Lang Realty

The guy I worked with, Josh, got me a great apartment. I took the second apartment he showed me — both in the same building.
He was friendly, however, he was not punctual being 30 minutes late to the lease signing appointment, did not provide a signed lease until weeks after moving into the apartment and only after several «it’s in the mail» or «I’ll drop it by today» with nothing in the mail or dropped by. It was a very frustrating experience. He was a decent enough guy, just not so good with paperwork or punctuality.
Oh, and the super had no idea I was moving in until I called him to get the keys. Nobody at Lang told him… good thing I called a few days early. The super in the building is super nice — so this is also a big plus.
This experience left me viewing both him and Lang Realty as disorganized but I didn’t have to pay any fee so it all worked out in the end for me. I also don’t think they are shady as much as just totally disorganized.
I love my apartment and suggest Lang Realty get more organized. I’d say if you work with them you’ll get a great place with a few snafus.

Very rude person answering the phone. I hope she reads this and knows who she spoke to when I say «like I said». Every confirmation question I had was met with a snarky «like I said…» response. Unprofessional phone manor turned me off before even getting help with my search. This company is definitely crossed off my list. If I could give negative stars I would. I don’t like the fact hat I spend my whole day at work trying to give excellent customer service when the phone rings only to have to experience such rude behavior when I seek help.

I saw a listing on Craigslist for an apartment that seemed too good to be true. $ 1,200 a month for an extra large studio in the Bronx. Electric and gas included! No fee! Better yet, it was rent stabilized! They even advertised that guarantors were accepted.
Since I have issues with my credit due to a failed business, I texted Mr. Brickman and expressed interest. (He prefers texts and refuses to answer his phone; now I know why.) When I texted him, he asked how my credit was. I said that it was mediocre, but that I had a guarantor who made six figures.
He didn’t bother to text me back, not even to say that it wouldn’t work or that he couldn’t help me. I was offended for about ten minutes, but I realized that getting upset about the actions of a sleazebag is pointless.
Their ads are classic «bait and switch.» They advertise deals that are too good to be true; undoubtedly, dozens respond and they keep the suckers. Whatever you do, don’t believe the good reviews here. My guess (and it’s just a guess) is that they’re obviously planted, as there is simply no way that anyone could have a good experience with this kind of outfit.
I’ve been in real estate for over twenty years. Honest people like me laugh at «agents» like this. It always catches up to them, and I wish I could be there to witness it when it finally does. They represent the very worst horror stories you could ever hear about in the real estate business, and they’re the types of people who make the rest of us cynical. If you believe nothing in this review, believe one thing: Stay away or you will be sorry.

Josh P was rude, unprofessional and abrasive. He canceled the appointment 15 minutes before, and we were already in the neighborhood. I explained we took off work early to make the appointment and he got very aggressive and started being very condescending. Super unprofessional and unethical. Stay away from this broker and company

Me and my roomate needed to find a Place fast and Josh P. from Lang was amazing!!! We saw an amazing apartment in crown heights thats was resonably priced that same night we sent all of our information and told Josh we needed an update ASAP. By 8am we got the answer from Josh that we were approved and signed the lease that same day! Our apartment is amazing and Josh was so helpful and patient through a very stressful situation. I refered all my friends to Josh because I truly feel he was very honest and helpful and thats hard to find in New York. Thanks Josh! for making our experience a great one!

Thanks to Lang Realty we have been happy residents of Prospect Lefferts Gardens for the past 6 years. We have rented our apartment here in 2009, and had a great experience with Dave. I was too lazy to leave a review back then, but now I strongly feel that the time to say THANK YOU has come. Dave showed us an amazing fully renovated apartment for a very reasonable price, and we have submitted the application the same night. The next day we found out that the landlord had another application submitted by a different broker, and Dave honestly warned us that he was not sure whether he would be able to get this deal for us, because the second applicant had higher income than we did. It took the landlord a couple of days to make a decision, and Dave was following up with us and the landlord every single day. Finally, somehow Dave managed to get this deal for us. We were so happy, and six years later we still love this place! After we have moved in, many of our friends decided to follow us and moved to the area, so I have referred at least 5 people to Lang. Their experience was great as well. I highly recommend Dave and Izzy (I have never met him in person, but he was great in helping my friends), and wouldn’t entirely recommend Josh who is young guy, often too pushy and not very professional. Other than that, it is the best real estate company to deal with in the area. They have great listings, I imagine that they are in good terms with landlords, and do win bidding wars (!) that occur here. I have worked with a couple of other brokers in the area when I was renting an apartment for my mom who moved to New York and Lang Realty didn’t have any studios available. That experience with other companies was pretty bad, so yes, I know the difference.
I decided to leave the review after a friend of mine told me that so many people are dissatisfied here on Unilocal.My guess is that the market here is just too hot and you need to move really fast and be well qualified to get an apartment here. Landlords work with multiple brokers, good places go into contracts the same day, and there are often multiple applications coming from different brokers, so the landlord will choose the most qualified tenant. Therefore, it is quite understandable that Lang might not always have the most uptodate info, and that somebody with better income/​credit can get the deal instead of you. However, if you have good income/​credit and move fast, you will be very happy with their work. I wish all RE brokers were like this in this city!

