Boston City Properties

When my fiancée and I learned we would be relocating from Florida to Boston in the middle of winter, we were worried we would have a hard time finding a place we liked that was within our budget. Between the new-​to-​us apartment broker system and the stresses of packing and coordinating an apartment search from 1400 miles away, we were more than a little anxious.
Then we stumbled across the Boston Properties website and requested more information about their apartment-​searching services. We were helped by agent Chris Ripp, who used our neighborhood and budget preferences to narrow down the overwhelming list of properties to a list of about 40. We then used their MLS portal (pictures, detailed information, ranking system) to narrow that field down to about a dozen we liked most. Chris then scheduled tours of those properties with their respective rental agents and my fiancée was able to visit them all in one afternoon on a calmly-​scheduled weekend apartment hunting visit. Chris was also very responsive to general questions and helped facilitate the application process for the apartment we selected as well as followup steps.
We had expected our first apartment hunt in Boston to be a rough, but thanks to Chris and Boston Properties it was smooth sailing. Thanks so much!

I moved to Boston from Colorado right before the New Years for a new job and I had heard how crazy it is to get a place in Boston but because of Tony Enslow that was far from my experience. I had planned to set up everything online and Tony kept in constant communication and updated me on great places in different areas and gave me great advice on the lay of the land. I decided at the last second to wait until I saw the places in person and Tony set up everything perfectly with an in depth knowledge of the what is being offered by the different buildings. I moved to Boston with out a car so I asked Tony if we could take the subway to the different locations to get a feel for where I would be living and he was more than happy to show me around while I was completely city-​struck coming form the suburbs. He not only had a great list of places to show me but adapted to my reactions to the buildings we saw and re-​tailored the list to my feedback.
In the end I wound up in an amazing apartment in a location that I am extremely happy with and that I would have never found on my own and at an amazing price in my budget. I highly recommend using Boston City Properties and I will use them again when I decide to move again

Dan was incredibly helpful in helping me find a new place. I moved to the city for a new job, and had no idea about neighborhoods, what apartment buildings I should target, proximity to transit, etc. Dan was extremely responsive and professional from the start and helped me pick out a beautiful apartment downtown. He is also very charismatic and has a keen and intuitive sense for what his clients may prefer. I can’t recommend him highly enough. There is no hard sell or bullshit, he is just down-​to-​earth and incredibly helpful. Best real estate agent I’ve ever worked with.

My husband and I worked with Dan Rajter last week. We were in town for only several days from Seattle, and we needed to secure an apartment in that amount of time for our move in late November.
In the weeks leading up to our meeting, Dan set up an online database for us that listed apartments within our budget and that matched our amenity criteria. Some of our requirements were tough (garage parking only, less than a 30-​min. commute from East Cambridge), and Dan was honest with us in saying that our selections would be limited. He showed us 5 buildings; some were units that we requested viewings for from the online database, and others were buildings that he thought we’d like, based on our discussions and preferences (they were also no-​fee to the tenant, too!). The one we ended up going with was the last one he showed us that day. It was a little bit over our budget (which honestly, was probably set a bit low considering our needs and how expensive average rents are in Boston), but it had everything we wanted and needed!
Dan was really personable and professional, both over the phone and in person. We had never worked with a broker before, so we weren’t sure what to expect, but he wasn’t pushy or anything, so we really appreciated that. Since we had literally flown into Boston the morning of our meeting, he drove us to each showing and gave us info on the different neighborhoods. He’s lived all over the Boston area over the past decade+, so he’s very knowledgeable about the different neighborhoods. We were really happy with how things turned out, and we’d definitely recommend him to any of our friends looking for a place in Boston!

I worked with John Hollis for my relocation to Boston. He was the consummate professional — always timely with appointments and every point of contact, incredibly friendly, transparent, and very accommodating of my schedule. I never once got the sense that he was not working in my best interest and always felt like I was being given the proper amount of attention. He sent me many listings with all the upfront information included before I arrived, so I could get a sense of the market. On the way to each location, he gave descriptions of each neighborhood and tailored his suggestions to my needs. I ultimately found somewhere I am happy with and I highly recommend working with Boston City Properties.

