NextGen Realty

I can’t speak for all of NextGen, but I highly recommend working with Becky Li. She recently transitioned to NextGen Realty and I had the opportunity to work with her when searching for an apartment. As I told her when the search was complete, she was the definition of professionalism and thoughtfulness. Of all the realtors we met through this process, she was by far the most diligent, thorough and thoughtful. We spent a long day looking at many places and she was so accommodating — it was impressive. She really understood what I was looking for and it was so appreciated. I definitely hope to work with her when we’re looking again in the future.

Never heard of them until I went to check my home’s value on Zillow, and discovered that they had listed us as oneof their rental units. This is a single-​family home, it’s owner-​occupied, and none of it is for rent.
I think they were using a good neighborhood address to attact unsuspecting renters. I wouldn’t believe a thing they say or post.

We ended up working with NextGen when I contacted one of their realtors, Scott, about a listing through Zillow. As a person he seems nice enough but as a realtor our experience was pretty frustrating and dismal. I spoke with him several days leading up to the weekend that we had arranged to come from out of town and look at a few apartments he was to line up (even set a time). Saturday morning rolled around and Scott hadn’t lined up any apartments — we made the trip anyway and luckily had a few morning appointments with other realtors lined up. Noon rolled around (our arranged time to meet) and we were told to grab lunch because it would be at least an hour before we would be able to get into any units — only to get a call 20 minutes later to be in a neighborhood at least 30 minutes away in 10 minutes.
We actually REALLY liked the unit — the landlord happened to be on site and great. It was obvious that NextGen was just as surprised as us with the unit and had only seen it for the first time that day as well. Apparently choosing to show it to us was a shot in the dark that lucked out for them and we reluctantly handed over the 1500 broker fee. Then they went completely dark.
Scott e-​mailed over a lease with numerous errors several days later and for 2 weeks both my boyfriend and I called, texted, and emailed requesting a corrected lease. We received little response or even the corrected lease until ONE DAY before we were set to move in. Since that time we’ve learned that information from Scott during that time (money we were told was «first month» was an additional deposit) was not correct and caused a few more headaches to work out with our now fantastic landlord.
I gave this rating 2 stars because we are genuinely happy where we ended up, nevermind the fact that has nothing to do with NextGen.

After having a horrible experience finding a new home when I moved to Boston last year, it was such a relief meeting Christiajana Wohland from NextGen Reality.
After asking me some questions to get a better feel for my personality and needs, Christiajana helped me find the perfect apartment in the North End that was everything I had hoped for and more (not to mention it was even listed below my budget!).
Not only did she help me find the unit but she even helped when it came to finding our other roommate. Additionally, Christiajana was really flexible and convenient when it came to signing papers (my cosigner lives overseas so obviously that created a delay in the process which she was really understanding about) and she kept a very honest dialogue with me throughout the process– beginning when we were looking at apartments to finding roommates and finally to signing the papers.
I loved that Christiajana, along with her colleagues at NextGen, weren’t pushy like my last broker and really put effort into making the apartment hunt a pleasurable experience.
I would 100% recommend NextGen Realty and especially Christiajana Wohland if you’re looking for an agent who actually cares about you and your needs during the process rather than just making money.

Completely unethical. They used $ 70 of our money to run a credit check on us and told us that we were the only couple looking at it and would likely get the place, knowing that there was another couple who was getting the apartment, but did not disclose to us that we would likely not get the apartment until after I wrote them the check. It has been almost a week and they have no returned the check for 1600 I gave them. Do not use this agency.

NEVER EVER USE THIS COMPANY
I would give this zero stars if I could. Can’t believe its taken me this long to write a review, but about two years ago we worked with an agent who took a security deposit as well as first month’s rent to rent out an apartment that was under renovation. We were promised that the renovations would be complete by our move-​in date otherwise we would be given somewhere else to stay. This was a clause in our lease. On our move-​in date there were no toilets in the house, no windows in a garden level apartment, and unfinished, dusty floors. We complained only to find out that the landlord had never even signed the lease.
The agent who represented us worked for NextGen but had worked off the record, essentially pocketing the money for himself and the landlord. NextGen itself refused to help us, claiming that «the actions of its employees are not its responsibility». We ended up having to break our lease and move because we were not safe, and the house was not fit for inhabitation. We lost our security deposit and our first month’s worth of rent.
This place is fraudulent, unprofessional, and cares about nothing more than taking money from you at all costs.

Straight up scam central. Pretty sure my Realtor was smoking something before we went out to look at some listings in the area. They have far too many agents to train effectively, and it shows in the results. NextGen is THE example of pushy, over-​the-​top salesmanship that creates a negative connotation for all realtors.
Please do yourself a favor and avoid this place. There are plenty or realtors in the area to choose from.

