If you're looking for an honest caring real estate team in the Madison area the Buell Group is the…read moreticket! From the initial prep and listing of our house for sale, to closing with Preferred Title, the people involved have been amazing. Brandon and team were responsive throughout, offered educational guidance every step of the way, helped us through some unexpected hurdles. He also provided solid referrals; from handymen and garage door specialists to title companies, the Buell Group partners with the best.

Brandon and his team were great to work with! Brandon responded immediately to all of our questions…read moreand when he wasn't immediately available, he made sure his teammate, Amanda, got back to us with answers to our questions. We felt Brandon was extremely knowledgeable of the market but as an added bonus, he is also very knowledgeable about construction in general and was able to point out flaws or positive attributes of each house we toured. Brandon was our advocate throughout the entire process and made sure we got the best price and timely responses from the sellers. Before closing, Brandon's team contacted our mortgage lender directly to handle details and they followed up with us to make sure we had everything ready and were prepared! On closing day, Brandon came to the closing with us and explained anything that we didn't understand in the sea of paperwork presented to us. We highly recommend the Brandon Buell and The Buell Group! They were fantastic to work with!

I lived in the Post Apartments. I lived there over 2 years and really enjoyed it for the proximity…read moreto downtown and the bike path. The interior was very well done and the building maintained well. But sadly, the complex was marketed as "non-smoking" which was a big reason why I signed the lease. However I quickly learned after moving in that it was far from it with tenants smoking marijuana in their units and the smell permeating into the hallway and in some cases into my unit. When management was alerted there was little action besides one email to all the tenants which did nothing to stop it. One sign on the bulletin board which lasted less than a month. I think they could have and should have done more which is why I ultimately decided to leave the apartment before the end of my lease term. My health was suffering from the constant stench. Otherwise, it's a great property and if you don't have an aversion to smokers, I recommend it.

Avante Properties plays hard ball with their best tenants. Here's what happened to us…read more.. We have an apartment at the Arlo in Fitchburg and have been excellent tenants since June 2024 when the building opened. Avante recently notified us that the lease for our second stall in the parking garage has been terminated and we have six days to vacate it. There was no explanation or apology. #1: In the luxury rental business, it's not a good idea to treat good renters poorly, especially your top tenants. Poor reviews and word of mouth will expose you in a big way. #2: Avante has been allowing tenants to move into the garage as late as November-January, just in time for bad winter weather. We've been paying for the second stall since last June so we would have it for the winter months. When we asked Avante for a credit for the past seven months, they referenced legalese from the parking rental agreement, and threatened to tow our car if the stall was not vacated by the deadline. Avante's communication has been disappointing and shocking. #3: During the fall, Avante raffled off 2 free parking stalls to Arlo residents who wrote Google reviews. So they are willing to give away free stalls, but then kick out their paying customers? Huh? Complaining about a valid issue and requesting reimbursement for what we consider fraudulent behavior on their part has ultimately resulted in them threatening not to renew our 12-month apartment lease this spring. Wow is all I can say. A property manager can make or break your apartment rental experience. If I had to do it all over again, I would not rent from Avante Properties. I would look elsewhere.

I used to work in the office at Woodsview until 1/13/15 when I was terminated and given no reason…read morewhy. I must say that being terminated from there was the best thing that could have happened to me. Dawn the Community manager at Woodsview in Janesville is rude to tenants, staff and vendors. I have had several complaints about her being rude to prospective tenants to the point of them changing their minds about becoming a resident. I would advise Steve & Eric Hovde to take a very strong look at her behavior & attitude and how it effects her staff, residents, prospective residents and their company. Hovde is an excellent company to work for: great benefits, very charitable

I worked with Jim on the closing for our first home purchase. He was professional when we first…read moremet, right up until the moment I told him we wanted him to represent us in the purchase. He took forever when we made the offer on the first home. We lost that one. He assured us that it was a fluke. Some weird excuse about changing diapers. Our second offer was an even bigger disaster. Run, don't walk from this clown. It's your money. Be careful with it!

This company is also known as Milwaukee Flat Fee homes, which is who we listed our Shorewood…read moreProperty with...If I could select 0 stars I would. Paul Stevens is one of the most arrogant, unprofessional people to do business with. Clearly, I see from the other reviews here, that we are not alone in our assessment as this is his typical pattern of behavior. We listed our duplex (investment property) with Milwaukee Flat Fee Homes in February 2019, right before the pandemic hit. We paid the flat fee to have our property listed on MLS for a year. We don't NEED to sell this property, but it seemed like a great time to sell at the time. Right after listing, Covid-19 hit the US and greatly impacted our ability to show our property to both prospective buyers and prospective new tenants. We received an offer to purchase in April for $50,000 under asking and told them we were not interested. Paul didn't like that. He wants his sellers to accept the first offer that comes their way so he can do as little work as possible. We received another offer for our property in late June, had minimal back and forth negotiations and ultimately we decided not to accept the buyer's offer. A few days later we received an email from Paul accusing us of lying on our condition report and stating that he was breaking our contract and taking our home off of MLS. We then provided proof that there were no "lies" on our condition report and Paul ignored all of our calls and emails related to the "misunderstanding." When he finally responded, he stated, "Our listing fee is non-refundable. Either party may cancel at any time for any reason. This is my last communication on this matter." In other words, Paul Stevens believes that when you pay him up front to list your property for 12 months, he can cancel your listing at anytime if he chooses simply because you didn't accept an offer that he wants you to take.

