Ideal Properties Group

5 stars for Lisa Kanouse! We did not end up renting an apartment with her but she was professional, helpful and, unlike some brokers whom we had to constantly call up to get updates, she called when things we might like came in. I would definitely go back to Ideal to work with her.
On the other hand, I think they should really do away with the very shady-​seeming $ 500 cash deposits to ‘hold’ a property. We spent weeks looking for apartments in the neighborhood without contacting Ideal precisely because of the horror stories surrounding that on Unilocal.So it is probably costing them a lot of business. And some other brokers there are definitely sketchy, listing apartments as no fee when they aren’t or falsely listing the price (we emailed another one there many times before he admitted his ad had false information– a ‘mistake’ he promptly made again the next time he posted the ad).
So, in the end, yes, do go to the them because they have some good properties, but mostly because Lisa is a nice, good broker.

Seems like the brokers here are really hit or miss. I had the fortune of snagging an apartment with two great brokers, Charles Egan and Kayla Egan (father-​daughter team — adorable). Both are very friendly and not pushy, actually listened to what we were looking for, and communicated with the landowner to get us the dates we needed. Would give them 5 stars.
Conversely, I saw some total dumps with other Ideal brokers who told me that what I was looking for in my price range and neighborhood was «impossible» (really? So how come another Ideal broker was able to find me my dream apartment down the street from this dump?), that the astronomical broker’s fee was non-​negotiable (multiple other brokers worked with me on this), and that wasted my time showing me apartments that were the opposite of my search criteria.
I guess my advice is to just be careful with who you’re working with at Ideal. Work with Charles or Kayla, read the reviews on here, and don’t work with Ilya.

Five stars for Monica Bernal! Although we didn’t end up renting a listing that Ideal managed, Monica went way beyond the other brokers we dealt with. Her communication was great, she stayed positive and she *always* checked to make sure the places we were going to look at were available (most brokers don’t do this) and a good fit. She was totally transparent about listings (bad bathrooms, low ceilings) and my wife and I never felt pressured to put an application in until we were ready. If you’re considering working with Ideal to find a rental, call Monica! She’ll definitely take good care of you.

The first question we asked our broker was «is this apartment dog friendly?» «Yes!» he proclaimed, we viewed the apartment and really liked it, we put down our deposit a few days later along with our application fees. In which the application lists «do you have a pet» which we checked yes for «dog» and described the size and weight. After about a week we were asked to meet the landlord in what we were assuming was the last step in confirming and signing the lease. After the introductions the broker went down the list and mentioned our dog and to our shock the landlord was not happy about a tenant with a dog. Our broker assured is it wouldn’t be a issue but a few hours later we found out we rejected because we had a dog. (also to add; the broker said he gave the application to the landlord which explicitly says we have a dog.) The broker told us he would refund the deposit but not the application fees. However if the broker would not have misrepresented the apartment we never would have applied for the apartment to begin with. If the broker would have done any research before hand he would have known the owner didn’t want a pet and he wouldn’t have wasted a valuable week of our time searching for an apartment. Now we’re stuck high and dry and with a broker who is refusing to refund us our money.

worst experience ever! never got back my 500 $ deposit… also, lied about a unit.

Joseph Forzano was our agent. He is a gentleman, and an excellent broker. He took the time to get to know us and learn our needs, patiently taking us to numerous properties before we found The One. No hard sell, no pushiness at all. He’s a true local Brooklynite, and a font of knowledge about the area. Professional, friendly, knowledgeable, and — above all — honest. Can’t really ask for more in a broker. Highly recommended.

These guys have a bit more experience than Brooklyn’s typical work-​at-​home brokers but it still feels like renting from Craigslist. The tactic of leaving listings up on sites like streeteasy for months at a time AFTER they have been rented is a cheap way of attracting business. Just to say «Sorry, we JUST rented that out, however, something similar may open up – can we have your information?» Its an old fishing trick that gets sloppy and annoying, especially after months have gone by since the unit was rented and the response is «Sorry, Justin hasn’t gotten around to taking those ads down, none of those are available… and your number is?»

We tried. I mean, we really, really tried. Tried what? Well, to find an apartment without a broker’s fee.
We failed.
After a horrendous experience with Garfiled Realty, where they really pushed the ethical bounds of what realtors should be doing, we tried our luck with Ideal Properties. No, we didn’t fail. In fact, we did anything but.
We worked with Liz, who was pretty much amazing in every single way – personable, punctual, and quite knowledgeable. We saw 3 properties, absolutely loved one of them, and got the paperwork started. She kept us informed of the application process every step of the way (responsiveness? You could learn some, Garfield) and was THRILLED to tell us that we were approved for the apartment!
She was there to welcome us (with a bottle of wine) on moving day. I mean, everything was simply awesome.
Lots of bad reviews on here, but mine won’t be one of them.

