Run away Anna Pobyvanets is a scammer and this company will take your money and ignore you. I have text messages with proof of lies and broken promises. They want "good faith deposits" that is supposed to be returned to you but you will never get it back. Do not believe any listings you see on Zillow, Redfin, streeteasy, ETC with this company attached also know as STERLING REALTY SOLUTIONS Times are hard I'm just trying to help save people from being scammed during these times read more

Some of their realtors are really unprofessional. They'll also show you apartments that are in the basement level and never reply to your questions. I found better agencies who have helped me so far. read more

Awful, unprofessional. Michael Petrou showed us the listing and told us that he was going to send us the application but never did and ignored all communication. He will waste your time showing you the listing when he has someone signing a contract. Waste of our time to travel there. Don't waste your time!! read more

Such an unprofessional staff, if you want to find an apartment stay away from this real estate agency. I've been living and moving around astoria and I never had such a bad experience. The agents literally play with you and your time. After collecting the documents, and information they guaranteed they were going to find the apartment. never happened!!! texts and calls every day with no response. They literally play with your time saying they will call you back and never again get back to you. read more

I had the pleasure of doing business with Dmitry last month for an apartment rental in Astoria. Dmitry is very professional and honest and was prompt in responding to any of my requests. He successfully negotiated a favorable rent for my preferred apartment and made the whole process of getting a new apartment seem easy. I would recommend Dmitry and Sterling Realty to anyone looking for an apartment in the area! read more

Thank you, Dmitry! We had a great experience working with the whole staff at Sterling23. We flew up for a long weekend and Dmitry took us around to about 5 apartments, helped us put in an application for one, and immediately hit the ground running when we had 1 day left and found out we didn't get it. He kept in mind what we wanted and found our dream apartment! The paperwork and communication was a breeze. I can't imagine going through this process without Dmitry. He is just a great guy and so much fun to spend time with. It truly feels like your old friend showing you around Astoria. What a gem of a company! read more

I had a great experience working with agent Markella Antoniou from Sterling23 during the past few weeks while searching for apartments in Astoria. She's super professional, knowledgeable, polite and very helpful. Most importantly, she isn't pushy like some realtors I've dealt with. She took her time to show us multiple apartments and was impartial during the whole process letting us make our own decisions. I would highly recommend Markella. read more

Vince is the absolute best realtor! He was our first contact when we started our search for a new place in Astoria and kept contacting us throughout our hunt with places he knew we'd like. He's a kind, honest guy - not one of those pushy, sleazy realtors that pressure you to make a decision. He gave lots of information and recommendations on the best places in the neighborhood. When we ultimately found a place through another realtor, Vince was super supportive and wished us well. We would recommend him and Sterling to anyone searching for a place - real classy, stand up people with lots of great apartments to show! read more

I had an amazing experience with Markella at Sterling23. She was responsive, patient, and completely there for all of my (many) needs and questions. I never felt pressured or like I was annoying her which made the entire process that much easier. I also worked with Andreas who was as equally professional and efficient. They were both extremely transparent and honest throughout. I would absolutely recommend them! read more

As first time NYC apartment dweller, Vince made our finding a great apartment in Astoria possible. I really appreciated his professionalism, calmness/patience when I didn't know what we were looking for (Studio, 1 Bedroom, 2 Bedroom) and clearly laying out each step in the process. I liked how he made sure all our questions were answered, walked through all the different agreements making sure we knew what we were signing, and met us with the landlord. I would highly recommend Vince if you're new to NYC and wishing to live in Astoria. read more

UPDATE 2: The owner spoke to me to take down my post here on Yelp and he offered to give me back half my deposit if I did so. I took it down and I got nothing. So this is back up... UPDATED: In response to Kirk V. All that was said in person to me is that "the deposit is so that others can not view it and take it off the market." That is all that was said. It hasn't even been off the market for more then 3 days! I've had other brokers tell me they would absolutely give me the money back if it hasn't even been a week. There was never a day set for signing the lease. I haven't even provided all the proper paperwork to complete it yet. P.S. Yes the texts show exactly how I was pressured into the apartment and never listened to my request for a refund the DAY after, after asking nicely several times. I asked to continue business with their company because I initially thought that's the only choice I had. But after speaking to an attorney I was wrong. There are other options considering their application is barely a legal contract. THINK about it folks, do you want someone who will take your money and not care? Or someone who wants to find you a place and leave it up to you. Your experience should be easy going and not pressured into payments that you won't get back. STAY AWAY and deal with someone else. ------- HORRIBLE experience. I dealt with Kirk. They are sneaky and liars. I put down a deposit to "hold" the apartment from others viewing it. Not even 24 hours later I decided I changed my mind and wanted the refund back on the deposit. Kirk ignored every request I had for it and continued to push me towards taking it. Said he would try to renegotiate the rent, then offered to take off 400 of the brokers fee after not hearing from me. I proceeded to say sorry I'd like the refund back, he ignored me once again and tried to find a way to get me to take it. It only went a day off the market and they now refuse to give me my deposit back after misleading me. DO NOT deal with these guys as they are not looking out for you and your best interest and just want your money. They continue to pressure you into what you don't want. read more

