Apartment Rental Experts - Davis Square Office

Apartment Rental Experts also works with landlords, describing itself as the largest agency in Cambridge and Somerville and as a partner that markets apartments, screens prospects, shows units and delivers paperwork.

The services listed for landlords are: free listing, preview and digital photos; unlimited showings; coordination of the move-in and key exchange; referrals to cleaners or tradespeople; free internet presence; free credit checks and tenant screening; free lease preparation and access to all RHA forms; notarized guarantor forms; and tenant interviews. The company also says it will scan in and upload to its database any addenda or special provisions a landlord wants attached to leases, and that it provides the information and documentation a landlord needs to decide whether to accept a candidate.

Apartment Rental Experts describes itself as an expert on the Cambridge-Somerville market and, on its landlord page, as the largest agency in Cambridge and Somerville. The Davis Square office is located in Somerville, MA. The areas and cities offered in the site's own city search are Arlington, Belmont, Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, Malden, Medford, Melrose, Somerville, Watertown and Woburn, plus an "All Others" option.

The neighborhood pages cover ten neighborhoods in Cambridge and Somerville: Cambridgeport, Central Square, Davis Square, East Cambridge, Harvard Square, Huron Village, Inman Square, Kendall Square, Porter Square and Union Square. The site says it knows all of these because the area is its home, and that it is ready to advise on these neighborhoods and any others that interest a client.

Apartment Rental Experts publishes its fee structure in its tenant FAQs rather than as a price list. The rental fee it charges is equal to one month's rent. The FAQ states there are three ways this is handled in rental situations: the full fee is paid by the tenant; the fee is split between the tenant and the landlord (usually, though not always, 50-50); or the full fee is paid by the landlord. Which of the three applies depends on the individual apartment and landlord, so the cost to a renter is not fixed in advance and a quote for a particular listing has to come from the office.

The FAQ on what to expect to pay in addition to a rental deposit says that at lease signing a renter should be prepared to pay the first and last month's rent and a security deposit of one month's rent. Some landlords require only two of the three, but the site advises having the funds for all three. It repeats that there is typically a broker's fee of one month's rent due upon lease signing, that some landlords split this fee with the tenant, and that some require the tenant to pay the entire fee. Some landlords also require a key deposit and cleaning fee, and occasionally the building management or a condo association requires a move-in/move-out fee, which the site says normally does not exceed $500.

To book an apartment search, a person contacts one of the three offices; the Davis Square office phone is 617.666.5031. The site does not offer online self-service scheduling, so an appointment is arranged by phone or by using the "Tell Us Your Housing Needs" form. The company also invites landlords and clients to drop by an office.

For the appointment itself, the site advises leaving enough time to view multiple apartments, since it will show up to ten viable options and this can take between one and two hours. It advises bringing a checkbook, because taking a place off the market requires putting money down; a personal check is usually fine, but sometimes clear funds in the form of a certified check or money order may be required, and for an imminent move-in date of less than a month a bank check or money order should be expected.

The Davis Square office of Apartment Rental Experts is located at 18 College Avenue, Somerville, MA 02144. The phone number for this location is 617.666.5031. That address and phone belong to the Davis Square office specifically. The company lists two other offices: Central Square at 925 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, phone 617.876.1800, and Porter Square at 24 Elm Street, Somerville, MA 02143, phone 617.684.8000. The office manager listed for Davis Square is Al Jean-Baptiste at 617-666-5031. Rental consultants listed at the Davis Square office are Olivia Bittle, Ashley Freudenthal, Jun Ho Han, Marian Lazarczyk, Andrea Legnini, Fernanda Muhlbeier and Simona Stojkoska.

The website describes the office as being at the intersection of Winter Street and College Avenue, a short block from the very center of Davis Square. For people arriving on the MBTA Red Line, it says the office is almost directly across the street from the College Avenue entrance to the Red Line in Davis Square: walk out of that entrance, you will see a Store 24, and looking right you will see the office up College Avenue at the intersection of Winter Street. Driving directions are also published, both from the immediate area by way of Beech Street, Elm Street, Cutter Street and Highland Avenue, and from outside the area by way of I-93, Harvard Street in Medford, the Powderhouse Rotary and College Avenue.

These are things people ask Apartment Rental Experts - Davis Square Office that its published information does not yet cover.

• prices
• availability
• contractual terms