Awful experience, AVOID!! Gina Nascimento was a horrible property manager, she was rude and irresponsive to repair requests. They also refused to return security deposit when moving out, and only gave parts of it when we threatened them to go to small claims court with them. When we requested receipts, they basically backdated the itemized statement with no explanation. read more

I wish we looked at their reviews before working with them. We had a very similar experience to all those reviews talking about dishonest agents and wrong listings being shared. Our family was moving cross country and we were a perfect victim of the scam of this company. The place advertised by them that we rented was nothing like what we saw in the listing and promised by the agent. It was HORRIBLE!!! We have a child and I am 6 months pregnant in the apartment ( which the agent knew about) and the apartment looked like a hazard to any child! We simply could not move in into that place in the state it was.. so it cost us so much more to store our container of belongings and move twice instead of once. Moreover, our email to the agency was not even acknowledged. So once they get their commission you will never hear from them again! Especially if you have any issues! STAY AWAY FROM THEM!!! read more

I wish I would've known about Advantage Realty and the owner Michaels horrible reputation and how many people they've scammed before signing a lease with them! Working with them was the biggest nightmare of our life upon moving to Cambridge. They rented us a non smoking apartment. When we moved in we could tell that the place had been smoked in and had smoke residue!The Owner, Walter Tauro, and our agent Gina, his daughter, knew people were smoking in these apartments and were not enforcing the no smoking terms on the leases. The owner literally told me he talked to our neighbor and that the neighbor said he wouldn't smoke on our porch anymore and that he would smoke in his house and blow it out the back window ???? So he is clearly okay with his tenants smoking in their apartments and all of that smoke being blown out the back window was coming straight into our window!! They were knowingly renting out smoking apartments as non smoking apartments, this is so wrong and it blows my mind that anyone would do something like this! They had all kinds of excuses like the guy is blind and has lived there for many years and it's extremely difficult to do anything about it. I don't give a crap rules exist to keep people safe and if you don't want to enforce them then you need to be honest and let people know that this is a smoking apartment!! We also have two little kids to make the situation even worse!! What kind of company would work with Owners like this ?? The smoke presence was interfering with our lives and health and we knew we had to get out! They denied that there was any kind of smoking problem with our apartment and pretty much treated us like we were crazy and imagining it regardless of all of the proof and cover ups they were trying to make while we lived there! The whole situation was insane! The cleaners, painters, and other workers they hired to clean/fix the place up after we had already moved in were friends and family of Walter, NOT professionals as Gina claimed they were, they looked like they came out of a trailer park and we were scared to be in our house with them, they made the Home Depot fridge delivery guys look super amazing and polished I mean that's gotta tell you something! They were smoking right outside of our door with all of the doors and windows wide open and then going straight into our house covered in smoke! This happened multiple times even after serious discussions about our issue with the smoke in our home! After not even a week of living there we realized how horrible things were and began looking for another place so we could get out of this hell hole ASAP!! We were not going to live in a place where rules were not being enforced and we had to live with the constant presence of cigarette smoke in and around the apartment! I arranged to discuss the situation with Michael the owner of advantage realty and he was the biggest jerk I think I've ever talked to in my life. He was extremely rude and unprofessional. He literally told me that we were lucky the Owner was allowing us to break our lease and was returning our last months rent and he thinks that we were being overly compensated and there was no way that Advantage realty would be returning any amount of our broker fee to us! I was literally laughing at his response because the whole thing was just such a joke and so ridiculously unbelievable! He denied that there was any problem with our apartment and said that Walter and Gina had told him there was no smoking problem, so they basically lied and either he believed them or he is part of scheme! Either way he didn't want to take any responsibility for the part his company played in this whole twisted situation! He should be looking extra close at this case considering it's involving his agents Father's property! They continued to show the apartment and try to rent it out deceiving people and not letting them know it is a smoking establishment! They even got mad at me for accidentally running into one their viewers on my way out and mentioning our issues with the cigarette smoke when he inquired as to why we were moving?!! I was not trying to talk to him or even trying to be there but am an honest person and care about people sorry! These people are the worst of the worst! Don't get involved with them even if you think you like their listing!! Save yourself the trouble and don't support this kind of a company! It disgusts me that a place like this is even in business! We lost 2100 dollars to them not to mention all of the headaches, tears, and sleepless nights we had all 4 of us trying to sleep in one room cause the other smelt like smoke so bad!! So glad we got out of there! I'm a busy person and never write reviews it's taken me months to finally put this up here but I really hope I can save someone else from making the same mistake we did and I hope these people don't continue to screw people over and get away with it! read more