Ellen is amazing! Ellen facilitated finding an apartment, while I was living in Atlanta. I was told how hard it would be to find an apartment and we found a wonderful place in 24hours (with 2 dogs). I could not be more impressed with her abilities and highly recommend her services. Her professionalism, market knowledge, and communication skills were top notch. Thank you, Ellen!

My experience with Boston City Properties was top notch. As someone that was relocating from Chicago, broker Gary Yagoubian went above and beyond to help me in my search and was able to narrow down my search criteria. As stressful as moving can be ask for Gary and he will guide you every step of the way and go out of your way to make sure you find the place you are looking for. Stress free all the way and will use him again in the future or recommend him to anyone moving to Boston.

I have absolutely no time to write this, but it’s worth it if it helps one person get through the ridiculously complicated renting procedure here in Boston. This review is specific to Katt, to whom I owe much more than a 5-​star review. She was on-​time, responsive, empathetic, kind, patient and accommodating. I had e-​mailed or called at least 7 brokers, and Katt was the only one who followed through by e-​mails and by setting up an MLS account for me right away. I was actually shocked at how quick she was to respond and how easy-​going she was — even as uberx, traffic and work conspired to make me late for 2 of our 3 appointments. Look, you need to stop screwing around contacting anyone else while searching for an apartment. Go to BCP if you want someone who will do the work. They are professionals. They are worth every penny.

Navigating the Boston broker-​based rental market can be tough especially with lots of must haves. And this is coming from someone who has lived in 11 different rental units in the past 10 years in many different markets. Prior to enlisting the services of Boston City Properties, I was struggling with 2 different brokers and had no way to see any actual listings unless the brokers wanted to give me the time of day which typically involved several follow-​ups.
All of that changed and both brokers were cut loose upon finding Boston City Properties and Dan Rajter. I was beyond impressed at the professionalism, insight, dedication, efficiency, etc. that Dan provided during my search. He provided access to a system that updated the multiple listing service (MLS) listings based on my criteria. Finally I was able to see what was on the market without relying on someone else’s manual labor! On top of it, with less than 12 hours notice, he set up viewings with 6 of my selected properties on a Sunday before a 1pm Pats game… Upon selecting a place, he kept on top of me to get all of the paperwork completed, negotiate, and get questions answered.
I couldn’t be more pleased with Boston City Properties and Dan. If you need a place, your search for a competent broker and services stops here.

Dan was super responsive and helpful in negotiating our lease. Would definitely work with him and Boston City Properties again.

Amazing! Ellen was particularly helpful — she kindly walked me through the entire process of finding an apartment. I highly recommend Boston City Properties!

I’m a NC native relocating to Boston this fall, and having never lived 1. in a city the size of Boston and 2. outside of NC, I was really nervous about finding a place that suited the needs of myself and my two dogs. Luckily, I was referred to John Hollis by a friend, and I could not have been happier with the process, experience and resulting apartment. He was super responsive, and when it came down to selecting apartments to look at and deciding which one to go with, he was very honest and helpful. Most importantly, it felt like he had my back — he wasn’t pushy or vying for one place or another, he just wanted me to get what I was looking for in a part of town that I felt comfortable in. It is no fun being so naïve when it comes to finding a place you’re going to be living in, and I am just so thankful I had John to help me through what could have been a really stressful process.

I can’t thank John Hollis from Boston City Properties enough for all of his help and hard work! My husband and I were growing out of our condo, with our second child on the way. Between buying and closing on our new house, having a baby on the way, and trying to rent our condo, we had quite a lot going on, and John seriously put us at ease, as much as you can put a pregnant woman at ease anyways! He went above and beyond to help us find the best tenents for our condo, and at a price that was just right for the market.
I have to say, the most impressive thing was how on his game John was! I heard from him almost everyday, whether through email or by phone on any activity on our rental unit. Now a days I feel that it’s almost impossible to get phone call from people, so the fact that John made time in his day to actually call or email to keep me up to date really showed that he was doing everything he could to help rent our condo and keep us at ease.
The next time we need tenents for our condo we will absolutely be contacting John, highly recommend him!!!

