Overall very positive experience. Never had any problems. Were very responsive and even gave us a great reference letter for our next apartment. read more

Found a listing on Craigslist claiming to be a 1BR in Chelsea 750 sq ft. I reached out and was immediately given a bait and switch and told that I was mistaken on the apartment I reached out on. I was told that I was speaking about another listing. This was the ONLY craigslist ad I had responded to in Chelsea. After feeling uncomfortable during our entire text conversation, the broker tells me he needs mine and my fiances last name in order to even view the other listing he was trying to push on me. I was very uncomfortable with the conversation from the beginning and his aggressiveness regarding our information when no other broker has asked for it in all of the apts we viewed left me very happy with my decision to not move forward with them read more

They were not conpletely honest with me but i trusted my agent being exhaousted andfrustrated by long search for an appartment with standards i needed When i viewed the place she showed me different apt in the bldg (the bosses apt).saying that my apt is exactly the same.the reason for tgat was that the tenants from my apt were not home and she was unabke to show me the pkace without their permision. She didnt me tion that my apt was on the other side of the building with window facing train station which would be deal breaker for me at the time. The layout was different as well. I had reallt hard time at the beginning adapting to the train noise but thank god i managed. I love my apt now and the bldg is awesome. I should have waited until i was able to view the apt i was renting. read more

Chris Nowak helped us find our next home and was absolutely wonderful. He spent most of a day showing us around the neighborhood, considering all of our needs and showing us quite a few options. Urban Realty seems to have a great supply of units available so there was plenty to look at of different sizes and amenities. Chris was also very helpful over text when I had a lot of questions! We'll certainly refer friends to Urban Realty, and to Chris in particular. read more

Most of the people working in the office seem to be between 19-24 yrs old and are clearly still learning the real estate business. I had a good experience though. I signed my lease with a woman named Gillian and she was really a pleasure to interact with. read more

Urban Realty not only lied to me but also to the current landlord of the apartment we were going to sign for. They told us the wrong (lower) listing price and confirmed an earlier move in date with the landlord that we did not discuss. Only after we put down a deposit were we told the correct listing price and move in date by the landlord. They had personally reached out to us because she did not trust the company and knew they had told us the incorrect price. Joselyn Aviles, who was actually very helpful and honest about not knowing the details, got us back out deposit. But I will not work with Urban Realty. Stephanie Reyes and Chris Nowak were not very friendly and slightly condescending when we were looking at the apartment. They told us they worked with the landlord, the landlord said they had never even met them. They confirmed an appointment that the landlord never confirmed, leaving us to not see the apartment for a few days. They mislead us with every detail and in the end we did not get the apartment because after learning the correct listing price it was well over our budget. read more

We had just left our jobs and moved to New York from San Francisco and were having trouble finding an apartment with no employment. Jay took us around to three different places, we really wanted the third one. Jay and Jocelyn made it happen. Super nice and professional people working here. Felt like we could trust them. Worth the fee to me. read more

Complete scam. I was told my application would be accepted so I paid the fee and put down a good faith deposit. Not only did they not get back to me when they said they would but they flat out ignored me. When I finally got a hold of someone they said I didn't meet certain requirements that TWO different realtors for this company told me I did meet. This was not a passing comment. I flat out asked both of them MULTIPLE times and was assured I would be accepted, no problem. I came prepared with questions and information to try and avoid this, but they are definitely good liars. Complete waste of time and money. I wish I had seen the other reviews beforehand. read more

Found Calvin via a Streeteasy ad. Bf and I were looking for a no fee in Brooklyn or the east village. We found our place after 1 day with Calvin. Brand new, full amenities, exactly what we were looking for. He even stayed super late waiting for my boyfriend to get there to view it. We gave them a deposit that night and were accepted two days later. Super painless. Really nice, professional people, great properties. I'll be recommending them to my friends. Thanks Calvin! read more

We haven't worked with many realtors in New York but these guys were pretty good. They were responsive (given the fact that our apartment did not require a broker fee and everything took place the week before christmas). It looks like everyone in the office is relatively young and so they're using some non-traditional, but novel methods for advertising their properties (facebook, craigslist) and keeping in contact with potential customers (texts instead of phone-calls/emails). Downside is that, when doing a credit checked, they also required a 500 dollar deposit to be applied to the first month's rent with the credit check (to screen out less-serious applicants). If you're in a rush to find a place and are looking at several, this could be a big downside. Anyway, positive experience on the whole. read more

