This is a review for Boston Proper Real Estate as a property management firm. Our experience with them has been terrible for 2 years, living in an apartment in Back Bay. To keep it short-- our unit was frequently without AC (which was not told to us prior to signing our lease which included central air) and heat (their solution was to give us space heaters)-- which is illegal. Communication was poor and unacceptable. To add insult to injury, when we moved out, we were charged a $500 move-out fee (which was not in any agreement we signed originally). When we inquired about this, we were told it was a building policy so nothing they could do about it. When we questioned the legality of the fee, they responded threatening legal action and to take the fee from our security deposit (illegal). Finally, it took us over 45 days to receive our security deposit back which required us to show up to their office after being told that the check had been sent in the mail 15 days prior... never arrived. I have lived in 6 apartments in Boston and this is by far the worst experience I have had. Highly recommend avoiding this company as a property manager. read more

Unprofessional, felt like a scam. Everything was rushed and no insight was given until an in person interview with the property manager. There are so many better real estate agencies in Boston, I truly encourage you to look into those rather than wasting your time here. read more

I had a horrible experience with Boston Proper. They pressured my roommate and I into applying for an apartment and then forced us to leave our jobs to come in for an in person interview to try and pressure us into signing the lease when the property manager told us there would be holes in our walls for 3 weeks to "let the water drain" and admitted that the building had a mold and mice problem. The agent and property manager also made fun of me and my roommate for having to leave on time to return to our jobs, as they were passing around a card that said "they have to leave at 1, lol." When we asked for a refund, they took nearly a week to process the request despite us paying online. Also if you want insight into the customer service and professionalism of this agency, read the responses to the negative reviews. :) Especially in a competitive and expensive market, do yourself and your bank account a favor and take your business elsewhere. read more

Matt and Rich H are the most reputable real estate brokers you will find in Boston. Highly recommend and I'm a real estate broker out of state for 30 years it's rare you find a company so honorable. Gina read more

We only had 2 days to come up to Boston and find a great apartment rental for our son who was starting Grad school. As we had so little time to find a place, we needed to find an agent who really had extensive knowledge of the neighborhoods, properties and landlords here in Boston and we had the good luck of calling Skylar Caligaris at Boston Proper Real Estate. She quickly narrowed down our search and had multiple listings ready for us to see when we arrived - all of them fitting our criteria. She found us a great apartment that afternoon, walked us through the entire application process and had us approved by end of day. Skyler is a true professional, knows the area and kept us focused all with a warm and friendly attitude answering all of our questions with a smile. We highly recommend her for anybody looking for a property in Boston. She is a fantastic agent. read more

Never thought I would see the day when I review a real estate company in Boston. I'm happy to report that my first review, for Boston Proper Real Estate, is a highly positive one. My family has owned real estate in Boston for more than twenty-five years, with less-than-stellar confidence in most real estate agents and brokers in the area. Every single agent I have worked with has been pushy, whiny, or focused on the close, rather than the long-term relationship. I have never trusted any agent or company in Boston. In fact, I used to rank Boston realtors below used car salesmen, and possibly on par with part-time life insurance agents- that's pretty low on the totem pole...... on par with paramecium. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find an entirely new level of comfort, trust, and professionalism when I discovered this company, and in particular, Abbe Bonnevie. I was in the process of shifting the family's real estate portfolio, which included the acquisition of several condominium units, seeking rental tenants, and consolidating the properties under a single management platform. Abbe and her firm were able to deliver on all fronts with the highest of professionalism, trust, and knowledge, all of which instilled a sense of security and confidence I never thought possible. I actually learned a few things about the market that I never knew before. Abbe and her team now not only manage all of my individual properties in Boston, but also the entire building that one of my units is part of. The other trustees and owners couldn't be happier with her. Boston Proper has the software platform, expertise, and contractor network that puts all the owners at ease for confidence, information gathering, and property accounting. I trust them. I highly recommend Abbe and the team at Boston Proper Real Estate read more

Boston Proper Real Estate - The building they manage for me. - Real Estate Agents Near Me - Boston, Massachusetts

Update Jan 13... I got an email from Tom whining about the review posted to Yelp. Challenged the accuracy. I have records of every email and phone call. The handyman did show up, during week 4, and a second time in week 5. Three items were fixed, out of a list of 14. This work list was paperwork we filled out when we took the keys to the apartment. Tom lost this list. Good thing I kept a copy for my records as well as photos. read more

