Artisan Properties

This is a rental review using Alex as the agent.
In the beginning of my process I found Alex friendly and helpful. He helped me to negotiate 50 dollars a month off the asking price. However soon after things went downhill. Alex was my middle man between me and the owner and i soon realized he had no intention of helping me out any further. When i moved in my stove wasnt working properly, knobs were broken and it was unsafe. He told me it would be fixed before i moved it. Well 3 months later it still wasnt repaired. Turned out the stove was so old that they couldnt fix it and i was told they would replace it IF I PAID MORE RENT EACH MONTH!!! That is complete BS and against boston tenant law. Right around this time was the dead of winter and i couldnt heat my apartment past 60 degrees because of how old the windows were (literally paying almost 300 a month in heat only to be FREEZING). when i contacted Alex he told me nothing could be done because the windows were the responsibility of the building. By spring I also had a toilet issue– it continued to run despite Alex attempting to fix it. So i called the city and had an inspector visit the apartment. The inspector informed me that the heat was a HUGE issue as well as the stove. The owner had a small time frame to get everything fixed. Suddenly i had a new stove, new windows (it was not the buildings responsibility, ALEX HAD LIED) and a new toilet.
I will never recommend him to anyone.

We worked with Sara last fall/​early winter while looking for a rental. She was generally a pleasure to work with — professional, pretty responsive, and helpful in getting our questions answered and communicating with the landlord while negotiating.
The one thing that was a little odd about the experience: we were told we had to provide a deposit on the broker fee that we would forfeit if our application was accepted but we did not sign the lease. This gave us some pause; the wording on the paperwork read as though we would forfeit that money even if we didn’t sign the lease due to some circumstance that was not of our making (for instance, if we couldn’t negotiate acceptable terms with the landlord). We didn’t encounter this with any other broker we worked with, but Sara seemed to think it odd that we found this provision odd; she appeared put off when we explained our reservations and said that we wanted to look at the proposed apartment lease prior to agreeing to the deposit. However, we still applied for the apartment.
That said, when the apartment fell through (no fault of Sara’s or our own; the landlord pulled out) Sara was very communicative and prompt about returning our deposit. So the deposit thing seems to be an oddity with this agency, but not particularly shady. We did continue to work with her thereafter — though we ended up finding a place through a different broker before applying to any other apartments with her — and would use her again if we were searching in the area.

This was the best experience I have had with a real estate management company. I highly recommend Sara Dillan. She was very prepared, listened to what I wanted and was able to find it in just a few days. She assisted in helping us alter the lease to our liking and was always available for questions. I hate paying real estate fees but she made it 100% worth it. I have been in my place for about a year now and couldn’t be happier!

There are some decent things about their property management. But any of that is overshadowed by one incident.
Here’s an idea: If you’re the male property manager of a building, don’t ever even think about talking to any female resident who lives alone in a studio about her body. You may think you’re «complimenting» how great her figure looks after losing some weight. Instead you’re reminding her that you have keys to her building and studio unit (no bedroom to run into), that women are more likely to be sexually assaulted in their own home than any other location, and that 80% sexual assaults are committed by an acquaintance.

I met Sara Dillan at Artisan through a mutual friend and she’s now assisting me in the search for income producing commercial /​multi-​family residential properties in the Boston area. She’s knowledgeable, hardworking and responsive, and better yet, she knows real estate valuation and cap rates inside and out. Highly recommend.

I have worked with/​encountered many real estate agents and I have to say that Chad is one of the few honest, trustworthy ones out there. The reason it matters is that when you’re in a real estate transaction, you want your agent to be putting aside his/​her agenda to get the best deal for you, not for him/​herself. Chad actually represented the seller of the unit that I eventually bought, so Chad wasn’t even representing me. But there was some stuff going on that my agent was hiding from me (which I eventually learned and was very upset about because he was thinking in his best interest, not mine). Without going into the details, I eventually found out that Chad was the one who made the deal happened by putting his clients’ interest first (rather than his) and it worked out for both the seller and buyer. I was quite impressed by Chad’s ethics that I have switched to Chad to be my agent on future real estate transactions. Since then, I have gotten to know Chad since he manages the building that I live in. I have found him to be responsive and resourceful as he knows the neighboring towns fairly well. He is a good resource if you’re looking to buy/​sell/​manage a property for personal use or for investment. He’s a wealth of knowledge compared to some brokers in town whose knowledge may be more specific to an area/​building.