I've been debating whether or not to leave a review for this business. I wasn't going to because I honestly feel like the guys I dealt with were nice people, and had good intentions, but maybe are just too busy? Once we gave them money they barely gave us the time of day. This business used to be "Urban Pioneer Realty." I kind of wish I had read those reviews on Yelp before doing business. Although, I didn't have much of a choice. We didn't hire them, they were just the realtors for the apartment we wanted. Basically everything that was said there is still true: "There's no fee because once you give him your money, he doesn't really do anything for you." "He rarely called me back. He would only text me back, but rarely answered my questions." "Very smooth, very nice, and very helpful until the paperwork was signed. Then, BOOM, Urban Pioneers became Urban Houdinis." ...Our experience, personally, consisted of: being cancelled on twice (I was starting to think we were being conned, since we had to put down so much money upfront, and suddenly they disappeared) being told what we wanted to hear, rather than actual answers to our questions (which is something we're discovering more and more after the fact... now that we've moved into the apartment and are discovering things that they flat-out lied about... hence the bitter review now rather than back then). Joe being VERY flippant with us when we came in to sign the lease. I don't think he looked us in the eye once. He told us to come in with questions, so we did, and when we asked them he was extremely dismissive. What Joe didn't realize is that I work at a tenant's rights law firm, and had an attorney there review the lease with me prior to going in, and there were some definite inconsistencies. When I brought up the aforementioned inconsistencies, it was met with, "Oh that's just standard lease stuff"...It wasn't. I see dozens of leases a day. I should have spoken up, so I will take partial blame for not doing so, but he should have been hearing us out to begin with. Not cool. The plus side? Everything worked out and we've moved into the apartment. read more

UrbanRealty was incredibly helpful in securing my apartment for me! Specifically, Joe Cruz who went over and above the normal requirements to negotiate with the landlord on my behalf. Hannah showed me the apartment and she was really pleasant and responsive when I indicated I wanted to put in an application. Joe and Jocelyn were very professional and on top of things from gathering all the paperwork to the day I signed the lease. I would recommend UrbanRealty to anybody who's interested in renting an apartment. In a world where real estate agents/companies are usually slippery and pushy, the team at UrbanRealty are the total opposite! Accommodating, responsive and very helpful. Thanks UrbanRealty for helping me get this awesome apartment! read more

This place is a NIGHTMARE.... Unprofessional, lazy, liars and lack basic negotiation skills. They will not fight for you and will side with LANDLORDS at your expenses..... Overall UNRELIABLE, waste of TIME and MONEY.... Stay away from them especially from Allen Lyons and Richard Byers..... They should both reconsider their career because it was SO POOR that I pity who hired them! read more

Honestly, we would have never landed the amazing apartment we found without Lana at Urban Realty. We can't thank her enough! After living in Manhattan for 10 years, I have managed to rent apartments with zero assistance from brokers. However, when my boyfriend and I decided to move to Brooklyn, we realized we needed one but did not love the idea of the dreaded 15% fee. After coming across a genuine listing on Craigslist (that didn't scream bait and switch), we were pleasantly surprised by the courteous broker we spoke to on the phone and the 1/2 month's fee linked to the apartment. "Ok, that's reasonable!" we thought. Lana, our broker, arranged for us to see the apartment that same day. It was a really nice apartment in a great building but, unfortunately, it was on the ground floor and we weren't crazy about that. Lana mentioned another unit (on a higher floor) in the same building that was being shown to a few folks later that evening. The building, units, and renovations were so great we knew we had to live there and, well, Lana was fantastic! She arranged for our viewing of the apartment with the tenant a little bit earlier so we could have first dibs - because that is what a good broker does! She was punctual, had all the information on the building that we needed and was able to answer all of our questions. We were sold. She then escorted us to her office immediately afterward. The paperwork process was fast, pleasant and easy with the lovely Gillian, and with a fast turnaround time too - in less than 48 hours we got approval. At the signing with our new Landlord (whom we love!) - JT was very helpful and answered all of our questions with a smile. Unlike some of the other reviews on here, I feel their follow-up has been great. Lana has personally followed up with us several times since signing to make sure we were all set and to check in. And JT even called us on his day off with his family to see if we had questions. IMO, the entire process from start to finish was top notch and hassle-free. We recommend this Urban Realty office to anyone looking for trusted brokers (by renters AND good landlords), a professional experience, great apartment selection, and reasonable broker fees. read more