I recently moved to the Boston area after graduating from college, and I would highly recommend Ellen Mulder to anyone embarking on their housing search.
I had never worked with a broker before, but I cannot imagine working with one as committed and personable as Ellen. She was incredibly responsive, often returning emails within an hour if not minutes. She frequently answered my many questions late into the evening hours, and did everything possible to help make my transition to Boston as smooth as possible. She even gave my mother and I an impromptu driving tour of the city as we were visiting apartments! Within a few days of arriving, I had found the perfect home for next year, and I know Ellen will help all of her clients do the same.

I am a first time home buyer and worked with Nicole Thomas over the winter to find a condo in Boston. She was incredibly helpful and made great suggestions; I really trusted her advice and ended up extremely satisfied with my purchase and with the team I worked with. A personal page was set up so I could stay up to date with listings on my own and browse at my leisure.
Nicole was very attentive and supportive during the process, but also helped me think practically and critically about different apartments — she was able to make recommendations and point out things I didn’t even consider.
Would recommend Nicole and BCP to anyone!

I can’t say enough good things about John at Boston city properties. He took a whole day from morning to evening to show my girlfriend and I properties. He was very considerate of our budget and chose apartments that fit within our price range. We also have two dogs and he took on our apartment search no problem despite the limitations of the dogs.
There was no pressure to sign anything, he simply wanted to do what was best for us and find us a place we loved. He’s also a really cool guy to spend the day with — knows all of Boston and can make recommendations of places to visit eat and drink.
All in all we had an awesome experience with John and Boston City Properties and I would highly recommend them for your real estate needs!

Overall: I would recommend Boston City Properties to anyone, and our broker Ellen Mulder was wonderful.
Some more info:
Boston City Properties was recommended to me by a friend, so I signed up, along with a million other daily emails from places like Zillow and other realty companies. I was pretty stressed about finding a place roughly a month before my roommate and I needed to move into a new place.
The Boston City Property emails were by far the most helpful of all of the sites I went through (and I went through a ton and spoke to probably 20 brokers). They match you with all of the places that fit your criteria: location, price point, etc. and send emails every morning with the new listings.
When I found a place that I wanted to view, I contacted Ellen Mulder and she was amazing. She was extremely responsive and helped set up a time to view the place immediately. When we got to the place she didn’t try to over sell me on it, she helped me realistically imagine what it would be like to live there. Once my roommate and I applied for the apartment, I was in contact with Ellen for several days about the application steps, which checks to write and to whom, and she made the process SO much easier for me. I would recommend her to anyone, and have already recommended the site to many of my friends.

I first contacted Dan Rajter when I was relocating from New York to Boston. I needed to find an apartment quickly and had a very very long list of requirements.
Dan is incredibly patient, has a great sense of humor and is a straight shooter. He spent 2 entire Saturdays with me, showing me multiple properties in different neighborhoods that met my requirements. His patience knows no bounds — - I was extremely anxious about picking the right property and wanted to see several of the spaces more than once before making a decision. Dan graciously complied with every request and did not pressure me to make a decision. I ended up with an amazing place in Back Bay.
When I was ready to move out of my apartment and buy a condo, I knew that there was only one guy who was right for the job. Dan made the purchase process super easy. He scouted properties with me, introduced me to a wonderful reputable mortgage broker and recommended a real estate attorney. As a first time home buyer, I had no clue what I was doing, but Dan was there to help every step of the way.
Dan’s a great guy and a joy to work with. Call him for all of your real estate needs. You won’t regret it.