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Jeremie was awesome! He was so helpful in finding apartments that fit my budget and my lifestyle. He was quick to communicate and follow up, as well as answer all my questions. When viewing apartments, he was professional and shared his knowledge helping me make the best decision. I can't thank him enough for making a stressful process feel easy! read more

I paid a full month's broker fee for what turns out to be an ILLEGAL APARTMENT. Lied to us about the parking situation, as there is actually no parking available whatsoever, since the street parking permits are only given to people with addresses that actually exist. read more

Jeremie was THE BEST realtor we have ever worked with. Not only was he responsive, provided us with the most accurate information, but his tone of voice through email was always incredibly nice and positive, which is so rare for real estate agents. We felt comfortable, confident, and taken-cared of when working with Jeremie. read more

Well, I guess I should've looked here first. I hate the rental-broker market in Cambridge, but no place has been as bad as Advantage Realty. I went to see a couple of places with Ronan, until he stopped responding to email. Apparently if you don't jump on the first few they show you they decide not to show you any of their listings anymore -- I received a rude email from Michael, and the following emails were full of lies and accusations about "using up their gas as they drove me around" (uh, I never set foot in a car with any one of them, and I suggest you don't either). I highly suggest ignoring their ads on craigslist. Or if you can, finding an alternate way to see the apartments they advertise. read more

Horrible, horrible, horrible! All of their listings look beautiful. I wish someone would contact me back to let me see them. Jessica completely dropped the ball with me. After avoiding my first set of emails I kindly asked her if there was someone else I should contact because I still wanted to work with Advantage. She promptly responded and asked for my price range, amentities, etc. Never heard from her after that. She still continues to post the same apartments. So either she has plently of clients to show these places or it's some kind of scam. read more

Well, I wasn't even going to post a review, since they all seem to say the same thing. Then I decided that I really needed to vent. This company and Michael Gorenstein, one of the agents, is terrible. I have only had two run ins with him, and both were equally terrible. One of his open houses, he was just walking around eating! How arrogant and unprofessional. This guy is a total ass. If you use them for your real estate needs, you must be very needy. Good luck! read more

UGH. What a negative experience. Don't bother trying to get an apartment through these guys... while they - admittedly - have some good apartments on craigslist, Michael is a businessman who doesn't appear to care whether you're happy or not; he just wants to make a deal. My roommate and I felt rushed and pressured the entire time... I'm not giving you a $4,000 realtor's fee when you act so rude and unprofessional. 2 examples: (1) While walking with a realtor from this company, he received a text message... accidentally while walking behind him, I saw that his text message was from Michael, saying "Yo, close that deal!!!" ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! It was the SECOND place we had seen in Cambridge/Somerville, and he was pushing his employee on us to just get the deal done, regardless of whether we were happy or not (which we weren't). I was disgusted by this, and my roommate suggested we use another company. (2) After looking at an apartment, we went back to the Advantage office to consider it. I wasn't a fan of the apartment, and the realtor we were working with asked Michael if he had anything nicer... Michael said, "Nicer than that one? For that price? Nope." Now, admittedly this might be the psychology-major in me, but he basically said it in a tone of "yeah, but I don't wanna deal with these people anymore, because it's been a whole day (wow) and they haven't signed a lease." Either way, if he didn't have anything nicer at that price (which I doubt is true, because Apartment Rental Experts showed us AWESOME apartments for much less), I wasn't going to work with someone with such a limited selection. Especially someone so impersonal and rude. I would recommend working with another group - Apartment Rental Experts or another more professional company... or even straight through the landlord. As I can see from this page, it appears almost everyone else would recommend doing the same thing. read more

