Metropolitan Property Group

We had a HORRIBLE experience with this company. They rushed us, were rude, and were very short and impatient with us. I am pretty sure they made us a ton of empty promises as well. We had an appointment to drop off our application and the office was closed, and when we called to ask where they were, they got angry with us and actually hung up on me. It was the least professional interaction that I have ever had. I was told to just leave my application in the lobby, that had no doorman, on the ground. Mind you, this application included bank statements, socials, and extremely personal information, along with $ 1000.
We lost that apartment because, due to it being their fault, we did not submit our application in time.
We were obviously never going to use that company again, but as we were having trouble finding an apartment, and we saw another listing, we thought we would give them another chance. They told us that the apartment would be listed at no more than $ 6,500. We put in an application for that price. The apartment ended up being listed at $ 9,000. How could a company that does this every day be $ 3,000 off? We ended up losing other apartments during that waiting period.
HORRIBLE HORRIBLE experience. They were rude, nasty, pushy, aggressive. I had 10 missed calls from the broker one evening and many texts messages. I had to block the number.

Very bad broker. their site doesn’t list the address of the apartment which is the first sign of being shady. Contacted ilan to view an apartment but guy never showed and when i called he said he wasn’t available even though we confirmed over email. Just take it as a lesson and do not exchange money or personal info with this company.

Unethical, Rude, and Unprofessional are the core values of Metro Property Group.
I wish I had checked on Unilocal before entering this devil’s lair. Shai Bardarian is the greediest, selfish, and unethical broker alive. One day before lease signing, he gets into a disagreement with the landlord on his commission and threatens to cancel the whole deal. He could care less about getting the right deal for his tenant and values his commission above all else. So much so, he is threatening legal action against various parties for commission that was never agreed to. Beware of this swindler. May the Lord be lenient on his savage soul.

Today I got a call from a Metropolitan Property Group broker who I’d previously seen an apartment with. I didn’t like that first apartment, but I gave her more details about what I was looking for. This time she called me to let me know an amazing place had just opened up in a building in the neighborhood I was interested in. Fantastic! I agreed to see the place and left work early to do so.
Upon arriving at the building — after trekking across town — the building owner tells us that an application is already being processed for the apartment. The application was submitted by another broker from Metropolitan.
She wasted my time. She neglected to call the building’s owner before our viewing appointment to confirm that it was still available. Metropolitan is so terrible they don’t even communicate amongst themselves to tell each other when one of them takes an apartment off the market.
BONUS: I currently live in an apartment my roommates and I got through Metropolitan. They are horribly incompetent people when it comes to building damages (I didn’t have heat until mid-​way through the winter). Getting our lease signed in the first place was a nightmare — they lost our paperwork, didn’t respond to emails, were incompetent in every way.
You’re better off spending that 15% broker’s fee (which they ALWAYS charge, by the way) on a broker who actually knows what they’re doing.

