EXR Williamsburg

Noah was exceptional in helping us with our move into a slightly larger, newer much needed living space for our family! He took the extra time with us… going back to the location numerous times which really helped us seal the deal! He has a great personality and super easy to work with! Cheers to a new friendship and looking forward to working together again when we decide to purchase! Highly recommend!

Noah Sondheim is just who you need in an apartment hunt: honest, friendly, calls it how he sees it, none of the usual realtor schtick. I was (and am still) amazed we wrapped everything up so quickly and he went out of his way to accommodate my schedule. EXR need to hold on to him!

I wrote an earlier review of EXR that didn’t ecapsulate my true experience now that more has surfaced. I have two words: STAY AWAY!
You can tell this company is run by a few guys in their mid 20s. It turned out that an EXR broker sold me and my roommates on an apartment that was illegal. There was no gas and more glaring not a proper certificate of occupancy for over a month. When I approached one of the owners about how this could happen he equated my situation with a tenant who loses water for a few days. Further, he said that EXR has no duty to its potential tenants to double check the legality of the properties they broker. He said that EXR simply relays to tenants whatever the building owner tells them. Hmmm
If you want a broker company that is merely the alter ego of slumlords then this is the place.
Again — STAY AWAY !!!

I am new to New York and enventually found my dream apartment through Kyle Davis. Who was very helpful in informing me of all the steps I needed to take for my first ever lease. He even helped me find the perfect room mates too.
I am very happy with the service and help I recieved!

EXR, whatever you do, hang on to Noah. He’s a catch. He has been so refreshingly helpful, actually listened and took my needs into account, and only showed me places that met all of my criteria. From day 1, I knew that I trusted him and that I wouldn’t work with another broker in this town again. The amount of time and work that he put into my search deserves a standing ovation.
Noah, thank you for finding me my perfect home. I couldn’t be more excited, and it’s more than I ever thought I’d be able to get. All thanks to you. All of my friends will be coming to you from now on.
I can’t wait to continue working with you — here’s to sale-​hunting in the future. See you at my house warming party!!!

I want to leave a 5-​star review for Mr. Joseph Loner of EXR Group. Joe helped my roommate and I find a new apartment in Williamsburg and we love it! It was great working with Joe — he made the whole process very smooth and easy. He was knowledgeable, always punctual, and very professional with a cool vibe. Joe is the real deal!

Had a really great experience with EXR! Our agent Rob was incredibly helpful, patient, responsive, and committed in helping us find an apartment. Renting in NYC can be a challenge, and our situation was more challenging than most. Rob helped us every step of the way, showing us a great apartment on Halsey St. and then helping us through all the requisite paperwork and finally getting us approved. Would definitely work with these guys again!

EXR provided an excellent service for me and my roommates. We were a case where the landlord had to make exceptions. With other brokers we either were replied with a «that’s not so good, can you put up X months’ rent as security?» or had to sit down with the landlord and have a very unpleasant conversation. But Joe Loner and Christine Calvo were very positive from the beginning. Joe told me that Christine can do wonders when it comes to speaking to the management, and he was right. I never even had to see the landlord’s face to be accepted into the building.
Obviously this could just have been due to the landlord being nice (or hungry for tenants, which I don’t think was the case). But even after we were accepted the duo continued to amaze me with their efficiency; everything was processed in a matter of hours, very minimal paperwork, and extremely responsive. From the showing to the signing everything was processed so fast that I started confusing the details of the contract. It was a no-​fee deal and, being foreigners without credit, we weren’t facing any application fees. EXR could’ve easily lied and we would’ve been ripped off at least a couple of hundred bucks. But Christine was really honest about it. She kindly told us that there were no fees at all and thanked us for offering to pay.
Overall, a very pleasant experience. I would definitely refer Joe and Christine to my friends.

My roommates and I had an excellent experience with EXR Group – especially Noah Sondheim, who worked with us directly. He was totally on top of our stuff, helped us look at a number of great apartments, and fought to get us a good deal when the landlord offered us another apartment than the one we applied for. He was totally committed to us and our apartment hunt, and is a super awesome, dependable guy! The application process is easy (once you get around juggling guarantors and roommates who are all over the place – as roommates are wont to be), and working with EXR Group takes a lot of the stress out of the entire process. Recommend!