This group is shady and sneaky. They seem to be pros at the bait and switch. After confirming that my papers were in order, they rejected me for the apartment, but refused to give a reason why. Then they tried to move me to a dirty building for the same price. A friend of mine had a similar experience, while another had no issues. There was talk of discrimination, but we chose to walk away and get better apartments through honest brokers.

A little background info, I am a single female moving to NYC for the first time from upstate ny. I originally saw a posting for a cute studio apartment in prospect lefferts garden and emailed dave to set up an appt. I was only going to be in Brooklyn for the weekend, so I set up an appointment for Sunday. This was on Thursday. I know apartments go fast in nyc so I thought it might work out better if my uncle who lives in the area would go check out the apartment. I emailed and called dave Thursday night to set things up. We didn’t hear back from him till Friday afternoon and by that time the apartment was already gone. This was the only not great part of my experience with Lang realty. After that misstep, dave let us know he had another option in the same building and we’d be the first to see it sunday. After the initial difficulty in getting a hold of him he was very easy to get in contact with him after that. We made an appointment on Sunday to look at the apartment, it was $ 300 more and a one bedroom, but it was gorgeous and had three closets! Can’t get much better than that in nyc. Even though it was a Sunday, dave got us in the office to fill out all the paper work and we were approved by the landlord the same day, signed the lease on Monday, and I’m moving into my new place tomorrow. Dave was very personable and joked with us throughout to make us feel comfortable. Good job Lang realty!

Worst realty experience in 10 years of NYC renting. Agent Joe Brikman falsely advertised an apartment as no-​fee on the Lang Realty website, StreetEasy, NakedApartments, and Craigslist. My boyfriend and I viewed and loved the unit. Prior to making our deposit, we verbally confirmed the apartment was no-​fee, and Joe misinformed us. We were looking for a ⁹⁄₁ lease but agreed to push back to ⁹⁄₁₅ to accommodate renovations. Joe took 24 hours to email us the application, and we took 48 hours to complete it with all of our guarantor’s paperwork, during which Joe was harassing. All of his communications were rude, but we thought he was working for the landlord rather than us and that they were expediting the process, so we didn’t complain.
After being rushed to submit supporting documents, approval took over a week, at which point Joe demanded to keep our deposit as an undisclosed fee for himself. We still wanted to move forward with the apartment, but after he lied to our faces and jerked us around for 2 weeks, we disputed his fee and escalated to the agency owners, Nate and Sam Lang. To their credit, the Lang brothers were on vacation in Australia and communicated with us almost every day during the ordeal and negotiated a significantly reduced fee. However, Nate was extremely intense, defended Joe’s character, and interrupted every sentence I uttered. Sam was calmer and nicer but repeatedly reminded us that he was working for «nothing» (referring to the agreed-​upon fee) and ultimately was ineffectual. Sam also acted like he was doing us a huge favor the whole time, but I believe correcting subordinate mistakes and addressing client grievances are well within the purview of a business owner.
Our move date fast approaching, we hired movers. The landlord stopped responding to Nate’s and Sam’s contact attempts and remained unresponsive throughout. On 9/​10, Sam called to inform me the landlord didn’t want us anymore because we were too difficult (we suspect Joe misrepresented us out of spite and in hopes of securing a client who would pay his full fee.). I explained that we didn’t harbor any ill will toward the landlord or feel it was right to be penalized for Joe’s misconduct. We wanted to clear the air, but the Langs would not arrange a meeting for us or give us the landlord’s contact information. After some back and forth, Sam convinced the landlord to accept us and in a ⁹⁄₁₁ text assured me, «I’ll make it happen just need to find out when it will be done…» so we stopped looking for backups. ⁹⁄₁₅ came and went, then the landlord committed to a ¹⁰⁄₁ lease. We moved all our stuff into storage, took a sublease, and rescheduled our movers.
On 9/​21, we went to check on our apartment’s progress. There were live cockroaches in the vestibule (65 Lenox Road, Brooklyn). The super showed us a different move-​in ready unit that was newly renovated. Then we saw our apartment, which was in the exact same condition from our initial ⁸⁄₂₅ viewing. We asked the super why the renovation on a vacancy was prioritized over an apartment with an approved app and move 10 days out. He said he wasn’t informed there was an approved app or ¹⁰⁄₁ move on our apartment. Further, he did not believe he could complete the renovation in time.
After all the work the Langs and we put into closing this deal, we agreed to be flexible and postponed our move to ¹⁰⁄₅. The landlord then requested that we return to Brooklyn on ⁹⁄₂₃ to meet him, but without the promise of presenting a lease, just as an additional round of approval. At this point, the Jewish holidays were days away, we were living in NJ and, having had sustained a knee injury, I was in pain and on crutches. With a 4-​hour round trip that we drove the day before, PT/​doctors’ appointments, and our offer to postpone the move 5 days, we communicated that we wanted to meet on ⁹⁄₂₈ instead. After denying our meeting requests, stringing us along for over a month, and repeatedly telling us the landlord was in «no rush,» Sam advised not to wait until after Rosh Hashanah to meet. Our patience tried, we held firm. On 9/​23, the landlord denied us. The Langs refunded our application fees and deposit but refused to help us find another apartment.
This is one of those agencies that continues to get decent listings from years of landlord cronyism, so their agents are lazy and unprofessional and don’t care about customer service or business ethics. It was a stressful, offensive experience from beginning to end. If the agency owners aren’t concerned with Department of State charges or Better Business Bureau complaints, they at least should protect their legacy and clients from such miscommunication and mismanagement.