I worked with Beth. Damon- Beth was great helping me and my fiancé buy our first home in this crazy time! We found that she really knows the area well- all of the area! Beth is really knowledgeable of the different neighborhoods in Boston-Cambridge-Somerville. She listened to what we wanted and was able to set up viewings that hit on what we were looking for. We eventually found our dream condo in Charlestown- and she was able to help us from P&S to close. I've heard stories that other agents/ brokers stop attending to the client after P&S and show up at closing to collect- not Beth. She was still answering our 12am questions all the way to close and beyond (sorry Beth!). Can't recommend enough! read more

Boston Proper helped me find an apartment in Boston and they were a pleasure to work with. Most of the staff are young probably in their upper 20's to 30's. Their office was tiny but very cozy and long. The owner was around making sure everyone was ok and if they needed help. He spoke with us and even knew what apartments we were looking at. We did our homework looking up apartments and Boston Proper worked with that as well as their own search. They listened to our opinions and price range then took us around to look at the places. Overall, I recommend this company for whoever is moving or renting in Boston! read more

My experience with Boston Proper was totally great. I did my homework going into the apartment hunt and so did they. With everyone prepared/knowing what they wanted, we locked in a perfect studio in one week. Regarding the other reviews: bad real estate agent does not equal bad real estate company. Since I've made the distinction, I will review both: Boston Proper Real Estate: +nonboring office +air conditioned +really hot employees +had a million listings +owner has years of experience, knows better property managers in Boston +owner is really chill guy +flexible payment options +very fast turnover if you are certain of what you want +cool facebook page -there was a dog in the office -don't remember being offered anything to drink -seemed to be only one good computer -apartments are expensive these days Beth: +smart and candid +sharply dressed +made me her priority (or appeared to, but what's the difference?) +showed me 6 listings in 90 minutes +helped me choose the best one (charming studio in Beacon Hill) +fast emailer -doesn't work for free -needs to clean her car out -possibly nabbed me from one of her coworkers (no difference on my end) They helped me find my ideal apartment at a fair price in less than one week. Highly recommended. read more

See all

We rented our apartment in 2020 (in the middle of the pandemic) with Boston Proper Real Estate without any trouble. However in 2021, when we decided not to renew our contract, we couldn't find the same professionalism. Some agents came frequently to our apartment for showings without the 24 hour notice. Since I was working from home it was a very frustrating situation for me. During one of the showings (when we were not at home) they apparently took our spare set of keys from our apartment and almost cost us the security deposit. When we inquired about it they claimed that they never took it. We found out 10 days later that they actually did. Even though individual agents were nice, the office's mistakes were very unprofessional and we are very disappointed with the experience. read more

In attempts to find an apartment in Boston from abroad, I contacted several realtors just to see what they had available, as I have a friend in the city who could assist me in my search. I e-mailed a long description of my current situation and what I was looking for to a realtor at Boston Proper Real Estate. I was happy to get a quick response back- asking me to give him a call. Not being able to afford international calling to several realtors at once, I asked if we could communicate via e-mail about what he has available. The response I got back was, "Give me a call when your in town. Thanks. " I take this as a realtor not caring about possible clientele by not only disregarding any of the content of my e-mails, but also being short and unhelpful. So for anyone looking for an apartment from outside of the country- this is not the realtor to contact. read more

When i came to Boston I made the mistake of going here. They tried to show me apartments well outside my price range. I was looking for a studio for around $1150 to $1250. They told me there was no such animal in the Back Bay. As I was from out of town I thought this might be the case. After I left the state they called me & said they had just what I needed, a nice studio for $1550. They said I should take it there & then. They could email me pictures, & I could take it " off the market" with a months rent. I had in the meantime spoken to other companies in Boston & found out this was total BS. These people are total crooks & I would warn anyone to stay away. I found a great studio in Back Bay for $1100 with another company. Boston Proper are the worst. You can tell that this company is a total scam just click on Brad B & Lindsay N the people who gave them the five stars & you will see these people only ever reviewed one company, these clowns & started yelping in February 2010. They are obviously the people that work there. Again TOTAL SCAM ARTISTS read more