Preface: This is only the second 1 star review I have ever written. I reserve one star ratings for businesses that need to be shut down and actually posing a threat to society as a whole. THIS SERVES AS A LEGITIMATE WARNING TO THE ENTIRE INTERNET COMMUNITY.
I waited to write this review until I had a very all-​encompassing view of the organization as a whole. As of this point I have now met and dealt with FIVE SEPARATE BROKERS AT METROPOLITAN PROPERTY GROUP AND HAD THE SAME EXPERIENCE EACH TIME. I will keep their names out of it for respect.
I imagine this is how they do their training:
«Put fake listings in great areas all over the Internet… Naked apartments, street easy, our own website… Everywhere! People will need to inquire to us about these amazing listings that only we have!»
Then they get a call!
«First, ask the client about everything and be very intrusive because they have no idea how this market works! Ask them budget, roommates, and location! THEN only after gathering all that information, tell the prospective client that the particular listing they are calling about is no longer on the market. BUT, luckily for them, YOU HAVE A LISTING THAT THEY WOULD LOOOOVE and it literally ISNT EVEN ON THE MARKET YET! So you can’t even send them information before they meet you! They will just have to meet you and see for themselves– so brilliant!»
Then they meet you in person!
«Now you have them! Make them sign a legal document that says that THEY LEGALLY NEED TO USE YOU AS A BROKER IF THEY TAKE THE APARTMENT THEY ARE ABOUT TO SHOW YOU. If they are hesitant, calm them down, it isn’t as serious as it looks!»
Continue–
«Show them the apartment, it obviously is no where near the location they wanted, the size they wanted or the amenities. Pretty much everything about it is NOT WHAT THE CLIENT WANTS! Just tell them that you know the market the best, this is the absolute best that is out there and they need to take it! Do everything to make this bitch feel like a total idiot who doesn’t know NYC real estate at all, take her money, and get rid of the shit listings we get because no legitimate complex or property owner would ever trust us to rent or sell their place!!!»
Some other hilarious additions to their business process and a few notable character traits:
— one broker asked me for a $ 1,000 «GOOD FAITH FEE» for him to take that listing «off the market» (it was not his exclusive listing, it was public in a no fee building and he tricked me into seeing it with him using the fore mentioned tactics). A good faith fee! Wow! That’s a new one!
— multiple times one of them stalked me and called me while I was at work
— one broker asked me if I even KNEW the market at all — he asked me if I knew what a flex or convertible room was, if I knew what a walk-​up was, LIKE I AM A FUCKING IDIOT. This is after me telling him multiple times I have lived in NYC for MANY years and had dealt with MANY brokers.
Honestly do not trust anything they post online. IF THERE WERE AN INTERNET POLICE I WOULD REPORT METROPOLITAN PROPERTY GROUP BECAUSE EVERY. SINGLE. LISTING. IS FAKE.
Every other Unilocaler who reviewed is right. I should have checked this page before I even called them… Their (fake) listings are just sooo tempting though! That’s how they get you.

It really upsets me to see all these bad reviews. Luckily for me I had the luxury of working with one of their better agents Jeffrey Elliot. Real professional, extremely patient and always on time.
I was looking for weeks when I came across a listing of his for a 1bedroom apartment in West Village. We agreed on a time to meet and he was there 5 minutes early. The apartment was exactly what I saw online except it was a little to small for. We then went to see 2 more apartments both weren’t exactly what I wanted until he took me to a beautiful apartment that I now call home. He helped me take measurements, introduced me to the super of the building and really was hands on through out the whole procedure. We put the application in on Friday and Monday he already had the lease ready. I met with many other brokers most of which were impatient with me and charged me a 15% brokers fee when I told them I can only do a month. Jeffrey understood and charged me only one month (which I was more then happy giving him).
Highly recommend working with Jeffrey!!!
Here’s his number 347−740−2547

Don’t not work with anyone from this agency! Was supposed to see 4 different apartment with 3 different brokers, either they were ‘no longer available’ or had some other lame excuse like ‘the floor is drying we can get in’ and then will try and show you another apartment not all all what you’re looking for. The last appointment they just didn’t show up, standing out in 22 degrees at a corner they told me to wait on after I confirmed the appointment multiple times including 20mins before, no show, no one answers their phones, save yourself a cab ride and your time and use anyone else they cannot be as bad as these guys.

Stay away.
As every other review mentions:
1– No fee is a lie. They will ask for a broker’s fee even for the buildings that have a huge ‘no fee’ sign outside.
2– They are rude, unprofessional and not responsive at all. I worked with different brokers in Manhattan before, this is my worst experience ever and I don’t think it can get worse than this.
3– We have been through their bait-​and-​swicth process as well. We put an application and payed the deposit on Saturday. They called us 3 days later and said that the owner has better offers, so they have to increase the rent. I don’t believe at all that they put in our application.
4– Sami is a very unprofessional and rude person to deal with. He yelled at me on the phone saying that we don’t have to sign the lease, if we don’t want it. Way to treat your clients!
5– Our broker was Alex Kelly. He stopped picking up/​returning my calls after the moment we signed the lease. We still have uncompleted work started by their contractors in our living room. When I mentioned all the fixes that needed to be done in the apartment (and that was promised to us by Alex like paint, rust removal etc.) to our Superindendent he started laughing. He had no idea.
Don’t work with them.