Here’s the story: my partner and I were looking for a one bedroom in Prospect-​Lefferts. We contacted Joe, because we saw his ads all over Streeteasy and Craig’s List. We texted him about a specific apartment; he responded right away and set an appointment for late Friday afternoon.
At the appointment, Joe wasn’t a bucket of sunshine, but he was professional and answered our questions thoroughly. We told him what we were looking for and what we were hoping to pay; he showed us two more similar apartments.
We loved the third apartment we saw and texted him an hour after the showing letting him know of our interest. He emailed us the application material right away; and we put in the completed app that night. Over the next few days, Joe always responded to our texts and emails promptly. We had to follow up with him regularly, but things moved along. A week later, we were signing the lease on our apartment. Joe was really nice at the lease signing: again answering our questions and providing us with everything we needed.
Even after the lease was signed, Joe answered my questions via text immediately after I asked them. Lang refunded our deposit money right away after we paid the full signing costs via check.
Joe and crew got the job done. There was no hand holding; which is what we expected of NY real estate. But, we really can’t complain. With the help of Lang Realty, we found an apartment we love in less than three hours of searching.
(Another reviewer said that Joe treated her poorly because she was a lesbian, that may have been the case for you, but being lesbians didn’t seem to affect the treatment we received.)

OH MY GOD. I don’t even want to give them one star to be honest. Do yourself a favor and stay far away from these brokers.
I spoke to one of their agent Levi at 347−756−6540 — is by far, the worst!!!
He asked me a few questions, and hung up on me.
it was THE WORST phone call ever. THE WORST.

What a shady agency! We went to see one apartment and we were very interested. We told this guy named Dave that we want to submit documents. We asked pertinent questions because we want to make sure that we get the real deal. We sent him a text, we called too. But no reply. Crappy service Oh well, not our loss.

Yes. All of the horrible reviews you’ve been reading are VERY. ACCURATE. Please beware of this horrible company.
I was a skeptic of sorts. Giving them the benefit of the doubt. BIG mistake. I admit it.
Like many other reviews say, this Joe guy didn’t show up for our appointment. Which was confirmed SEVERAL times. I tried calling and was instantly prompted with a «google voice» voicemail.
That guy Levi is also pleasant… as pleasant as a great warm case of necrotizing fasciitis.
UNPROFESSIONAL Business. Lacks credibility, communication, trust, and efficiency. STAY. AWAY. And save yourself the aggravation. For the love of god

