This was our 5th move in NYC. We know of all the bait and switches, tactics and fees and never expect to see online postings to be real, it is the nature of this business, sadly. So, we have used Bond before, and now we went back again. This time we worked with Stefan Hakakian. Our experience was so smooth I was surprised myself. He met with us at the office one evening and we started chatting about what we are looking for (our requirements) and budget. In about 20-30 minutes, Stefan pulled together a list of available apartments in Manhattan and we reviewed each one. After we narrowed down what ones are agreeable for us to look at, he suggested the order in which we should look. After seeing the 1st apartment on his list we didn't need to look at any other one. We went back to the office, gave him all our paperwork (it helps to have pulled ALL required docs together before you search), signed on dotted lines and paid the deposit. One and done! Next day, he kept us posted every few hours until we got the word we were approved. Stefan helped to negotiate dates and rent. He went with us to the lease signing and was available to answer any and all questions. It has been 2 months since we moved and couldn't be happier. Stefan even reached out to follow up with us to make sure we are good with everything or if we need anything. Definitely recommend Bond and Stefan.

Stefan is on top of his game; don't let his chill demeanor fool you. In one day, he found me the perfect place in LES, and it was underpriced! I'm super happy with my place and confident that I could not have found anything better, and I could not have done it without Stefan's help.

Where to start with Stefan...initially turned down a meeting with him because I thought it was odd that he wanted my roommate and I to meet at his office. After numerous failed viewings with other agents, we decided to give him a shot. Office visit was very useful in that we were able to see actual photos of places prior to visits. In addition, over a period of time, we probably saw 25 apartments. Of those, Stefan surely showed us at the very least, 4/5 of the best places we saw. We ended up committing to a lease when an unfortunate occurrence took place and my roommate had to back out. Not only did Stefan get us our commitment fee back, he found a 1br for me within a day that I imagined would never have been in my price range. Id give him the highest rating possible and would recommend him to anyone attempting to move in NYC.

Locking down an apartment in NY for the first time is hard, especially for international students who just graduated. Stefan is a professional agent with deep understanding of the whole Manhattan living areas and he always look for the best fit for all your requirements. When I was trying to rent an apartment, I do not really have an idea about what paperwork to prepare for and where to live. Stefan showed me the map and gave me detailed explanation about where and why those different neighborhoods are a good fit for me. And he really helped me figure out the public transportation and some good places to hang out/dinning out. I would highly recommend Stefan if you are experiencing hard time looking for a nice apartment and I'm pretty sure with his knowledge you are most likely to get one through his hard working effort.

I was in NY for just 1.5 days to find an apartment and decided to go with Stefan because of his excellent response time and prompt communication. A couple of days before our meeting, he called me to inform about all the documents that I will need to bring along to get an apartment instantly. Doing so ensured that we did not waste time when I was in NY looking for apartments. I met him at the BOND NY office at the scheduled time after which he showed me all the listings that met my requirements. His knowledge of landlords helped us filter out apartments which were well-maintained and where non-citizens/students were welcome. He spent around 5-6 hours with me showing me at least 10 apartments out of which I liked a couple and finally signed the lease for 1 of them. His communication was very clear in terms of the documentation required and the timelines I could expect for all the documentation. For the lease signing, he was with me till 10:30pm and made sure that everything was taken care before I left NY. He has excellent knowledge of NY neighborhoods and people who are not familiar with the NY area will no doubt benefit from taking his help. I would highly recommend Stefan to anyone who is looking for apartments in NYC.

I worked with Stefan to view apts and ultimately rent my current apt. He is smart and honest, a trait you don't see in many NYC brokers. He is transparent and upfront about the units you are viewing as well as the inventory throughout Manhattan. His knowledge of the market helped me weed through the onslaught of apts available in order to find a great apartment. Due to Stefan, I feel that I have found an apt that truly represents the best price, size, location and quality combination. I highly recommend Stefan.

Stefan helped my two roommates and I find a beautiful 2 bedroom apartment in the east village we ended up converting into a 3 bedroom. The place has been absolutely great and we would have never found this type of apartment without Stefans help.

We couldn't have asked for a better broker! Stefan was very trustworthy and dedicated 100% of his time and effort into getting us an apartment in the neighborhood we wanted, which was a difficult feat, to say the least. He always kept our best interests in mind and was always honest and straight up about everything. We really appreciate how hard he argued on our behalf. Working with a broker can be very daunting, but our experience with Stefan was as pleasant as NYC apartment hunting could get. Use this guy!

Simply put, Stefan is a no-BS guy that makes things happen. I met him, he did the typical run-through that you get at brokers' offices everywhere (I went to about 4), but then, surprisingly, he went out with me himself (somewhat rare: other operations separate the intake/management from the property-viewing roles) and took me only to places that really fit what I had asked for (he listened!) and got me in to see them (brokers, it turns it, often fail to) - and all this on a Sunday, having first spoken (on the phone) the previous evening. Then he waited around for me while I looked at another place - which he told me I would hate (and he was right). It's strange: he's the broker that seems least like a broker because he isn't putting you through the usual rigmarole, yet he's the one that works for you 24/7, like when he went uptown to photograph a place for me at 9pm because I was out of town - that's actually the place I ended up taking, after being enthralled by the pictures and even more so after seeing it with my own eyes. And he got me it, because he seems to have the connections it takes, because along with being a straight-shooter Stefan is also one of the people that delivers, i.e., he does what he says he's going to do.

I recently moved to New York from Australia and I first spoke to Stefan from Australia before heading over to the states as I was reading about how difficult it could be to get an apartment in New York and Stefan was a wealth of information that helped prepare us for renting in New York. Stefan was the first broker I contacted and I feel incredibly as I couldn't have asked for a more knowledgeable, friendly and hardworking broker. My husband wasn't arriving for a few weeks so it was up to me to find an apartment quickly. Once I arrived we met up and he asked the right questions to help me figure out which area we would most like to live in and what type of apartment we could expect for the price we wanted to pay. He has extensive knowledge of all the areas in the city and he even knew the best places to eat etc. in the neighbourhood we wanted. Considering I didn't even know which way uptown was or how to catch a subway, having Stefan walk me through the entire process made it all seem easy. Within a day we had seen many apartments and three that I would have happily applied for. We ended up having an apartment sorted within a week of my arriving. We now have a great apartment in the perfect location at a good price and Stefan was instrumental in negotiating with the landlord regarding our 'difficult' situation with my husband still not in the country, both of us with limited credit histories and new jobs. I can't recommend Stefan highly enough and I would definitely use him again if we were to ever move out - though we love our apartment that he found for us I'm not sure we'll get the chance to!