tanks of oil they typically go through in a winter). The next day, he e-mailed me asking if I was still interested in the place and to call him. My realtor (who was cc'ed on the e-mail correspondence), responded (after getting my permission) saying that we were very interested in the place, but still wanted the answers to my questions. We never heard back from Carl. All I can guess is that Carl thought he would get the full commission, which is why we were the 'top candidates', and when he saw us working with another realtor, we immediately dropped to the bottom of the list. Poor ethics will catch up with you quickly. I'll never deal with these guys again and will go out of my way to ensure people hear of their poor practices. My realtor, on the other hand, continued to work with us and helped find a place that met our interests. He was a pleasure to work with. read more

Red Tree is the shadiest apartment rental company in Boston, and I've worked with my fair share of agencies in the city. Our property manager, John, invited us to resign our lease for another year. When we asked him a question about a new item in the lease for which we were looking for clarity before resigning, he either ignored it or it got lost in his inbox. Either way, when he asked us what the holdup was, we asked the question again. Once he finally provided clarity, we were prepared to sign the lease. Two days later, we were told we had taken too long and were no longer allowed to stay. We were never told there was a particular deadline for signing. When we explained that we were waiting for clarity on the question, and fully intended to resign the lease, John was extremely rude and I'd even go as far to say combative about the situation. Do not work with Red Tree- they do not care about tenants; they only care about your brokers fee. read more

One word....Arthur. As first time home buyer, we were completely overwhelmed with the home buying process. Arthur sat down and talked us through everything. He made us feel at ease, educated us, encouraged us and kept us filled with hope during our process. He answered all calls immediately, which we appreciated greatly. He is prompt, professional and always ready to answer any question. I highly recommend working with Arthur and Red Tree Real Estate! read more

Amazing customer service and communication which is obviously crucial in the real estate environment. These guys work around the clock and are always looking after me. read more

My relationship goes back 4years with Red tree. Working with Audrey Mazzola has been great. She helped me with my rental properties when other places couldn't. She is very knowledgeable, patience, and friendly. I had many questions for her since it was my 1st time being a Landlord and didn't know how the process worked. She was able to guide me through the steps and got my place in Boston rented :D. read more

We couldn't be happier with the service and help we received from Micah at Red Tree. He's easily the most responsive and professional realty agent we've worked with in our apartment search. He found us a great apartment. Usually I hate the process of searching for an apartment but he made it so easy. Highly recommend working with Micah. read more

Service, professional demeanor. Rentals, purchases, commercial properties. Red Tree Real Estate has the integrity and professional knowledge to get the job done. read more

The leaders at Red Tree are top notch world class real estate experts - they know the unique markets so well - and as a landlord, they have helped find me excellent tenants for my properties. As referral partners, they have helped my clients buy & sell properties and done a phenomenal job representing them, educating them, and ensuring that they felt comfortable from the beginning of he process- all the way through to the end. I highly recommend the Red Tree Real Estate Team. read more

The realtor asked me the same questions in emails several times without paying attention to my answers. I searched and found a property and we agreed on a time to meet. Her last email said see you tomorrow and she no showed the appointment. When I called she blamed me and said she never confirmed it with me and the tenants weren't reached. read more

Professional, courteous and quick! Red Tree Real Estate is composed of some of the more competent agents in the Boston area. Their intimate knowledge of the Boston area is a great aid in real estate search. Their great relationships with former clients allows for a wide variety of options not easily available to the general public. I highly advise working with Red Tree. read more

Lee Kennon at Red Tree was attentive and diligent. He was not high pressure and went the extra mile to get us info on apartments near BC when my daughter's fall semester abroad was abruptly cancelled. I highly recommend! read more

Red Tree found someone quickly for our apartment that we needed to sublet/transfer the lease. The biggest miss was communications with our Red Tree agent. He was frequently unresponsive and when we did get in touch, he did not respond directly to our questions or provide us with direct updates or comments on our asks. When we spoke on the phone, I had clear questions that I wanted to communicate and again, he frequently talked over me or jumped to assume what I was going to say. This is all to say it was very challenging to work with the agent and it could have been very straightforward and easy. Red Tree has room for improvement when it comes to client relations and customer service. read more

I've been working with Audrey from Red Tree since 2015, with rentals and the recent purchase of my first home! Audrey consistently goes above and beyond. Everyone I worked with and spoke to at Red Tree was professional and straightforward. I never once got that 'sharky real estate agent' vibe that I have experienced with other companies. Audrey and the other agents were always accommodating and just as unwilling as I was to 'settle' for less than exactly what I wanted. When it came time to purchase a home Audrey helped us search far and wide, and she wrote probably half a dozen offer letters before we found our perfect place. She was upbeat and encouraging even when I was ready to give up on the whole ordeal. We'll be asking for their help again when it comes time to purchase our second property in a couple of years. I do, and have, highly recommend Red Tree. read more

Arthur and Dino are so much more than just your typical real estate agents. They went above and beyond to help with a simultaneous closing and because of them the process was seamless. They truly care and will take the time Day, night or weekend to help you find the perfect solution to your real estate needs. Moving is one of the most stressful things a Person can go through, but with the Red Tree team it was exciting and fun. I'll never use another agent again. I highly recommend them!! read more

Seriously questionable business standards. On more than one occasion I had to advocate for my rights as a tenant to get what I was due from this company. It was extremely difficult to communicate with everyone I spoke to at this company and they almost never followed through on various issues, be that information about my rental, agreements made in writing, appointments made to show my apartment, among other incidents over two years. I felt that they consistently tried to take advantage of me knowing that I was renting my first apartment. I sincerely recommend taking your business else where. Ps. I will probably get a nasty email or phone call from this company about this review (it's happened before). read more