My roommate and I found an apartment through Streeteasy and contacted the broker to view it. Luckily the broker turned out to be Joe, who was absolutely awesome. The apartment ended up not being something we were into, but we told Joe what was wrong with it and more specifically what we were looking for. Two days later we got a text from him telling us he found our future place. A little presumptuous, but he was absolutely right-​and it was even on the lower end of our budget, too.
Anyways, moral of the story: Joe is awesome and he helped us with every step of the way. Even after the lease was signed, he helped us negotiate with landlord to cover the walls with fresh coats of paint and clean the place up. He even met the painters there at 7:30am one morning just to let them in the door.

Getting an apartment in NYC is a «unique» experience. The amount of paperwork and documentation needed can sometimes seem endless! The leasing market is also very fast paced and apartment hunters are often pressured to act quickly to secure an apartment they like. Rob from EXR was patient with me during the application process and answered all of the many questions that I had. Although the process of securing a lease was still pretty tedious Rob’s calm demeanor and diligent efforts to answer my questions made me feel comfortable about signing my lease.
Thanks Rob!

My roommate and I had a wonderful experience working with Joe from EXR! We saw a listing in Bushwick for $ 1400, which was affordable, renovated and beautiful. Joe met with us the same day, Wednesday, and gave us the necessary paperwork for the application that night. The entire process was clear and quick! We gave the paper work to Joe the next day. By Saturday morning everything was approved, we signed the lease, and moved in the next morning.
It was such a quick and pleasant experience! I would highly recommend working with Joe at EXR!

EXR is professional and efficient. They’re also competent when it comes to technology. My roommate and I had some pretty horrible experiences with sketchy brokers before we found EXR.
Joe Loner, our broker, was amazing! We saw the apartment on a Wednesday evening and had our keys by Saturday morning. He managed to work around all the paperwork between us, our guarantor, and the landlord in only two days. He knew we needed to move in ASAP and made it happen. He was also very good and fast at communicating with us through any medium whether it be text, phone, or email.
EXR is the real deal. You can trust Joe.

I had a great experience working with Joe from EXR to find an apartment in Brooklyn. He was prompt and on time, which is more than I can say for a lot of other realtors I worked with when looking for a new apartment. Joe always responded quickly to any questions or concerns I had, and made the process very smooth. EXR was flexible in working with my schedule and payment restrictions over the weekend, which isn’t an easy task to accomplish.
I would definitely recommend checking out EXR if you’re in the market for a new apartment, and definitely ask for Joe!

My roommates and I had a great experience with EXR (we were working with Chris Barnes). Our own circumstance with finding the right apartment was a very complex one, but Chris was there every step of the way. He even drove us to and from viewings when we were tight on time, and had to get to our jobs after viewings quickly!
We had a frustrating situation with an apartment and a horrible landlord which we lost out on days away from our move-​in date, but Chris (with the wonderful assistance of Laila as well) helped us to find the apartment we are settled into now and are very happy! (Chris also drove us all the way to Queens to meet with our landlord, and helped us during negotiations and the signing of the lease).
We only worked with two of the agents here, but I think it’s safe to say that with the amazing support and help from Chris and Laila, going with EXR is the way to go for finding your new digs!
Thanks, Chris! (And Laila!)

I had an amazing experience working with EXR Group to find a place in Bushwick (I worked with Christine Calvo). Long story short, it was a breeze to get into our new apartment. Christine was always on-​time, quick to respond via text and email to our questions, and you could tell she genuinely cared about our search.
If you want all of the details, here they are (warning — this is way too long but you’re on Unilocal for a reason and probably want info): we were looking for a 3 bedroom, no fee, pet-​friendly apartment in Bushwick and could only view places after work.
Night 1, Monday: saw an «okay» apartment but thought we could do better.
Night 2, Tuesday: searched through a different realtor; found a place we absolutely fell in love with — advertised as «no fee» — only to find out that we needed to put down a security deposit equivalent to first and last month’s rent (which works out to be paying about as much as a broker’s fee, though in theory you receive that money back at the end of your lease). After negotiating from 7pm through noon the next day, we realized we needed to keep looking and felt incredibly betrayed.
Night 3, Wednesday: went to view an apartment that we found on Craigslist. Of course, because it was Craigslist, we were incredibly skeptical of everything but decided to see it anyways. I receive a text from the man showing the apartment that he’s «running late»; he gives us the door code and we go inside. We fall in love with the apartment and, conveniently, we get another call that the traffic is too much and he’s unable to show us the place (it’s now 8:30). We decide that we love the apartment anyways and want to go ahead with renting it. After receiving the application from a sketchy email address at around 10pm (a personal Gmail account), trying to find a business page online, and being told to send the check to an organization entirely different than the one on the application, we get paranoid that we’re being scammed into something. I frantically call the office line — sketchy number with a different business name than on the application — and decide to Google if the apartment is listed by anyone else.
Enter Christine.
I saw it was listed by EXR and filled out a simple online form (my email, cell number, and that I was interested in the listing). By now, it’s 11:30pm. Christine texted me five minutes later to see if I was interested in the listing.
I explained my situation to her — that I saw the apartment, loved it, thought I was being scammed, and that I wanted to go through a legit business — and we immediately got to work. Within minutes, I had EXR’s application paperwork, planned to fill it out «just in case», and Christine was going to check in the morning if my listing was still available.
It’s now Day 4. Fast forward to the morning at 10am, the apartment is still on the market (she checked first thing in the morning) and we arrange to see it one last time (night 4) before submitting the application. We still loved it and, because Christine got us the paperwork so early on and was so prompt with everything, we could submit our application almost instantaneously.
The morning of day 5, we received confirmation that our application was approved, and it was smooth sailing to sign the lease.
I cannot stress enough how seamless my experience with EXR was. Christine was incredibly professional and genuinely wanted to help us find a great place. I would highly recommend working with her!