We found a listing on streeteasy and got in touch with Dmitry. He was easy to communicate with and quick with his responses. Dmitry was very accommodating and showed us the apartment in the early evening about 530pm after we could get out of work. Dmitry was honest and not pushy at all. We loved the place and sent in an application that was approved a few hours later! Before signing the lease, we wanted to see the apartment again and Dmitry was very accommodating about that. He even drove us back to the office to sign the lease after so we didn't have to take the subway in the cold! All-in-all, it took about 3-4 days from seeing the apartment to signing the lease. Really quick and easy and not stressful at all! I highly recommend anyone looking for an apartment in Astoria/LIC to contact Dmitry! read more

My girlfriend and I wanted to move to Astoria, and thanks to an advertisement in Streeteasy we ended up meeting Luis Almonte. What a great, great agent. He was very patient with our needs, showed us a lot of places within our budget until we finally found an ideal apartment. Sadly it was rented by another agent the next day we saw it (obviously not his fault). Then he proceeded to keep looking with us, driving us in his car, and showing us similar units. We couldn't find one at the level of the first and ended up in another part of the city. However, we won't forget what he did for us. He is honest, clear, doesn't push you and always responds immediately to text or calls. If I have to look for an apartment again, I wouldn't have any doubt of calling Luis for help. Highly recommended. read more

I haven't rented any properties shown to me by Markella, but she's the best! She's a trustworthy agent, friendly, not pushy, and only showed me properties within my budget. If you've apartment hunted in NYC before, you know it's a harrowing process. She showed me apartments last year, and when my lease was up, she was happy to help again with my search this year. I won't hesitate to reach out whenever I'm looking for a place. Thanks for everything, Markella! read more

I was really pleasantly surprised by my experience with Sterling23! I mainly worked with Amy and Margarita during my apartment search. Amy listened to what I was looking for and sent me a handful apartment listing photos for places she thought I'd be interested in. We quickly set up a date to view the apartments. Margarita and Amy were patient as I looked at each of the places and happily answered all of my questions. They stuck within my firm price range, which I really appreciated, and paid attention to how I reacted to the different apartments (Amy guessed from just the look on my face that a certain unit wasn't in line with what I wanted). They even deviated from the plan a few times to show me additional units they thought I might want to consider. Margarita also *drove me* from showing to showing, which was totally unexpected and greatly appreciated. Once I let them know which apartment I was most interested in, Amy and Margarita moved quickly to get me through the process. They were clear about what information I needed to give them, up front about the broker fee, and Margarita even came up with some ways to streamline the application process for me without me even asking. Amy was also extremely communicative throughout the process. A day or so after submitting the application Amy tells me that not only was I approved, but that Margarita also negotiated with property management to offer me a rent $100 lower than what I'd been prepared to pay! I signed the lease and picked up my keys from a man who I believe was Andreas (he was very nice). It's been a few months and I'm super happy with my apartment! I really felt like Amy and Margarita were on my side during my apartment search and it made the experience so much better. It was clear to me that they wanted me to find a good apartment with as little hassle as possible. I know brokers can be a real mixed bag, but I feel like this is one of those examples of how big of a difference a great broker can make for an apartment search. Amy and Margarita made a naturally stressful experience feel painless. I recommend Sterling23 to any of my friends who are looking in the Astoria area! read more

This month as I was looking for apartment, I had an opportunity to go with Astoria Sterling Realty. The main person I dealt with is Dimitry. He has been the best and helped me out finding a place. Once I got the place I wanted, he helped through out the process. If you are going with Astoria Sterling, I'd definitely recommend asking for DIMITRY. read more