Had a great experience with Calla finding our apartment. Did not have the same experience with our property manager, Emily. We consistently emailed her throughout our year long lease with issues that needed to be fixed the week we moved in, and they were never fixed. Our mailbox was broken and left hanging open for 8 months, which was a massive security issue. We emailed her every couple of weeks and finally got it fixed, with the lock upside down. Perhaps it was a matter of her not taking us seriously because we were the only college students living in a complex of older professionals. Our lock was jammed, so we were locked out of our place at night. Emily was not very responsive, and we were worried we'd have to find somewhere else to sleep that night. She said she'd call the lock place, and then after not hearing back from her for over an hour, I took matters into my own hands and called a 24 hour locksmith. The only smooth sailing with the apartment was the search process, so we do commend Calla for always being available and eager to help us out. read more

I used Boston Proper to find my last apartment in the Back Bay and my experience working with them was fantastic. Our agent, Ted, was professional and extremely helpful. He listened to all of our requests and was dedicated to finding us a place that fit within our budget. His knowledge of the market helped us find a gem of an apartment in our dream location AND he helped us get a great deal in the heart of Back Bay. We could not have done it without him. I have already recommended them to several other friends in Boston and will continue to do so in the future. Highly recommend Boston Proper Real Estate and Ted! Thanks again! read more

I highly recommend Boston Proper Real Estate. Our realtor, Ted, showed us 5 apartments in one afternoon (on a very hot day!) and we found one we loved. Ted did not pressure us or try to push any apartments that we didn't like - he was honest, friendly and professional. When we stopped to pick up more keys at the Boston Proper office, another agent, Matt, helped suggest apartments we might like to see based on what we had liked so far. Matt had several suggestions off the top of his head and clearly knew the area very well. Ted took us out to see the suggested apartments the same day. I appreciated that both Ted and Matt picked apartments that were within our budget and that met the criteria we wanted - we didn't waste time looking at apartments that we would never choose. Being able to view so many apartments in one day made it easy to make a final decision as to which apartment we wanted. We were eager to get the apartment we found before someone else applied. Ted got us through the process of filing applications and signing a lease by the next day, which was awesome! Apartment searching and moving can be a painful process, and our experience with Boston Proper Real Estate was by far the easiest apartment search we have ever had. We cannot wait to move into our new apartment! read more

Boston Proper is only a few years old but the owner has been in the business for about 15 yrs. He is an established expert in Boston real estate. If you are looking for a home, he will earnestly try his hardest to find you the right place and/or to help his staff help you. He works tirelessly for his clients and to improve the business in new and creative ways. He has some great exclusive listings you will not find anywhere else that come from years of maintaining good relationships with landlords who trust him with handling their properties. I have worked with him at length in the past and can confidently say that he will carefully consider each individual client's situation, will provide an honest opinion, and find realistic options. Please do not be put off by some of these other reviews (and a couple of them are just plain unfair)--every company has a teething period when just starting out and needs time to smooth out the kinks. It takes some time to find the right employees, and unfortunately, some folks in the early days of the company might have ended up agents who didn't work out and have since been replaced. What this company has accomplished in a short period of time is truly impressive. Well-established now with a great staff and work-flow, I know future renters/buyers/owners will be in good hands. read more

We found our apartment online at Apartments.com and were directed to contact Stratton at this agency. Once we decided to move forward with the rental process, our experience went downhill very quickly. Stratton was extremely unresponsive to any emails, and we often had to email him multiple times in order to get a response. He also failed on many occasions to forward us updated lease information from the landlord in a timely fashion, including updated Addendums. When he finally did give us the correct version of the Addendum, it was clear that he was crunched for time as he called me and asked me to forge my roommate's signature on the Addendum so that he could get it into the landlord on time. Of course I did not feel comfortable forging someone's signature on a legal document, so I told him no and that he had to wait for the process to be done honestly. Additionally, he requested that we pay for expedited shipping when we finally signed our lease agreements because the landlord wanted them within the week, which seemed inaccurate to me. He shot down the few changes we asked him to communicate to the landlord with confusing email explanations that it looked like a preschooler had written. Overall, the experience was terrible, and I would not recommend anyone use this agency until their agents learn professionalism and review legal behaviors. read more

