Coldwell Banker A C Lawrence

HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE! DO NOT GO HERE! Honestly, I am severely disappointed and I never write reviews, this agency has pushed me to write this review.
In the beginning it seemed as if Riadh (goes by Rio) was willing to help. He and I had an initial discussion of what I wanted as well as a price range. After that first meeting, I didn’t see or heard from him again until I picked an apartment. He sent out a junior agent to show me apartments. This process seems to be the regular thing at Coldwell. You meet with the broker, he send out his «minion» (as another reviewer stated), and then comes back to close the deal. I won’t go over the little bad things during the apartment viewing process cause other reviewers have gone over it, and its the least of my worries.
STRIKE 1: Anyways, when I decided on the apartment, Rio showed up to close the deal. The apartment’s management office wanted 2 month’s security deposit and 2 month’s rent. I told Rio «NO». However, the broker finally managed to negotiate with them 1 month’s rent and 1 month’s security. He decided to negotiate with them without letting me know, which was fine except my father who had the final say about the apartment, had decided on the final «no» due to a sixth sense about the landlord company being extremely uptight, which turns out to be true; controversial to what the broker had stated about them being nice. This additional negotiation further caused them to put the apartment on hold, longer than it should have been. R*o got upset that we decided to not go with it and really pushed me to take the lease, saying things like he put in a lot of work to show me so many (many-​meaning 3) apartments before I picked the one I wanted (his minion did all the showing). He wouldn’t take no for an answer and pushed and pushed. He hadn’t even informed us he was doing extra negotiations until I had asked for my security deposit of $ 500. When I did ask for my $ 500, he said there was a low chance of me getting it back due to fact that apartment was put on hold for me (really cause of him), when originally he told me it was refundable if I don’t get the apartment. So my father finally decided on a yes for the sake of the security deposit – even though he really didn’t want to.
STRIKE 2: Than during the lease signing, he tells us that it was okay for us to move in on the first of the month, and if we moved in earlier we would be charged, and that was what we had decided to do, move in april 1. But turns out he misinformed us, and we were being charged from the date we signed our lease, which is ridiculous considering the fact that we haven’t even received the key until a week later. This was COMPLETELY HIS FAULT, which he agreed that it was.
STRIKE 3: I called him to tell him to fix it and his solution was to give us a rebate of $ 480 as what he calls a «courtesy». People, look up courtesy, it is defined as a favor or generosity. This was not a favor, if anything he owes us a total of $ 1520 for his mistake, but nope we get $ 480. We are LITERALLY PAYING FOR A BROKER“S MISTAKE.
BOTTOM LINE: In no way did I got the idea that this agency cares for their’s clients needs. Like some other reviewers have stated, they are indeed pushy and only care for the commission. Towards the end all he did was rush us into paying everything. When we asked to delay cause we didn’t brings checks in, he tried to push us into using our credit card. And than like other reviewers have stated, once you pay everything, they do end up becoming a ghost, and than its your job to fix everything. This also isn’t a problem with just the broker, but with Coldwell Banker in general. The $ 480 was after he discussed it with his boss .Look the reality is, this agency has alot of good reviews because the clients were fortunate enough to have nothing bad happen. For the clients that are unfortunate, do not expect to get any help on the situation, its a lost cause.
This is an update, I was told by the broker that my apartment did not supply A/​C but an A/​C unit. This was also false information, and its been two months since the ordeal, he hasn’t bothered to follow up.

Chris Clark from Coldwell Banker AC Lawrence is an absolute DREAM realtor and a pleasure to work with! After being recommended to a slew of unreliable realtors, I finally decided to call someone new. After sending out my first inquiry, Chris responded to me the very same day. He was happy to take me on as a new client and carefully listened to what I was looking for in my new home. Chris was gracious in accommodating my work schedule, and happily met with me during the week and weekend (days & nights) until we found the perfect apartment. As a young woman moving to the city alone, it meant so much to me that Chris was patient, personable and efficient. Unlike so many other realtors, Chris made a point to answer my texts/​calls within minutes (really, seconds) & always openly communicated what I could expect to find for my price point. With his help, I eventually found my dream studio on the Upper East Side.
Chris Clark truly goes above and beyond for his clients and will do whatever it takes to find them the perfect place. From the beginning of my search to the day of my lease signing, Chris was everything you could hope for in a realtor. He knows the business inside and out, truly listens to what you want, and is tenacious with his follow-​up. He will fight for you as his client and will make sure that you are comfortable and informed every step of the way. Even after my lease was signed, Chris has continued to make himself readily accessible for questions/​concerns, and has checked in with me on multiple occasions to insure that my move-​in was a success. Overall, my experience with both Coldwell Banker & Chris Clark was nothing short of PERFECTION and I urge you to use them for any of your real estate needs :)