I was very disappointed with your services. I was scheduled
to view an apartment with one of your brokers (Oscar) at 808 Columbus Ave. Not only was he unprofessional but he lied about everything in the apartment. I specifically requested a one bedroom and he provided me with photos of the apartment and after seeing the apartment in person I came to realize that its nothing like he described. Its a studio not even a one a bedroom and it looked nothing like the photos not even similar. Rather than him apologizing on his behavior he literally ran off like a child. By behaving this way he is not only representing himself badly but he is also representing the metropolitan property group badly after hearing so many wonderful things. It is very unfortunate that a major city like New York city has a broker like Oscar !!! who is very deceiving. He wasted my time and energy. If I could Rate them 0 stars I would so I was nice enough to give them one star. NEVER EVER USE THEM FOR ANY REAL-​ESTATE INQUIRY !! CAUSE THEY ARE ANYTHING BUT HELPFUL :)

This has been by far the worst experience with a broker I have ever had.
The story begins with the agent herself — Ofira Dakcar — the most unprofessional and incompetent broker I have ever had the misfortune to work with. My roommates and I were looking for an apartment in Manhattan, and we found a promising listing. After Ofira showed us the place, we decided that we wanted to proceed with the application. Here’s where the fun begins.
First of all, Ofira is technically illiterate, as demonstrated by her lack of functional knowledge of how emails work. She repeatedly failed to successfully add attachments to her emails. She also repeatedly failed to find attachments we have sent. This may not sound like a big deal, but when the number of emails exchanged required goes up from, say, three to forty, and the broker takes her sweet time to reply, and you’re pressed for time, it is really quite annoying.
Secondly, Ofira is unresourceful. We repeatedly asked Ofira to send us the floor plan, or at least the measurements. The first emails received a curt acknowledgement of «yes, will do,» and the later ones were just ignored. Then I googled the address and found a similar unit on a different floor with a floorplan attached. It took me approximately 18 seconds to find it.
Thirdly, Ofira is careless. My roommate tells the story: «After I sent Ofira all of my information, she sent me back a filled-​in version of the application documents. It had nine mistakes in it, ranging from leaving the apartment number out of my address, to getting the street number wrong, to getting the zip codes wrong, each mistake occurring multiple times and in different combinations. I sent her corrections. She fixed three of them. I sent her corrections again. She fixed none (!) of them. I literally took screenshots of where the application was wrong and told her what the correct information should be. Eureka! — she fixed two more, leaving four left. To explain: in a case of extremely poor judgement on my part, I had simply told her that the zip codes were wrong, without pointing out every single instance where they were wrong. My mistake was assuming that she would care and be competent enough to review the whole document, fixing the zip codes as she went along. What she did instead was to simply fix none of them.»
A few words about the application itself, and the fee structure: we had to pay six different fees: a credit check fee, a management company processing fee, a condo board «review» fee, a move-​in fee, a move-​in deposit, and a broker fee. This is not a joke. The application itself required bank statements, tax returns, employment letter, and multiple letters of reference.
Finally, we were able to set up the meeting to sign the lease where we met the person in charge of renting the apartment, Harriet Ainetchi. The apartment’s owner is her husband, Isaac. Please keep in mind that this is after we have submitted all of our documents to the condominium board. We were told by Ofira we have the green light to sign the lease, and that the board will approve us. We gave Harriet the rent and the security deposit and Ofira all the necessary fees. We were told we would hear back in the next few days.
Two weeks went by of us following up and getting no feedback from Ofira. Finally, mid-​July we received an email from Ofira saying that «I heard back from the management company, they made some changes to the package, this is just a formality issue.» Although she said it was «just a formality issue», in fact the management company had a completely new application that we had never seen before, which required even more information than what we already provided. We were outraged. But we were even more outraged when we saw the additional information required: credit card statements, declaration of all assets and debt, and projected personal cash flows for two years. Ridiculous! But it wasn’t just the contents of this additional application that we were appalled by – it was the fact that we were provided with this AFTER we had already signed the lease and paid for everything.
Either way, after that incident we decided to withdraw our application altogether. And as soon as we did, Harriet disappeared with our money. Metropolitan completely failed to get us our security deposit and rent back from the owner. They stalled for two months without any progress. We asked for Harriet’s number and they delayed in giving us even that. They finally gave us her number and left us to sort it out ourselves with no additional help, refusing to even provide us with her address. We tried to negotiate multiple times with the owner but got nowhere. So now, we are pursuing legal action, which, of course, takes even more time and effort. But we will not give way — we will not allow these people to walk away with our money.
Do not deal with Metropolitan, Harriet, or Isaac.

