Used them a couple years ago to get my place. They are parasites and Andrea Blum is completely unprofessional. One morning I was out driving and had my phone off. I had told Andrea I would not be available that weekend as I had other priorities. She wanted to get ahold of me though so she constantly called my roommates (who I had just listed as a reference on my apartment application, I didn't tell her she could contact them for any other reason) all morning asking them where I am. This was all because she wanted to get a check from me that Saturday and couldn't wait til Monday when I was both available and the banks would be open. I think she may be an addict of some kind based on that behavior. On top of that she was just rude and did not want to lift a finger. I am paying this person thousands of dollars to essentially just be a paperwork middleman, and I told her that I need specific language in my lease saying I can have a dog (the landlord agreed to this verbally so I just wanted it in writing). She just straight up told me she didn't want to do that because it was too much work. I'm sorry I asked you to do a teeny tiny amount of work for your insane paycheck Andrea. I definitely will never be coming to you again! read more

I was referred to Dorte Engel a while back through my grandmother. Prior to hiring her as my realtor to help me find a rental property I had heard good things about her and savvy and effective she is at finding rental and sale listing properties for her clients in the past. She is very well known in my family and has done business with various members of my family over the years. After working with her I recently referred my mother and sister to her as an outstanding realtor who works fast to seal the deal in getting her clients signed to a rental lease. I was disappointed in her unprofessionalism 2 months ago when I hired her to help me find a rental property. She tried to hustle me into signing a handwritten lease agreement drawn up by the landlord whom I was approved for a 2bd condo located in Silver Spring, Md. I  immediately notified her that I was waiting to receive my housing voucher and that I that I couldn't give her and exact move-in date but she insisted that we keep the condo that I was approved for and that she would inform the landlord of the situation and for him to hold the unit for me until such time that I was able to move in. After 2 months of waiting for my voucher application to be processed I reached out to Dorte and stated to her that I wanted to withdraw my application because I wasn't sure how much longer it would be before I'd receive my housing voucher. I than requested for her to contact the landlord in order to recover my first month's rent and security deposit check that I paid him to secure the unit, but she defended the landlord's right to retain my money by stating to me that I forfeited my rights to retain my rent check due to lack in ability to move into the unit in a reasonable. She also went on to say that "If I could get you your rent check back I would but I will try to fight for you to get you the security deposit back that you paid". Her statement to me was immoral and unethical and she is fully aware of landlord tenant rights and responsibilities and for her to say that it was illegal for the landlord to have kept my money since I did not sign a lease agreement nor did I provide him in writing a confirmed move-in date. She never spoke with the landlord to address my concerns of withdrawing my application and requesting a refund of the security deposit and first month's rent that I paid to his realty company's office. To say the least I was shocked and appalled by her scandalous behavior to recoop a retainers fee from the landlord for getting an approved rental application. She didn't care about the interest of me, the client when she made that move. I than fired her as my realtor and stopped any present and future referrals to her by notifying my family whom I sent her business to that she is a red flag and to not do business with her. I will never use her for my rental or home buying needs nor will I refer her to anyone else in the future. read more

I wrote this review of Hammond, but it's really a review of Charles Cherney since he was the realtor I worked with when looking for a place. Charles was thorough, patient, and experienced. For the last reason alone, I'd recommend him. In my case, he was able to land me a home partly because he had originally sold it to the seller. He worked around my schedule to show me homes, set up viewings, and made sure all the paperwork was signed and delivered. I'm a first time buyer and his input on resale value was invaluable. He'll point out all the little things that are great or poor on a property; things that I would completely overlook or not even think about. He wasn't afraid to tell me that a place sucked, even if I was interested in it. He's also got plenty of attorneys, mortgage brokers, contractors, and home inspectors on speed dial. And for working with him, I've got a beautiful condo, in an amazing area, surrounded by beautifully landscaped public park, with awesome neighbors. I searched for around 3 months and couldn't be happier with my new home. read more

My fiance and I worked with Michael Bloomer on a condo purchase in Arlington and he was great! My sister had recommended him as she and her husband bought a condo a couple years ago and he didn't disappoint. He was very personable and took the time to make sure we understood a very complicated process. read more