Dmitry Kolpakov - Realtor What a pleasure it was to work with Dmitry throughout the apartment search in Astoria. We all know this process can be very stressful and he made it quite easy with our busy work schedules. Dmitry replied to text messages and calls right away and gave us plenty of good advice. He's not only a good realtor but a very good person. We were lucky to find this dude. He was genuinely interested in our wants/needs. We found the perfect place and will absolutely work with Sterling Realty in the future. read more

The people at Sterling do an alright job on their end, but are only as good as the properties they will put you in. They work with a landlord named Peter Meledis, whom I would not recommend, based on my experience. If you chose to work with Sterling, I would advise telling them you do not want to see any of his properties. They had my first review (which said the same thing) pulled, which makes me wonder further about their business practices. read more

This review is about our broker Ann. Ann was extremely professional and accommodating. I explained to Ann exactly what I was looking for and the amount I was willing to pay. Ann was really easy to reach by phone and text. I like that she didn't try to convince us to get a more expensive apartment. She had several apartments for us to look at and we were able to visit the apartments in one night. Ann was knowledgeable about the features available in the apartments and really gave us time to think about making any moves without pressure. Once we found the apartment that best fit our needs the process was extremely quick. We gave our application in on Friday and Saturday we signed the lease. Ann was extremely friendly and personable. read more

Searching for an apartment back in October with my fiance, we came across Sterling Realty by a Google Search. Our agent, Kate Pakhomova, did an exceptional job. Without much notice from us, immediately showed us 3 apartments that fit our criteria. When we told her that we were looking at other apartments, she didnt pressure us to stay with her agency. Instead, she helped us pursue what we wanted. If looking in Astoria and you want an agent that listens to your needs, go to Kate at Sterling. read more

Vincent Prezioso is ABOVE AND BEYOND professional, informative, and patient. He makes finding a new home not only simple and stress-free but also a pleasure. He showed me many apartments in the area. It was very important to him that I was fully satisfied, never being aggressive or pushing to sign a lease like many other real estate agents. I recommend working with Vince with highest praise to EVERYONE. read more

I saw a couple apartments with Anna. I told her upfront I needed a quiet apartment. I saw a lovely apartment that was serene and calm. She assured me this apartment is on a quiet street. When I signed for the apt I told her I could pay her broker fee by card but I'm not paying an added fee for card transactions. I also didn't want to carry that much cash. She said that's not a problem. I wind up being charged the fee anyway. At this point was like whatever. I also asked her if I could have the keys three days early so I could slowly move my stuff in. She said absolutely, not a problem. I never got the keys till the first after calling her multiple times. As soon as she got the money she wiped her hands clean. The first night of moving in I realize I live across the street from a beer garden with live music. My whole apartment sounded like I was in a concert hall. Of course the music played till the early hours of the night and I had work the next morning. She NEVER MENTIONED that there was a beer garden across the street. It was an honest mistake for me not to see it as I'm facing the back of it. So aggravating! This is a shady realty with agents that over promise and under deliver. Stay away! Also, you could see in the attached image, the owner wrote his own review; that's not shady AT ALL read more

Sterling23 - Business owner posing himself as a customer - Real Estate Services Near Me - Astoria, New York

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It was a pleasure to find an apartment with ANDREAS from Sterling. It didn't took him more then a 10min talk on the phone to find me the right apartment. I took the first apartment he showed me. (After looking for about a month with others) He was very helpful through the process! Very flexible and kind. It was my first time in Astoria, so he also showed me the area! He is a professional and you can tell he loves what he does! read more

Our story - I sent my boyfriend without me to see an apartment with Irene from Sterling Realty that we saw posted on Craigslist. He really liked it, so I went in to meet with her later that evening. Upon arriving to fill out the application, I tried to write a check but was told the application fee was cash only.... and instead of the $50, it was actually $65. Ok, whatever. Walking to the ATM, got a text requesting a $500 CASH deposit to take the apt off the market. Went back and explained I wasn't comfortable with such a large cash deposit, they agreed to waive this. Got a call the next day that the apartment was no longer available, but they had another apartment for about $100 more than our budget. We met her at 10 am and walked over to the apartment. Actually, first we went into SOMEONE ELSE's BUILDING! She had the address incorrect, honest mistake, but also kind of awkward. In my mind, I'm thinking, "can't believe they get a brokers fee for this, but ok, let's go." The apartment we saw was great, fit our needs, and we went through the paperwork again. Fast forward to today. We show up, with the necessary checks (they ask for their brokers fee in cash, I again didn't feel comfortable handing over $1700 cash),paid extra for certified checks, etc. Reviewing the lease with the owner, our lease reads: 1) Parking space included - owner assures us that is not correct 2) Pets not allowed - owner assures us that our pet is fine to be there. 3) the kicker - Utilities not included. - costing an additional $100-150 a month. In her defense, Irene was just as surprised as we were, but the damage was done and it put the apartment in a price range we couldn't afford. Now I'm out the credit check/application fee, the price of the certified checks, and feeling a little annoyed. We asked the owner and Irene to work together to lower the rent to make up the difference but it wasn't possible. What really kills me is even though it was their mistake on the listing, they don't want to refund the money I spent on the application and the checks. It's not much, under $100, but it's the principle of their misrepresentation, wasting my time, and overall a total feeling of being taken for a ride. I wish there had been more reviews online available for this agency before I had starting handing over money. read more

