Charles Rutenberg Realty

Nina Chmiel got us 27%, or $ 117,500, more on the sale of our house than other real estate agents told us we could get. Now that I’ve got your attention, let me tell you more.
Over the years, I’ve been involved in a number of real estate transactions, and have interviewed a large number of agents and brokers. Nina Chmiel is by far the most forward-​thinking, intelligent, capable, knowledgeable, prompt, hardworking, honest, trustworthy, and compassionate real estate professional that I’ve ever met. Nina Chmiel truly cares for the people she represents.
Here is the back story. My siblings and I inherited a house on the South Shore of Long Island. It stands on a larger than average plot. I did some research on line. I noticed that a number of homes in the area that were on similarly larger plots had sold for appreciably more over the years. Since there weren’t that many, and only one sold within the last year, it made it difficult to get comps.
I have two friends in the greater New York metropolitan area who work in real estate. They don’t know each other. One is in New Jersey, and the other is in Manhattan. Neither has ever been affiliated with Charles Rutenberg Realty. I asked both for referrals. Both referred me to two agents working for Charles Rutenberg Realty. I interviewed each, and was most impressed with Nina Chmiel. I chose Nina Chmiel, not only because of her qualities that I’d mentioned earlier, but also because she has a very calm, yet vibrant, but also very practical, manner. I felt from the very start that I was in very good hands with Nina Chmiel, and I was.
I showed a lot of other real estate agents the property. Nina Chmiel was the only one who told me the plot was potentially subdividable. None of the others even mentioned subdividing except one, who intentionally lied about it, saying it couldn’t be divided.
Nina, on the other hand, took the initiative. She went to the village building department, and researched lot size, frontage, and set-​back requirements, and determined the information given to me by the other agent wasn’t true. She put me in touch with the inspectors there to corroborate what she told me.
Nina Chmiel explained we could sell to a builder. The builder would remove an addition to the existing house that extends on to what would become a second 50×100 plot. The second plot is worth $ 200k, just on its own. That plot is big enough to have another house built on it. She said we should primarily market to builders, instead of someone looking to live in the home. It would be unlikely anyone else would be willing to pay more than a builder would.
The lowest estimate I got from all the agents I spoke with was $ 430k, the highest, $ 465k. We’re currently in contract to sell to a builder for $ 547,500, 10% down, all cash, as is, no contingencies, all commissions paid by buyer, no mortgage approval required.
We owe Nina Chmiel a really, really HUGE THANK YOU!!!

I’m writing this review in regards to AIDEEN DUIGNAN, a realtor from the Charles Rutenberg, Oceanside location on long beach rd. This lady is a scam artist along with the people she helps rent. She took my fiancé and I down payment and never wanted to return it, gave us a hard time and did not want to give us our money back. We did NOT move into the apartment and NEVER received the keys. She’s a thief, a liar and so is the owner of this property. I would stay clear of this woman and this realtor location. I have also reported them to the state.

I hired Charles Rutenberg’s real estate salesperson Michael Lau to sell my house in Flushing. Worst salesperson experience ever.
Michael Lau tried to persuade us to list our house at too low of a price. It’s easy for any agent to sell houses over the asking price when they are listed too low. I had to show him the neighborhood online listings and sales to convince him what our house is worth. I listed my house at a much higher price than he recommended, and it still sold quickly and above asking.
When my wife and I signed with Michael Lau, he gave us a 1.5% incentive discount on on our sales commission if our buyer does not have an agent, because we would not have to pay commission to a buyer’s broker. Great! We thanked him for giving us that discount. When the offers came in from buyers not working with a broker, Michael Lau reneged on the discount. He claimed that he could not give us the discount he offered, because his boss is making us pay 1% commission to hire a Charles Rutenberg agent to represent the buyer, We would prefer Michael Lau tell us honestly that he wanted to make more money from us than what we had originally agreed on.
Bidders came to my home to negotiate the price with me, because Michael Lau was not responsive to them when they tried to put in counter offers.
Michael Lau was not usually available to accompany potential buyers to see my house, I showed the house to them. He was not available for the inspection, He was not available for the appraisal. He was not available for the closing. Nobody from Charles Rutenberg went to the closing. My buyer and I scheduled the walk through and closing ourselves. No help from my agent.
I paid Michael Lau over $ 34k commission for the above service. What a ripoff!

If you need a realtor, look no further. Make sure you ask for the amazing tag team of Geoffrey & Paola. You will be so happy you went with them and upon meeting them, you’ll know they will find you your dream home!
For 4 months, we spoke on a daily basis and met on a weekly basis. They were extremely professional and always quick with the responses and helped us at every step. This was our first home and we had so many questions and concerns and they were able to answer us and reassure us that the entire process would continue to be smooth sailing and that we would find our dream house. We finally did and even now after our closing, they are still a resource we continue to reach out to for help.
They’re extremely helpful, will always be there for you and are exactly who you want on your side when it comes to this big life decision. Once you meet with them, you’ll fall in love and you’ll be so glad you went with them.

