Skyline Realty

Do not trust these folks, VERY shady. Literally make up fees to take your money, like a $40 delivery fee for building keys. Actively try to take advantage of people with no options/leverage. Skyline is the definition of slumlords.

I have a multi-family managed by Skyline Realty for the last five years. From the day I called them looking for a property manager I was treated with respect and great service. Alex and Alice are so friendly and helpful. I enjoy speaking with them and having them educate me on homeowner issues. We had several minor issues at the property like a broken dishwasher, gutter replacement, garbage disposal, and radiators not working over the years, but in every instance, Skyline Realty responded quickly to the service request. If you are looking for a property manager, Skyline Realty is a great company to work with.

This review has been long overdue! Moved to Cambridge back in 2007 and was scrambling for a place to rent. Skyline was thoughtful and listened to our story. I didn't have the most stellar references as I was coming from out of state (highest rent I paid was $425) and had no current work (because I just moved). They worked with a local landlord and negotiated a lease. I highly recommend you to talk to Alex and his team when looking for that place to rent or buy. They are still rocking it today with great service.

This review is for Alice, Alex and the Skyline team. I travel for work and rely on Skyline to manage my properties. They have been excellent in helping with renovations and dealing with all aspects of securing tenants and getting me maximum rents. It's good to have a partner like Skyline Realty where I know they handle things on a higher standard like I would if I had the time. The team couldn't be easier to work with and they are very experienced in all aspects of real estate. I highly recommend Skyline Realty for property management!

Our family has worked with Skyline since 2014 and have been extremely impressed with all the aspects of Skyline's business practices! Alex and his team have always been available and proactive when dealing with the management of our property. Recently Skyline also professionally prepared and marketed our home for sale and successfully found the perfect buyers!

We have very much enjoyed working with Alex and his Skyline team on taking care of our home. We have really appreciated Skyline's team's professionalism, expertise and caring approach in working with us! I very highly recommend working with Alex and Skyline due to their professionalism, expertise and customer focused approach to their successful business.

After one year, our condo pulled out of SKYLINE REALTY. As a former trustee, I requested a second renovation of our front steps due to deteriorating quality. They charged us a lot and the job was lousy. I reported them to the Better Business Bureau and they took off royally. In addition, I was informed by a trustee that the employees of SKYLINE were trying to throw me off the Board. AVOID THEM LIKE THE PLAGUE!

This review is for Isaam! In the sometimes difficult and long process of looking for an apartment, Isaam made my search effortless and fun. Furthermore, his responsiveness and professionalism made me feel truly connected and in-tune to everything that was happening through the process. Thank you Isaam for all of your hard work and patience. I will be sure to refer you to my friends :

As a general contracting partner of Skyline Realty I'm happy to associate our business with Skyline. It's an excellent management company, our workers were always paid quickly and communication with staff was always transparent and reliable. Despite the challenges of managing complex construction projects under tight deadlines, Skyline Realty was always professional and kept client management a seamless operation. It is our pleasure to give the highest recommendation of Skyline Realty and its staff to associations, investment clients and facility managers.

Alex is fantastic and has been a tremendous help in accommodating last minute changes and out of the ordinary requests. He runs a very tight ship and Skyline respond to any issues with the unit in a timely manner. They are flexible to working through Airbnb and other forms of leases and payments were documented and processed very efficiently! I look forward to working with them to manage my properties in the future.

If I could give Skyline Realty zero stars I would. They are the most unprofessional agency I have every encountered in the Boston/Cambridge area. Rude, unprofessional and down right despicable. The management will send you hostile and threatening emails for absolutely no reason and will not return your phone calls or email responses when asked. The CEO Alex Haider is the most rude and egotistical person who has no right speaking to any customer or tenant the way that he does. Do not rent from this agency, spend your hard earned money elsewhere.

WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND - We had an outstanding experience with Skyline Realty. We encountered very complex and unpleasant problems with our contracting company after purchasing an investment property in Somerville and trying to renovate it. After struggling with it with limited success, we turned to Alex and his team who quickly grasped the complex issue we were facing and aggressively addressed all aspects starting with dealing with the contractor, taking over the renovation of the property to successfully renting and managing the property.

They were extremely professional, efficient, effective and knowledgeable. We could not have done this without his team. Our only regret is not having secured their help earlier. We cannot be more pleased with their work. Their service is highly recommended.

Any dear friend or family member who asked if I would recommend Skyline Realty property management to manage their high value real estate in a mature, protective and peace-of-mind manner, I would say no and suggest they look for a different Boston area property management company. That is my personal opinion.

Skyline realty has provided exceptional service in managing our historic brownstone in Charlestown. Skyline staff members are extremely professional, efficient and accomodating. They do an amazing job with property maintenance including snow removal, landscaping and cosmetic enhancements. Their online portal allows for seamless bill pay and easy accessibility. I love working with the Skyline team. They make my life a whole lot easier!

Skyline Realty helped me purchase my first home and could have not been more pleased with the experience. This was completely new to me and they walked me through step by step and process from start to finish was very smooth. The staff were all extremely professional, courteous and helped put up with the multitude of questions I had without hesitation.

