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Grace Realty
Category: Real Estate Agents [Edit]
Neighborhood: Long Island City31-12 Broadway
Ste 2
Astoria, NY 11106
(718) 626-4200
- Nearest Transit:
-
Broadway (N, W)
Steinway St (G, R, V)
4 reviews for Grace Realty
I found a nice studio for $1250 a month no thanks to this f'ing dump.
I called on Thursday and made an appointment to come in this morning at 10AM to look at apartments. A nice dog greets me; the only nice thing that happened here.
The guy introduces himself and tells me to sit down. He asks me when I intend to move. I say I have some time but if there's something available for July 1st, I'd take it. He tells me he has nothing for me. The studio he posted on craigslist was not available. He said the super won't give him keys. He also said he has 4 apartments available yet he can't show them to me because other clients have asked him not to show it.
WTF? Then why the hell did you take my freaking appointment? He asks me to fill out an application. I said no thanks and walked the hell out. What a freaking punk!
Do you want this to happen to you? If you like being treated like crap, by all means go here.
People thought this was:
- Useful (4)
Anyone paying their overpriced fee to live in Astoria deserves what they get.
I've dealt with almost every realtor in Astoria in a search for a 1 bedroom apartment. Here's what I've learned:
1. Do not pay more than 1 months fee. Seriously, don't do it. All it does is tell brokers that they can start charging more. We need less brokers, not more.
2. Do not go to these agencies: (a) Venus - Slimeballs! (b) Global City - will try to sell you an overpriced apartment in a crap-tastic building, (c) Grace Realty - The fee is too high and the buildings are "meh".
3. Don't have kids? You want to live west of 31st St and north of 36th Ave. Have kids? You want to live in Ditmars. Like getting taken for a ride? The area between 31st and Steinway and Astoria Blvd and 36th is for you.
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Have things really changed that much in 4 years? When I moved to Astoria in 2004, I tried the whole "let me see what I can find without a broker" game, to no avail whatsoever. I dealt with more weirdos and sketchy locations in three straight days of apartment hunting than other people probably find in three weeks.
I finally made an appointment at Grace Realty and it was like a breath of fresh air. Cute dog to greet me, use of their facilities (I went through my iced coffee like water and reeeeally had to go) and a sit-down chat with Grace herself, who is an Irish doll. She introduced us to her partner, the infamous Glenn, who promptly walked us over to (what is now) our apartment, and we signed the papers and gave our deposit that very day.
Yeah, Glenn is very much the "realtor" type - used car salesman-esque, fast talker, cut to the chase kinda guy...but face it, he found us a huge 1BR 2 blocks from the N train at 30th Avenue in a safe, nice (laundry!) building for $1200, which was something we had been trying to find by ourselves for quite a while. You get what you pay for....we paid for a broker to find us an amazing apartment, and we got it.
One month's rent, one month's security, a "thank you" note, and 4 years later, we still happily live in the same place -- only now we laugh at all the Manhattan transplants who can't afford their Murray Hill studios that their trust funds stopped paying off months ago.
The main guy at Grace Realty (Glenn, maybe?) is your typical broker nonsense -- the "har har har, this (dump of an) apartment will go so fast!" act, making appointments just to tell you that the apartment posted a half hour ago on Craigslist was just rented, and a STAGGERING brokers fee of something like 12%.
And of all the Astoria brokers I've dealt with, maybe 15, this place has some of the most overpriced apartments on the market. Do not waster your time/money.
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