Open House Management

I was shown an apartment by Nicole James. I’m pretty cynical when it comes to everything involving moving and apartment hunting in NYC — it’s never easy, and I pretty much expect to be taken advantage of.
I should be up front and say this was not an easy or stress-​free move/​search, for a variety of reasons. But Nicole went above and beyond (as did her boss), giving me immediate access to the apartment I wanted and keeping their office open late so I could apply late on a Thursday.
Once my application was in, Nicole and her boss went to bat for me with the building’s landlord, advocating for my suitability as a tenant even though my move-​in date was later than the landlord wanted. Bear in mind I wasn’t even paying them a broker’s fee! I was kind of shocked that they went out of their way to make a difficult situation as easy as possible for me, and extremely grateful.
I’m not sure how to reconcile the many negative reviews on this page, but it’s important to note that my experience could not have been farther from those, and that Nicole did a really extraordinary job.

I went to see an apt. in Brooklyn shown to me by Jamel Haskins who works for Open House Management. This apt. is located at 1921 Ave K and was supposed to be a no fee apartment — only first month, security and a $ 50 credit fee were necessary per the Craigslist ad and this was confirmed by Jamel.
I got all my paperwork and had my $ 500 deposit ready the next day. I made the long trip to their office located in Bed-​Stuy to meet with the manager, Antonio Rivera, only to find out that the management company that owns the building of the apt. (SMY Management Corp aka KBB Associates LLC aka L S Realty Associates owned by Stewart Bernstein) also wants a fee of $ 450 for nothing, a «just because» fee. Open House claims they just learned about the fee the same day because this is the first time they’re working with that management company.
After getting all my paperwork done and making the long trip I was not happy to find out about a hidden fee so I backed out. I basically wasted a day on this. Antonio called the management company to see if they would waive the fee. I emailed Antonio the next day to which he replied Open House would pay half the fee for me. I thought that was very nice of them to do that for me so I agreed.
So I ended up making another trip out there the next day to then find out that the building management company won’t even begin processing anyone’s paperwork unless you pay both first month and security.
ARE THEY SERIOUS!!! A deposit should be good enough to show that you are a serious renter. To ask for more than that before you even consider processing paperwork is ridiculous especially since I had already agreed to the $ 450 fee that they will pocket. And I know they will pocket this because no one gave me a straight answer as to what the fee was for.
So now I’ve wasted two days. Open House was very unprofessional in not knowing what the apt. building management policies/​requirements are. Their excuse that this is the first time they’re working with them did not suffice, especially since they found out about the $ 450 fee the day before and knew I was coming back. They should have gotten in touch with the management company before my second trip and asked what other policies/​requirements are necessary instead of wasting my time for the second time.
I don’t recommend Open House at all as they don’t even know the policies of who they’re in business with. And furthermore, I’d avoid any building owned under SMY Management Corp, KBB Associates LLC, L S Realty Associates and anything owned by Stewart Bernstein.

I do not recommend using these people. My experience with them was that they were less than professional, particularly one of the owners; Carolina Herrera. It took two months and the Attorney General’s office to get my security deposit back from them and the landlord. She didn’t show up to the walk-​through as agreed, tried to bully me out of the interest on my deposit, and refused a certified letter when I tried to get my deposit back. I would not use them again nor would I ever rent from Jeff Corman. He does repairs to the minimum quality, and when our fridge broke he gave us a mini-​fridge and never replaced the other one. I would never rent from either one of them again.