I liked them so much in fact that they currently manage my rental property and just like my home purchase, no issues at all. Completely recommend to anyone looking for a quality team to work with!

Jaclyn was such a sweet agent to work with! She was honest and every time I questioned something, she helped me do my due diligence by finding out more about the building. When something seemed like it wasn't going to be the right fit, instead of trying to screw us over like many people would, she just told us that it wasn't going to work because of X Y and Z, and then sent over other options. I loved working with her and highly recommend!

The management is pushy and rude. There's an old Yelp adage that goes something like "If Yelp let you give zero stars." But cliches aside, I would still give the management at Skyline one star, because they did give me something: the gift of laughter. We ran into some conflict with the management when they (aggressively) interpreted the lease regarding the return of our security deposit.

While the lease stated that the tenant must leave the apartment clean (that's reasonable), the "Management & Owner reserves the right to have the premises professionally cleaned and objects removed at tenants' expense. The apartment cleaning fee will not be more that $300-receipt will be provided should the unit need professional cleaning.

The amount will be adjusted from the security deposit." (also reasonable). Rather than allowing us to clean our own apartment (and, I should mention, the landlady fawned over us for two years regarding how clean we kept the apartment), the management and owner where rude and borderline dishonest. For example, I received one blunt email from Alex claiming that "the unit must be professionally cleaned" and the landlady reiterated that the unit HAD TO be cleaned professionally. ("Must, " "has to?" it was this kind of manipulative use of the imperative that annoyed me; the lease is written in terms of a conditional, but Alex treated it like an imperative).

After taking the hit, we received a reduced security deposit (which, side note, accrued "interest" which our landlady claimed to be only $3, but I have an email from the agency a year back stating that it had gained close to $19. again, not a ton of money by any means, but definitely evidence that the situation was handled dishonestly, that there was laissez faire managerial oversight.

The next day, I replied to an email from Alex regarding cleaning the apartment. I informed him that we had already turned in our keys and received the reduced deposit and that they could clean the apartment whenever (we left our apartment days before the lease legally ended). My email was detailed and expressed my confusion and disappointment regarding the handling of our security deposit; I even gave him the benefit of the doubt (suggesting that maybe the mix up was on the landlady's end and that she was not being honest with him, etc).

He responded to my email in seconds: "There's no shadiness. The unit has to be perfectly clean. You can pay Valerie directly." By this point I was peeved, because the cost of cleaning had already been deducted from the security deposit, a fact he would have known if a) he'd read my whole email and b) read his own lease. I replied with a snarky email that he could get the money from the landlady because she had already withheld the cleaning fee.

To this Alex responded with one of the greatest email gems I have ever been blessed with: "I'll forward all this to your mother. Your being disrespectful." [sic] To be fair, I was an incoming graduate student 2 years ago and my mom co-signed for me; since then I've paid rent on time, etc. But, dang! I haven't been on the receiving end of that threat since I was, like, 5 and it was administered by my grandmother. Overall, the management is rude.

They will find you a nice apartment, but it'll be a pain when you go to move, and they may stick you with some hidden/not-so-hidden fee. Also, on the comedic side (tragic?), I think it's hilarious that Alex gets on yelp and rudely responds to criticism. That's the kind of minor-league mentality of Skyline, and should have been my first warning that they're patronizing to their patrons (not in the good way).

I'm not sure why my review was taken down. Again, I have a sibling who is experiencing an incredible difficulty with Alex, the owner of SKYLINE Realty. I have seen all of their interactions. He abandons etiquette and has absolute 0 scruples as a business owner. Avoid this place of business at all costs.

Skyline Realty managed a property in which I was recently a tenant. In dealing with Alex I found him to be professional, responsive and fair. My maintenance requests were taken care of usually on the same day I submitted them and they recently have put a new system in place that allows tenants to pay rent and submit requests online. Very convenient. I wouldn't hesitate to rent from them again or to use them in any other capacity.

I read good reviews of Skyline Realty, but unfortunately, my experience was terrible. I worked with Skyline to find an apartment in Cambridge. The agent did not have a car, so we had to use public transportation--which he expected me to pay for. That's fine, I guess, but tell me ahead of time so I'm not fumbling around for coins to pay for bus fare while it's waiting.

The agent didn't know the bus schedule, so we ended up having to wait for over 20 minutes two separate times, and as a result, we weren't able to see many units. He was completely unprofessional, taking at least 3 lengthy business calls while showing me apartments. Worst of all, when we were late getting back to his office, someone called to find out where he was because his next client was waiting.

In response, he blamed it on me, saying--right in front of me--"My client was late this morning. I had no control over the situation. My client arrived late."? I had arrived 7 minutes late due to a train delay, but we didn't even leave the office for over an hour after I arrived, because he was disorganized and still printing things out for my appointment, so to blame our late return on me was unreasonable.

To say that it was my fault right in front of me was appalling. Overall, I would not have even considered renting an apartment through Skyline because of this horrible experience, but unfortunately, someone else got the apartment I really wanted through another company. Predictably, once my roommates and I committed to the apartment, the difficulties in figuring out the details of the lease only got worse.