If you're looking for an apartment in Astoria, save yourself a lot of time and come straight to Sterling Realty! Husband and I tried looking for a pet-friendly two bedroom apartment in Astoria without a realtor and it wasn't happening. I saw an apartment on Streeteasy that Dmitri from Sterling Realty posted. I called him and he responded right away. He showed us the apartment the next day - a Sunday evening. He made a special trip to the office to meet us and to show. It was the perfect apartment for us and Sterling has a great relationship with the landlord so they got all our questions answered right away. We saw the apartment in early April for a June 1 move in which is so rare. We move in soon and can't be more excited thanks to Dmitri at Sterling!! Can't recommend them enough!! read more

I think that Dmitry is the best realtor that you can come across. When we have to search again, Dmitry will be the first I contact. He has great connections with landlords in Astoria, knows all the ups and downs of the places he shows, and he is always in contact helping you find the right place. He does go above and beyond. His professionalism and work ethic are unmatched. I strongly recommend that you try and work with him to have an enjoyable apartment hunting experience. Unfortunately, we ended up renting an apartment through another agent, which I was not happy about because we really liked Dmitry! read more

I was wary of using a broker to find my next apartment, but working with Kirk at Astoria Sterling Realty was great . The experience I had has definitely changed my perception of rental agents. Kirk was very responsive via phone and email, and confirmed our appointment to view an apartment earlier in the day. The evening of our appointment, a snowstorm came, however, he did not cancel. Despite the inclement weather, he drove us to three separate apartments across Astoria that fit our budget and requirements, not rushing us in the slightest. We decided that we wanted one of the apartments that he had shown us, so that same night we put a deposit down to "take it off the market" (the deposit that they ask for to pull it from the market is half a month's rent) and then he ran our credit. They require standard proof of income - most recent pay stubs, last w2, and recent bank statement. The next day, the owner of the apartment reviewed our application and Kirk called us to tell us that we got it. We then scheduled an appointment with Kirk where he drove us back to the apartment to do the lease signing. Overall, the process was very smooth took about three days. Kirk was very honest and accommodating. He did not rush us or lie to us about any of the features of the apartments we were shown, he was upfront about any charges and issued us proper receipts, and he was very responsive. I highly recommend working with Kirk! read more

Marina's the best! She helped our family find a super sweet place in Astoria. She communicates well, is friendly and on-time, and charges reasonable fees. We would do business with her again, except we won't be moving out of this place any time soon! read more

My roommate and worked with Luis Almonte. He showed us four great apartments in Sunnyside and Astoria, all within our price range. He was very professional and patient, and didn't pressure us into renting with him, which we really appreciated. We did end up renting with him, and he helped us through the application process and negotiated with the landlord on our behalf. Highly recommend. read more

My boyfriend and I had a really great experience working with Alex from Sterling. We saw an apartment Saturday, approved by Monday, and signed lease on Wednesday. Alex was extremely friendly and knowledgeable about the area and he was really easy to get in touch with by text, phone, and email. He made the whole process really smooth and stress free. I could not have imagined a better experience. read more

Marina was a fantastic agent. Her customer service skills were top notch. Helped us immediately from the first phone call through the lease signing. I highly recommend her and her organization and would use them in the future again. read more

Just moved to New York and they helped me find the perfect place in Astoria! It can be overwhelming moving to a new place, let a lone New York but my broker at Sterling was wonderful! I will definitely use them again and would recommend them to my friends. Finding a place can be stressful but they were there to answer all my questions and help me out. I love my apartment! read more