I am generally not a fan of realtors. At all. I’ve always been of the impression that the standard realtor fee in Boston (1 month’s rent) is absurd for the amount of work a realtor does… and I actually worked as a realtor. In fact, I worked for the conglomerate that is NextGen/​Boardwalk/​Jacob Realty. In my time there, I met and worked with a guy named Patrick Brusil. I left real estate because I hated doing it, and moved on with my life. That was 5 years ago.
Fast forward to this year: I’m moving in with a bunch of guys, and we need a 5-​bedroom apartment. Five bedrooms?! That’s gonna be tough. I remembered Patrick, shot him an email, and he set to work trying to find us a place. He took us on showing after showing, bringing us places that were all within our price range, in the areas we wanted to live, and only showed us places that met our specified criteria. We found a place we liked right away, but the landlord was a douche and wouldn’t rent to us because we weren’t students. Patrick got right back to work and took us on at least one showing a week for two months. As soon as apartments hit the market, he’d set up a showing for us and bring us out there. He did not give up on us or pawn us off on someone else, and eventually we found an apartment that we loved. Patrick dealt with some negotiations between us and the landlord, and we signed a lease the next day.
Realtors are some of the worst people in the city, but Patrick is a diamond in the rough. He really worked hard for us, and this was actually the first time I felt like a realtor earned their fee. If you’re looking for an apartment, go with Patrick Brusil.

I’m in town looking for an apartment for May 1^st or June 1^st. I come across 2 that look like they are exactly what I want. I call Lino twice two nights ago. The next day I call twice again, then e-​mail. He doesn’t pressure me or give me any problems and we set up a tentative appointment for today at 3pm so he can give the tenants notice. Fair enough. Except I never get a call back for a confirmation. Not even a follow up to tell me why he can’t show the place, just nothing. I am sitting here with a blank check that I could write out for rent, a deposit and, oh yeah, a fee for one month’s rent, but I guess Lino’s making big enough stacks to where he doesn’t need to call me back. I don’t know why realtors in this town seem to just wait for stuff to fall in their lap. Even when it does, Lino’s work is proof that they can’t even handle something that does fall in their lap. I made it clear that I was interested in signing something today, not I’ll think about it, not I’ll have to talk to someone. Today.
Lino, if you’re reading this, get it together, but as far as I’m concerned, don’t even bother to call me back.

The broker from Next Gen lied in his advertisement of an apartment, and when I went to see the apartment. It was marketed as having central air and there was in fact heat, but I found out only after moving in that there was no A/​C and the landlord never mentioned anything about that to the broker. So basically, my broker (Syhan) just made up is amenity, and when I tried to question him about it, just looking for an apology, he stopped contacting me.
This place is a joke. I did more work finding my own apartment than they did, and yet I still had to pay them for their «services» which, as far as I can tell, consisted of printing off the lease agreement. I don’t know if NextGen makes it a habit of hiring idiots as their «reality professionals», but the one I dealt with was anything but.

We just found our apartment with Margarite Mancini.
Pros:
Nice, friendly
Helpful
Willing to negotiate
Replies in a timely fashion
Cons:
A bit of a scatter brain
Always has an excuse for why something wasn’t sent/​done
Once I read all the bad reviews about Next Gen I was worried to say the least. But we got Margaritte and she was nice, the experience could have been better, but we got what we needed.
When we showed up at apartments to look at them, many times they didn’t seem to be expecting us. Whether the roommates didn’t fill each other in or Margaritte did not contact them in time is unknown but for the most part we took many people by surprise.
Margaritte was very accommodating when we asked to be taken out multiple times. However, I had to track her down many times to get answers and paperwork from her. She always had an excuse, which may very well be true, but the scanner was broken or the network they use was down, she sent the files but I didn’t get them. There was always a reason.
I think that Margaritte was a very nice lady. I enjoyed working with her for the most part. When it came to the wire she got us what we needed but I need a little bit more organization on her part. After all if you’re going to pay to use a realtor they have to make it worth your while. I’m glad we found something for us but I think in the future I will be going with another company.
Update:
So I wrote this review a couple months ago but didn’t want to post it because I was worried about how it would affect our rental when we got to our apartment so I didn’t post it just yet. On Sept. 1^st we moved into our apartment, but when we got there the land lord said he never received our lease which we had given her in April. That’s quite some time’s difference. So Margaritte had to rush over with COPIES, not the original of the lease because she didn’t really know what went wrong. Of Course, she had an excuse, «oh they changed Admins this year,» «I’ve never had this problem before.» Not to mention that the building updated one of their addendum so we signed an old copy. So after going through all the trouble of trying to find a place in a timely manner we weren’t even able to move in as flawlessly as we planned. Originally this review as a 2 star, and since then I had to make it a 1. I was so angry and stressed on moving day, realtors are supposed to make the process easier, not harder.

I had a very pleasant, smooth, and stress-​free experience getting my first apartment through Monisha Pahuja at NextGen. She will save you money and gray hairs. Trust me.