My boyfriend and I were looking for an apartment together and saw a number of listings before we got in touch with Urban Realty. Allen was SUPER responsive and worked to help us negotiate down the price of an apartment we really liked. Gillian was very sweet to us as well. Us seeing the apartment to signing the lease all took place in 3 1/2 days. Couldn't have been better. read more

Came here for a job interview. While I was interviewed, I found out the job require a state ID, which I didn't have.

TOTAL SCAM. They make you think they have everything covered, talked to you like everything is more than ready and don't worry about qualification, they will ask for guarantors and make you think the unit is "for you". They act like a OPC person, trying to sell you something even though you don't need it. That is how we felt. The agent, Joseph Ruiz, contradict himself more than twice, had a quick response to pushed us or make us feel we were loosing the apt. Some how we believed him and agreed to go to his office, but just BEFORE he said that by the way, they only accept cash-money order-certified checks, so I feel very uncomfortable with the fact that after an hour of talking he just mentioned it like something really casual. I told him why they didn't accept credit cards and he said that what we could do was giving his boss, BY TELEPHONE, my credit card # and he,from his house (?) would locked the apt. with my $500 refundable payment. Of course this is crazy and I thanked him his time and said good bye. He said more ridiculous arguments but is a waste of time even mentioned them. BE VERY CAREFULL with this guys. 100% scam. A shame. read more

Chris Nowak helped me and my wife found our ideal apartment, we are really happy about the experience. Chris is a polite and patient broker, and he even agreed to show us the apartment late at 9PM. when my wife asked for certain things to be done for the apartment, he immediately contacted the super and took care of them. When going through all the lease documents, the lady named Gillian Mckenzie was very helpful and patiently explained to me the details of the lease. Overall, i had a great experience with Urban Realty, and would definitely recommend them to my friends. read more

I moved into Park Slope a month ago, thanks to Urban Realty. I was in between jobs and had just been relocated to New York. The entire process was so overwhelming which is why I decided to contact a realty firm. They were extremely straightforward, amiable, and efficient. I was in a rush to find a place and not only did they accommodate me time-wise, but they accommodated all of my apartment needs. Thanks guys! read more

I wholeheartedly agree with the above. Like Jacqueline, I didn't hire these guys, they just happen to be the agents for the apartment I wanted. I never really felt like I was getting "conned" so much as I thought the actual agents and brokers were much more competent and caring than management. My broker could not have been more helpful or friendlier. But then, to finalize everything, I had to deal with Joe Cruz. Joe was lazy, disinterested and seemed borderline incompetent. Getting in touch with him is next to impossible. I recommend this company because they have some good real estate and the brokers are very friendly, but be prepared for some headaches when it comes to dealing with paperwork and the management read more

These guys are great! We had the pleasure of working with Joe and the team twice so far. Renting two different apartments. They always show up on time, very reliable, honest and convenient to work with. They are very fair when it comes to communicating with the owner and always try to keep everyone happy. We couldn't ask for better real estate agents to work with, and that's why we rented the second apartment from them as well. Wil probably returns next time we move out. Highly recommended! read more

While finding an apartment in NY is a stressful feat, Urban Realty guided me through the process. I initially corresponded with Joseph Ruiz and then met and worked directly with Chris Nowack. Both were incredibly responsive. Chris was knowledgable, patient with my questions, and when places fell through, worked to find me a better option. read more

