Paragon Properties

STAY AWAY from MIKE WALSH!!! I looked at a single property with Mike and did not rent it. He is now harassing me for a rental fee for a property I rented six months ago which he had no part in showing or preparing any rental agreement. I had no contractual obligation to him regarding this property. I don’t know how he found out where I live, but he continues to call and write me and the property manager. My attorney and the attorney for the property management company agree that he has no legal basis for the claim. He did not show the property, it had been listed on Craig’s list for weeks, and we walked past the open house in our neighborhood and decided to stop to look. The agents for the management company were the only agents involved in the rental and there was no fee associated with their work. MIKE WALSH is UNETHICAL and DESPARATE. STAY AWAY!!! There are more respectable and reputable agents/​companies with the same properties.

Emailed an inquiry, no response. What I got was 5 – 7 auto-​triggered emails
. I thought it was spam because the first line always reads, «Use this area to offer a short teaser of your email’s content. Text here will show in the preview area of some email clients.» and the end always says, «Follow on Twitter (Twitter Account not yet Authorized)» A few other reviews have pointed out one word to describe this company and I agree: SHADY.

My review is for Kathleen from Paragon Properties.
I was introduced to Kathleen i don’t recollect how… when i was looking for a place to rent when i moved to BOS from NY in early 2012. she simply took down my requirements and did not waste any time showing me what i would not have liked. A year later i went back to help me BUY a home and here I’m, a house owner in 3 months in Boston where market seems at it peak!!!
Wanted to thank you for the wonderful house you helped us find. i wake up every morning and pinch myself thinking how fast it all happened. Still remember your early Saturday morning messages reminding us of the open houses followed by another and another only to start over again on Sunday. Thanks for the daily pick up from work along with my dry cleaning before we go see more houses on weekdays. Guess what, your perseverance paid off and we have a new home.
Not to mention, after all that the grand basket of goodies you left us… so here is the deal… we wont pop open the bottle of champagne until you come and visit us in our new pad. looking forward and THANK YOU
for all those who landed on Paragon Properties, please don’t get influenced by the terrible reviews from people who will go to any extend to defame someone and never make an attempt to appreciate someone when its due. i have met a couple of agents from the company and they all seem warm, humble and professional.
gopu & Simi

John D Barber was absolutely terrible. I wouldn’t trust him ever again. My fiancé and I were looking for an apartment and chose one that he showed us. We had been upfront about the fact that we need a place that allowed a cat. We were under a time constraint to find someplace quickly. We had placed a deposit and he told us it was accepted. We asked for a lease and for 4 days he didn’t return our emails or phone calls. Then he said we couldn’t have the apartment after all because the landlord changed her policy on pets. Did I mention that he also drove us between listings in his car full of trash? He was totally unreliable and unprofessional.

I had a wonderful experience with Keith at Paragon Properties. He listened to my «wish-​list», found 4 great apartments overnight, and drove me to see them the next day. Honest, organized, up-​front, and real.
The company clearly has a ton of connections in multiple neighborhoods across Boston.
Their website can be misleading, as it describes apartments that are available at any point throughout the year. This means they may not have the EXACT property described, but many that are similar, and this is how they create interest.
Hey, in a world of sketchy apartment slingers and realtors trying to make a buck, all I cared about was having multiple apartments to view with the amenities, price, and features I wanted. Keith gave me all of that!
Highly recommended for anyone looking to rent in this city. Thanks Keith!

I was working with Cara at Paragon to search for apartments around Boston. Although I knew I was looking well in advance and that there were not many properties available, she was not extremely helpful. I had first visited their website and submitted a few requests to view some properties that were listed. Cara contacted me and asked a few questions, although I had already provided the answers on the web form. She did not respond about any of the 8 – 10 properties I specifically requested showings for. I did not hear back from her for a few days and emailed her to follow up for some appointments. Then started an email chain that was frustrating and unhelpful. She would repeatedly ask for my price range and locations I was interested in, and did not seem to be very organized. I would ask questions and she would not respond to those questions and instead would ask me other questions. I told her I was interested in two properties and she ignored my request for a viewing on one and booked the other only.
We showed up at her office at the time we arranged, and the office was locked. We waited a few minutes and then I called her to see where she was. She answered the call and told me that she did not hear from me, when my email to her confirmed us meeting her for the showing. I asked if she had cancelled the showing and she said she hadn’t (was she planning on just making the current tenant wait around for a no show when she thought we didn’t confirm?) We waited 40 minutes for her to arrive, and then she brought us up to the office. She apologized as she did realize I confirmed the appointment and offered to make it up to us (how, I don’t know and perhaps don’t really want to know).
In the office we had to fill out a form with our information and regarding fees. She was planning on showing us units on the property that we currently live at and have already had contact with, and told us that she was going to give our names to our current property that she had given us the lead (we already had a standing appointment to see that unit a few days later) and that we would owe the fee to Paragon. We told her that this wasn’t fair to our current property and that we didn’t want to see the property in that case. She said she was still going to tell our property that she gave us the lead. We told her not to, but don’t know if she still will. We then left for the showing, over an hour late.
We had to walk around for a minute to find the building as she wasn’t sure which one it was. Upon arriving to the property, we stood outside for almost 10 minutes as she cycled through a bunch of keys, and called her co-​worker to look up the tenant’s name and cell phone so she could buzz us in, as she did not bring any of the information with her. She did not seem to know much about the area (told us the property would be close to the orange line when it would be a 15 – 20 minute walk) and the apartment. Luckily the tenant was really friendly and answered all of our questions about the area and the building features. She was very vocal about «how nice it was» and «how great this property was for the price».
Our experience has just been overall a frustrating process and Cara has been pretty unprofessional and extremely unorganized. A one hour showing was stretched into over two hours, and was not a great benefit to us to just see the one property. I would definitely suggest looking into one of the other agents at Paragon that have received 5 star reviews.