I worked with two realtors here, Mike and Cynthia on a listing in Park Slope. We are really happy with the place, but have to say that we had a pretty bad experience working with Ideal. During the entire process, they were both hard to reach and seemed like they weren’t communicating with each other; I was getting different answers from them which made the entire process frustrating.
On the day that we moved in, I had the wrong code for the lockbox in which my keys were stored (funny how we pay a $ 4,000 brokers fee and they can’t even hand us the keys) and had to wait 45 minutes with all my stuff and my screaming cat on my doorstep just to get into my apartment.
At the end of the day though, what can you do? This is what NY brokers get away with, becuase they can, because everyone in New York is scrambling for a place to live. Meh.

Q: How big is the apartment?
A: It’s a one bedroom.
Q: What’s the square footage?
A: I don’t know.
Q: Really? Can you at least give me a ball-​park estimate?
A: I’ve never been to the apartment. When would you like to come see it?

I worked with 3 realtors here and not one of them was good.
One didn’t bother calling me back after having me answer a bajillion questions and wasting at least 20 minutes of my time.
The other absolutely *did not listen* to a word I said and kept sending me listings that had nothing to do with the criteria we discussed– and she did this once every other week for 3 months. When I informed her that I had to move out of state because I couldn’t find a place to live, she had the nerve to ask me if my roommates were still looking.
Why, so you can fail at finding them a place, too?
That being said, she wasn’t the worst.
A realtor named Ryan was scheduled to show me an apartment the day after we spoke but never got in touch.
And above all, AVOID ROBERT MCDERMOTT.
He was totally inept and rude, so I refused to work with him. A week later, he emailed me again. I called him out on his behavior, and denied that we’d ever had contact. «My name is Robert not Ryan and my previous email today was the first time that I emailed or communicated with you since you called me last week. You obviously have me confused with another realtor.»
I had to forward him the originally nasty email he’d sent me a week before.
Would you want anyone from this place trying to find you a place to live?
I guess a better question is, do you want to become homeless?
HELL
NO!
Skip it.

Wendy Jones is the agent to go with! She REALLY listened to me… and was a great communicator and was totally on top of it. She wasn’t pushy and was a joy to spend the day with. She EVEN came into the city to midtown to collect the paperwork etc. She literally goes the extra mile. You won’t be disappointed.
Michele

Really terrible experience. We found a place we loved and told them we wanted to apply immediately clarifying (several times) that only one application would be considered at a time.
Got back to the office and found out the next person to view the place had wanted to apply as well, but we were so lucky that we had gotten back and given them the deposit first! The other broker then went behind our back and talked to the owner in person, telling him her clients were applying first. To this, the ideal properties «manager» went from saying that since they had our deposit it was set in stone, to «these things sometime happen». It was a shady move by a shady company that clearly lacks morals and/​or strong management.
They then found us another place for more than our budget promising to get us a «deal». Desperate, we ended up paying $ 250 more a month than our budget and having to wait an extra month to move in. After all of the time and money they cost us, they refused to lower their broker’s fee to help account for it.
A truly awful experience. I would not recommend them to anyone. Then they had the nerve to send us a letter asking us to like them on facebook and review them on Unilocal.Careful what you wish for.

Julie Cho was amazing! As soon as we contacted her about a listing, she sent us other listings that were similar that she thought we might like. When we met, she asked us more specifically what our neighborhood boundaries were (down to the block), what our price range was, etc, and after that she really truly stuck to those guidelines, and never once tried to pull the whole «oh yeah, that’s prime prospect heights» when it’s clearly deep into crown heights. Above all, she was very HONEST. She would let us know when an apartment was asking too much, and when it was a good deal. One basement apartment we saw was so gross, Julie just straight up said yuck, get us out of here — instead of trying to bullshit us and trying to sell us the place, like I think many brokers try to do.
Docking one star just because paying a broker fee sucks no matter how awesome your broker is.

I have two reviews: one for our broker, Joseph Forzano, and one for the company.
Joseph gets 4 stars. I believe Joseph is a good apple in a bushel full of worm-​filled rotten real estate broker apples. He seemed to actually care what I was looking for, and did his best to find that. He didn’t make us meet him here or there or at some apartment where he didn’t have the key — he drove us to and from viewings, and even dropped us off at our current apartment once. Joseph seems like he knows a lot about Brooklyn and he told us quite a lot about the neighborhoods we were looking at — both good and bad. I’m sorry about the girl below that had a bad experience with him, but I would recommend him.
The company, Ideal Properties, gets 2 stars. The only reason for this is because we originally put down an application for an apartment, and paid the $ 120 application fee, and it turned out that the landlord had rented that apartment a few days prior without notifying the company. The company refused to refund this $ 120, saying that it was the landlord’s fault. Well, yeah, but the company represents the landlord, and I really feel that they should have been nice enough to refund that money, especially given the fact that a) we just cut them a commission check for $ 3,300 and b) we were absolutely devastated about losing the first apartment. The broker asked the manager about this and the manager refused.
Overall I’d definitely recommend Joseph as a broker but I just don’t love the way that the company treated us.