Mr. Moshe,
My most sincere thanks for taking the time to research this issue. Please understand that we are in agreement that qualifying is an important part of the sales process. However, I am sure we can also agree that qualifying in a professional, respectful and thorough manner in order to identify buying behavior in a prospect is crucial to the fiduciary responsibility on the part of the agent to the seller.
I made it perfectly clear that I would be willing to provide additional, personal and financial information after I had met Jackie face to face, and viewed the property. I have discussed financial and personal info when viewing properties in the past, as my professionalism and demeanor as a person speaks for itself when setting up appointments. My issue was not her requests, but her attitude of disqualifying me rather than qualifying me, or making any attempt to compromise.
What is in fact libelous about Jackie’s reply is the following statement:
«In addition, I feared for my personal safety when, in my opinion — Mr. Meyer demonstrated irate and intimidating behavior upon request for additional basic information. «
Jackie must have forgotten that she called me a week or so AFTER I told her she was being «A bit ridiculous» on our previous call, to which the above quote must be referring to. I was surprised to hear from her, and pleasantly surprised that she wanted to know if I was interested in seeing a similar listing she represented, and that sadly, the unit I originally called about was being taken off the market. I was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt and see her listing, although we were not able to connect because of my work schedule.
In the follow up interaction described above, she did not ask me again for financial information, and I took this as a sign she reconsidered my offer, to her credit.
Mr. Moshe, I invite you to discuss that follow up call with Jackie. Her attitude changed completely and I respect that. However, I will not tolerate having outright false statements about me that allege potentially criminal conduct posted on a public forum.
Jackie — Treat all potential clients with respect. I might sound young on the phone, but I don’t like when people waste my time at work, and I would not consider wasting yours. I think my point has been made, best of luck in the future.

Thanks Mr. Moshe for your reply. While I appreciate and understand everything you said, my frustration towards your agent comes from the fact that she went on to showing the place to potential tenants when we were leaving despite being aware of the reputation of the landlord. That just shows immoral practices. I wouldn’t want to associate with realtors who keep me in the dark about bad landlords. We found out that the tenants before us had similar experience. Seems to me like your firm turns a profit by associating with an ill reputed landlord who makes sure you have a steady stream of unsuspecting tenants.

Agent Tiffany was prejudice. We made plans to view an apartment. When we got there she told us we could not view the space because someone made a deposit? Really? Racist much. We were good to go over the phone but when you saw us the apartment was no longer available?

BUYER BEWARE!!!
Tom Cavallo from Charles Rutenberg Realty was representing the seller, who was his father, for a house we went to see at an open house. We were the first to arrive, but Tom turned his attention to other potential clients. Therefore we walked around on our own. We really liked the house so much; we made an offer 2 days after seeing the house.
Since accepting our offer, Tom kept pushing us to get things done quickly, constantly contacting our agents when he was unhappy and impatient instead of contacting his own lawyer to handle it. Whenever we had certain concerns or requests, which are completely reasonable when negotiating for a house, he consistently threw it in our faces that he had other offers. He would always contact our agents first to discuss our issues. It was as if he was trying to get our own agents to negotiate with us. We felt that was unprofessional.
We moved quickly on the house not due to Tom’s selling skills. We did everything we were supposed to do on our end in a timely fashion completing all necessary paperwork within 2 days after our offer was accepted. Even before our lawyer received the contract, Tom was calling our agents reminding us they wanted to move quickly and they had other offers. .. again! He even showed us another official offer, and he said, «I’m straightforward and honest. I tell it like it is. I just wanted you to know I’m not lying.»
Tom made us believe we were getting the house the whole time. He allowed us to walk around the house taking pictures, making plans, letting us believe this was our house. He even told us he would give us the extra materials, instruction manuals, warranties, etc. He also forwarded the floor plan, so we would have the dimensions of the house.
Finally, we signed the contract and wrote out a check for escrow. A week had passed since we signed the contract, and we did not hear from Tom. We became suspicious, because it was not Tom’s usual behavior. Our instincts already told us he was making another deal. That was a horrible feeling wondering if our instincts were correct, and they were right on.
It was our agents who initiated contact with Tom several times before he finally responded and «explained» that they were backing out of our deal. He told our agents that the backer for the house completed another contract deal without his knowledge. Personally we feel this was a lie, and if it was the truth, it does not make Tom look very good either if he was unaware of another deal. Plus, when we contacted his own lawyer, he had no idea what we were talking about. He was unaware that Tom and the sellers pulled out of the deal. Tom should have been the first to communicate to us they made a deal with someone else. Later we found out they went with a buyer who offered above the listing price. I guess they were making multiple contract deals at the same time.
We are not that naïve to think deals don’t fall through, and we know some real estate agents play these games. However, the timing and how Tom and the sellers pulled out of the deal was unethical and unprofessional. We understand that to them this is just business. However, this is also a profession dealing with people’s lives.
This was a waste of our time, our agents’ time, our lawyer’s time, and our mortgage broker’s time! We could have spent this time looking for another house.