Century 21 Benjamin

Phoned the main number at their office a few times inquiring about listing. Unprofessional receptionist replied «I don’t know anything about that listing» and the very classy «how would I know what the HOA fee is on that that apartment». I guess she forgot that she was at the office, and that she works for a realtor. Should have been my first clue not to do business with them or even attempt to view any of their listings. The realtor who ended up showing me one of the apartments was worse. Not interested in answering any of my questions about the unit.

I accentually double booked a showing for the same appt today One with Shawn and one with Maddie. Where Maddie was very pleasant person after showing me the apt, I got a nasty phone call from Shawn. He was rude, and disrespectful to me, and just copped attitude because I made a simple error. I would never deal with Shawn again and if it wasn’t for Maddie calling me back after sending out an e-​mail I would have nothing to do with this company.

This is the absolute worse realtor ever!!! They give out false information. I was looking for a coop apt in Forest Hills this past fall season and dealt with Augustin Cutaj and Sonia Ogikubo. Augustin is only interested in dollar signs and not your family needs. Sonia is a poor communicator and you can never reach her by phone. Her phone always goes to voicemail and she never calls back. I had to continuously call the manager. Sonia also gives you false information. I had left a $ 250 deposit for the offering plan on a property I was interested in and was told by Sonia that my check would not be cashed and be returned to me when I return the documents — only to find on my bank statement that the check posted to my account. I was very surprised when I discovered this. Once the sale was made — I never heard from Sonia again. She did not even come to the closing or follow up with us.

Simply the best real estate agent in the Universe !!! She was our agent who helped us find our dream apartment in Forest Hills. But she was so much more than an agent. She was our counselor, our voice or\f reason, our advocate. She advised us on different buildings as she knows them all. She advised us when something was overpriced. She negotiated for us as if she was negotiating for herself. She listened to our wish list and then showed us the appropriate properties. She fought for us, especially when we unfortunately had to deal with other agents that were unethical. We are first time buyers so e\she explained everything — we got Real Estate Buyer’s 101 for free. And then she held our hand the whole time up to the closing — which happened successfully yesterday. Quite simply without her persistence this deal would have fallen through because of the inadequacy of the listing agent. But she corrected course and went beyond the call of duty just to make sure not only that we got the best deal but also made sure we did not «get played». She suggested a list of attorneys and we went with her top choice — a fantastic suggestion as the attorney was also wonderful and made sure we closed on time.
If you want the best agent who will take interest in your wishes and make sure you end up with what you really wanted, give Lily a call. She is a full-​service agent and broker, who is extremely knowledgeable and is happy to share her knowledge acquired along her years in the business. Forest Hills, Rego Park and Kew Gardens are the areas of her expertise and there is no building she does not already know. She can tell you about their co-​op boards too, which is extremely important. If I could give her 10 stars I would, but the top rating is 5 stars. if you want to buy real estate in this area, call her and forget the others. Most agents only care about their commission, she cares to make sure you buy exactly what you wanted. Nothing less than perfection!!!

I used Century 21 Benjamin to find an apartment in Forest Hills. It was my realtor whom I am writing the review for however, Lily Mocanu. She is hands down the best realtor I have ever dealt with and would recommend her whole heartedly to anyone. Experienced, professional, honest, kind, personable, genuine, prompt, attentive, passionate, awesome… I cannot say enough good things about her. Basically, she is what every realtor should be. She listened to my situation and always kept in touch with me to keep me updated. She worked her hardest to meet my time contraints. Thanks to her my deal was done within the required time period. If you are looking for/​selling a property in Forest Hills, use her!

They know the Forest Hills area well and they have good connections to local businesses. They have two offices — in Forest Hills and Flushing. Go with the Forest Hills one as it is more established.
As with all agencies, there are some good and bad agents. I’ve met a couple of them there. The japanese woman (Mie) was caring and punctual. Steven was decent. Avoid Laura Keller.

Haven’t Unilocaled in a while due to a great excuse.
Copped an apartment! =)
Now that I am all settled in comfortably I would like to thank Lily Mocanu @ Century 21 Benjamin for spending hours over the course of months showing me spots and actually talking me out of committing to certain properties. It’s great to have an honest agent who had my back through the whole ordeal. Cannot emphasize that enough!