Our City Realty

Unfortunately, I’m unable to write a review regarding working with anyone at Our City Realty because they never got back to me. I contacted Liza because I was very interested in a couple of apartments that she listed. She contacted me right away, but when I told her I was looking to secure an apartment remotely as I was making an out-​of-​state move, she said she would need to talk to her manager, but would get back to me either way. She never did, even after I contacted her a couple of times asking if she would be able to help me find a place. Perhaps I would have written a different review if I was actually able to work with her, but I find it extremely unprofessional that she never got back to me when she said she would and she even told me to text her what I was looking for in an apartment, which I did. Finding a place in Cambridge was very stressful and the least she could’ve done was take a minute to tell me she didn’t have any landlords who were willing to handle things without an in-​person viewing. I was able to secure a place from another broker without physically seeing an apartment (i.e., through FaceTime) and completing the paperwork remotely. In fact, she seemed to be the only broker who had a problem that I wanted to complete the process remotely.

We had Brian as a realtor. He seemed really nice and informative but was just another one of those scummy realtors. First he told us that the rent wouldn’t go up, and that some people there had been paying the same price for a few years now. LIES. He also said the building demographic was a younger college age. LIES. Overall he manipulated us into renting the space based on lies. We were also not informed about the constant water pipe damage that had been going on for the past couple years driving people out of their apartments. Be very cautious when dealing with these people…
By the way this was 379 Broadway, owned by PMD Group, who I will also be reviewing.

These guys made the apartment search experience seamless for me and were very transparent and trustworthy – this is a rarity in the rental sales market, especially in the greater Boston area, so I would give them 6 stars if I could. I’ve lived in Cambridge for 6 years and, within one week, I was able to find an amazing new place in Somerville thanks to them. Nate showed me a few places matching my criteria and was never pushy; the same is true for Joel, Derek, and Brian, who are all natives of the Greater Boston area and super knowledgeable about the local market. This is so important because a lot of other brokers will try to get you to make an on-​the-​spot decision about where you’re going to live for 1 – 2 years or more. These guys never do that. They also have a great handle on inventory and helping you find fairly priced hidden gems in Somerville. The other thing they care about, which many other brokers don’t, is working with reputable landlords who are accessible and reasonable people. I’m a big fan of Our City Realty and am happy to recommend Joel, Derek, Brian, and Nate to anyone looking to find a top rental in the Greater Boston Area. They know what they’re doing!

You will not be disapointed with the 5 Star Service Joel at Our City Realty provides. He worked with us late into Friday evening which allowed us to overnight paperwork from the west coast to secure an apartment early Saturday morning. His dedication and hard work was incredibly apparent as he continued to work through the weekend to make things happen. The follow-​up with Joel was also 5 Star, even after everything was completed he continued to provide useful information about the area. We are so thankful for Joel’s guidance and would eagerly recommend Joel and Our City Realty to everyone.

Quick and painless, that’s for sure. From initial contact to signing the lease, Brian handled my boyfriend and mine’s first foray into apartment hunting together with ease. I tend to be someone with a lot of questions, and he was incredibly knowledgeable not just about real estate but also about our apartment’s surroundings, public transportation access, etc. He highlighted the great parts of the apartment without being pushy or overeager, and respected our decision to check out a couple other apartments to comparison shop – the next realtor we went to sent us running back to him. I never felt forced into anything, and after weeks of receiving pushy emails and being sent listings that were nowhere near what my boyfriend and I were searching for, Brian was an extremely welcome decision who negotiated a desirable price and made sure we were happy with our decision. These guys are clearly hardworking, invested in their clients and knowledgeable. Oh, and their office has free candy. Just sayin’.

Had a great time working with Derek! He helped us find an apartment a few months ago for a June move in. The apartment was going to be renovated, so he sent us pictures a few times of the updates and such. When we signed the lease, he even dropped us off at Sullivan because we lived far down the orange line and needed to get home. He picked us up in Davis on a similar day to get to his office, as well.
There was great communication, flexibility, and clarity about what we were paying for and when it would all roll out.
Overall, positive.

My fiancée and I were on a tight deadline to find an apartment for our move to Boston, and had to find a place in one weekend. We met with a lot of rental agents that weekend and for sure the nicest and most helpful guys we met with were those at Our City.
Reading through the first reviewer’s comments I totally agree that the guys at Our City (we dealt with Joel but they were all there) were super nice and not pushy whatsoever. Before meeting with them we had just come from an agent at a larger Realty company where we felt overly pressured to make a decision and rent from them, and where we didn’t feel like our business or interests were really appreciated. Joel helped us find a place that we really liked and throughout the whole process they were very relaxed and easy to work with.
We were really happy with our experience with the guys at Our Realty and would happily recommend them to any of our friends moving to the area.

I rented my first ever rental in Cambridge with Joel at Our City Realty. I was very impressed with Our City and I would rent with them again. Joel was fantastic to work with as well!
I was pretty intimidated by the whole rental agent set up. This was my first apartment in Boston and I never had to work with an agent before. I met with several agents from different companies — everyone was friendly, responsive and serious about getting me a rental. What was different about Joel and Our City is that I didn’t get that «used car salesman, I want to rent you an apartment at all costs» feeling from him. He was professional and not pushy at all. I sat in their office for an hour signing my lease and this seemed to extend to all their clients. My friend who came with me was so impressed that even though she wasn’t looking for an apartment then she took Joel’s card for her next rental.
Once I had already signed my lease (so they already had my business) Joel still went above and beyond for me. I was leaving the country in a couple of days so they drove to the landlord’s house (at 5 pm on a Saturday) to get a signature and pushed through the application — all so that I could have the peace of mind that my lease was complete before I left town! When I got back he personally met me at the apartment to give me my keys and show me all the other changes they made to the place while I was gone. I did not request any of this, but it made my rental experience so much better!
This was a great small and new business to work with — I would do it again in a heartbeat!