After dealing with a super nice guy who showed me some places, I went to the Park Slope office where I was assured they wouldn't "hold my money hostage". I was denied for the apartment, not that anyone called or emailed me (I had to text the man who showed me the apartment). I stop by the office to pick up my deposit. Nameless employee goes somewhere only to come back and tell me checks are only cut Tuesdays and Fridays. Uhm..A: where'd ya go? You didn't know that, nameless employee? B: what did you do with the money order that you couldn't just hand it back? Dealt with realtors before. Never had an experience like this. And no I'm not bitter. Placement and courtesy and professionalism are different things. read more

Let me tell you a story of what happens when you trust the "brokers" who work here. Ready? Lets say you find an apartment, and its in your ideal neighborhood. While you tour it they tell you all about it and then say "well its going to go fast so if you want it you need to get your paperwork in and put down a "small" deposit to take it off the market". You say well its worth it because not only is this an amazing place that the landlord wants somebody in now, but it seems like I can snatch it up. Now you are way ahead of time with your move out date, and you're so excited. And so you pay said massive deposit and think you can finally stop your endless apartment search and although you just paid a thousand bucks, you can breathe again- relief at last! But wait, no, turns out your "experienced" broker didn't ACTUALLY talk about the rent cost and bedroom size of the apartment with the owner before showing it to you. And guess what? The price and amount of tenants that you thought it was for, isn't what the owner truly wanted. She wants more rent money for the amount of tenants that it was advertised for, even though thats not what the ad says. Your broker's horrible communication skills literally just fucked you because who cares, why not, its not their life. And although they are idiots, they decide they want to work out a deal with you because of how "bad" they feel- they want to relieve you of some of the brokers fee cost (as if they deserve any of it anyway) so that it sorta equals out to what you planned on paying before the new cost happened. You say thats fine, lets do this since I really want this place, my lease is almost up, and I sorta don't have a choice anymore anyway. Phew, its all over. Nope. Thats when the broker says "well ok, we will get back to you tomorrow morning and let you know if the owner still wants you." Um. What. Excuse me? They tell you that now the owner thinks that even though she personally will be getting the full amount she requested per month from you and your roommates as rent that you can't afford it. (and no, it doesn't matter that your credit and income says that you can, not at all) Tomorrow morning comes around, do they call you? No. Do they answer your texts? No. Then, finally one of them calls you back (you know, after running from their problems for a few hours, because like I said- its not their life) and tells you that she won't make up her mind until the evening. You say thats unacceptable, they say too bad, we "can't do anything" and "hang in there". Evening comes around. Guess what? You lost the place that you spent money, time, and effort "securing" for yourself, because these idiots don't know how to do their jobs and communicate with the owners of the properties that you want to live in. Your current lease is still going to end at the end of the month, and somebody new will be wanting to move in there as soon as they can. And how many days do you have to tour places (even though that can't happen every day with a real life/job and all), decide which one will work, fill out paperwork, move all of your things out, and move in before time runs out? 10 days. Do yourself a favor- never, EVER trust these morons to do their job. Do not assume that any of the listings are what they say that they are; theres a good chance that they aren't. Theres plenty of other realtors in brooklyn, go there instead. read more

Urban Realty and Joe Cruz did the right thing for me! I listed 2 apartments with them and they rented both of them out quickly and at an acceptable price. The rental applications were complete and the whole process was seamless. Would definitely recommend them! read more

we have a pit bull and a short amount of time to look for an apartment. we contacted JT, who found us a place, came all the way down from the Bronx on the coldest day of the year to show it to us. we didn't take the apartment, but found JT to be so nice, honest in his presentation and an excellent communicator with great follow up. if you have the pleasure of doing business with him, I doubt you'll be disappointed. read more

Urban Realty in New York is a company that engages in blatant deceptive practices. My daughter and her roommate found a perfect apartment working with an agent from this company. Price, location, safety were all excellent. The agent from Urban Realty encouraged them to apply quickly as well as write a 1,000 deposit check that day. They were informed their credit and income were just fine. They were informed a few hours later via email that they would need a guarantor due to the nature of their work. The company sent the forms via email promptly. We in turn promptly filled them out and emailed them back. We are more than financially qualified to act as a guarantor. The guarantor is also a licensed real estate broker, we understand why they needed this and were happy to do so. They also stated they would incur an additional 75.00 fee to add a guarantor. Within five to ten minutes of sending in the emailed forms we were informed this particular landlord did not accept guarantors. What? We were informed he accepted them, thus the reason we applied. We also know they did not even pull a credit report or do anything in the way of processing the application. No inquiries were shown with credit bureaus. . We asked why were we sent an email stating the landlord wanted a guarantor if they actually did not. We never would have wasted time and money on this process. In addition to the money held as a deposit, the application fees of 225.00 should be refunded as the agent engaged in deception when she told us all would be fine with a guarantor. We are pursuing a formal complaint with the board of Realtors. The guarantor in this situation is a licensed real estate broker and is aware they are engaging in illegal practices. This company is terrible and should be out of business. read more

