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 were struggling to find an apartment FAST when we heard some excellent reviews about Orit. We were a bit hesitant about using a realtor at first but Orit quickly put our mind at ease as she proved to the most efficient, patient and reliable realtor we could possibly hope for. She was very informative and helpful, was candid about every apartment she had to offer, and seemed to genuinely try to find the best option for us. As we were just moving to Boston she had the knowledge and experience to steer us to neighborhoods that were right for us. We ended up finding a nice apartment that perfectly suits our needs within just a few days. with Orit the search for an apartment, signing the lease and the entire move was very smooth and easy. Thanks!!

  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.

  My two roommates and I had a great experience with Maurika. Seems like the one-star reviews concern other realtors, so I'd recommend asking for her when you call! My two roommates and I got a really cute and affordable 2-bed with a roof deck through Harvard Ave.

Maurika was very flexible with timing, and organized both a viewing and a lease signing after work hours, making it really convenient for us. She put us in contact with the current tenants, and we were able to negotiate over taking some of their furniture. She also helped us negotiate with the landlord about having an extra roommate when he originally only wanted to rent to two people. Additionally, she gave us her phone number and was happy to take calls outside of work hours. Maurika was able to meet us right at the apartment to get the keys instead of the office.

The only issues we had were that we only got one set of keys, which was inconvenient, and we weren't entirely solid about move-in time until the day before. It was a Sept. 1 move, though, so that's how those things go. Anyway, that's why Harvard Ave is 4, not 5, stars.

Overall a great experience! Would definitely work with Maurika again for housing in Brookline/Allston.

  I would totally recommend Dan Patzelt, or as my roommates and I call him, realtor Dan.  He was extremely helpful in our apartment hunt process and definitely gave us the insider tips to truly find what we all wanted.  The best part was that he was very accommodating, being able to meet with us and answer our questions quickly and efficiently.

I do not know about havard ave realty as a whole, but I can tell you choosing realtor Dan will not be a mistake.