Don't work with these people!!! They are liars. I was looking for apartments online and contacted a real estate agent named Crystal Rabidou. She had posted all 200 of her ads under 'no broker fee' which i thought was kind of suspicious from the start and on top of that, she claimed to offer a percentage off the fee if we worked with her. What a contradiction! When I asked her about it, she said the landlord might possibly take 50% off the fee. Then she was trying to get me to take a different apartment than the one I was interested in. Clearly they are all about the bait and switch and just getting clientele, no matter how they unethically they have to do it. read more

I used Boston Proper to find my apartment this year and I have to say, they helped me get the best deal I could find. Initially, I tired to find an apartment without a broker but after you go through enough craigslist scams and meet some really strange people I lost some faith. My agent Caryn showed me several apartments over the few months that I was looking and stayed patient with me the entire way. She understood that I really wanted to take my time and try to find the best deal on the market. When I finally decided on a place, she was able to get it all squared away within a day. Talk about saving me trouble! Would definitely recommend to my friends. read more

Used Boston Proper to find my place. I rented one of the first three I looked at. They have great apartments that I think are exclusive to them. Will use again next year. read more

After a brief Zillow search, we made contact with Beth Damon at Boston Proper Real Estate, and the rest of the process has been as smooth a real estate transaction. Not only was the buying process nearly effortless, but Beth's "after market" support is remarkable. Coordinating with handyman (for renovations) as well as neighborhood indoctrination (where to shop, best restaurants, etc), even a ride to the airport after the purchase; just great! read more

Although my girlfriend and I ended up renting elsewhere, we had such a great experience working with Mark from Boston Proper in attempt to find an apartment. Mark was always willing to work around our schedule and really worked with us to find the right apartment. It was only because of issues beyond his control that we ended up renting elsewhere. For anyone on the fence about using a broker to find an apartment, I highly recommend Mark at Boston Proper. In the future I won't ever think twice about which broker to use. read more

Boston Proper Real Estate. We were very lucky when we just happened to walk into their office 6 years ago when we had an emergency, we needed to buy a condo--we had 36 hours before we had to leave town. They assisted us with speed and expertise. Since then the staff have helped us rent it every summer for 5 years (with desirable renters). And in the last month they helped us sell that same unit. We could not have been more pleased by their competent, responsible staff. Thank you for all your help over the years. read more

We were a little hesitant to use this company as some of the reviews were questionable, but we're not sure what the others were talking about. We rolled into town literally yesterday and they found us a great apartment, in a great location, in just a few hours and did we mention that they got the rent reduced for us. The service was fantastic and the staff is super friendly. We highly recommend this place if you are looking for an apartment and need some help finding one. read more

When I found out I needed to Boston on short notice, I immediately jumped on Craigslist and started looking for apartments. Coming from Manhattan, I knew it wasn't going to be easy to find a good apt so I made appointment after appointment and scheduled a whole day of looking at apartments starting at 8am. Boston Proper was my 2pm and man do I wish I had just started with them. I met with Crystal who immediately took me to see multiple apartments with, shockingly, everything I had asked for. She actually took the time to listen to what I wanted in a place, and then made it her business to get me in to see them that day. She showed me 4 apts and needless to say, I rented one before the day was over. Everything was super easy. They took the time to go over all the applications with me, and even brough me back to see that space later that night one more time. I was so amazed with how easy the process was and how great everything has turned out. As someone who has lived in NYC and is used to the rat race that is apartment hunting, this experience couldn't have been better. read more

First off, I ended up not getting an apartment through Boston Proper, so my review may be of limited use. Generally, we had a very positive experience with Siu in the office, who showed us several good properties and was not pushy at all. He went out of his way to find new properties that popped up after our initial search and met us in different parts of Boston to take us around. Of the three agents we met with through our search, he was by far the best. read more

When I came to Boston, I was wondering about how I can find an apartment for me. I am so lucky because I found Boston Proper Real Estate and Stephanie! I can say that Stephanie is my first friend in Boston. She helped me very much. When I went to their office Stephanie showed me an apartment, I liked it but I wanted to think about it. Next day I called Stephanie to say that I want to rent that apartment but she saied it's been rented. I realized that finding an apartment is very hard in Boston, if you find one that you really like, you should rent it immedieatly! After that I was so down, I had to find an apartment as soon as possible. However, thank God Stephaine worked for me very well and in tat day evening she called me and she said "I found an apartment for you". The apartment was at neighborhood exactlly I wanted! We went to apartment 1 hour later and I saw it and loved it and rented it :) Stephanie hepled me every step..She is very patient person, she explained every details to me, since I am not familiar to US system. Also other perople in office are very nice people, all of them tried to help me on every subject. Comparing the other real estate office Boston Proper Real Estate is the best! I reccomend my friends who are looking for an apartment , to work with Stephanie. She is really good and proffesional. She walks in your shoes, understand you and tries to help you. Thanks Stephanie ! read more