Stay away and heed this warning!
My roommates and I needed a new place to live. We saw a listing for an apartment off of the Halsey L stop listed for $ 2500. Chris Barnes met us there and we liked the place.
We filled out the application. Once it was through we put a down payment to hold the place for $ 2500, meaning the rent should legally be set at that price.
Once Chris had the money, EVERYTHING changed. He refused to work out anything in person or via E mail, preferring to do business over phone calls that were undocumented. We set up a lease signing for the next day and 1 hour before the signing, he said the landlord won’t give it to us for the price we agreed on. He then also notified us that they wanted an additional month of rent (Security, first, and now last). This was right before the lease signing. When we said we were uncomfortable with this he said he’s bring us our money back. He never came with the money, making us wait for 2 hours past when he said he’d meet us. Then, once I called him, he said he wasn’t coming with the money and that we were not getting it back because we backed out on the lease. Let me list Chris Barnes’ lies:
1. Listed an apartment as $ 2500, knowing he would ask for more at the lease signing. He admitted to us that he put a lower price on the listing to get people in there. LIE!
2. Told us he would negotiate the price he listed. LIE! He added nearly $ 200 on to it an hour before the lease signing.
3. Demanded another $ 2500 at the lease signing, that he never spoke of before. LIE!
4. Told us that he would bring our deposit back to us at 4:00 PM and every time I called him he would claim he was 10 minutes away. I called him 3 times between 4:00 and 6:00, so that’s… LIE, LIE, LIE.
5. Refused to give us our deposit back and told his managers (who admittedly were probably in on all of this crime) that we backed out on the lease. I’m giving this one 2; LIE & LIE.
6. Then he refused to answer phone calls and E mails after we realized he was trying to steal our money. That one isn’t a lie, it’s just rude and cowardly.
FINAL TALLY: 8 (but it’s worth mentioning, 1 lie is far too many)
At the end of all this, here is what I want to say. We looked at a nice apartment that we wanted to sign on and pay the price that he wrote in the original listing. We were absolutely prepared to do that. But once this company realized that we were good, honest, hard working people, they figured «Might as well try to rip them off».
They didn’t allow us to do the one thing their company seemingly sets out to do; rent an apartment at the listed price. And on top of all this, they tried to steal our money once we realized how corrupt it was.
New York real estate is a tough thing to navigate and I would have appreciated the warning I am now giving. Please go somewhere else. You deserve to have your hard earned money respected and taken by a company that is honest and not full of cowardice. A good man is a man who can make money and help people. These people are apparently neither.

Helped me find a great place in Brooklyn very quickly. I was moving from out of town and they were quite helpful. My broker Chris Barnes was basically super man

I found the most incredible Williamsburg apartment through EXR and Joe. Working with Joe was a breeze. He was incredibly helpful and also totally flexible with scheduling viewings. Plus, you’ll laugh a lot :)
Hands down, the service and quality of the units is incomparable to other brokers I’ve dealt with in the past.

«NYC apartment hunting is a nightmare. Don’t sell your soul to the real estate agent.» –said every post grad ever.
I’m glad I didn’t listen to that they said. Working with Joe was one of the best decisions I’ve made, making my move to NYC as seamless as possible. He was very patient, friendly and true to his word. Within minutes of meeting him, I knew he was going to be the right agent to help me find my dream apartment.
I highly recommend Joe and the EXR Group. They are a phenomenal team.