DO NOT WORK WITH THEM! They give false information about the apartments in their ads. If they were good at their jobs than they would have no reason to lie. Here are 2 examples of this: ME: Hey *******! I just spoke with you on the phone about seeing the apartment (green st at bay st) in Cambridge Saturday. We can come and see it anytime before 2. The earlier (after 10) the better. :) We have 3 right now, still working on our 4th, but we'll make it work if the place is as amazing in person as it is in the pics. haha. Laura REALTOR: Hi Laura, Please come by at 1:40pm, the address is 586 Green Street. I noticed my assistant made a price error which I have corrected, but I wanted to confirm with you that the price is not $2100, but $3,100. You can only imagine, but mistakes happen. ME: Oh geez. No wonder you were getting so many calls. . . We are definitely not interested in the place at that price. Thanks for your time. REALTOR: Sorry about that, I had no idea! Please tell me which areas you are interested in and we should see what I have within your budget. Thanks! ONE WEEK LATER: ME: SUBJECT: I am interested in seeing this one if the ad is accurate (i called her and she told me that ht & hw were NOT included, but to send her the ad so she knew we were talking about the same one) $1600 / 3br - Updated 2 Bed in Central Sq~Modern Kitchen w/ Dishwasher~H/HW Incl~ (Inman Square) (map) Date: 2010-06-09, 12:44PM EDT Modern two bedroom apartment located right in Central Square location in Cambridge. This apartment has an open layout with a living room/dining room. Modern kitchen with a dishwasher, disposal and microwave. Wall-to-wall carpeting throughout. Laundry facilities in the building. HEAT AND HOT WATER INCLUDED IN THE RENT. Off-street parking available for an additional cost. Steps to red line train station. Available JULY 1st. Call today to inquire! REALTOR:Hi Laura, There is something wrong with the ad. I am having my assistant look into it. ME:Okay. What is it that is wrong with the ad? What are the stats of this property? REALTOR: It's a three bedroom, no utilities included and laundry mat is 2 blocks away. What are you looking for and let's set up an appointment. ME:No thank you. You may want to fire your "assistant" since this is the 2nd ad I have replied to in a week that does not have the correct information. For instance the apartment you posted last week that actually cost $1000!!! more than the price listed. This one is obviously very misleading considering it says HEAT AND HOT WATER INCLUDED, (yes, in capital letters), and they are not. . . and "laundry facilities in the building", and they are not. This property is also not located "steps" from the Redline, if it is located at the address stated. It is actually 1 mile from the Central Square T stop. (and 1 mile from Porter) Do not trust them. Be prepared for disappointment. read more

Made the mistake of working with Advantage via a post on Craigslist, and didn't look them up on Yelp first. Woops. I'll spare you the lengthy details, appear to be plenty of them on this page, but the word I'd use to sum up my experience was 'unprofessional.' I took time off work to travel across town to see a unit, only for the realtor to show up late and tell me that we couldn't go inside the unit. The next day the same realtor showed up 30 minutes late, without so much as an apology. The next week was filled with unreturned calls, email responses that took 24+ hours, and multiple scheduled showings that "didn't work out." Overall, a very disappointing experience. Not recommended. read more

Let me start by saying... I absolutely hate brokers... in my experience they never listen when you give your max price range , they waste your time showing you places that don't fit the needs you specified, and then they charge you one-month's rent to boot. GOOD NEWS - Advantage Realty is the exception!!! I wish you could rate individual brokers. For all those looking for an apartment, ASK FOR JESSICA. she was awesome.... low pressure, listened to us, and really knew the area. I would gladly give her *6* stars. We rented an apartment in no time and are excited to move in. read more

Jeremie was amazing to work with! He was quick to answer all my questions and made securing my new apartment so much easier! I would definitely work with him again. read more

As a first time mover to the city, Jeremie was readily available to answer questions and provide clarification. Jeremie was able to accommodate a showing the same day I discovered the listing and the start to finish for the process was about a week, which saved me a lot of time in the last few weeks of my previous lease to focus on moving out. It was great doing business with him, thanks again Jeremie! read more