Buyer beware. Just understand that this service is very basic...so much so that I didn't hear from…read moreANYONE at MFF even though I literally begged for a call back. I had received an offer but only knew that because the buyers agent texted me. I could not get a return call, or email from MFF for 2 days. I interpreted the lack of interest in my property as an indication that their customer service is sub par. Finally, just wanted to share that MFF sent a representative to the closing today who showed up with her boobs hanging out of a shirt that looked like it came from a Victorian Secrets catalog. This was shocking and so unprofessional. Really?

This place is awesome! RentRodger.com offers complete access to a wide variety of downtown Madison…read moreapartments & campus area rentals, a Sublet Search & Post, Roommate Search & Post, and Interactive Rodger Forums. Post all the downtown Madison apartment, sublet, and roommate ads you want, RentRodger.com is completely FREE!

I live in Lucky Apts now and will be living in 613 Maggie Frances this upcoming year. In navigating…read moremy new lease and figuring out what I need,Megan Jensen has exceeded expectations as Resident Relations Coordinator and has continued to answer my many questions promptly and accurately. When I had to catch a flight soon after the lease signing deadline, both Larissa and Megan helped me get through everything as fast as possible. They have both gone above and beyond and are great examples of why SBA is the only company I'll lease with in Madison.

I was a resident of Steve Brown Properties, including Brownridge Terrace and West End Circle, for…read moreseven years. Unfortunately, my experience was incredibly stressful and often felt like an ongoing battle rather than a place to call home. Throughout my tenancy, I experienced persistent maintenance problems and poor communication. My experience closely mirrored another resident's review stating that "nobody was ever on the same page about anything." I regularly had to communicate with multiple employees who failed to relay information to one another, making even routine maintenance requests unnecessarily difficult. The buildings themselves also suffered from long-standing maintenance issues. The hallway air conditioning remained inoperable for years despite annual requests for repair. Each time I was told other projects had a higher priority, yet the issue was never resolved. Likewise, the entrance, lobby, and hallway lights remained burned out for months despite being reported multiple times. During a unit transfer, I was mistakenly double-charged rent and had to fight to receive a refund. After moving into the new unit, I spent approximately six weeks dealing with a broken dishwasher, microwave, and washer/dryer because the apartment had not been properly inspected before move-in. I also discovered black mold inside the HVAC closet. In a previous apartment, I reported an air conditioner that failed to cool properly for nearly two years, only to be told repeatedly that it was "working as intended" until it eventually failed completely. I repeatedly submitted work orders for broken blinds, but the requests were closed or downgraded without the repairs being completed. Management did not tell me they were waiting on replacement parts until about six months later, despite my repeated phone calls and emails. I was also billed an after-hours maintenance fee after reporting a fire sprinkler head hanging from the ceiling, even though maintenance determined the condition required immediate attention. Toward the end of my tenancy, a persistent low-frequency booming vibration developed throughout the building, severely affecting my ability to sleep. Although management attempted to locate the source, the investigation was limited to my apartment and the basement, while the rooftop mechanical equipment--a common source of low-frequency building vibrations--was not initially inspected. The issue remained unresolved, and during one of my follow-up reports, I was yelled at by a member of the maintenance staff. Although West End Circle and other Steve Brown properties have attractive buildings and good locations, I found that many maintenance issues remained unresolved for extended periods, and communication was consistently poor. Because these conditions were significantly affecting my health, I submitted medical documentation supporting my disability and requested a reasonable accommodation under the Fair Housing Act. During a phone call, I was told management had approved a mutual lease termination, and I signed a lease elsewhere in reliance on that representation. The agreement was later withdrawn, and I was required to proceed through the standard re-rental process. I learned the hard way not to count on their word alone. Get every important agreement in writing before making major financial decisions. After seven years as a resident, the cumulative effect of the unresolved maintenance issues, poor communication, and handling of my accommodation request took a significant toll on my health and family. Looking back, I regret staying as long as I did. I should have recognized sooner that my concerns were not being taken seriously or treated with the respect they deserved. I hope this review helps prospective tenants make an informed decision. Every person's experience will differ, but this reflects mine after seven years living at Steve Brown Properties.

Working with Accord Realty has been one of the most stressful and frustrating experiences of my…read morelife. I was looking for a starter home in the Madison area and had the displeasure of working with their agent, Greta Drammeh. What I was looking for was an advocate that could help me through the complex and confusing process of buying a home for the first time. Greta advised me to make higher and higher bids on a home I was looking at. After an inspection it turned out the home was a real dud, there were a massive number of undisclosed defects that adversely impacted the value of the home, not to mention the time and stress required to deal with them. Over the course of the next week Greta failed to negotiate any real solution to the defects, coming back with only a token $1000 credit from the sellers as a "win" despite the defects costing far more to fix. I was never able to learn the actual extent of the defects as Greta never got the inspectors we requested in the house to look at the issues and get in person quotes despite our insistence. This whole process has left me distraught and in my opinion Accord Realty did not prioritize me as a client over getting their commission as soon as possible with minimal resistance. I needed a fighter for this difficult transaction and that is NOT what I got with Greta and Accord Realty. If you are looking for a home around Madison my advice would be to find a representative and advocate elsewhere.

