Abigail C Bacani

Abigail is great! I am new to the city and only had a weekend to find an apartment. She was extremely helpful and answered any and all questions. I ended up finding the perfect apartment in one day. She was always available for any follow-​up questions (there were many) and was always happy to answer and never seemed put out by it. She even went back to the apartment to take measurements for me so I could have furniture delivered… even after the lease was signed and she was paid! Above and beyond service. I would highly recommend her to anybody that is new to the city. She definitely knows her stuff and is extremely patient.

First, I want to just say that I have never written a Unilocal review before. However, I was so bothered by the way I was treated by Ms. Bacani, I feel it is only necessary to warn others by providing an accurate review.
My experience with Abigail is VERY similar to that of Rob D, the suspiciously only non-​five star review provided. Based on the similar tone of the other reviews, as well as my experience with Abigail, I am highly suspicious that they were written either by Abigail herself, or one of her flunkies (to be discussed later below).
I first found Abigail through Craig’s list. It was mid-​August and I was looking for a studio with an October 1 move-​in date. I am hesitant to find brokers off of CL, knowing many to be fraudulent, but her listing directed me to her website, and I was intrigued. She is with a company I had previously heard of (Bond) and claimed to have «hundreds of listings,» within my price range. Her website was very professional (much moreso than other brokers), and noted her vast experience in the field. I contacted Abigail and let her know what I was looking for. She immediately replied, stating that it was still too early to search for October 1, but suggested that we set up a date to search in early September. While slightly rebuffed by the fact she said it was too early (after all, I found my last October 1 apartment in mid-​August) I was impressed with her prompt response, knowing many brokers to be flakes, and so I agreed. We arranged to spend all day Saturday in early September viewing apartments. I was concerned that I had an engagement that evening, and would have to cut our day short at 4 PM — she told me not to worry, offered to meet me at 10 am, and said that we only would need a couple of hours.
Later that day, Abigail sent me an extremely long, highly specific questionnaire detailing what I was looking for, location, price range, etc. I thought great — here is a broker that actually will cut out all the B.S. and get right down to business — it was very impressive and made me think that I was in the right hands. I spent over an hour answering the questionnaire, being as specific as possible.
One week before our appointment, Abigail texted to confirm that we were still set to view apartments. I confirmed. The day before our appointment, I texted her to confirm location and start time. She confirmed — 10 AM.
Fast forward to Saturday at 10AM. I arrive at her office a few minutes early. When the receptionist tells me she is not in yet, I thought it was odd, but figure it is early Saturday morning and she had already done all of the research since I filled out that questionnaire, so no rush. But when she did not answer a call from the receptionist, I became concerned.
Around 10:30 I decided to text Abigail myself, asking if everything was OK and if she was still coming. No response. At 10:45 I texted again, still no response. At this point I did a quick Unilocal search (I should have done this beforehand) and came across the aforementioned Rob D. review and thought great, I have been had, too.
At 11:00 AM, one of her flacky’s comes to greet me. Now, I am hesitant to bash him, as he actually seemed to feel bad and did an admirable job covering for her — it is not his fault that by then I was fuming. Anyway, he asks if I am here to meet Abigail and says that she told him the appointment was for 10:30. First off, it was for 10, as confirmed TWICE. Second, even if it was for 10:30, he came to me at 11 — I sat in the Bond lobby and was ignored for an hour. And finally — my appointment was with Abigail — not this guy. He explained to me how he was new — started in March/​April — and he basically works for her. It dawned on me that this is what she does — she promotes herself, sets up the appointments and then — without telling the prospective client — hands them off to someone else, lacking her «ten plus years of experience.»
At 11:19 AM, Abigail finally texts to apoligize and say she got stuck in a supers office. IM SURE. She was stuck there for an hour an twenty minutes and could not answer texts or give a heads up? No access to phone? Those supers sure do run a tight ship.
Anyway, I went out with the guy because I was there and needed a place. Obviously, it was awful (no experience) — he showed me only awful places, repeatedly took me to locations I said were off-​limits, and in many cases did not even have the keys to the unit. At one point Abigail calls him and asks to speak to me — she asks me to explain price range, what I want, etc — you know, only the information I provided to her weeks earlier!
Obviously, I found nothing with him (and even if I had, would no way have given her the commission). Once I got home, all of a sudden Abigail starts emailing me listings which she thought would be perfect for me. Unreal.
Luckily, I have found that I am happy with, but not w/​out that awful experience.