Sterling is a great place to help with an apartment search in Astoria - their portfolio has diverse options, all in great locations. Although my boyfriend and I did not end up renting a property through Sterling, we had a very positive experience with realtor Luis Almonte. Luis was extremely responsive, adaptive, and professional. He showed us several apartments that fit our price range and requirements. Luis quickly understood what we were looking for, empathized with the stress of finding a new apartment in NYC's market, and worked hard to show us as many apartments at convenient times as possible. He was enjoyable to work with and we would definitely consider Sterling for future moves. read more

My husband and I were very pleased with our experience with Sterling Realty. Our agent, Dmitry Kolpakov, did a wonderful job of making our apartment hunt smooth and easy. Dmitry met with my husband first to show the apartment, which was a quick and simple process. He was available after the apartment viewing (via phone/text) to answer any questions my husband had. He promptly replied to all questions we had. I was eager to see the apartment as well; this was set up the very next day. Once we had decided this was the place, we went through a typical process of background check, holding deposits, etc. We were also able to meet with the landlord that evening to get a little more information about the property. Signing went off without a hitch as well. Dmitry was very accommodating with our schedules through the entire process, and we were pleased to have secured our first place in Astoria! read more

Anna helped me find a great apartment in no time. She was very professional, kind and available throughout the entire process. She made it very easy to get all the paperwork done and submitted in a timely manner, and made herself available to show different apartments until I found one I loved. Anna is a genuine pleasure to work with and I highly recommend her for anyone looking for a stress-free rental. read more

I wanted to leave a review because I really had an awesome experience working with Anna in finding an apartment on my recent move to Astoria. I had a few things in mind that were important to me being price, size and location, After showing me a few places she found the perfect little place for me in a great location. If you are looking to deal with someone who is very timely and is good with texting and communication I would highly recommend Anna an definitely use her again! read more

I contacted Dmitry after seeing an ad for a 2 bedroom on craigslist. He responded to my initial text promptly and answered the questions I threw at him to ensure I wasn't wasting my time with a place that didn't match the online description. He met with me on time at the apartment and gave me the tour and overview with zero pressure, and the apartment actually looked like the ad, imagine that. I was pleasantly surprised to see that he did not do the "realtor psychology" (at least that's what I call it) exercise of showing me a crappy place, then a great place out of price range and then finally the place he actually wanted to rent out. He didn't waste my time and I didn't waste his, it was awesome. While I didn't end up taking the initial apartment, he did contact me twice further, about a week apart each, with a couple more places that met the needs for me, my roommate and my 60 lb. dog (while my dog is well mannered and obedient, many landlords don't take that into consideration and just flat out say no dogs over X pounds or, more bluntly "no pitbulls"). The second place he showed us was "it" and proceeding from there was pretty effortless. The terms of both Dmitry's company and the landlord were laid out simple and plain, as well as what was required from my roommate and I. As of this review, we're moving into the apt. in about a week and are looking forward to it. I'd highly recommend Dmitry and his company to friends and family looking to find a place to rent or buy in Astoria. --- To a previous reviewer who complained that they didn't refund her deposit after *she* decided not to proceed, what did you expect? The deposit is only refunded when the landlord decides to reject the applicant, not if the applicant backs out. That's how it works. read more

Dimitri was extremely helpful and accommodating in helping me find my amazing studio in Astoria!

Couldn't be happier with my experience with Sterling Realty. They were quick, friendly, and had a lot of good listings that made the apartment hunt much easier. Anna was quick to respond to all my queries, so kudos for that. Victor and Andreas were also friendly and helpful throughout the way. The entire process from my initial inquiry to my signing the lease was about 3 days, so these guys are certainly efficient. Top notch service all around. read more

My boyfriend and I came to Sterling Realty with a tricky situation. We were moving with our cat from out of state, had one day to look at apartments, had no jobs lined up (we have them now, but had to be in NY to be hired by our respective companies), and had an out-of-state guarantor. Because we were cosmically determined not to find a place to live, we also requested a dishwasher. The folks at Sterling did some homework before we met with them, and Andreas found 3 great places in our price range in Astoria with landlords willing to work with us. We ended up in the second apartment we saw, and we love it! Andreas was super friendly and understanding. I didn't write a review sooner, because it all felt a hair too-good-to-be-true until we got the keys. But we're moved in, cat is happy, and dishes are clean and drying in our freaking dishwasher. I could cry. Highly recommend. read more