We interviewed about 4 or 5 realtors before we settled on John Petrowsky at Hammond RE to help us sell our house. Let me tell you, there are a lot of realtors in Cambridge, but John stood out amongst all of them. He's been in the business for a very long time, and knows the market very well in the neighborhood we were living in. He and his team (Christian & Barbara) were fantastic! They were quick to respond to any questions or concerns, and had a list of reliable (and responsive) contractors. This part was important, because in Cambridge/Boston, no one, and I truly mean this, would return our calls to come out and do things like fix our skylight or help us build a fence (they said it was too short...needed to be a few more feet for them to probably justify the cost). John also had unique perspective because he was also the selling realtor for our house (and our neighbors') a few years earlier. He also understood the psychology of selling and believed in creating a buzz for our place by not holding open houses every weekend. In fact, we only had one open house, and he stuck to his 2 hours there. After that one open house and a few private showings, we sold our house in about two and a half months. He also has a very calm and laid back demeanor. This is a plus for me, as selling a house stresses me out! I highly recommend John and his more-than-capable team of caped realtors to help sell or buy a house in the Cambridge area. http://johnpetrowsky.myhammondagent.com/ read more

This is by far the worst realtor I've ever had to deal with. The agent that I had to work with, Andrea Blum was completely racist, showing me places she thought would fit within my budget, without consulting me for my budget first, and making assumptions about my ability to pay! As if that was not insulting enough, she asked me to provide evidence of my enrollment in graduate school, and information of my acceptance as if that has anything to do with where I should be able to live. If you do not look outwardly privileged, aka white, probably not the place for you to go! read more

We just bought a house that was for sale through agents at Hammond Residential in Cambridge. I understand that the real estate market is competitive, especially in Boston. But the two agents who represented the seller did not care to do their due diligence to ensure what they listed on the MLS sheet was true. They mentioned a few things on the sheet that we found out were not verified beforehand, and were not true. We were too far in the process to back out when we found out, but if the agents had done their job and reported correct information, our deal would have went much more smoothly. As a buyer, its annoying when the selling agents "misrepresented the information." All they had to do was take a few minutes, make a call, and verify what they were listing in the MLS sheet is true. When I go to sell (or buy again) I would steer clear of the information coming form Hammond's agents!! read more

My wife and I originally listed our central Cambridge condo with Hammond Real Estate (Cambridge, MA), because the agent who helped us buy it about 16 years ago is now working out of that office and we'd had a good experience with her. Last winter, as we were getting ready to list it, several weeks after we had completely agreed on the agent's recommended asking price, she told us she had decided that the price was more than 12% too high. She'd had a meeting with the other brokers in her office, she said, and they all agreed the price was too high, given the substantially lower selling prices of 2 other units in our building 1-2 years ago. She further cautioned us about how conservative bank appraisals had become in "this economy," that they now tend to appraise residential properties substantially lower than before in order to reduce their lending risk, and that therefore she didn't want us to run the risk of an offer falling through due to a high asking price. When we asked why she had initially recommended the higher price, she said she had only done 'comparables' (looked at final sale prices for other, similar condos in our area) going back 6 months, because bank appraisers don't look at sales any older than that, and that therefore she hadn't taken the sales of the other 2 units in our building into consideration. We talked for about an hour and for the life of us couldn't get a straight answer to our question: Why was she now asking us to lower her original recommended asking price by almost $70,000??? What had changed so drastically? Nothing she told us seemed to add up, make sense So after talking with several friends with current, in-depth knowledge of the current Cambridge residential real estate market, all of whom were amazed that our agent was recommending such a low price, we decided to end our relationship with Hammond and go with Channing Real Estate, a smaller, very experienced agency with offices in Harvard Square. Long story short: we just sold our unit for only $20,000 less than the Hammond agent's original, recommended asking price. In other words, if we'd stayed with Hammond, WE PROBABLY WOULD HAVE LEFT AT LEAST $50,000 ON THE TABLE! I can only speculate about what went on at Hammond. Best case: serious incompetence. Medium case: they wanted to move inventory, sell our unit as fast as possible for their own financial benefit, even if that cost their client (us) 50+ large. Worst case: our agent (sole agency, by the way) or someone else in the Hammond office wanted a lower price as a favor to a friend shopping the Cambridge condo market. Anyway - it was all pretty appalling and I wouldn't recommend Hammond (Harvard Square) to anyone. I would highly recommend Channing, however - great folks, very attentive, hands-on, good negotiators, 20+ years experience with the Cambridge market. read more