I had let my great real estate agent know that I made a review, and was saddened to be informed by her that it disappeared... Welp if first you don't succeed.... If you are looking for a great local company with a lot of knowledge and experience I recommend this company. I had a very good experience while I know other friends that had a tough time finding their own home in Boston. Not only did they work hard to help me, but they are very pleasant non aggressive people which I appreciated. read more

I can't even tell you how happy I am with my experience with Boston Proper. I am an interior designer and I knew exactly what I was looking for in an apartment and I had tried several other places on Craigslist first but was so frustrated with other realtors dragging me all around the city showing me things that were nothing like what I had described I was looking for and then saying they would "let me know if something else came up" (with no follow-up). I finally found Crystal at Boston Proper and she was AMAZING. Not only did she find me the perfect place right away (which actually exceeded my expectations) but she also was so helpful and patient. I know that there are so many choices on Craigslist for people to work with to find an apartment, but instead of stalking Craigslist day after day (which I was definitely guilty of) searching for a needle in a haystack, save yourself your time and sanity and just start with Crystal. I can't thank her enough!! read more

I can't say enough good things about this company. I have been using them exclusively to rent my apartment in Back Bay for years and because of that experience we recently changed from a company that had been managing our building for over 30 years to Boston Proper. They are knowledgeable, honest and dependable. They have made good recommendations that have actually saved us money. I am a full time real estate broker in a near by suburb so I understand what goes into selling, renting and managing property. They are my "go to" brokers in the city. Abbe is one of the hardest working and responsible agents and always responds in a timely fashion when I have a question. I will gladly give them reference, if requested. read more

Crystal is AWESOME. As a 24 year old female moving from the west coast into Boston, I saw Crystal's ad and knew she'd be the person to contact. She had a whole day planned, and she knew exactly what I wanted. She is extremely professional with not only her clients, but also the brokers she works with, all the while you want to become friends with her because her personality is so magnetic! As long as I live in Boston, I will work with Crystal! I would recommend her to anyone! read more

I needed to move asap, and contacted Boston Proper Real Estate about an apartment I saw on Craigslist. Crystal was great - she was able to negotiate a short term lease, plus get my dog approved by the owner, and waived the fee. She stayed in contact with me via email, phone, and text, and made it possible for me to move within four days! read more

Rich and his are great, helped me find the perfect condo, and made the process very easy.

As we all know looking for an apartment in Boston can be a nightmare experience. I used BPRE this past June when I was looking for a September 1 move in date in the Boston proper area. I was in contact with many different rental agencies throughout the process and had heard back from only a few including Ted Sheehan from Boston Proper. What I really liked about Ted is that he was a people person and I could talk openly, honestly and candidly with him about what I was looking for. He wasn't overly "salesy" and I really felt like he genuinely cared about my search and tried hard to assuage my increasing anxiety about moving. He ended up showing me an apartment in Back Bay that was a great deal and helped me to negotiate personally with the landlord on specific terms of my move in. He was responsive, friendly and funny all at the same time. I would definitely call him again to help with an apartment search and would recommend anyone looking for a decent and authentic person to help them with an apartment search to call Ted! read more

First experience with Boston Proper Real Estate but have been soo happy! I emailed them last night and the girl Abbe must have been on a vacation but her manager emailed me back and set up a time for Abbe and I to meet the next day. This was also later after work hours and they still got back to me and kept emailing back n forth until we had everything all set up! I went in and Abbe had the places I was interested in looking and then added some more once she talked to me. Her manager (Rich I believe ) was so awesome! He knew of places off the top of her head to have her look at and knew the system very well to get what I wanted for a price I could do. They were so real and stayed honest with everything. I spent my whole day with them but didnt mind at all. I think everyone should check out Boston Proper Real Estate and see Abbe or Rich/Manager. Hopefully I wont be moving anytime soon but if so I will check them out before anyone else! :) read more