I see some negative reviews with Harvard Ave Realty, but my experience was with one agent in particular, Dan Patzelt. Dan showed us a place we unfortunately weren't too happy with once we saw the size, but we went back to his office after at 8PM and he sat with us for over an hour going through listing by listing to find something for us. He was candid regarding location, landlords, price points, etc. In the end, we found something in Brookline that was a great deal though another agency, but Dan was still in contact with us.

He sent us an email asking how the search was going and once we mentioned finding a place, not only did he wish us well but he actually gave us a contact to reach out for to rent parking!

If you're looking for a place in Brighton/Allston, reach out to him, I swear he knows everyone in the area.

  Like many, I abhor the Boston housing market. And I find the brokerage system to be borderline criminal, so I'm not often warm towards realtors. But Orit Aviv was different, and tremendously helpful. She did not push an apartment, and seemed honest about its ups and downs. Those are not givens, and good signs-- but where she really impressed me was putting together the paperwork that same day and pushing the deal through. It made the hassle factor for me significantly, significantly less. If I'm ever looking in Boston again, I'd call Orit rather than look through listings. Really that good.

  We just signed a lease today on an apartment with Sean Paine (Champagne Sean Paine). My roommates and I were apartment searching for months with other agencies and backed out of a place with another agent just so we could give our business to Sean. Everyone at the office was incredibly friendly and helpful and we couldn't be happier about our new place. I really couldn't have asked for anything more from Harvard Ave Realty.

  I never thought I would deal with such a horrible and dishonest realty. It was my first time dealing with brokers in Boston and I had no experience.  The mistakes they made are uncountable. They deposited my money into the landlord's account before the deal went into fruition. They didn't give me any receipt and thought photocopying cash was an acceptable receipt. They modified the address and broker fee on the brokerage disclosure form after we signed the paper. They kept pushing for the deal to happen although it was clearly a complicated situation that we needed to walk away from. They didn't give us the addendum till lease signing day and then blamed us for not taking the house because the realtor worked so hard and they kept demanding their broker fee even though we ended up without a house and even though only 2 of the 4 people signed the broker fee agreement which clearly sated that: all prospective tenants must sign prior to moving forward with the application. when I went to get my money back, they didn't give me all of it, and David, the owner, was very rude to me and treated me disrespectfully and charged me a $200 application fee though only 2 people signed the applications. I am still in the process of the dealing with the landlord to get my money back. All of this wouldn't have happened had they been professional and ethical.

  I'm not sure why there are so many bad reviews of Harvard Ave Realty! My boyfriend and I were looking for a one bedroom off-campus to save money. We didn't have a big budget and I was picky with what I wanted. Furthermore, apartments were renting out fast! We worked with Dan Patzelt and it was only a pleasure. He was very candid about the apartments and seemed to know a lot about the area. He was accommodating to our student schedules and even picked us up/dropped us off at our dorm sometimes on the way to or from showings. Now that we've moved in, the process was easy. Dan answered all of our questions and concerns. I'd definitely recommend Harvard Ave to others!