Just ask for Lance. We were looking for a nice one bed in Park Slope and he came through — met us in the neighborhood and after a 2 minute conversation had crossed half of his listings off of his list and was telling us he had two great apartments that were exactly what we were looking for (in budget).
Showed us both apartments, and we fell in love with one. Put a deposit down and took it off the market. Lance worked with us to get our ideal move in date (almost 3 weeks after the management company was looking to rent for) and also made sure that the all of our asks were taken care of before moving in.
Moved in last weekend. Great experience.

I cannot even begin to describe how awful my experience was (and unfortunately for me, still is). This realty group is a disaster. Run the other direction as fast as you can.
My realtor was Joseph Forzano. Comes off as a nice, mild-​mannered guy, but he has no idea in hell what he’s doing. First he set up my appointment at the same time as two other apartment hunters — a shady albeit common tactic to get renters to make a quick decision. Things were looking up when he told me I had gotten the apartment. I faxed over 20 pages of documents, signed papers, put down a very sizable deposit, and he told me it was a done deal. A day later he calls and says «Oops, I didn’t realize the apartment was already taken. Sorry.» Fine. We move on. He shows me another apartment (the 6^th or 7^th he’d shown me that didn’t work out). He is so late that he leaves me and the same two apartment-​hunting strangers from before — who were also pissed off to no end — standing on the corner for an hour in the heat. I fired him that day and told him I wanted my deposit back ASAP.
The kicker? More than a month later I still have not received my refund. I have called, emailed, talked to the manager. Nothing. AND the manager is a complete, utter jerk. When I called to express my concern, he spoke to me in such a rude, dismissive way I couldn’t believe he was a manager. He interrupted me before I had a chance to explain anything and completely blew me off.
Bottom line:
–Thieves
–Rude customer service
–Late and unprofessional
–No results
Run. Away.
Oh and P. S. Joseph Forzano is also a landlord. And he does not do his due diligence in that arena either. My close friends who are his tenants had to actually withhold rent from him to get him to perform basic responsibilities like fumigating for roaches and mice. Disgusting. Shady. Mess.

I suppose it’s convenient that there’s one in every neighborhood. And the agents share listings, so that could prove helpful, too. But in general, I found Ideal Properties to be a hot mess. I contacted them two months in advance of my move so that I’d be on their radar. The agent I spoke to told me that it was too early to be looking and that she’d get in touch with in a few weeks. I never heard from her again.
As I started seriously hunting on my own, I contacted another Ideal Properties agent, this time regarding a specific listing. It looked right up my alley. However, (although they continued to advertise this apartment furiously on about five major websites) whenever I called the office to inquire, the unit was always «undergoing renovations» and unavailable for a viewing.
I was kind of bummed that my dream pad was nothing more than bait to keep me in Ideal Properties’ net, but I thought at least they might find me something else. Not so. Two weeks out from my move and I was going for days at a time without hearing from my broker. Finally, I called him to check in and he didn’t remember me. He looked me up in his fancy computer database and explained that the reason he hasn’t been in touch was that «they had my name linked to another broker.»
Yikes. Don’t put all your eggs in this basket, kids.

Extremely disappointed in my experience with Idea Properties. I am not going to put the name of the agent because I think if he continues doing what he did with me he will be without a job soon anyways. I hope people at Ideal read this and teach their agents what not to do
I found a posting on Crainglist with an apartment. I talked to the agent and told him my requirements. When I came over to the office first thing he tried to offer me a completely different apartment that didn’t fit my budget or my preferences. He only stopped after I explicitly told him not to try to sell me what I didn’t want. Next we want to see two apartments. One was decent but I wasn’t ready to get it. Second was horrible and the agent clearly didn’t know what he was getting himself into. In fact, he was taking pictures of the apartment as we were there (so that he could put the pictures in database, while there was a customer right there). After we visited the apartments we continues to push me to get one of them.
Worst is yet to come. I realized that I didn’t want to deal with this agent so stopped calling him. After my continued search I finally found a place with another broker. Agent from Ideal properties emailed me offering the same apartment but the price he was saying was $ 50 more than all other agents were posting on Craigslist for the same place (I made sure to verify that it was the same apartment)!

As shady as they come.
I was looking to rent a commercial space, relocating from Manhattan to Brooklyn. It seemed every single ad on craigslist was for a property being shown by Ideal.
Bait and Switch
The majority of the properties I wanted to see were «already rented», yet a month later I still see them posted daily. They tried to interest me in other less appealing properties in their place.
No one else
Before they’d show me a place they had me sign something stating that I wouldn’t go through another broker for that property. This didn’t phase me since in commercial leases the landlord pays the fees.
When I was ready to sign on a place they told me that I’d have to pay a fee equal to 20% of the first years rent. Which came out to be something like $ 20,000 in fees. In commercial the broker is paid by the landlord. Since I refused to pay such fees I was no longer able to go through someone else for that property.
Later on
I ended up renting a place through a legitimate commercial broker. As I found out from further research Ideal does residential. In trying to break into the commercial market the bombard craigslist with ads making it seem that they exclusively listing all of these commercial spaces. In the end they are really just listing every commercial space available. Showing it to you first, then locking you into a deal with them or no one else should you like the place.
Ridiculous!