This company seems to be hit or miss and I really wish I had experienced some of the positive trates listed in other posts. Unfortunately I did not have this experience with Paragon. Elizabeth, our realtor, loved to talk a big talk but fall flat when it was time for her to live up to her promises. I’d advise keeping a tape recorder on you when dealing with her, just because certain amenities are promised, don’t be surprised if she backtracks on it later. «Early move in date!», «Free hot water!», «Newly renovated!», «No realtor fee!» are great selling points, but she’ll deny saying them to the end (all of which she did for us). I had hoped that moving into the South End would get me out of the Allston realtor mentality, but sadly, it seems that the scummy realtors exist everywhere in this city. I would highly suggest post-​dating your check for the fee when dealing with this company, they will also dump you as soon as they get their money. And I really did have such high hopes, I’m highly disappointed with my experience.

My husband and I just finished working with James Matranga to secure an unbelievable rental property in Cambridgeport. Through the whole process he was really responsive and easy to work with. He offered to pick us up and drop us off from looking at places and worked to get us into places at times that were most convenient to us. I would totally recommend working with him. Thanks James!

My review is for Kathleen Dailey. My experience with her was excellent. She was always responsive both by phone and email, listened to my needs and had many options for me. She even picked me up and dropped me off at my office so that we could look at places over my lunch break. She made the whole process smooth and easy. It’s been three years since she helped me and she still returns my calls. I highly recommend Kathleen.

this place drives me crazy! I made an appointment to see an apartment that was listed by paragon on craigslist — I was very clear that I wanted to see THAT particular apartment and the guy assured me that we would see it. When I showed up he said it had been rented (in the hours since we spoke) and he insisted on taking me to other places that I had no interest in seeing. Then he was annoyed when I said I couldn’t spent 2 hours looking at random apartments. When I inquired about another apartment through a different agent, it was the same deal — the beautiful apt in the picture isn’t available but they want to show me something else. They just put up awesome pics to lure me in — so annoyed!

I was looking for an apartment to rent in Boston and was attracted by their too good to be true advertisements on Craigslist. I emailed their office and never got a reply. I called their office to follow up on the email, and my message was not returned. Finally, I physically walked to their office on Boylston Street, and I found an empty office space without any furniture of signs of business.
Everything just seemed very shady, and I hope that my contact information (email, cell phone #) was not used for nefarious purposes.

Great ads on craigslist and superfast, super friendly folks (James especially), quickly adapt to what you’re asking for and willing to show you absolutely anything on the fly, even if it doesn’t mean top dollar for them.

Really great people, and they have they always have great apartments. I believe they specialize in lofts — so my roommmate and I were very interested in what they could show us (we heart lofts!). We ended up renting the 2^nd apartment Katie (Donnelly) showed us which was an amazing 2 bedroom and 2 BATH in the South End by Flour. We just love our place — bamboo floors, two bathrooms, plenty of space — and no fee!
We really enjoyed working with Katie and they made the process very smooth — always willing to answer our stupid questions :) Now we are considering (each of us) purchasing something next year and they will be the first real estate company we talk to for sure!

