Ideal Properties Group

worst company ever… didn’t get my deposit back. rude and lied about a unit.

I got a really nice private message from Donna «the diva» R. on Unilocal the other day. She gave ideal properties five stars and a competitor one star.(Hmmm…) Anyhow, she accused me of not having lived in an Ideal Properties apartment and then went on to a totally nasty aside that had absolutely nothing to do with property or rentals, but me personally. This further reinforces my belief that these are people you should just not do business with. At all. Ever.
Also, if Donna «the Diva» R. doesn’t work at Ideal, they really should hire her, because she seems to have a freakish obsession with them.

Pretty horrendous. I thought I was renting from a medium size company, signed a lease with Ideal Properties. Once there, I could only deal directly with the guy who runs the building, which is fine when he’s there, but when he’s out (e.g. he was in hospital for ten days) you’re absolutely on your own!
Now the lease is over, I’m thankfully out of there, but it’s been over six months and I still don’t have my security deposit back.

Inefficient, horrible scammers.
Not a good word can be said about these people, also why is your commission so high? You do nothing but open a door to a sub-​par apartment with 100 concealed problems.

You’re renting in NYC, so the demand is high. This leaves renters finding most of their initial experiences with nyc brokers being similar to craigslist experiences. Thats the state of the market in NY, but ideal properties group have been cool from my experience. They try their best to be fair and honest, which is the least a renter can possibly ask for. In NY, thats everything. I’d work with IPG again and recommend them.

Watch out for David Troutman. He comes across as a lovely southern gentlemen. And he conned us we thought we were renting from a private landlord, actually the owner was his cooleague at Ideal, Erik Serras. Now we’re trying to get our deposit back the charming façade is gone and we get no reply. Three months since we moved out and can’t get our money back.

David Troutman is a prince. It is simply impossible to overstate how grateful I am that we had the good fortune to find him early on in our apartment search. Although we worked with some others, we quickly realized that David was, without a doubt, made of different stuff. He is thorough, dependable, well-​informed, industrious, hard-​working, prompt, patient, and honest to a fault. On top of that, he’s a truly nice guy. I am not one to write reviews — in fact, this is the first one I’ve ever written. I just can’t say enough good things about this guy. I’d suggest you work with him exclusively. He will steadfastly stick with you until you find the place that’s right for you.

Andrew was great, but over the course of two weeks, we were passed around between 3 different agents. They didn’t have the right keys to get into apartments three times and Luther, the office manager didn’t deliver on promises and left town without notifying us or answering any of our emails or calls.
Definite pass.

Having lived in Manhattan for ten years, my wife and I had no idea what to expect when we decided to move to Brooklyn. We met with a number of different brokers when we began looking at apartments, but Chris was the first one we felt actually took the time to listen to what we were looking for, advise us on what we could expect and actually recommend specific neighborhoods to us. He was always friendly and extremely patient with us even in our most indecisive moments. I can’t recommend him highly enough.

They may have some nice agents in the office but THE manager — What an a***! We get what prices are in the neighborhoods surrounding Cobble Hill but like any smart consumer, just for a what the heck it can’t hurt kind of thing, we asked if there were any availabilities in a certain price point to rent — The manager LAUGHED in our face. Not an «unfortunately that isn’t what that cost is these days» or suggested something else but a geniuine d**khead response. Too bad for him and his office we ended up buying a large brownstone around the corner with another firm. I suggest you do the same (buying or renting with someone else).

I’ve met some crappy agents and I“ve met some good agents. And then I met Joe, the best one I’ve worked with so far. I contacted Joe for one apartment, which he showed us but we didn’t like. Then he told us about something that just came on the market, that wasn’t even on their site yet because the people who were supposed to rent it just backed out. We loved the place and got to signing. Not only was he completely accommodating in getting all the papers signed, the keys to us, etc, he was ALWAYS available, always thorough, and helped us get a sense of our new neighborhood. The offices are close to our apartment and when I ran into him a few weeks after Sandy, he told me that after he heard about the Canal overflowing, that he thought about us and was hoping we were okay. WHO DOES THAT? Joe does. I highly recommend Joe as an agent, he deserves every singly penny.

My boyfriend and I went through 3 different brokers before we met with Joe Forzano. We’d seen apartments, and prices and everything was terrible. We were not that picky but did have a few things we wanted (near a train, near restaurants, etc). Unlike the other brokers who made us feel rushed and stressed, Joe took us around the areas we wanted an apartment, showed us things mostly within our price range, made suggestions and told us not to rush on an apartment. We found an apartment we liked, and applied for it, and our application fell through, and as soon as Joe found out, he told us to meet him that night to show us another apartment. My boyfriend and I work really long hours, and Joe was extremely accommodating to us, meeting us after work, and on Saturday and Sunday until we found the perfect place. As everyone knows, apartment hunting in New York is a nightmare, but Joe made us feel comfortable and confident that we’d find the perfect place for us, and we did. He’s the only broker we worked with who we actually felt earned his commission above and beyond just unlocking a door. I’d recommend him to anyone.

got the apartment I wanted in and out deal… simple as that

Ideal Properties was the first real estate agency that made me feel they were actually listening to me when I called them initially. We worked with Amy Beecher, and she was attentive and considerate to what we were looking for. After showing us a few apartments, we found a studio that could have been «the one,» but we were a little hesitant. Amy was a pro, and wasn’t pushy or aggressive about closing out our business.
I asked to see a few comparables in the neighborhood, and Amy spent a night taking us to see a few other apartments in the neighborhood without complaint or hesitation. After that night, we knew we found our place.
Filling out all the paperwork was hassle-​free; it was never difficult to get in touch with Amy. I couldn’t recommend her, or Ideal Properties, enough.