My wife and I lived in Brookline and had a 2 bedroom 2 bathroom apartment that we needed someone to take the lease over for very quickly. We ended up working Andrew Ruskowski at Red Tree and he was great to work with. Andrew was diligent, quick to respond, and coordinated everything between us, the landlord, and the new tenants to perfection. Needless to say, he helped us in getting our apartment rented out in under a month. I would recommend working with Red Tree to anyone in the area and have noting but great things to say about our experience working with Andrew. read more

I genuinely got this account to expose this somewhere to somebody who will hopefully read this and save themselves. I had the unfortunate "pleasure" of being a tenant in one of this company's properties for 2 years. I really don't want to be annoying, and I don't want this review to be something people make fun of. But do not. Under any circumstances. Work with this company as a tenant. Maybe they're great for landlords, I wouldn't know. But as a tenant, they: 1. Consistently left lights on after tours were over. I once came home 2 hours after a tour were ended to EVERY SINGLE light on. I was the only one home as we were on our college break. Had I not come home the lights would have been on for another three days until someone came back. 2. Showed up consistently late for showings, at least by 20 minutes, without notice. 3. Told me that it was their "right" to have open houses amidst this pandemic. It may be "legal" but the governor has also said to avoid having them for safety reasons. Guess these guys don't care. 4. Locked us out of our apartment twice, disregarding my email to only lock one of our two locks as we were never provided with a key for the other lock. 5. Requested showings with less than 24 hours notice, at least twice requesting a showing with 4 hours notice. I have plenty of screenshots of emails and texts if anyone, for whatever reason, wants further proof of how horrifyingly disrespectful of tenants this company is. If you as a tenant are looking at apartments or condos and find one under Red Tree Real Estate, run in the opposite direction; no matter how perfect the place may be, it is not worth dealing with this company. read more

My girlfriend and I recently moved into an apt with the help of Red Tree Real Estate. We have both been living in Boston the past 5 years and have never had such a difficult time with moving into an apartment. We signed the lease and made our deposits, approved to move in on a Friday. Our real estate agent/broker Steve was relentless and discriminatory, asking for specific immigration papers. When we asked if if they were a requirement he danced around the answer. We stated that nothing in the lease that we had already signed required us to show any proof of immigration status. While the both of us are here legally, asking for any such paper is ILLEGAL, in Boston and I felt as if we were racially profiled. We were denied the move in until said papers were supplied. After getting in touch with Fair Housing in Boston as well as multiple lawyers, we confirmed that this was indeed illegal. If we demonstrated that we are able to pay for the apartment, why all the fuss? read more

Update: After reading my review, the owner posted the following response that I would like to address for anyone interested: Hey Zach, Have you seen our reviews?? They are all 4 stars!! We don't manage the property you rented.. Its owned by an outside landlord.. Who in fact paid to paint the entire apartment.. Cut your security deposit in half and purchased you a rug to cover the rough spot in the living room floor..because he ran out of time to sand the floors. We didn't do everything we could to make up for the landlords poor service?? of course we did! I'm sorry, but to give us a bad post 1 year later is un-called for. and un-necessary. Adam- Very glad to hear that others were treated better than we were. The main issue here is not that the landlord did not live up to his end of the deal (negotiated by Benjamin Boogers without checking with the landlord prior to closing the deal) but instead is that Benjamin Z. Boogers in no uncertain terms, lied to us. We were told specifically (on the phone) that he was "standing in the apartment" and that "the floors are done" and that the "walls are painted". As you noted in your response, the floors were never sanded and the walls were never repainted. I understand your desire to place blame on the landlord, but considering that the negotiations took place between Ben and I, in addition to the fact that the conversations about the status of the apartment took place between Ben and I, AND in addition to the fact that we were NEVER given the landlord's contact information until after we moved in (not to mention the fact that you were paid ~$1700 to manage this process): I find you at fault. I am shocked that you would stoop so low as to ask the landlord to return 50% of a security deposit when the real issue is that your realtor lied to your client (me) in order to take advantage. Thanks. Zach PS you make a good point about me waiting a year. I have posted on yelp because this is the time that many individuals move around in Boston, and I'd like to prevent as many as possible from being taken advantage of. Also, please refrain from calling me and asking me to remove my review - I have written an honest account of what happened. I wish that you were as concerned over my apartment as you clearly are over my review. read more

Unprofessional and uncaring, as well as nonresponsive and misleading. Red Tree has lowered the bar on Boston real estate, which is to say they have made a bad situation even worse. Unscrupulous. My recommendation is to never do business with them, as they will tell you one thing and turn around a day later and change their story. Horrible. read more

I had a fantastic experience with red tree! Arthur is the best, he is very knowledgeable and could spot a gen or a lemon from a mile away. He provided a ton of information about the process and was very responsive to 8 million of my questions. He even helped me find a contractor to do some renovation work after the move! I highly recommend red tree! read more

Loved working with Red Tree. Arthur was our broker. As with many people, scheduling things doesn't always work well. My wife and I have crazy schedules working in Healthcare. Arthur was able to accommodate us without issue. At times Arthur's right-hand agent, Lourdes, filled in seamlessly. Arthur was aware of what Lourdes told us, and vice versa. The was never a disconnect between all involved. With that type of care; the process was made easy, we found options most appealing to us, and we closed on exactly what we wanted. read more