Our current and ongoing experience with Accord Realty has been an absolute disaster. I feel that my…read morerealtor (Greta Drammeh) has let me and my partner down in what should have been an exciting first time home buying experience. The house in question had over 10 undisclosed defects (which are defined by Wisconsin law as a "condition that would have a significant adverse effect on the value of the property") that only arose during the inspection process (including two active water leaks, mold, a broken rafter, and a dead animal in the chimney). While we expected some issues to come up in the inspection given the age of the house; however, we were flabbergasted at all of the defects, but we were more stunned when we realized that Greta did very little to advocate for us in negotiations with the selling party. We requested multiple times from Greta that she get certified contractions to get into the house to provide us with quotes to repair the defects, which we feel she failed to do. Additionally, once we made it clear we were no longer interested in the house, she did very little to help us get out of the deal with any of our earnest money. We believe that she wanted to settle the matter as quickly as she could instead of advocating for us like a realtor should have done. We also saw a noticeable shift in her behavior once we made it clear multiple times that we did not want the house as there were too many unknowns and did not feel comfortable going forward with the purchase (she stopped responding as quickly to our emails, and delayed sending us communications from the selling party). The whole situation has left a bad taste in our mouth, and a significant amount of disappointment with Greta and Accord Realty. We will be looking for a different realtor in the future to meet our needs.

Not surprised that they don't have many good reviews, parking in their ramps is a total scam. I…read moreparked at the 122 West Doty ramp at 6pm and when I came back at 8pm the ramp was completely locked up. There was no signage anywhere saying that the ramp was going to close. I was then charged almost $40 for overnight parking. When I reached out to them to find a solution. All they did was gaslight me that the ramp never closes and refused to give me any form of refund for the overnight portion that I paid. I found them to be very disrespectful and demeaning in the way that they handled the issue. Not worth parking in these ramps when there are plenty of others in Madison that are much more fairly priced.

Parking scam artists and unwilling unprofessional managers to handle any resolution process. We…read moreparked at 10 Doty St for less than 48 hours; Friday 2:40pm until Sunday at 11am and the charge was fifty seven dollars. Sign reads ten dollars flat fee Friday and Saturday. They use small print misleading pricing to scam you for at least three times the price they want you to believe you will pay. They say it is aimed at the "bar crowd". Valet at the Hilton is cheaper than this radical Madison company. Avoid anything that is related to this money scamming company.

Alex is an amazing realtor. He's so good that I sent the president of First Weber (who knew my…read morefather) this message. Is Alex Saloutos real? A realtor who thinks about us first, and not him? Let me explain. You already know the first part of this; but the latest chapter is new. We want to buy a lot. Alex spends a lot of time showing us lots and does an electronic mapping thing that works great with my personality. After a long search, we find one we love. It is, I forget maybe $99,000. I suggest an offer around $91,000. Alex builds a spreadsheet of golf course lots in Dane County and notes that this one started on the market 3 years ago at maybe $109K. He thinks it can be had for under $80K. We make an offer below $70K, and settle at $71K and make the purchase. We are ecstatic. Melanie, though, really wants to live IN Madison. After completely designing a house for the lot in SketchUp (OK, I can be psychotically driven); I say, "If that's where you want to live; let's expand/remodel your old house". $300K later it is great. But we still own the lot, which is listed at $79,900 to be virtually the same price as the adjacent lot. Early this week we get an offer of $74K. Alex researches the offer and talks to the seller's realtor. He learns that they want to build a BIG house on a golf course (like the neighbor's house), and need two lots to do that. He learns that they have an accepted offer on the adjacent lot, contingent on closing with our lot. There are only three lots in our subdivision left, and only two adjoining. Alex advises holding on our price, and countering at full price; but offering them a copy of the detailed survey that we paid for ($925), which costs us nothing now. That's gutsy! His best interest would have been served by saying, "take it!" You understand better than anyone that one way to get easy commissions is to get your clients to underprice their homes, or advise them to buy at premium prices. The next day they accepted the full price offer Between the two transactions; Alex took us from a loss of around $20K (plus taxes and transaction fees), to a net profit even after fees and commissions. I can't recommend Alex too much. We will sing his praises to everyone interested in a realtor. I have a vCard for Alex that I send to anyone interested in a realtor. You really can build your business by serving clients' interests, and not going for the quick gains. Jeff Boldt, PE

I greatly enjoyed working with Alex. He takes time to understand what his clients are looking for…read morein their new home, helps to establish realistic expectations and focuses on finding the best fit for his clients, rather than just on completing a transaction. Alex impresses with his knowledge of architectural style, neighborhoods, construction quality and patience for clients who have very particular needs. I recommend Alex to anyone that is looking to buy or sell a home without reservations.