After going rounds and rounds with other brokers in the city, I never felt comfortable or trusting of them. It seemed like I was being served the standard «slinging mud and seeing what sticks» type of deal.
But such was completely different with Ideal Properties. I came across a property online listed by my agent David Troutman. We talked right away and I could immediately tell he was going to be someone I could trust. We met and walked around the Fort Greene area, he took his time and showed me apartments that were picked purely for me. In the end I found a great place in a fantastic neighborhood and am 100% satisfied with the process.
I would recommend Ideal Properties again to anyone looking for a place in Brooklyn. Thanks again!

Although I have nothing to add to my previous review, I wanted to update my post to address Mike’s reply:
Michael, thank you for your response albeit very delayed. If you were genuinely concerned about how people view your agents, maybe you should have commented within a reasonable time frame — versus 8+ months after I posted my feedback.
The tone of your email was completely unnecessary («theoretical agent» — really?) but indicative of the lack of professionalism that I experienced from Ideal that day and other issues I’ve heard from other friend of mine who have seen apartments from Ideal. In the end, I have moved on from this. I found multiple apartments with two other fantastic based BK agents that were well within my range and finally settled on one in Carroll Gardens. (See the glowing reviews I wrote for them.)
With this, I don’t remember the agent that we were assigned in July of 2011, but if you want to message me privately versus sending a defensive reply to my post I am very willing to give you some additional information so you can look up his information in your system and ultimately «address my allegations» from 2011.

They did a great job of helping us find an apartment. Sat down with Jen and after asking us what we like, need, etc. she found us a few places to look at. Took the second place and she made the whole process incredibly easy.
Finding an apartment in NY is just awful, but Jen made it quite a bit easier and much less painful.

I worked with Arvin and he was great. He was dedicated, pleasant to work with and really put forth a great effort in helping us find a place.
What I appreciate the most was how in touch he was. He did everything he said he was going to do and more. He returned my calls, answered all my questions and followed up.
I definitely recommend him and will be passing along his information to any friend looking.
Thanks Arvin!

I hate real estate agents.
Not necessarily the actual human being, just the creature they become when they are in real estate mode. Most are condescending, inattentive to your needs as a renter, and many outright lie and then pressure you to sign on properties that are obviously not what you are looking for.
That said, I was pleasantly surprised when I walked into Ideal Properties on Court St. in Cobble Hill.
I was on a fairly modest budget for the neighborhood, and had left my name and number with several neighborhood agencies. None seemed too interested in me because of my modest budget and very specific criteria. But when i walked into Ideal Properties I was promptly and pleasantly greeted by Manager Dave, and he really seemed to listen to what i was looking for. He promised to get back to me when apartments started opening up for the time frame i was looking for, which was two months away. After meeting with the other agents i had talked with that week, I assumed that Dave was just going through the motions on a slow day to kill time and that he would not take me seriously.
Then, a month later, after no one had gotten in touch with me (and not one of the other agencies ever did) Dave not only emailed with several places, but he had carefully taken into consideration my very specific criteria and budget and was only showing me places that were appropriate relative to those factors.
He and another agent Jen were very attentive to my opinions of each place we saw. They never once pressured me or tried to sell me on a place, and they never once showed me a place that was inappropriate to my needs or over my budget without first being upfront about it. They were very honest about the plusses and minuses for each unit we looked at, had useful information on the landlord and buildings, and if they didn’t have an answer to a question they got back to me as soon as possible with one. They were basically very professional, and surprisingly laid back for real estate people. Most importantly they were very focused on getting me into the right place for my needs and eventually they helped me find a place exactly in the neighborhood I wanted to be in that fit my criteria AND came in $ 300 below my budget.
Pretty cool.
Although broker fees are a drag, I would say that if you absolutely need a broker, I would highly recommend working with Dave or Jen at Ideal!

Let me preface by saying that my girlfriend and I are difficult and fussy when it comes to apartments (well, I am). After getting the typical runaround from unscrupulous and barely literate agents throughout Brooklyn, along came Lynne, who was the only person we trusted and wanted to work with.
She not only was sensitive to our needs, she genuinely cared about finding us the space that suited both of us (who have differing aesthetic preferences) and fell within our budget and neighbourhood constraints.
After seeing a few places that I disliked (lack of charm, too close to Downtown Brooklyn, too high of a street number (don’t ask), linoleum flooring, etc., she fully understood us and what we wanted.
I would certainly recommend Lynne for anyone looking in Brooklyn, particularly the Fort Greene area.
Also, her sense of humour and sharp wit made this normally arduous process fun.
Thanks, Lynne, we look forward to seeing you around the ‘hood.