The agent gave us the wrong information about who to write our deposit check to, causing us to almost lose the apartment. We also could not get a straight answer about how to handle the co-signer issue, among many other problems. The only positive part of the entire experience is that we ended up with a decent apartment with a great landlady--who has been warned not to work with this agency in the future. Admittedly, the apartment's very important, but I am disappointed that this agent and company got any money from me, as this was certainly the worst customer service I have ever experienced.

(Note: I am writing this as a tenant, not a property owner) Alex was our property manager. Pros: Alex was very responsive - he typically replied to our emails within 24 hours. He also addressed nearly all of our requests. In general, Alex was fair - he clearly communicated the expectations that were expected of us and frequently referenced back to the lease agreement. Cons: Alex is not great in the tone and style of his communications.

He was often curt and impolite in his emails. For example, he once wrote "THEY SHIPPED YOU A PART AND WILL BE THERE TOMORROW SOMEONE MUST BE THERE." In a customer service business, I would say that friendly customer service is the area that he has the greatest room to improve upon.

I had the pleasure of working with Alex Haidar for the past two years. He not only found me an amazing loft style condo in Arlington, MA in just two weeks BUT he also helped me rent it out in a matter of three weeks! Just around Christmas, I was under a very tight deadline for work to relocate to a suburb of Boston. Despite the holiday lull, I was optimistic that Alex could get my place rented quickly. Alex with his keen marketing expertise got my condo traction on all major real estate engines including Zillow and within three weeks my condo was rented!

Being an extremely busy professional, I've entrusted my property management to Alex too. For a very reasonable fee, I have peace of mind that my property is in great hands with Skyline Realty. Thank you again, Alex! You always amaze me in how professional you are and your ability to deliver on a promise! Now I'm settled in the 'burbs and focusing on my work -- worry free.

Just closed on my first house with Skyline and my experience with them was nothing short of friendly and professional. I really am new to the whole market and I must say that they make it personal to ensure you have the home of your dreams. I thought that the whole process would be extremely painful but was pleasantly surprised at the way Skyline provided me with the help to not only purchasing a home, but understanding all the steps in between to getting there. I worked with Alex and was truly impressed at how much he will take your side and fight for you in making sure you get what you need. Highly recommended!

Recently, my girlfriend and I had the pleasure of working with Issam Shalhoub of Skyline Realty. Now, anyone who has gone through the process of detailing your requests and contacting realty companies one by one know how much of a complete nightmare it can be. I spent hours speaking with various professionals trying to find exactly the right apartment for us.

On a given day, I could contact up to 20 people, tell them exactly what I wanted, and not get a response back, at least in the 2 weeks I spent looking around. Once Issam contacted me back through a Craigslist ad, he immediately inquired into the exact specifications which I was looking for and found a property that not only had every single detail, down to a beautiful brick patio/backyard with a BBQ gas grill for summer grilling, but he even over delivered by not wasting any of our time, and immediately taking us to the house he knew we would love. Issam's professionalism, diligence, and gregariousness made securing our new home, effortless, efficient, and most of all, extremely exciting! I highly recommend working with Issam to find your next home and I believe that his work speaks volumes about the kind of Customer Service you can expect at Skyline Realty.

Every bad stereotype comes from somewhere. Mechanics finding $200 of something broke in your car, old diner waitresses being rude, etc. Skyline lived up to the bad ideas we all have about real estate people. My wife and I went to Skyline based on good Yelp reviews to look into buying a condo. After explaining to Alex that we were funding our mortgage through FHA, he promptly ignored us and showed us about 10 condos or so, all in our price range, we later learned that none qualify for FHA funding.

We saw one we liked and put in an offer. The offer was accepted. Then we find out the condo did not meet FHA restrictions, which were either single family house, or 4+ units. The condo was 3 units. How someone in real estate does not know the specifics of FHA loans is beyond me. He then told us that the house was still ours, and we should just get a regular mortgage.

We explained that based on the housing crisis (something else I am sure he is aware of) we would need 20% down right away, and he said "well you don't need 20% if you get an ADJUSTABLE MORTGAGE". After this debacle, I came back to look at the Yelps again and guess who reviewed the company and gave it 5 stars? Alex. The realtor. Who works for Skyline. Go somewhere else.

I totally agree with Liam there. Jim is awesome. He's so unlike the normal realtor out there. Sure he's trying to make some money, but he's honest and fast and doesn't bog you down with endless details and fake humor and BS. that stands for BULLSHIT. Also, he gave us $25 gift certificates as a thank you for using him. HOW AWESOME IS THAT?! Way to go Jim. you're giving Skyline Realty a good. no GREAT name.

My fiance and I were having a difficult time finding an apartment in Cambridge on the Internet (on Craigslist, etc) from the SF Bay Area. So, when we got here we thought we'd have a difficult time, but with the help of Skyline Realty, we didn't. Our broker, Jim, was very professional and responsive to all of our concerns and needs. We stopped by Bayside Realty as well, but to be honest, it seemed pretty shady and not very professional. Go to Skyline and ask for Jim, he's great.