Working with Stefano, Jennifer, and Keith was an absolute dream. As I quickly learned, finding an apartment in Manhattan can be a bit of a hellish experience. I tried looking for a place on my own, and other real estate agencies. There were a lot of «miscommunications» and hidden agendas with the other agencies but that was not my experience with Coldwell Banker at all, particularly with the individuals I worked with.
Stefano took me to check out some locations even though it was the end of his work day and didn’t rush me through a single apartment. He heard my concerns and gave me really useful feedback.
Jennifer Bortone took her time explaining my options to me. She gave me realistic expectations and then really delivered! Her and Stefano are a dynamic team. They found my roommate and I the perfect apartment we now call home!
Keith is incredibly well versed in real estate. He’s clearly someone who’s been in this field for many years I felt really confident putting my faith in him and advocated for throughout the process. I am really impressed with Keith’s work and how promptly all 3 professionals delivered!
I would DEFINITELY recommend working with any/​all of these professionals.

New to NYC and was referred to Corcoran Group. They may be helpful for sales but for rentals they were a disaster so we started over w Mariana from Coldwell. She handles sales and rentals and inundated us with options per our request. She found some good listings and pushed us very slightly beyond our deal breakers. After dealing w Corocran for 2 months we had a place in 10 days w Mariana.

We worked with Deborah Hughes and Austin Friedman. We moved from Seattle so the process in this city is crazy around apartment hunting. Deborah and Austin helped us greatly with this. Even after we found an apartment to put an application in, they continued to show us others as backups in case the one didn’t work out. Highly recommend requesting either of them by name. They will go the extra mile to get you the best place for you money.

If I could give negative stars I would. Peter Guirgues was verbally abusive and insulting. Horrid. Horrid. Horrid.

Just stop. Stop reading other reviews and let me help you make your move to NYC a little easier… I will point you in the right direction.
Go with Jamal. Need a broker? Jamal. Need an honest advisor? Jamal. Need a facilitator? Yupe. He is just a stand up guy.
I moved to NYC feeling nervous and impatient about where it is I wanted to be. Jamal was relaxed and patient– which made me realize I could trust him to get the job done. He just knew what we were doing and reassured me my timeline and price points were all doable.
Without getting into the boring details about my apartment hunt, I want you all to know that he isn’t your typical broker. His response time is stellar, and no matter how many annoying questions I seemed to have, he was quick and courteous with me. This honestly felt like I was looking at apartments with a friend. He never pushed me in any direction, but only gave me honest advice, and always had time to show me apartments no matter how «last minute» my requests were. You will hear about a lot of dishonest, rude, «I am soooo busy» kind of brokers– Jamal is far, far from it. I am sitting in my new apartment right now, incredibly relieved and most importantly grateful I listened to some reviews that highly recommended him. You won’t regret it.
Phew. Time to finish unpacking.

This is a review for Peter.
I have to say that working with peter was actually a very pleasurable experience. He is a total champ and really bent over backwards to help us find a place, I’ve worked with many realtors in NYC and peter is by far hardest working and most honest I’ve ever worked with.
We were moving into the city and thus wasn’t as available as other tenants were to see places. Peter really worked hard to try secure places we liked to look of until we could get in an see them. He was also very reasonable regarding deposits and fees.
Peter also seems to have a really good finger on more interesting properties in NYC. Some of the stuff he showed us were real gems, So much so that many of my friends who have lived in NYC for 15 years+ will be calling him when they move again.
When its time for me to move in NYC again, peter will be my first call.