I must be one of the lucky few.
I worked with a broker named Mel who was not only on time to my appointment (s), but also very responsive and quite hilarious. My experience went a little something like this…
saw a place on Craigslist at 11:30pm the Thursday after Christmas. Sent an email, got a response at 11:33pm; we traded a few emails then a text and met up at the apartment the next day (Friday) at 11am.
By the following Tuesday (4 days later), my application was in. By Thursday, I was approved.
In between all of that, Mel answered all of my annoying ass texts and phone calls and even held on to my lease when I caught the flu in the middle of the process.
NYC real estate is cut throat. I can’t speak for the bad broker attitudes however business wise, I am willing to bet that Lang may not be at fault for all of the horror stories on here. NYC landlords are notorious for hiring 5 – 10 brokers to rent an apartment. The brokers don’t communicate with each other (duh they want the commish for themselves) hence all the back and forth and feeling like the rug is pulled out from under you when you don’t get the spot.
In any event, I am writing this post from my new apartment. Glad to be back in BK and would probably use Mel & Lang again if I ever rent another place.

Bait and switch. I know one shouldn’t have high expectations in NYC when it comes to brokers, but if you’re a liar, you should be able to handle some honest reviews from your critics.
Saw an apartment on craigslist one night. Texted the number listed asking if it was still available, and if so, could I set up a time to view it. Next morning, someone from Lang texted back, stating the apartment was available and kept going on and on about how awesome it was. I kept replying back, «sounds terrific, can I please view it?» Jerk-​off from Lang would reply back, «Yes, the apartment is great.» Again I asked, «Great! Could I set up an appointment?» Jerk-​off from Lang then stopped responding.
Ten minutes later, saw the same apartment reposted on craigslist, this time by a different broker at Lang named Levi. Texted that number and Levi replied back that the place was still available. After passing Levi’s initial test of income and credit requirements, he set up an appointment to have me view it, but of course the conversation ended with, «confirm an hour before the appointment.» Right then I knew it was a scam… brokers who say this have no intention of showing you the apartment you want.
Come an hour before the appointment, the apartment was supposedly rented (if it ever existed)… of course Levi did have another great place near-​by to show me. He didn’t have any photos, or any real information about move-​in or the pet policy, but he needed to show the place ASAP.
Karma, Lang. I hope your scams come back to bite you in the ass, big time.

I’ve had a range of dealings with brokers. This one — in particular, Levi at 347−756−6540 — is by far, the worst!
You see, I need a broker since the hubbie and I are moving back from out of state without a job. Other than that, I’m a real estate broker’s dream. Past party age, married, a very healthy savings, excellent credit, own property and willing to pay several months up front. Every broker I’ve spoken with is willing to work with the LL to help circumvent the job issue.
So I called the business number — 347−756−6540 — Levi, as listed in the craigslist ad. I explained my situation. I was completely taken aback by his hostile response. He said I needed to get a job first and then look for an apt. Well, being halfway across the country in an expensive flight market, I can’t afford to fly back and forth for interviews. It’s never been a problem with other agents.
He said that the LL wouldn’t accept someone that doesn’t work. The hubs and I are in a good career path. We’re not coming as homeless Section 8 people. I asked if he could talk to the landlord and see if he’d overlook it if maybe we paid a couple months extra up front. His response? It’s not my job to talk to the landlord on your behalf. Uhmmm, yes it is. That’s what that $ 2000 fee is for. So you can talk to the landlord on our behalf. So I told him nicely that isn’t that what the fee for — so he can talk to the landlord. And he hung up on me. WTF??? I’ve never experienced more prickish behavior from an «agent» than I have from Levi at 347−756−6540 at Lang Realty. I didn’t do anything to deserve the hostile attitude either — acted professional, didn’t curse, nothing… after all, you can catch more flies with honey. Though Levi at Lang Realty at 347−756−6540 apparently doesn’t realize this.
Well, no. If I’m paying one month’s broker fee, you need to do your damn job. If you want to pay someone a broker’s fee for not willing to do any work, then Levi at 347−756−6540 is your man!

