Jakobson Properties

I lived in their Astoria bldg. The full time super left. They hired someone only part time to replace him (with no rent reduction obviously). bldg is way too big for part time super. halls stink of garbage. laundry room always a mess. i almost never have hot water in the morning. management ignored leaking pipes in front of building for weeks causing an emergency water shut off and DEP intervention. just cheap cheap cheap. will never ever live in a jakobson bldg. more

I've been living in a Jakobson Property for a while and the negative comments are correct. It's a flim-flam operation designed to move students in and out of the apts. for a couple years while spending as little money as possible for upkeep. If you make a request for maintenance they will be very nice and do nothing. If you pressure them they will patch it up as cheaply as possible and it will fall apart in a couple of weeks. Avoid at all costs. more

As an agent in the city I sometimes wonder what people are thinking. Imagine if you did a very hard job in all sorts of conditions and your boss refused to pay you? Thank god for Jakobson properties. Without them I probably wouldn't do the referral business I do. What do you get for "no fee"? Lead paint, bed bugs, roaches, mice and the nice fat rats that come in out of the cold. Hot water and heat? Maybe in the summer. Repairs? Sorry because you can't get the super to do anything without paying him off. I can't tell you how many calls I get from customers who felt they were getting a deal and signed a lease with them then soon realize they'd live better in a Zoo. You are paying an agent to not only find you a great clean place but to protect you against slumlords like this. more

The worst landlord you ever can have... winter time no heat no hot water... never fix the boiler..still want the top rent in the market. more

It took them a month to fix mold growing out of the wall and they didnt even fix if properly. Have had leaks for a year. They come and seal it each time I complain, but they do such a crappy job that it still leaks the next time it rains. They take forever to fix anything and will have two or more people come to look at it over the course of several weeks just to decide whether or not they have to fix it or that the tenant can just deal with the problem. Very few people have renewed their lease in my apartment building and some have even moved out before their lease was up because they couldnt deal with the company anymore. more

My roommates and I had an awful experience with Jakobson Properties. Hot water in the apartments gets cut out every couple weeks or sometimes days. Some of the apartments have mold which they dont take care of in a permanent basis, they just paint over it once a new tenant moves in (but after a couple of months you see it come out again). They let the trash build up in the hallways and we even saw mice twice. They don't fix the problems fast, not even after the entire building calls to complain. I would not recommend living in one of their apartments, no matter how cheap or how much you love the area, its not worth the hassle. more

In a single year lease on the east village, i've dealt with mice, considerable power and water turn offs (with no notice), no hot water (around 3 times/month) constant demolitions/debris/noise, floods, and unsupervised constructions workers. There's no super on site so anything that happens to you, you have to deal with on your own. Don't expect compensation-it's impossible. They are impossible. more

The first time I heard about this building was on a site similar to this one when I was searching for a place to stay two years ago. Those old reviews caught my attention because they were negative. Needless to say, it was a scary first impression but after coming by their office and meeting with a few people I decided to give it a try because every other apartment I had seen seemed about the same, but for more money. 11 Waverly turned out to be a great place to stay. The building was renovated while I lived there so it got a nice facelift and I never had any problems. The location turned out to be great since there are so many cheap eats around and it is so close to Washing Park, grocery stores and the subway. When I moved out a few months ago I remembered reading those old comments and decided that I should spread a little good karma and write something positive. I highly reccommend Jakobson Properties and can honestly say I had a good apartment where plenty of fond memories were made. more

Let’s talk broker’s fees. I’m so angry about them that I have to vent somewhere. I said I’d give my friend my advice while she was looking at apartments in the west village. She had already found a few places she liked at reasonable prices (at least there are some good things coming out of the tanking economy!) so we went to see the one afternoon with her broker and every place we went to the broker kept saying, “price plus my fee” Or “landlord pays my fee” or “plus one month’s rental fee.” By the time we’d seen five places I was going out of my mind because I was tired of hearing about how much he was going to charge. OK I get that this guy makes his living by matching people with a place to live, but it just seemed shameful that he would be so focused on it. I told my friend all of this later and she said she didn’t even notice because it’s normal. I disagree. I think fees are only for people that don’t want to put any effort into where they want to live. It’s not normal and I just don’t understand why anyone would pay a month’s rent for doing something they can do themselves with a little time. I’m venting on the Jakobson page because I found out that they don’t charge a fee. My friend called them up and we’re going to see places with them next weekend. more