Wow, David Cividino was a godsend! I’m new to the Boston area (Dallas transplant) and was unfamiliar with the apartment-​finding struggle up north… esp in Boston.
When I first got here, I started off with a good ol’ Craigslist search for something fast. What I found was an ad for a nicely furnished studio. (temporary rental) at a good price. I inquired and set up an appointment to view the unit. Once I finally viewed the property, I learned fast what a bait-​and-​switch is. Meaning: the unit in the Craigslist ad was gorgeous, but the actual unit was, how should I put this… crusty. I sucked it up and decided to stay, knowing it was short-​term.
Still not learning my lesson, my mind was still set to handle this my way. Craigslist may have failed me once, but that had to be a fluke. I just «knew» that doing my own online searches was all I needed to find the perfect pad. Broker fee? Not for me! Why pay someone to do something I am perfectly capable of doing myself? Right?
Hours of searches turned to mind-​numbing days. I’m talking **hundreds** of responses to CL ads, attaching a screen-​shot of the ad to make clear that I was only interested in the unit pictured. Let’s just say I still came up empty-​handed. Of the few responses I got, the diff «landlords» kept insisting things like «This unit is not currently available for showing, however if you are interested, please secure the property with a deposit of (x amount of dollars).»
I may not be from ’round these parts, but I wasn’t going to secure squat, site-​unseen!
Finally, time was running out, and so was my tolerance for my «crusty» accommodations. After shrugging off friends’ suggestions to use a broker, I changed my mind. Reluctantly.
I started replying to broker ads on Trulia, Zillow, and all those more reputable websites. I replied to at least 10 or 15 different brokers’ ads. Was it luck, or just good timing? Or is David Cividino just that amazing? He definitely hit a home run when he was the first to call, within about 15 min of my inquiry for a gorgeous North End studio on Hanover.
His initial contact was prompt, professional, and friendly. He got some basic info from me (price, locations, pets, etc.) and was very open to answering about 2,435 questions I had. He gave me lots of information about how housing works in Boston, how using a broker works, and anything else I asked. Within a half hour, maybe less, I had a list of matching units in my inbox for my review.
I saw the Hanover studio on my list and was ready to see it ASAP. I requested a showing, and by that afternoon, David had an appointment set to view the unit the next day! Imagine that: a *real* apartment that that I can *actually view* before wiring $$ to some scammer’s offshore bank account? I’m so in!
To give you an idea of how prompt David was, he’d responded to my inquiry by phone, emailed my custom search results, AND had a next-​day appointment set to show the property BEFORE any of the 10 – 15 brokers ever even got back to me. Win!
When the next-​day appointment came, David met me on time and actually surprised me with a second *gorgeous* unit in the same building. I viewed both and everything was falling into place like magic.
My gut told me to pounce on the pad of my dreams that instant, but I decided to try to be smart and not scoop up the first unit that I viewed. That night, I came home to a few automated replies from other brokers and set a few appointments, but I couldn’t get that Hanover studio off my mind. I decided I was all-​in and it was the one.
David patiently walked me through the app process, and handled any negotiating. In Boston tenants have the option to negotiate rent?! Mind. Blown. Even with all his help, there was still the all-​time-​high anxiety of waiting to get approved. I’d never rented from a private company before (Only from huge corporate mega-​complexes, no negotiating, the price IS the price). David was very reassuring, processed my paperwork quickly and made the whole thing as painless as possible. He kept me posted on any updates the entire time. By the next business day he had an answer for me. I was approved!
Even after the checks were sent and the lease was signed, David still followed-​up to make sure everything went smoothly and offered to pick up my apartment keys (I chose to handle that myself, but it was nice of him to offer) and checked if there was anything else I might need.
I don’t see myself searching for an apartment again any time soon (so in LOVE with my new studio!) but if I did, David Cividino’s will be the first number I call.
I know I’ve made this review super long, but I hope it’s useful for someone else like me who knows nothing about how real the Boston apartment struggle is.

My husband and I worked with John Hollis for our move to Boston about 1.5 months prior to moving. In the weeks leading up to the physical search, he emailed us a couple of places that met our specifications (e.g. laundry in building), and we let him know which ones we were interested in seeing. We only had one weekend to look at potential apartments, and John did a great job of showing us places both within and outside of our budget in order to illustrate the quality and square feet difference. He had also found a few other places that he thought would meet our need, and one of these places ended up being our home!
The search itself was pretty quick as John drove us around and ensured someone was always there to show the place. He was very accommodating when we requested to see additional apartments the next day, although we ended up going with a unit that we fell in love with one the first day. As a realtor, John was pretty experienced in pointing out things I would have overlooked: type of air conditioning, closest grocery store, closest T stops, etc. Overall, he was professional, honest in sharing his opinion, punctual, and welcoming; he even gave us a ride back to our hotel at the end of the day. Thank you John for all your help!