My experience with Advantage was great. We worked with Michael. I found the listing on Craigslist and called - Michael received the call and offered a showing the next day, but when I told him I really hoped to see it that afternoon (I had others that I was looking at that evening and wanted to compare before we decided) he made it happen. I found out afterward that it was his day off but he came out anyway. Michael was extremely professional and gave us more than enough information about the property, listening to what we were looking for and pointing out features that would be beneficial for us. We signed on the apartment and have been really happy with everything up to this point. I would recommend Advantage. The problems others have had may be just a part of the Boston market. After working with other realtors, I've found that apartments do go quickly (it's insane actually) so I don't think that if a realtor suggests to act quickly it's a bad thing - they may really just be looking out for your best interest since the next day it may very well be gone. read more

I am so lucky that I came across advantage Realty when I did. I'm looking to move from the West Coast to the East Coast and know absolutely nothing about the area. Suzanne at Advantage Realty were responsive and amazing. Not to mention their vast knowledge of the Boston and Cambridge area. This is one last thing I have to worry about with a move from coast to coast. thank you advantage Realty you made it such a great experience read more

Ok this seems really odd that there are some weird reviews out here and my story is quite different. So I have been living in suburbs and wanted to move back to the city and was looking in Cambridge because of close proximity and access to masspike, which I need to go to work. Anyways, long story short, called Advantage Realty and talked to Jessica to get feelers and she adviced me to get back when I had a specific date to move. Next time around it was Michael and later fixed up a time to meet up at their office. Meeting them in person was a fairly pleasant experience as both of them came across as very aware of the rental scenario in the area and apparently they are the only rental realty in Cambridge! And I thought I knew about cambridge having rented a few apartments in the past. I met up with Jessica a couple of times to check out the shortlisted apartments and was able to sign the lease on this water facing awesome pad ! Overall it was a good experience & they have a lot of exclusive listings and are highly recommended ! read more

If you're looking for somewhere to live - Dino is your guy!! Myself & my new roommates put Dino through the ringer trying to find a dog friendly apartment in Brighton. It really felt like he bent over backwards to help us find a good one. (It's seriously impossible to find a place that isn't overpriced or just disgusting that allows dogs) Dino was the most helpful realtor I've ever had - he really knows the area. He's professional, yet laid back so all the time we spent together was actually enjoyable and not a gigantic pain in the ass like most apartment searches are. Plus, he's honest. Whenever I'd find a subpar place he would point out the negatives and assure me we could find something even better. (For the record, we did. Our new apartment is the best.) But seriously, don't waste your time anywhere else - I would give this guy 10 stars if I could!!!!! read more

uh, I thought we were all done with this. It has been a few months of peace. My fiance just got an email from Advantage simply stating, "can you please remove the Yelp add now?" --I'm not sure why they would contact somebody else to take down a review that I had written. Especially after our lovely "exchange" about wishing no further contact. It's just odd to ask to take it down "now" as if anything has changed, as if any sort of apology has been made! I wish they'd see it's in their best interest to stop contacting me, especially via other people. That is just creepy. Are you seeing a pattern yet? I am just going to keep updating this review with any further contacts I receive from Advantage. If they send me something civil and appropriate making an apology, that would make it up here too--and if it seemed a little better than the blatant rudeness I've been subject to thus far, maybe I'd even reward that effort with a star. Ever think of going the route of decency? I don't think it would hurt to try because this whole being-a-constant-jerk doesn't seem to be working out too well, as I've been contacted by a lawyer, whom is representing others who have had similar bad experiences, who wanted to know if I'd testify. I declined, because I really don't enjoy getting into all this. But as much as I want this ordeal to disappear, I don't want to bow to their unfounded demands and give them the satisfaction of harassing people to get their way. Isn't that terrorism? Leave me alone, do good business, and let this review be buried with better reviews. Move on. read more