I’m providing two stars only because I’ve dealt with two of their brokers, and one of them was, at least, competent.
My first experience was with one of their brokers showing my apartment. He was very polite, showed up on time, and was personable. As I’m still looking for a place, I asked for his card and sent him an email with ‘the checklist’. He replied that he thought he had a unit. Days went by with no reply. I emailed to check in. He said that it had been rented, but he’d email me with other places that fit our criteria. That was several weeks ago and I have yet to hear from him. I don’t think it’s much to ask to be sent an email stating simply that he didn’t have anything in his listings. I used to work in the service industry, and this sort of behavior would’ve been UNACCEPTABLE.
My second experience was with a broker my roommate contacted off of a craigslist ad. We were quite specific about the part where we each had a dog (total of two dogs). She was so late in meeting us at the first place that the owner had already showed us the whole thing by the time she arrived – and informed us that she didn’t allow any pets. Our brokers response was a perturbed and sarcastic «That’s interesting, because my listings say it accepts dogs.» followed by blaming a nameless individual in the office who had marked the listing as pet friendly. Though we found the whole thing annoying and unprofessional, we moved onto the next unit. Where, after being given a tour by the owner, were again informed that he didn’t accept any pets. Our broker again went into her «that’s interesting» schpiel, again throwing her colleagues under the bus. That’s right folks, incompetent, unprofessional, and not mature enough to be held accountable when she totally screws the pooch. When we parted ways, she told us she would look in their listings and send us an email with more places that evening. Again, its been weeks and we haven’t heard a peep. I guess unprofessional behavior is company practice.

We recently used NextGen Realty to find an apartment in the Beacon Hill neighborhood. On the last Monday of the month, we found out we needed to move to a new apartment by the following Sunday. We first spoke with Sean Persson on Wednesday afternoon. Sean handled our unreasonable request with professionalism and patience. Sean agreed to accommodate our schedules and met before work and again after work until we found a suitable home. When we found our apartment, Sean provided us with the necessary paperwork on the spot and said he would follow up with the landlord immediately. We were updated within a matter of minutes so to ease our nerves. Sean met us the following night (a Friday night at 7pm!) to sign the lease, exchange payment and keys.
We were impressed with the professionalism, promptness and comfort we experienced working with Sean and the staff at NextGen Realty. We strongly recommend Sean for finding your new home! –You will not be disappointed.

I have never had a worse experience with renting. The agent we worked with either lied or made up answers. When we got to the lease signing (a week before move-​in), we were made aware that we owed last month’s rent, even tough our agent just stated first and security. Then we were told that there was only one parking spot, even though we were told there were two… amongst other things. We ended up refusing to pay our half of the Realtor fee, since we could have done a better job on our own. I will never go back here even if they have the last apartment available in Boston and I am advising all of my friends and acquaintances to avoid them as well.

Working with NextGen was by far my best real estate experience in Boston. Last year, my real estate agent Ari went above and beyond the call of duty, and everyone in the office was just as accomadating. I needed an apartment ASAP in October, not a time when much is on the market. Even with my demands, I was not shown anything out of my price range or in an unsafe neighborhood, and Ari listened to exactly what I was looking for. He also personally drove me to two different banks when I had difficulty making a withdrawal to put in my deposits since my account was from a different state. I would work with NextGen again in a heartbeat. I called them, and two days later I was in an apartment I absolutely loved.

It’s been a year since I used these guys and still have a very bitter taste in my mouth. Did a great job of only showing me and my roommates apartments beyond our means, were happy to tell us they were in nice neighborhoods, and then show us places 2 minutes later when they said «uhh… legally I can’t tell you about the safety of the neighborhood.»
I have found better realtors since and am happy to pay a fee for a service when it actually requires some effort (maybe a call to negotiate for lower fee when rent is more).
I continue to dislike realtors, and I can credit this residual distaste to their unprofessional conduct, failure to maintain meetings… these guys really were the worst at conducting business with some semblance of professionalism. I won’t use them or their subsidiaries again (anything
, Jacob…)
Fair warning.

Heed my warning fellow Bostonians, this place is AWFUL. The first time my roommate and I dealt with Nextgen was with a realtor named Dragana. She was very pleasant, showed us several relevant places, and then never returned our phone calls in regard to the places we had just seen.
The second time we dealt with a Nextgen realtor was Patrick Brusil, who seemed very cool and enthusiastic. We set up an appointment to see a bunch of places and then he NEVER showed up at the alloted place and time and never returned our phone calls.
This place is ridiculous. Please don’t give them your business, they dont deserve it after treating customers that way. There’s plenty of other realtors out there who will gladly work for your money.

It’s fraudulent for me to give this place one star after one of their Realtors took a deposit on an apartment she had already rented out.
Shady shady shady.

Ok, they weren’t *that* bad.
We got in touch with them pretty quickly about a place, and the next day went out to see it.
I think they took advantage of the fact that we hadn’t rented before (yaaaay students) and since they knew we liked the place, hiked up the price and the fee suddenly became non-​negotiable. I guess I can’t really blame them, we were pretty naïve about the whole thing.
I guess I would say. if you see a place you really like, don’t avoid it just cuz it is listed with them. But go in with your eyes open.