It may seem absurd in this day and age, but I actually was able to email back and forth with members of the actual Jakobsons while searching for an apartment. I don't think Donald Trump would send me a personal email answering my questions. This detail alone is why I decided to use this company--they are a class act who seem to really care and work hard, unlike some of these other nepotist real estate outfits. more

found a small apt in neighbor hood i wanted. price was fine. place is small but i'm in mahatten. more

We went looking for one BR apt in Manhattan and looked at a Jakobson Properties. The hallway smelled like the cat house at the zoo and there was a dead mouse in the hall. If they don't even pick up the dead mice when showing apt to a prospective tenant, I can't imagine the kind of care a regular tenant gets. more

Today I went to see Jakobsen Properties' "Open House" for a Duplex on 620 East 11th St. The craiglist images suggested a clean, functioning, fair-priced apt. The reality was a dirty, shabby, much smaller, dysfunctional place for $1875.-. What a waste of my time! more

After my divorce I was stuck looking for a place to stay, and on the advice of a coworker checked out Jakobson properties. I needed something inexpensive and not flashy but somewhere I could hang my hat and bring back a date and not have her horrified. Only real problems were with the occasional cockroach (they really creep me out) and the place could get wicked hot in the summer. The management group was helpful the few times I ever needed them; I will say that the super was pretty slow to respond and wasnt always the most proactive. But I liked my neighbors which is a plus (shoutout to Missy!!), and the location was killer too, which outweighed any of my problems with renovations and burned out bulbs. I even recommended Jakobson to a bartender I know and he just moved in...not sure what he thinks but he did move in. more

I don't think they're so bad. I've been renting from them for almost a year - and really no big problems. Took a while to get fridge looked at, but nothing major. I'd rent from them again. more

I lived in a Jakobson building in the East Village for 7 months. I had to get an attorney to get out of the lease. Their older buildings are in terrible shape, and constantly dirty. I had brown water coming out of my faucet for several days at one point. The radiators never worked. No one would come to fix them. The big black rats danced around in front of the building at night, and smaller versions of them traipsed through the hallways at night. College students leaving their trash bags in the hallways at night did not help the situation. Trying to deal with the management on this yielded nothing. They only responded after my attorney sent a letter. I still wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat from that nightmare experience. more

I moved to NYC a little over 3 years ago and had been exhaustively searching for apts. My friend recommended that I look into Jakobson Properties. When I visited their office, the Jakobsons and staff were welcoming and helpful. The whole process was completely foreign to me and they made it clear and easy. The building is well maintained and repairs are done in a timely manner. I’ve been incredibly pleased with my apartment, which has been a huge part of my NY experience such a good one. more

I had a really great experience with Jakobson Properties. I live in one of their bldgs on the upper west side. There is no better building to live in NYC for the price. The apartments are small, but it’s NYC after all...normal neighbors. I am just steps from Central Park on one side, and tons of cute shops and restaurants (Columbus and Amsterdam) on the other. I feel really safe with a doorman and it’s on a quiet street. Also, I’ve never had a problem with a late charge. To my understanding there is a small grace period. more

I have had a fantastic experience renting from Jakobson Properties, I met with one of the Jakobsons themselves. He really took me under his wing and introduced me to Manhattan and Queens. (I was coming from out of town.) The people at Jakobson took time with me like no other broker or owner had to that point. I enjoyed my apartment thoroughly, and when it can time to leave, there were no hassles. Whenever I had an issue in the apartment, it was dealt with quickly and professionally I once had an issue with a late payment because my bank bounced my check. I simply called Jakobson accounting office. they were understanding and they waived the late fee! They are real human beings!! I recommend Jakobson Properties highly. more