I found a bunch of really nice listings up on Craigslist that belonged to Advantage Realty (in particular, Ronan) and sent him an e-mail to schedule an appointment to see one. Knowing how cut throat the apartment world is- I followed up with a phone call- he told me 'send me an e-mail with all my parameters... I'm currently showing an apartment". Okay- no problem, I did that.... a day goes by, i hear nothing 2 days go by, I send another e-mail saying "this place sounded great and I don't want to loose sight of it- is it still available?" Nothing 2 weeks go by and I follow up with him to see if they have anything else... NOTHING But that's not the worst of it- I think they may be 'beefing up' up their Craigslist photos... Here is the story: I found an ad for an apartment that looked great and made an appointment through the owner to go and see it. It was a little small for me with no real living room and a small bedroom- so I passed on it... the owner was understanding and drove me to another one of his buildings that may have been bigger and better for me. Today I did another search on Craigslist and found a listing for the same apartment I saw last night, except this time through Advantage Realty... the photos showed the same street, same kitchen, same balcony except... they showed a picture of a huge living room. The description says "small apartment" but the photo shows a huge living room? And I know it wasn't another unit in the same building because the owner would have showed it to me instead of driving me in his car to another building. LIES! I don't trust Advantage one bit. read more

Don't waste your time with this company. I worked with Michael. He is the least professional real estate agent that I have ever encountered. He was late. He knew nothing about the apartments he was showing. He was rude and tried to pressure me into signing a lease immediately. One apartment I was shown was nothing like the pictures. The listing on Craigslist showed a sunny modern unit with great fixtures. The place I was shown was a dark dank basement that hadn't been renovated in 15 years. The realtor said the pictures were from another unit upstairs. When I finally got in touch with the landlord who owned the apartment i was interested in, I confirmed that the information he relayed was not true. He claimed that everything was included in the rent - electricity, heat, hot water, Wi-Fi; it wasn't. He also said that the deck and outdoor space was shared; it wasn't. Pretty much everything he told me was incorrect and only in the interest of getting money in hand that day. I ended up cancelling my check. Stay away! read more

This place has some nice apartments listed. Whatever you do, don't use Eric. Perhaps the other agents are better, but Eric showed up to our apartment viewing looking like stoned college kid. He let us into the apartment and watched us wander around... made no attempt to 'sell' it or to show it to us. Just sorta stood there. We then asked some questions like... who is the landlord? where does he live? what's in the area? what kind of heat and how much do utilities run? and he didn't know the answers to any of these questions. when we said we liked the apartment and asked what the next step was, he said 'uhh, make an appointment at our office and we can do your application and first months rent and deposit all at once'. Uh.... hello??? Doesnt that seem wrong to anyone else? Eric seems like he'd be a cool guy to party with... but not rent an apartment from. Two stars because the place he showed us was actually decent. But we found it on craigslist. All he did was show up. ***Edit: The owner, Michael, messaged me to say Eric no longer works there. read more

I had an absolutely horrible experience. Michael was sketchy, unprofessional, immature, inappropriate, sleazy, manipulative and predatory. He showed apartments he couldn't provide much information about. He pressured me to sign the lease / pay deposit when there were still a lot of questions unanswered. His inappropriate manners made me uncomfortable. His email communication was unreliable and rude. I know there are sleazy brokers out there, but he's the worst I've ever seen. I felt compelled to warn other people. (I regret that I didn't check these yelp reviews beforehand!) read more

They charge a one months fee, plus a $75 application fee (normally $25 or $30). When I asked why it was so high, I was given the most ridiculous and untruthful response. In addition to that, they want you to sign a form before they show you the place. It is not the standard industry form, but their own, and it asks you to agree to conditions that are not even identified. Terrible company! read more

I wish I had read these other Yelp reviews before attempting any transactions with Michael Gorentstein at Advantage Realty... I experienced many of the SAME issues as others. There were too many "misunderstandings". I was provided with important information about the home up for rent that was not correct. I was told it was a certain amount, only to later find that it was $200 more per month. He tried to make an unwanted, unnecessary addendum to the lease..which I later discovered the landlord did not request! I wasted 2 days and too much energy for nothing. I don't recommend this company! read more

Stay away from advantage!!! Yes they have a great selection but in my experience they came off as the epitome of the sleazy stereotypical agent you want to avoid. They were very pushy and seemed to feed off me and say everything thing I wanted them to say... as if it were rehearsed and they would say the same about any apartment. On top of that they were very pushy in trying to get me to go for the apartment by saying there were already other people who applied yesterday and were going to pay full fee so if I didn't pay full fee then I wouldn't stand a chance. Well if you already took a full fee from someone on this apartment why are you wasting my time and trying to get me to pay a full fee for it? It doesn't take that long to run someone's application. It made no sense. I have never felt like this in a rental situation before. Steer clear of advantage!!!! The only advantage they are looking out for is their own. read more