Chad Lingle is awesome! I was referred to Artisan Properties, specifically Chad as I was beginning my search for a Loft in the City. Not only was Chad personable, professional and very knowledgeable, he is by far the best real estate person and businessman that I have had the pleasure to meet. He found me the Loft of my dreams and I am super happy with my purchase. Our business relationship did not end with the closing of my Condo, however continues as Chad consistently checks in with me from time to time. What a wonderful experience I had/​have working with Chad and his team at Artisan Properties. I would highly recommend him and his group to anyone who mentions that they are looking for real estate!

I bumped into Mandy at Artisan Properties by chance when looking for apartments in the Somerville area. I called her up one afternoon to task about a place and she went out of her way to make the visit possible.
While touring the house, Mandy was knowledgeable and genuine and at the end of the first tour she was responsive in getting back to me. The complex and winding process of securing an 11 bedroom mansion of a house in Somerville was about as painless as anyone could ever hope it to be and Mandy was instrumental in making that happen.
She handled all the paperwork from day 1, went out of her way to work with us in the lease negotiations, and made the process of working with the property management, developer, and landlord a breeze.
I cannot give high enough commendations to the folks over at Artisan Properties. After interacting with so many bad actors in the Boston real Estate scene there is no comparison, Artisan blows everyone out of the water and is worth every penny.

Moving from Southern California to Boston proved to be way more challenging than we expected since the real state markets are completely different. Luckily we were referred to Mandy from Artisan Properties. Although realtors tend to be expensive (that’s why I give it four stars instead of five), I think it’s practically impossible to find a place in Boston without a good one, specially if you are from out of town.
Mandy helped us find our rental place in just a couple of days even when we were on a pretty tight schedule and budget. She helped us with the signing of the lease and has dealt with our landlord for other related stuff. She’s even given us some advice to deal with New England’s winter :)

Saved. Ma. Life.
After a not-​surprising-​but-​still-​annoying-​incident with the people living in my new apartment, I was going to be homeless in August (sort of). but Alex from Artisan saved the day! Here’s the scoop…
I was living with two roomies in Cambridge when I decided to move out with one of them. We found Alex’s ad for a place in Boston while browsing Craigslist. It was the first apartment I had looked at and I really loved it. After some chat with the people living in the apt at the time, they said that they’d be willing to sublet two of the rooms in August. This was KEY because I was going to be on a trip from the end of August into September (so a Sept move in was kind of out of the question). Obviously, this was the dealmaker when signing the lease. A week or two before August, the people in the apt sent us e-​mails saying they weren’t moving for various reasons (some valid, others not). Both of us had sublet our rooms in our then apt so we sort of stuck. Lucky for my roommate, he was able to strike a deal with his subletter and store stuff at his parent’s place in MA. Me however? I felt bad about going back on my word. and I had already taken money from my subletter. so I was pondering living on the streets for a month. Well, I probably could have found a last minute sublet, but I was starting a new job and I really didn’t have time to go around. plus I was just so over subletting at this point.
My roommate had been chatting with Alex about apt details when he found out about our situation. Alex felt awful. and being the awesome human being that he is. found a pretty sweet sublet for me for half the price of my new apartment (and with REALLY chill roommates). I would still need to get a storage unit, but I was going to save a ton of money (which I sank during my trip. haha). And on top of that, Alex was really cool about a payment plan.
I honestly would have ended up in the hospital with heart palpitations if it weren’t for Alex. I’ve actually met another realtor that works with Artisan and they’re both just super nice and easy to chat with. Alex was so good about getting back to us through phone, e-​mail, and even text!
So. way to go Artisan. helping improve the realtor image one customer at a time.
PS — Their website lists some of the more expensive properties/​rentals. but if you type Artisan Properties into Craigslist you’ll find some good deals! I’m all about the no fees too!