I worked with David Cooper and Lin Tang on finding an apartment in Midtown within a very aggressive deadline (around 5 days). They showed me some very good inventory and after I made a decision on an apartment I liked they were very quick in getting the application and move in process through. David was very patient in taking my calls and keeping me updated on what was going on with the application process. I was able to move in after about 2 business days and was very satisfied with the apartment.
I would recommend AC Lawrence for those who are looking for a place to stay in New York, just remember to have your paperwork ready and things should go very smoothly. Very satisfied with the overall experience and looking forward to working with them again.

I was going to write this review on the site used to schedule the apartment viewing, but they decided to mark my appointment as cancelled so I can’t write a review there. Unilocal it is.
One of the worst broker experiences I’ve ever had. I found a listing on Naked Apartments and coordinated with Alexandru (Alex) to meet at a specific time and place to view it. Day of, he contacted me to say he did not know where we were meeting and nobody met us until an hour later (it was not Alex). Strike one.
I had specified that I was looking for a 2 bedroom or a convertible 1 bedroom. Of the 7 apartments shown, 5 of them were 1 bedroom apartments that were NOT convertible. The person who showed the apartments admitted that they had never seen the apartments before and we would have to go to each apartment to see if it was actually convertible. Isn’t that what brokers are paid to do before showing units to prospective clients? Strike two.
When we called Alex at the end of it and I expressed my disappointment, he said that what I wanted was not available in my price range and he wanted to show me that. 1) Not true. I had just come from viewing an apartment with another broker — same specifications and I was shown what I asked for. 2) Even if it were true, that should be said upfront. And you can show 1 or 2 units to make that point, not 7… Total waste of time and very disrespectful. Strike three.
I should also mention that the broker broke into one apartment (maybe two?) with a credit card because he didn’t have the right key. In buildings where we couldn’t get in, the broker buzzed just about every unit until someone let him in.

STAY AWAY…
Had a meeting at 1pm with Alex, however no one met with us until 2pm (a different guy) named Mike. Mike had a bunch of places to show my roommate and I, he was not very organized with his list as we were taken all over the place. Additionally, each place was within the budget, however it had nothing we specifically asked for (natural light and kitchen space). We were told that you cannot pick out the things you dislike in an apartment, you just have to deal with it.
One place was so disgusting and run down… didn’t even look like an apartment. Oh not to mention he didn’t have the proper key to an apartment, so hit all the buttons of the buzzer until someone let him in. Afterwards, he was using a credit card to break into the apartment to show us… because his key didn’t work… I don’t think that’s trustworthy of a broker to have to break into apartments to show them… just really SHADY
Not sure why they have a bunch of 5 star reviews… probably paid people to write reviews as some of the 5 star ratings are from people not even in NYC…
Use at your own risk!

HORRENDOUS.
The whole NYC apartment hunting is stressful enough, and having a broker who really is a royal douchebag that preys on your stressed soul is even worse.
I have a small dog. I am also a resident and don’t make much salary. You can say that I’m pretty much setting myself up for failure. However, my roommate and I were able to see about 15 apartments… NONE of them from AC Lawrence. The broker, J***, was not able to show us a single one.
Well, let’s start from the beginning. We originally had someone else, but she had forgotten about our meeting even though the meeting was confirmed via email twice. So we were handed over to J***, who told us the the market was «horrible» and that since I have a dog, it would be impossible to find something.
We communicated with him a few times, and also the initial lady as well, so really, they were not working together. It seemed like the two brokers were pretty much trying to get our business while competing with each other. In the end, communication waned because he said nothing was available.
We eventually found a great broker (thanks, Bond!) and found a great place. We did talk to several other brokers, and while they agreed that finding a place was difficult with a dog, the market was fine, and it was not a big deal.
Don’t waste your time here.