Please save yourself a lot of time and frustration do NOT use Advantage Realty. The owner/agent Michael Gorenstein told us that the condo we were looking at was FHA approved when it was not. It was like pulling teeth to get any information from him. He kept saying he would do things but would never come through. He was very unreliable. read more

I got screwed by a SHADY real estate agency over an apartment 3 days before I was supposed to move into the place. The professionalism and respect I got at this agency was second to none. They truly have their clients best interest at heart. I walked in on a rainy Saturday afternoon completely frazzled about what had just happened with my apartment falling through the hour before. Annie put me at ease showing me the listings she had in my price range. By the time I walked out to look at one of the apartments with her I felt calm and collected. Truly a pleasure to do business with. read more

Michael and the rest are the sleeziest people you will ever do busniess with. It's a complete scam and you'll lose your money and end up in a bad place or with a bad landlord. Everything on here about him is 100% true. I only wish I had checked before I signed my name to anything. I had to file a complaint with the Attorney General's office against him and the landlord, Annique, because of the horrible living condition we were in. The Cambridge Complaint Board has been absolutely amazing in helping us recoup any money from these people and let us move out (terminating the lease 3 months in to a 12 month lease) and move on. DO NOT USE ANYONE AT THIS AGENCY!!! PLEASE!!! I don't even like the idea that he's still in business after SO MANY complaints against him to the Attorney General's Office (I was by no means the first). He makes things up, communicates important information in texts, ignores calls (we had to use other cell phones to call just so he'd pick up), and is completely illegal. read more

Let me just say that reading the reviews of this company AFTER putting down my deposit for an apartment through them was probably the worst move I've ever made. It resulted in a week of me worrying that I wasn't going to get my apartment OR my money back. Fortunately, the panic was over nothing. I'm sorry to those who had terrible experiences with their agents, but Jim was an absolute pleasure to work with. He was extremely professional the entire time we worked with him, and he was even honest about the quality of the apartments we looked at (structural flaws, neighborhood safety, etc.). With Jim's help, my boyfriend and I found a beautiful apartment and now we can enjoy the rest of the summer instead of stressing about where we'll live in the fall. Yes they charge a full fee, but pretty much every realtor I've dealt with in the city has as well, so if that's something you're looking to avoid, have fun weeding through the scarce selection of 'by owner' apartments on craig's list. Ain't nobody got time for that. read more

I would give ZERO stars to LILIANE CHAGLASSIAN at Advantage Reality if I could. Since I cannot, one star will have to suffice. She is extremely unprofessional and dishonest. Dealing with her is a huge waste of time. After putting on a good show upfront, her true colors came through when it was time to get down to business. She dropped a huge bomb at the last minute when the lease was supposed to be signed (which NEVER happened, thankfully!!). Out of nowhere, there was a $2600 BROKERS FEE!!!! This was the FIRST mention of this fee. Also, she was rude and offensive when called out on her dishonestly. Truly, this was such a poor experience that I hope to help others avoid dealing with her!!! Again, if you are looking for a rental in the Cambridge area, do yourself a favor and avoid Advantage Realty in general. It is an underhanded business with sub-par employees. read more

They will never call you, you always have to be on their case. Arrogant and not helpful. Sorry! Should've tried harder to find me an apartment. read more

I'm a busy professional in Boston who had to move out of my old place in about two weeks. I responded to a Craigslist ad for a modest place near Porter Square, which was exactly as advertised, but did not give me the chills. Harout was very personable and helpful in describing the rental market in Cambridge. He ended up showing me a larger place that was a better fit . I snatched it up the next day and signed the lease two days later. No hassles. Be sure to check in with them via phone calls or emails every now and then, though. The application, deposit and approval process was a breeze and I'm so glad that things worked out in such a limited time frame. I'd definitely recommend Advantage Realty to all my friends and colleagues. read more