Let the renter beware — total scammers! My own fault — for not doing my homework /​checking Unilocal.I saw an online ad for a no fee apartment, was shown a different building, loved the apartment and the agent really pushed to seal the deal. When I said I thought it was no fee, agent said ‘no, that was the other apartment. this has a fee — Besides, no fee’ doesn’t really exist, in this tight rental market, somebody pays the fee and landlord doesn’t need to pay to fill the apartment’. I later googled and found I could have put in an application directly with the landlord /​not paid a fee (perhaps just the credit check).I live nearby and would have found the building if I’d taken just a few hours. It’s my own fault for not doing my homework. Ugh! Wish that I hadn’t been in such a rush (feared losing the apartment) or had negotiated much lower fee.

DO NOT RENT FROM THESE PEOPLE. If I could give them no stars, I would. My roommate and I were bullied into getting paperwork (I know how to rent in NYC, I know what paperwork we need) and putting money down for the apartment. We were strung along for weeks and refused to give us our money back. When my roommate went to get it back, they were extremely rude and not helpful at all. These people are shady and not worth the frustration. And to top it off, the owner is a shady, cheap bastard who does not operate his business well. I don’t care how nice their apartments seem, save yourself a huge headache and DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THEM.

This is quite long so here is the cliff notes version — if you end up using MPG, record all your conversations — that way they can’t be shady and say «we told you this» or «we never said that» since you have actual proof of what was said.
While the brokers are very nice to your face, they are not honest. My roommate and I said we wanted to see «no-​fee» apartments and they said they had some to show us so we agreed to meet up and see some of their offerings. We ended up liking one of the first places we saw but continued to look and continued to stress that we wanted no fee. After saying we were pretty sure about the first apt, we went back to look at it and they said we would have to fill out an application and put down a deposit — fair enough — so we asked how much and they said the application fee would be $ 100 total (for both of us) and a deposit in order to take it off the market — fine. Multiple times during the second viewing we asked, «so there is no fee and we will just owe the first months rent and security deposit if we take the place, correct?» to which they kept saying yes. Issue 1 (minor) happens the next day — my roommate went to give a deposit and pay the application fee and all of a sudden its $ 100 each as opposed to the $ 100 total we were told the prior night. At this point we figured we might have just misheard them although we were pretty confident that they said $ 100 total. So we pay the extra $ 50 each since we really like the place. We move forward and our application is accepted by the property owners. Issue 2 (big red flag) happens when we go to sign the lease. Our brokers say we are all set and setup a day for us to meet the property owners and sign the lease. This is also when we are scheduled to give the owner our first month rent and security deposit. Then on the day of the signing, they, Metropolitan Property Group, send us an email with everything to bring in terms of certified checks and we noticed that along with the first months rent and security deposit, there is a broker fee listed. My roommate and I are quite confused by this considering we said we wanted to see «no-​fee» apartments and asked multiple times about what we would owe when we went to the signing since we wanted to make sure there were no hidden fees (aka broker fees). Obviously they claimed that they mentioned it to us (never did) and that when we asked the question of what we would need to bring to the signing in terms of money, they «assumed» we were just asking about what we would owe the Building Owners and not what we would owe them (Brokers) and that’s why they said nothing more than first months rent and security deposit (we asked this question multiple times). For as much as we just wanted to walk away, we loved the place and had paid a security deposit so we negotiated the fee down a bit and ultimately paid — again, so pissed about that but we really loved the apartment.
Again, they are really nice and will take you to see a lot of places but they are SHADY when it comes to what was actually said /​promised. So if you end up using them, definitely record every conversation (just leave your phone in your pocket with the voice recorder going) so that they can’t pull some BS like this again.

WASTE OF TIME.
Jonathan Ney bailed on me last minute for a scheduled showing of an apartment I was very interested in. He was completely inflexible when it came to scheduling time and didn’t even bother following-​up ever to set up time.
Don’t even bother trying to work with these people.