Very Rude. I spoke with someone at Leading Edge real estate today I believe her name was Andrea Blum and this person was very rude. Very quick to hang up without saying goodbye (which I thought was common courtesy). It wasn't just the goodbye I thought was rude it was the demanding tone in her voice and the way she seemed to get annoyed after a question of hers was not answered to her satisfaction. I suggest saving yourself the headache and not doing business with Leading Edge, specifically Andrea Blum read more

This is a review of Bill Iacono, a Hammond Realtor at the 2 Brattle Street, Harvard Square location. Prior to meeting Bill, my wife and I had become frustrated with the Realtor with whom we had been working. We were searching in the Harvard/Porter/Davis Square neighborhoods, and our criteria were very specific -- 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, modern kitchen, classic details, outdoor living space, and off-street parking. We found several properties that suited our basic needs, but when the time came to place an offer, our Realtor balked at the prices we wished to pay. In general, we were left with the impression that our Realtor was young, inexperienced, and unable (or unwilling) to negotiate on our behalf. After nearly a year an a half, it was clear to us that a change was in order if we ever hoped to purchase a home. Enter Bill Iacono... Bill was recommended to us by friends, and we were excited to begin working with him during the fall real estate season. We met Bill at a home we were interested in seeing. What immediately set Bill apart from the other Realtors we had met was his calm personality and his extensive experience in real estate. Not only does Bill have a stellar track record representing sellers and buyers, but also, Bill was a builder in his earlier years. His knowledge of construction affords him a keen eye, and as we walked through this home, no detail escaped his notice. We finished our tour and sat with Bill for a few minutes to discuss the home. He was aware of our wish list from previous telephone conversations, but this was our first face-to-face encounter with him. As we chatted, he took the time to understand our personalities, hobbies, lifestyles, and future plans. After a short while, he told us that he thought the home was overpriced, had a slightly awkward layout, and that there were certainly better homes for us to choose from. We had seen approximately 100 homes over the course of two years, which to us, felt like we had seen everything. Though we were somewhat disappointed that this home would not be the right one for us, Bill's confidence and self-assuredness convinced us that he was right. We decided to wait and let Bill find us our home. Within days, Bill had more homes to show us. We met Bill after work one evening, and to our surprise, we were standing in front of our dream home. We had seen this home many months before, but our previous Realtor was reluctant to place an offer at the price we wished to pay. We were shocked to see that this property was still on the market. Bill told us that the home had been under contract twice since we had seen it last, but both offers fell through due to problems with financing. We walked through the property, and as it was a gut-rehab performed by reputable contractors, Bill saw nothing structurally or cosmetically wrong with this home. We told Bill that we wished to pay approximately 10% less than asking price. Instead of convincing us to increase our offer, Bill smiled and stated that our pre-approved financing placed us in a good position to get this home at a price we could afford. In the end, Bill got us our home at the exact price we wished to pay, along with nearly $2000 in additional concessions from the seller. If you are buying or selling a home, I strongly recommend that you allow Bill Iacono to represent you. Many Realtors claim to have experience, but Bill truly has the type of experience that translates into market knowledge and confidence. He has a keen understanding of real estate value, which places you in the best possible position as a buyer or a seller. Furthermore, he takes the time to understand your needs, and never compromises your interests for the sake of a commission. We couldn't be happier with Bill Iacono, and we'll surely work with him again for all our future realty transactions. read more