I had a horrible experience with open house management, particularly with Carolina Herrera. Avoid her if you can! She was sneaky, difficult, and entirely unprofessional.
On top of trying to push me into an earlier lease than I had requested, she refused to relay my concerns to the landlord (later lying about it) and asked for an absurd amount of paperwork. We had to call the landlord ourselves, and cut Carolina out of the conversation, just to get the move in date we had asked for. The landlord was happy to accommodate (but Carolina was not). By the end, she told my boyfriend and I that we couldn’t sign the lease together, despite our only qualifying for the apartment with combined incomes. She then said that she would be choosing which one of us would be on the lease… and chose the person with the lower income!
She said we couldn’t sign together because we were not married, (in clear violation of New York’s housing rights law). All of it was very sketchy, and I’m still unclear as to what her motives were. When we asked her to please ask the landlord if we could both sign, she said we were being too difficult and tried to give us back our deposit, telling us she was going to tell the landlord not to work with us. The next day, she called to say «the landlord had changed his mind». Luckily i had recorded our absurd hour and a half long conversation in the offices when it started getting super unprofessional, and so she had the smarts to give us back both our deposit and application fees, presumably to avoid the small claims court i was threatening.
I cant speak to the professionalism of the other agents, but if you want a transparent, honest relationship with a realtor — avoid Carolina. We are now moving into a larger apartment with a higher rent and had absolutely no problems getting cleared for signing a lease together.

Renters beware! We can’t speak for the company as a whole, but do not use Ernesto Cabrera as your broker. He is very unprofessional and rude. We had seen only one apartment through him (which was in poor condition) and had inquired about another. He took personal offense that we didn’t rent that first apartment and refused to show us any others. There are way better brokers who are professional, courteous, and helpful. Don’t use Ernesto.

My experience with Open House was great! I was looking at/​applying for an apartment with a couple of roommates which made things a little confusing. Everyone at Open House was very patient with us. They were super friendly and upfront about the apartment, the area, the costs/​paperwork and everything involved in renting the place. A special thanks to Joe and Victor, who were very understanding about our roommate issues at the beginning! I recommend to anyone looking for an apartment in this area of brooklyn.

1. I am a VERY frequent user of Unilocal and have been quite selfish lately with my reviews.
2. This is my very 1^st review– the service I received was so outstanding, that I just had to post!
3. I am a real person, not affiliated with this company by any means. Usually we smart Unilocalers can tell, but just in case now you know. =)
My first encounter with Open House Realty was through Andy’s ad on craigslist. I viewed the apartment (s) in the building, loved them, and Andy was very professional/​relatable. I told Andy my credit score wasn’t perfect, but he understood and still was willing to work with me on my application. I scheduled an appointment with him the next day.
Mind you, I had just been scammed by a realtor by the name of David Spielman; the landord’s office is on 996 Bedford Ave, Brooklyn. BTW If you fellow apartment searchers run into him. BEWARE!!! If you see him, RUN! If you are in doubt of whether it is him, RUN!!!
This David Spielman guy told me a place was available, I put down a HEFTY deposit in cash, then he gave me the run around, it was available, then it wasn’t, then it was again, etc. When I demanded for my deposit back, he told me it was «impossible» to refund my money. He never told me the deposit was non-​refundable, it was not listed on the bogus receipt he gave me, and I never signed any piece of paper from him. I told him I was calling the police. He ignored my phone calls/​texts and they would not open the door when I showed up with the police.
An hour later, I went to Open House Realty, fighting back tears to file my application. Andy and another OH realtor, Tony, immediately noticed my change in mood and I told them what happened. Thus, they took it upon themselves to devise a plan to get my money back.
We were able to get David Spielman to meet with one of the guys to «show the apartment.» Ten minutes later, I showed up with the police where a very intimidating ladycop asked his side of the story first and demanded he give back my deposit, in cash, within the next half hour.
We went to his house (the cops left) and he gave me back my entire deposit back. Then we went back to the office for me to file my application.
At the end of the day, some guy with an 800 credit score won the apartment and I ended up not renting through OHR. However, Andy and Tony are true bada**es for what they did that day.
Overall, from the quality of the apartments seen, to the customer service and easy application process, to finally the no hassle refund of my deposit when I wasn’t approved, they definitely receive FIVE STARS. If you run into these gentlemen (Andy/​Tony) during your apartment search, you are definitely in good hands.