These guys are the worst. Classic bait and switch crap operation. I applied for a luxury 3 bedroom in Flatiron and was taken to an old 2 bedroom in Greenwich village 8 blocks away from flatiron. It was terrible and when I confronted AMY RUSSO about it I was told «they showed me what they could». Apparently I am the problem here. DO NOT USE — TERRIBLE — USELESS — SCAMMERS
THIS IS AMY SHE IS THE PERSON WHO WASTED MY TIME.
Amy Russo
P: (347) 224‑9700

Classic bait-​and-​switch broker:
1) The apartments they list on their site and craigslist are unlikely to be what you will actually be shown.
2) The broker is unlikely to have any idea about what he’s showing since he is just pulling apartments at your maximum price range out of some company database.
3) No fee means there’s probably a fee.
4) Your broker will likely be too sleep-​deprived/​hung-​over/​stoned to be able to do anything beyond getting keys for the apartments from a door man for you.
All bad, right? Well, I still went with one of their apartments as they did actually show me a decent place that had just come on the market (you get a 2^nd star for that). Of course my broker lied about whether the unit had A/​C or not (hey Spencer S., that wasn’t an A/​C).
The broker was also a pain when it came to the actual signing. My application was accepted early in the month for a late-​month move in. They want me to sign and pay 1^st month’s rent, security deposit and the broker fee (10% negotiated down from 15%, by the way) the next day. I asked to delay by a day (keeping in mind my move-​in date is still 2 weeks away), so I could move around the necessary funds. NO DEAL. Drain your account tomorrow and come sign! Then, when you have your funds moved, waste more time delivering checks the day after tomorrow! Everybody wins except the client. Useless.
Oh and Spencer bro, you still owe me that list of movers you promised, but I never seriously expected you to send me one anyway so we’re all good. Also, stop calling me bro.

My roommate and I were shown an apartment by this company. The apartment itself was nice, and the rent was reasonable for the size/​amenities; however, there were a few red flags:
Red flag #1: We were supposed to meet with one agent, but a different agent showed us the apartment. Turns out the guy we were originally supposed to meet was parked in front of the building and sat there the entire time we were viewing the unit.
Red flag #2: the pictures in the craigslist ad were not the same apartment we were shown.
Red flag #3: the apartment was advertised on craigslist as no fee. They lied, there was a fee (10−15%).
Needless to say, we passed.

Maybe everybody else got unlucky with who represented them. I was fortunate enough to land Linda Birenbach. If you are looking for an apartment via the Metropolitan website, streeteasy, zillow, or whatever it may be… Try to request Linda to represent you as the broker. She is a NY native and veteran in the industry with extreme patience, professionalism, and loyalty.
We all know apartment hunting in NYC is a very frustrating experience, but Linda was attentive and fit our needs in a respectful manner. We went through at least 8 apartments before finding the one.

I thought I had dealt with the worst of the Manhattan real estate scene, until I came across this organization. Whether it is a listing on craigslist, or on their website, or any number of other real estate databases; the apartments listed do not exist. Many of them have fake pictures, the prices seem to change depending on what mood they are in, and they are just all around horrible and dishonest people. DO NOT use them for your real estate needs. Typical bait and switch, but more of a waste of time.

In 5 minutes of dealing one of their agents she managed to infuriate me. so I’m coming here to leave a review.
They had an ad on padlister for a room in Stuyvesant Town for around $ 800 which seemed too low. I texted one of the numbers and called the other one (the 212 listed on Unilocal). First of all they wanted to know who the agent on the ad was when it really shouldn’t be relevant to me (if anything they should know). Then a Susan or Suzanne (
) picked up and tried to get all my info before even confirming the info on the apt. THAT IS CALLED BAIT AND SWITCH. Once she was frustrated with me not being easy she HUNG UP on me… After claiming she was very professional, with over 30 years in business, that is.
Paul P. (
) whom I texted also replied to me asking for info but at least he did tell me the info was wrong and the rent was actually $ 2950. 800 was the sq feet… a little typo for their extremely professional agency… Anyway he was more professional which is why this review has a 2^nd star.
Not sure if it’s only that agent or if the entire company is bad but given the other reviews I wouldn’t bet on their reputation.