Thanks Sowmya, for your time and assistance in helping and guiding me to find my first apartment in New York.
All the best with your future endevours.
Alex

I used this company nearly a year ago and they had several slip ups while helping me, and yet they had another one with me.
Let me start by saying a year ago when I was looking for an apartment I had a strict budget. My «broker» had me running around the city with his 2 assistants like a madperson looking at apartment way above my budget. I did not appreciate this and felt I was being taken advantage of.
Found an apartment I liked. AC Lawrence got their money from me and kicked me to the curb.
Somewhere communication was broken down and to this day I still think it is AC Lawrence’s fault for not following up with the rental company. Anyway, I call to get my keys and they had no idea I was moving into the apartment. I was furious and my move was delayed a week. AC took no responsibility in this. As my broker you are my communication with the rental company and make sure I have the tools to contact the necessary people. Luckily my building handled the situation beautifully and all was resolved. Bad slip up.
Fast forward to a year when I am moving out of my apartment. It’s on the market ready to show people. Obviously, it is known the apartment is being lived in as I have had various brokers from various companies contact me to schedule a showing. It’s 8:30 on a rainy night and I hear a knock on my door. I get up open my door to find a male with a handful of keys getting ready to open my door. He said he was from AC Lawrence. I was pretty much terrified to know someone had keys to my apartment was about to help themselves in. He then asked to take pictures. Is it just me, or is that creepy? There is no reason you need to be at my apartment that late with a camera. And why did everyone else but you know this was an occupied apartment. This was slip up number two.
Wouldn’t suggest anyone use this company.

Finding an apt in NYC can either be the easiest or worst experience ever. and it all depends on the broker you use.
I was in a scramble to find an apt and the broker I used here was very straighforward and knowledgeable in the market and apts that were available. By the sounds of that, it seems like this should’ve been a great experience for me right? Wrong. Here are a few reasons why I’d steer clear:
1. I told my broker my hard budget yet all of the apts that were shown to me were well above it — 100 $ and more. Nothing shown to me was in the range I requested. Clearly, they had their commission check on their mind.
2. The broker’s «assistant» (not sure what they’re called but typically the ppl who show the apts to the client on behalf of the broker) was incredibly pushy. Yes, sales is part of their job but it was to the point where it was annoying. I would say no, and she would come up with a thousand reasons why it should be a yes. If I wanted someone to question my choices, I’d ask my mom.
3. Saving the best for last. There was one apt that was shown to me that I decided to apply for. Mind you, they require that you put down a «good faith» deposit of one month’s rent so you can’t back out once an application has been filed. For 3 days, I was told the landlord was still reviewing my application yada yada yada, and finally they eventually told me the truth that they realized they had made a mistake and shown me the WRONG apt and applied me for an apt I did not see.
The best thing about NYC is that brokers are a dime a dozen. First impressions are everything and this agency failed. If you want to work with ppl whom show you apts way above your budget, are pushy, and apply you to wrong apts. this is the place for you. If not, go elsewhere!

My fiancé and I started getting nervous about finding an apartment over the summer as we are being kicked out of Columbia student housing at the end of May. I looked through NYU’s off campus housing database and found Brittani Jones’ contact info. I was hesitant to work with a broker, having heard horror stories about high fees and sketchy random charges.
Brittani was extremely friendly and understanding of our situation from the get-​go. She immediately started helping us and got us information necessary to facilitate our apartment hunt. She was always responsive, punctual, and followed up with us each time we exchanged info or went to check out an apartment.
We also met with Anna Pawlack who showed us a couple apartments, and who went out of her way to find some listings that suited our needs. She was also extremely professional and punctual; can’t recommend both of them highly enough.
Ultimately we were able to get a sublet (outside of AC Lawrence) that suited our needs perfectly so I cannot comment on the actual leasing process. After reading the recent one-​star reviews, it seems like your experience is really dependent on the broker that you deal with at this company. Definitely reach out to Brittani J. and Anna P. if you choose to go with AC Lawrence.
Good luck and happy house hunting!

Worst brokers I’ve ever seen.
A few weeks ago broker named «Mike» told us there was this great apartment somewhere in NYC on 80^th street. We told him everything we were looking for. Then when we got there suddenly Mike was too busy and they sent us to a girl. She said she was ‘mikes assistant’. And would not introduce us to Mike even though he sat right next to her at his own desk. And we asked over and over again why can’t we talk to Mike but he was always too busy. And that amazing apartment Mike describe pretty much never existed. We asked to see it many times and they said they were calling the landlord and she wasn’t ever answering. We asked to see nothing about 2000 a month. She then sent us out with some guy who showed us everything above $ 2000.
We kept saying we werent lower but she showed us nothing lower in price. We still found some nice places. Then she kept saying she didnt care what she made off the deal but meanwhile they asked for 15%. We said thats crazy and got them down to 11%. Then the suddenly sprung something on us and said we have to move in 10 days earlier than we wanted to and it would be and extra $ 800. So there goes the pretend money we saved from the 15% to 11%.
We got out money back after two weeks and will never deal with them again, Probably the shadiest people i’ve ever met. Heroin dealers are probably more honest.
Bottom line dont go there and DO NOT PAY them $ 150 credit check.
Also we found they advertised the apartment we wanted on craigslist for $ 2195 and they wouldn’t honor the price. They claimed that wasn’t there ad even though it had there pictures on it and there logo on the pics. And the second we told em about the ad. Suddenly it was taken down.