Wow. Stay far, far away from Lang Realty, particularly Dave. I set up and confirmed an appointment with him on the morning I was due to see it, and arrived at 11:08 for the 11:00 am appointment, after taking an hour-​long train ride from the Upper West Side, to find three other people standing outside the building. «It’s already gone,» they said, «and he’s refusing to show it to anyone else.»
While I acknowledge NYC apartment-​hunting is cutthroat, I seriously doubt that in eight minutes, someone had viewed, placed a deposit on, and vacated the apartment. When I texted Dave, he said he was «done there,» and when I said something along the lines of «I wish I had known,» (meaning I wish I had known he had no intention of actually showing us the apartment, or had had some warning that so many people would be viewing it at that time or that the window for viewing was literally eight minutes), his reply was, «Wish you had known what? People came on time and rented it?»
And that’s why he’s receiving this review. The rest, as I said, I could deal with, as I’m familiar enough with the ridiculousness of looking at apartments in New York to have developed a thick skin. But the rudeness and lack of professionalism was entirely uncalled for, and making a snarky, condescending comment to someone he’d never even met, and who could have been a potential client but sure as hell won’t be now, was entirely unacceptable. You deserve better, NYC apartment-​hunters! Steer clear!

Really interesting work being done here. I am currently abroad so I had my roommate look at apartments on our behalf. We found a really nice one and scheduled a viewing with Dave. That appeared to run smoothly. We talked about it later that day, decided we wanted it and let them know. We were asked to make a deposit equal to one month’s rent and 50 dollars per person for application fees. The money part went relatively smoothly.
Then there was the application process. Because I was using a guarantor (my parents), I had to relay this information to them from GERMANY because Dave insisted on contacting my roommate who is not in contact with my parents instead of speaking to them or me directly. Just incredibly sketchy. He spoke to my parents maybe twice and claimed that he had tried to contact them (they received no message from him at any time). It was really the strangest thing. I’m having such a hard time articulating just how infuriating this was for us.
Throughout this hellish process during which he CONTINUALLY refused to contact my parents directly (I made sure that he had email and phone number contacts), he hassled my roommate every so often about how he hadn’t received things from my parents, mind you, this took place over 48 hours. He was asking for W2s and the works and this was going to be a process from the beginning especially with the distance and the constant relay of messages. NO patience was offered. Then at the end of all of this garbage, we weren’t even approved by the owners. That may or may not have anything to do with the way this situation was handled. Whatever. It was crap. Just crap.
Oh and he was really nice to my roommate. He’s probably a very nice guy. I wouldn’t know. HE NEVER SPOKE TO ME.
I actually read this Unilocal page sometime during this debacle and was laughing about how people either really loved this place or really hated it. HAH. I guess I know how I feel about it now.

If you search on craigslist for a studio or 1br near Prospect Park, you’ll find floods of duplicate postings from these realtors. The descriptions and photos remain the same, so they are not indicative of what is actually available. That aside, I called a couple of agents from Lang. Two were unresponsive, and one named Levi had the following interaction with me:
Me: Hi, I’d like to view the apartment on (location on ad)
Levi: Which one?
Me: The one for (price) at (location on ad)
Levi: (annoyed) Huh? No, there’s nothing on (location on ad). I have one (a few blocks away) for that price.
Me: That’s fine.
Levi: What’s your income and your credit score?
Me: (Tells him my income — 40x the rent and credit score, which was high.)
Levi: No, this landlord’s going to want more. You don’t make enough.
Me: Really? I haven’t had that experience over the past two months. I was approved for another apartment in the same neighborhood but it didn’t work out because they changed their pet policy.
Levi: (angrily) It doesn’t matter what other landlords say. This landlord will want more.
Me: Okay.
Levi: So, do you want to see the apartment?
Me: Um, I did??? But, if I can’t get it… I guess not.
Levi: Well, stop wasting my time. (Hangs up.)
A few days later, I found a big and beautiful 1br apartment in the same neighborhood… in a co-​op building… through another broker. No issue with my income or credit.
What else can I say? They suck they suck they suck.

Wow. Joe Brikman is kinda the worst I’ve ever «worked» with. He immediately contacted me to view an apartment I was interested in, and was very responsive initially. As soon as I asked him to tell me the exact location of the apartment so I could plan my trip there, he stopped responding.
After 3 email attempts with no response, he finally told me the address of the apartment 15 minutes after the set time we had planned to meet. He also told me the «right side of the building is open for you to check out». Huh? I’m just going to randomly wander into an apartment building in the hood and view this WITHOUT the broker or a super? Are you crazy? Sounds like a trap to lure women into getting raped or robbed.
It’s very possible that Joe himself or a super would be there to show me the apartment, but his cryptic messages and inability to respond to simple emails left me disenchanted. Thanks for wasting my time, Joe! I was about 90% sure I wanted to rent that place, so you just lost a sale.