What a terrible group of realtors! A big bait and switch operation which I would not trust in the least. None of the places I contacted them about through craigslist were the ones they wanted to show me, nor were still available. The ones that were available were not even nice enough to recommend to my worst enemy. Just a terrible terrible realty group. Stay away from ADVANTAGE read more

Avoid these people at all costs. Their work is dishonest and incompetent, especially Michael's. Problem 1: despite asking for a written copy of our lease for two months, Michael provided it only after we had already moved into our place. Problem 2: The contract for fees associated with the apartment was (I believe purposely) extremely confusing and ambiguous. I read it over and over again, and even had a law student friend go over it. Neither of us could make heads or tails of it, but we signed anyway. Big mistake. Turns out they wanted a $80 "processing fee," and a $1700 commission, which worked out to being a ridiculous 9% cut for them. We got screwed. Problem 3: Michael assured us that he had walked through our apartment before moving in and that it was totally ready for us. However, when we moved in, the place was filthy: the floors were covered with dirt and paint specks, the cabinets and appliances were dirty, our storage unit still had the previous owner's items in it (as well as a mountain of garbage and dirt), and the fridge had a giant swath of red goo--who knows what THAT was--across the back. Problem 4: We asked Michael three times to deliver our keys and change our name on the mailbox before we called the building management ourselves and got them. Michael said he had a "miscommunication" with us and/or the landlord. Problem 5: Some of our cabinets are broken and our oven leaks so much heat that it melts plastic on the stovetop. No redress from Advantage Realty. We have worked with realtors in the past and always had good experiences. Not this time. Stay away from these incompetent, unorganized swindlers. read more

I am writing this from the point of view of a landlord. I have used Advantage realty on 4 separate occasions to rent one of my places in Cambridge. This is over the course of 8 years. Why would I do so. Because they have always been professional with me, courteous to the tenants already occupying the apartment and find wonderful responsible people to live there. So in terms of the reviews posted here, my guess is happy people don't bother. It's only the ones who are upset who do so. Maybe that says something about the service, maybe it says something more about the clients...... Both Michael and Jessica have always been pro-active and professional as far as I am concerned. All I know is the people who found me through them have all been wonderful and have all been satisfied...... so am I. Need to update the address though....they are no longer at 80 Magazine Street. read more

Avoid at all costs; they are dishonest and highly unprofessional. Found an apartment with them in 2010; once we had filled out the application and we were told the craigslist ad would be taken down, they continued re-posting the apartment on Craigslist for several days after with different rents listed. The broker gave us the excuse that her "assistant" was behind schedule in "taking down" these posts, though our apartment was being re-listed daily, presumably as a lure. At the apartment showing, when I pointed out to my boyfriend what was obviously water damage on the ceiling, the broker interjected with "oh, those look like coffee stains to me!" Eventually, we found ourselves in their office about to sign the lease (despite water damage -- it was a nice apartment). She kept insisting they were coffee stains. Another employee (possibly the owner, but I'm not sure) was hanging around the office and began unloading to us about a "stuck up" client he had just dealt with. By far the worst rip-off I've ever encountered. Rude, dishonest, unprofessional. Ugh. read more

DO NOT BELIEVE THEIR POSTINGS. KEEP AS FAR AS POSSIBLE. They gave us misinformation about a place. We signed a lease that night cause they told us if we didn't it will be taken by someone else. We had to sue the landlady who didn't provide the apartment (we won the case) and they simply disappeared. read more

STAY AWAY!!! Everything the other Yelper's are reporting is true. I had a meeting with Michael recently that left my spidey-sense going crazy. Here are some of the troubling things I noticed, without going into too much detail -gets interest by posting/offering apartments that you will later discover have been rented at the last minute -suggests places that are similar and about to go on the market and requests money to reserve these apartments "sight unseen" -does not work with existing tentants in scheduling time to show the property. Prefers to drop-in unannounced. -develops interesting tactics to keep you interested/ wear you down so that you will eventually capitulate and take the sight-unseen offer STAY AWAY FROM THESE PEOPLE!!! Finding a good apartment at a price you can afford can certainly be a challenge, but there are better folks out there and many who actually want to help. read more