I hate writing negative reviews, especially for someone who appears highly rated, but I think it’s fair to point out my experience with Miss Bacani.
Also, what makes me a bit suspicious is not the three 5-​star reviews listed here, but the 13 «filtered» reviews at bottom; all of which are 5-​stars (which sometimes indicates friends or the business owner wrote them).
I found Miss Bacani through Naked Apartments. She had quite a few postings that were under market rate, so I contacted her. I asked a couple of basic questions about the sq footage and distance from the train of one of the apartments. She responded quickly, but only mentioned was that no fee apartments this time of year were quite rare. This was odd because I hadn’t mentioned anything about fee or no-​fee; just about room dimensions. But no big deal, I figured she got her emails mixed up.
She then emailed me a very detailed questionnaire regarding what I was looking for and the requirements I would need to rent. I was very impressed. I figured this would save both of us a lot of time. I answered all her questions, in order to give her as clear a picture as possible. I also mentioned that a 15% fee for any apt would be a dealbreaker, but I’d be open to a lower fee (most UES apts will rent for a 1-​month fee). I said that I’d prefer not to do a «tour», but really just have her send me pics and the nearest intersection of some potential apartments. Since I know NYC quite well, pics and an intersection is usually all I need to decide if I want to spend my time viewing an apartment. After some disastrous «blind» viewings (no pics), I said I had no interest in that.
She emailed back and was very nice and said that most «blind» viewings don’t work out and that she wouldn’t waste my time. Fantastic! However, she did insist on a 3-​hour tour on the weekend. Though I preferred not to do this, due to my hectic schedule, I agreed. (Those tours are often for people who don’t know the area well, and often exhaust you to the point where, by the end, you’ll take just about anything.)
She emailed me the night before to ask me how the search was going and to ask if we were still on for our appointment. She also wanted me to send her the links to the places I’d already seen. I said the search was still going, that I had some prospects, but hadn’t settled on anything and was still looking. I confirmed our appointment and asked her to confirm with a meet-​up address.
I added that I’d really prefer not to do one of those «office meet-​ups» where you’re forced to waste a lot of time filling out paperwork and agreements. It’s usually the low-​end «sweatshop» companies that do this type of thing, and I find it distasteful. The experienced brokers out there don’t do this. They post accurate pics, addresses or intersections, and send you all the info you need beforehand, often with floor plans. They meet you at the address, you are in and out in 10 minutes. There’s no office visits. This is the day and age of the internet, where you can post pics, floor plans, and fill out forms. You should never have to do one of these office visits if you don’t want to. Let’s be honest, you may be forking over $ 2000-​$ 4000 to these people for a few hours work. The most important service they should provide is saving you time.
Next day, no response from her by email. No response by phone. I text her number 2 hours before our appointment. No response. She never showed.
Now, I don’t know what happened. Maybe she got into an accident or forgot, but it was very unprofessional. The more likely possibility is that she felt a bit of a pushback about the office visit in my last email, or that I only had 2 hours for a tour, or was annoyed that I mentioned I had other «no fee» options I was considering, and simply decided to blow off the appointment.
The story ends well however. The morning after Princess Abigail blew off our appointment, I saw a completely new listing with a different broker. This broker posted an ad with numerous photos (all accurate), texted me the dimensions of the room, the floor it was on, and the cross streets. She gave me an exact address the next morning, I showed up, negotiated the rent and fee I was comfortable with (7.5%), presented my documents, and took it instantly. The whole process took about 15 minutes.
Look, I’m not on here to demonize this broker or brokers in general. There are some really nice ones out there. But anyone who’s been through the process knows that it is a very ugly business, in desperate need of reform. The tenant is paying a huge sum of money for what amounts to inside information. The first law we need is that landlords may not pass the broker fee along to the renters, since most of the work is being done on the landlords’ behalf anyway.
Remember: 1) the more vague the listing is, the more the broker is trying to hide. 2) Try going to to NY Bits for direct property manager listings. You don’t have to pay or sign up for anything.

I started the apartment hunting process sure that I was not going to use a broker and I ended up being very grateful Abigail was referred to me. She really listened to what I wanted and helped guide me into really judging what was important to me in an apartment. She struck just the right balance of giving me advice without pushing me in one direction or another. And even after the leasing was complete she still took the time to guide me to the best places in the neighborhood! I would highly recommend her.

Abigail was a blessing to discover in the midst of my post college scramble to find an apt. She met with me on a Saturday afternoon and showed me 5 – 6 great apartments in my price range when I figured out which one I liked (it has a backyard– an amazing find!) she filed my application the same day and guided me through signing of my first lease.
Not only is she great at her job, but she is also super friendly and nice– even forwarding me some ads for outdoor patio furniture she thought I might be interested in once I moved in. I would definitely recommend her to anyone looking for an apartment.

Thanks for helping me find an amazing apartment!
I moved to NYC last year, and finding my first apartment here was not a pleasant experience, to say the least. While I worked with a broker, they seemed impersonal and disinterested, and, I ended up in an apartment that I wasn’t happy with, paying more than I wanted to pay. As I prepared to move this year, I wasn’t looking forward to another painful search for an apartment that would be less than ideal.
I set up an appointment to look at apartments with Abby expecting a similar experience to last year. My expectations couldn’t have been more off. Apartment searching was quick, painless, even pleasant; I saw more apartments that I liked in an hour than I had in the entirety of my search either last year or this year. Abby worked with me to fit my budget, and to find out what was actually important to me in a home. When there was trouble with my application, she and the people at Bond were patient and helpful and ultimately landed me my perfect apartment. I’m telling all of my friends who move here to go through her.