John D. Barber from Paragon Properties is one of the most unprofessional people I have ever dealt with. I made an appointment to see an apartment with him yesterday in South Boston. I was supposed to meet him in his office in the Back Bay. I called a ½ hour ahead to find out the exact address. He knew I was running late. When I arrived, the receptionist had to call him and he told her that he had left to meet another client because he didn’t think I was showing up. We had just spoken on the phone, and he had my cell phone number. Really, Paragon. Really? Paragon is what gives Real estate companies a bad name.

can you stop cropping out all the bullshit in photos and just show me the damned apartment please? no? oh, so i have to drive into the city, circle around for parking for 19 minutes, wait around in the cold for 10 minutes for your dude to show up late and take me into a straight up crime scene lookin building and try not to laugh and/​or vomit while he proudly (??) displays an apartment suitable for a ghetto mini-​mouse who doesn’t mind inexplicably charred kitchen counter tops and the worlds smallest closet which happens to house a giant gas tank thereby defeating the purpose of a closet and beside which lies an expanse of the fuggliest friggin’ carpet i’ve ever seen that’s seemingly made of sandpaper and smells like a chemical plant??? seriously, what the hell is with that kitchen counter top? it looks like an ant colony tested a teeny tiny nuclear bomb.
oooo OR, you could brave the powers of ennui and talk on the phone with a paragon rep for TWENTY minutes and then umm. well then nothing. they don’t even call back.
ok paragon, that sounds T-​riff. count me IN
oh man, that’s 150 reviews !! whoo!

Paragon Properties has changed my feeling on apartment hunting in Boston. I lived in Boston for 7 years, and left for 2.5, now that I am moving back I am glad I went with Paragon and Ryan Pfannenstein
Finding them simply came from doing a craigslist search and determining all the cool listings were Paragon’s. MY GF sent me some links and I just called Ryan one day. He immediately assisted me in finding the right properties even from a distance as far away as Phoenix AZ
Ryan was professional, patient and helpful. He most certainly earned his finders fee. The best part about the experience was Ryan’s calmness and demeanor. Never pushy, nor trying the «hard sell» he always had our best interest in mind.
I can think of better things to do then apartment hunt in the middle of December in Boston, but if you absolutely need an agency to work with, I highly recommend Paragon Properties. Ask for Ryan he is the man!

I am very impressed with my entire experience working with Paragon Properties — namely Ryan Pfannenstein, who was charged with a lofty task: help my BF and I find an apartment in the limited amount of time where were in Boston (3 days).
Call it kismet or whatnot but Paragon was a mere 355 FEET from the hotel we stayed out. We didn’t realize this until after we got there.
In ½ a day, we were shown 6 different apts in different areas of the Boston. If you’ve lived in Boston, you know that finding the «right» apartment takes some hard work… and time. We didn’t have much time, but what Ryan was able to do was very impressive. He even said he’d gather up some more to show us while we were in town, if we decided to go that route.
After looking at the apts, we had a chance to spend a couple hours thinking about our options. That’s when we called Ryan back to let him know we’d like to put in an application. He was easily reached and willing to meet us, even though it was in the evening and on the weekend. All throughout the process, Ryan was easy to reach, communicative and optimistic that we’d get the place we applied for. He never once showed any inclination that he didn’t have our best interest in mind, nor did he ever once refuse to help us answer what probably seemed like a waterfall of questions.
Always professional and dapper in dresser, Ryan is a true pro. He’s not pushy or sales-​y. He’s patient, communicative, understanding and, most of all, trustworthy. Plus, he knows the city and is easy to talk to.
If you’re looking for a rental or a new home, I would highly recommend you give Paragon a call and ask to speak with Ryan.

My wife and I posted our apartment on Craig’s List to rent, as we were breaking our lease about 6 months early and had to find a new tenant to take our place. A rep from Paragon contacted us and asked if they could show our place to some of their clients, and we foolishly said okay, thinking it would only help and give more traction.
Long story short, a woman responded to our e-​mail through Craig’s List and asked about seeing the place. We set up a time and thought that was that. However, the next day, before the woman was supposed to view the apartment, we got a call from the realtor at Paragon asking if he could bring a client by. It turned out he was piggy-​backing on this woman’s visit – he showed up to the building and didn’t even know which apartment it was (the woman who originally contacted us had to tell him), then checked it out. It was the first time he’d ever been there. The woman wanted to rent our place, but since the realtor had come with her, he insisted on a full fee, either from her or from us, even though he really had nothing to do with the showing. From what she told us, I guess he threatened to sue the woman and she ended up not taking the place. It was a mess.
I’ll never use Paragon again, either for renting a place or getting rid of one. From my experience, they are very shady.

I had a great experience with Amy from Paragon. I was moving from out of state, and only had a weekend to look for a reasonably priced apartment in the city that would take my large dog. Unlike other agents (at other companies) I had contacted, Amy really listened to understand my needs– she was very willing to work to find something that would fit my lifestyle and budget (and dog!). And she handled everything with a very warm, positive attitude that put me at ease. It was a very easy search once I found her– I took the first place she showed me, and I love it!