This was the second time moving in the city, and the second time I’ve used Cathy Shim as my broker. Honestly, this move was a lot more stressful. Finding the apartment was easy — she knew my parameters were lots of natural light, big kitchen and pet friendly, and we found my DREAM apartment on the first day of looking. The stress came in the process after. We had a few miscommunication issues that all came to a head literally while I had the pen in my hand to sign the lease.
That all said, I’d use Cathy and AC Lawrence in any move. They listen to what you’re looking for. Cathy never showed me an apartment out of my price range, only took me to the neighborhood I was looking in and if I didn’t like a place, we moved on. I know friends who have worked with other brokers (ahem Citi Habitats ahem) who have given them nothing but grief, showing them apartments out of their price range and then berate them for «being too picky.» Never had that with AC Lawrence. I give them an enormously glowing review and highly, highly recommend them for anyone looking in the city.

Trying to find an apartment is stressful. Trying to find the perfect apartment is stress x 1000! I mean, who wants to keep moving from place to place after 5 years in New York?
When I finally got my act together and decided to move, I went out on Craig’s List, Trulia and some other apartment hunting websites. These listings all led me to one broker to another. (However, my standards for apartments has changed and I am no longer the poor grad student who will live anywhere to save a buck).
That said, I would say 30% of the agents at 8 different companies I met were nice. Unfortunately, none really had anything I was really looking for. I was really about to give up my search but Julie, the agent at AC Lawrence, persuaded me not to give up. She told me she knew what my parameters were, understood exactly what i was looking for after having looked at 3 places with me and she would contact me only when she had personally viewed, vetted an apartment which she thought would be to my liking. I told her I would give her 2 weeks but that was it.
Sure enough, one week later I get a phone call from her. It more went like this: «Susan! OMG, you have to come here ASAP! I know you have been discouraged, but I HAVE THE PERFECT PLACE FOR YOU SO COME OVER RIGHT NOW!»
Now, when I met her, Julie was really professional. Not trying to sell me something I didn’t want. Hearing how excited she was, i was really curious. Sure enough, when I showed up, the apartment was beautiful. My cat was allowed there, the noise level was more than manageable for me both during the evenings and the weeks (I am super noise sensitive), and I have DECENT closets! I’m so happy with my apartment right now, I have a big smile on my face when I get off the train making my way home.
The only reason this review isn’t 5 stars is the application process. Took a week for the paperwork to go through and it was a little nerve-​wracking since it was so close to my move-​out date at my last apartment. Not sure where the holdup was, or whether that was the nature of the beast, but it was kind of scary.
Julie did follow up with me after the process to see how I was liking my aparment, which reminded me I am long overdue on this review.

I am from out of town so I kinda just looked for deals on apartments in NYC on Craigslist .
I wrote to whole lot of real estate agents.
While I was sending them emails — I also sent a whole bunch of other real estate agents emails.
The most common thing was the real estate agents would post stuff on Craigslist with great prices — however — when I called them — they would tell me «O — I am so sorry — this apartment just got picked up yesterday — we have better deals — if you can meet us in our office»
Funniest thing — this happened with me 4 times.
I realized that it was the common practice with real estate agents to get clients.
The only one real estate agency that didn’t do this with me was ACL.
Julie Thalheimer & Sandra Falus were really helpful.
No games — Just plan simple deals.
They were very upfront and transparent.
They even recommended me to a few things I should look for and I landed in a place that I was looking for.
I have been recommending them to all my friends who are consultants like me and are always moving to NYC area in search for better pastures.
Thanks Julie & Sandra from ACL