In the end, we got a place we like, in a good neighborhood, for a good price. But it wasn't easy. There was a week of silence from the management, nail biting on our end, and what looked like an attempted bait and switch before finally signing the lease on our original apartment. That was a week after we'd put money down. On the plus side, we worked with JT and he was the nicest guy, he got money taken off the brokers fee, he genuinely went out of his way for us at times, drove us around, and put in some extra hours on our behalf. read more

very smooth working with the company. They are professional and prompt in response. Would highly recommend working with Urban reality to find an apartment read more

Bunch of horrible scamming realtors. Say they have listing of mls and charge the buyer for the real estate fee. Small print 35.000. Get real losers read more

HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE!!! Lied to, flipped me to other apartments. Once they got my money they never answered me! Never work with them!!

Called a woman named Hannah for an apartment in Brooklyn. She was eager to help me until I told her I had a voucher that's when she told me she would "call me back." When she didn't call back, I tried calling her back and she was extremely rude. I felt extremely mistreated and when I called the office to complain I was snubbed as well. I ended up going with a company called rapid realty who helped me get into my new apartment as of 2 days ago. read more

I used Urban Realty after responding to a listing they posted on nakedapartments.com. Usually I try to stick with by owner apartments or apartments listed through the management company. What I was not too keen on is all the fees this agency hits you with. First off a 15% broker fee is very high. Yes, they found a nice apartment but there a million real estate agencies in the city that have similar listings with lower broker fees. Secondly, they hit me with a $100 cash processing fee to pay to their secretary for "all the work she does." I'm sorry but if she is the secretary for your agency, shouldn't your agency be paying her for her work, not the client? Also, once I put down my deposit for $1900, I had to follow up consistently with the agent. I feel like if I did not reach out, I would have waited a very long time to hear back. In summation, I am happy I got my apartment but I would have liked to see better costumer service for the amount of money I was paying and I really think the agency needs to revisit some of their policies regarding how much they charge for their services. read more

PLEASE READ THE REVIEWS BEFORE GOING WITH URBAN REALTY!! They are LIARS.I found an apartment I really liked and I was assured I will get it because I was a great candidate.So I applied, paid $106 for processing fee, $1000 for a good faith deposit.I never got answer from them if I was approved or not until the first of the month when I had to move out.And course I was not approved and they could not give me a reason why.But I was able to get my $1000 back. Another broker from a different real estate got me approved for an apartment the same day I applied for that apartment . I did not have to pay anything except $20 for a credit check.The apartment I got was a $100 cheaper and looked so much better than the one URBAN REALTY scammed me for.Complete waste of time, energy and of course MONEY! DON'T GO WITH URBAN REALTY, THEY WILL MAKE YOU HAVE AN EMOTIONAL BREAK DOWN.Good luck on your search! :-) read more

Buyer Beware!! This company does care about you all they want is your money. My realtor Naji found me an apartment that I really liked. I put my deposit down to come and find out that an "exclusive" real estate agent already had dibs on it. So I took another apartment I saw that same day which I thought was okay. When I asked to see it before I sign the lease, Naji said I can see it after. I signed the lease, when I went to see the apartment I did not like it all. The molding were cracked, the apartment was not up to par with my standards. When I told Naji about getting refunded and that I was not happy about the apartment he basically told me that I already signed the lease. I signed the lease on 12/29 but the lease was not in effect until January 1st. As per Naji, I could not get back my money. I lost out on the security and the brokers fee, a total of $3,000.00. So I urge you to go somewhere else, they are not honest and unprofessional and will not even try to help you. Never again! read more