This is a review of Charles Cherney, an agent at Hammond. Unless you are absolutely certain that you want to do everything yourself, you'll want Charles Cherney as your agent. We were looking for our first house and hired Charles as a buyer's agent. He found us a great condo and single-handedly kept the transaction from falling apart -- several times. The basics: Charles is professional, highly responsive and available, and experienced. He returned all of our emails and phone calls within minutes, and actually apologized to us for taking a couple of hours to respond when he was on vacation. He gave us straight answers, steered us away from bad options, and was very clear when he saw a place he thought was right for us. Because we first saw the place that we ultimately bought early in the process, it took us some time to realize that we had indeed found our home, and Charles was patient in letting us do our diligence. When we hit a serious snag with obtaining financing as a result of some miscommunication between the sellers' agent and our lender, Charles went to bat for us. I am certain that without his help we would have lost our house. Equally importantly, he was the only person involved in the transaction who actually understood that buying a house for the first time can get emotional. He was supportive and, for the lack of a better term, human when we were hours away from losing the house. All in all, having Charles as our agent was the best choice we made when we decided to buy a house. He will actually be on your side (and he understands what it means to owe fiduciary duties to you!). At the risk of sounding over-the-top, there is not a single thing that we were dissatisfied with. Having dealt with our share of very shady real estate agents, Charles is excellent. We would work with him again in a heartbeat. read more

Charles Cherney at Hammond is an outstandingly competent and knowledgeable Realtor. Upon receiving an appointment at Harvard, I contacted Charles, who quickly figured out what I was looking for and got me up to speed on the Cambridge/Somerville market. He gave my search his all. With showings, offer-makings, and negotiations, Charles dedicated himself fully to me. He's attuned to the crucial but easy to miss details of the homes on the market. Charles's follow-through after helping me secure a fantastic place was impeccable - from inspection to closing and beyond, he was completely on top of things, and the transaction went remarkably smoothly. But what left me in awe is that Charles's assistance and insights extended long after the closing. When I showed up to move in, Charles was still there providing guidance on property taxes (and residential exemptions), banks, insurance companies, and electricians. As a first time homebuyer and a newcomer to the area, I had a lot to learn, yet was completely comfortable - and became completely competent - under Charles's wing. What I'm perhaps most grateful for is how enjoyable he made the process. Charles Cherney is a total gem to work with, and I highly recommend him. read more

Charles did a great job on finding us a he knew what we wanted and kept us up to date on postings and things that were coming down the line. The best thing about our experience with Charles was how honest and knowledgeable he was on his opinions. He did not just want us to buy a home to get the deal done, he was truly concern about us getting the best home we could get that met our needs and budget. Without overpaying, and making sure we knew all the cons of all the properties. Thank you Charles for all your help. Laura read more

I worked with Jon Petrowsky whom I considered a friend and his partner Christian Jones who are now affiliated with Compass. Everything was botched --staging, marketing, photography. They are phoning it in these days having sold so much real estate. Stay away! read more

We highly recommend Charles Cherney as a real estate broker! We were looking at a condo in Cambridge so we got in touch with Charles after finding some great reviews identifying him on Yelp for Hammond Real Estate in Cambridge. Charles is indeed very knowledgeable about real estate in the Cambridge area. We appreciated his honest advice and thoughts about properties that we visited. We were seriously considering one condo in particular but gave us his honest opinion and said that we should continue to look because he thinks we could do better. He also notified us of properties that were within our budget and did not pressure us to look at properties that exceeded our target, which was appreciated. Sure enough, we found the perfect condo for our needs in our price range and closed on our first place back in December. He is very attentive and will follow-up with emails along the way, even after closing. We had some issues with the heating system at first and he even contacted the sellers to ask for us and checked in with us to make sure everything was working well for the upcoming (brutal) Boston winter. Searching for a good home is difficult and stressful so we also appreciated his friendliness and good sense of humor. Charles also will respond to all our emails and return our phone calls as fast as he can. He's a hard worker and it shows. Sometimes I don't know if he sleeps! Initially, we also tried working with a couple of other real estate agents for the Brookline and Arlington areas but we found that they did not match the professional service and attention that we got from Charles. Finding a great home is difficult and finding a great real estate broker to help you along the way is also key to making it through the process. It's hard to find people who are competent at their jobs these days (I have very high standards!). Charles exceeded our expectations. He is a real estate broker who is interested in fostering relationships with his clients as well. We know we can count on Charles whenever we have real estate questions or concerns. We are grateful for Charles' real estate services and that is why we wrote a great review for him. Best of luck with your home search! read more