Verified record
The Charles Realty is a Newbury Street brokerage that's been in Back Bay since 1984, and the repeat business in its review history reflects that longevity — one review comes from a client who's known the staff more than twenty years, and several describe using the same agent for two or three transactions spread across years. The team is large enough that most reviews name a specific agent rather than the firm as a whole. Sarah Glovsky and her frequent partner Nathalie Grenet show up repeatedly for both buying and selling — one couple used Sarah across three separate deals over four years, another over two years for three more. On the rental side, Natasha Morales, Jessica Grabow, Olta Joxhe, and Jessica Laufer each get their own praise for finding apartments quickly, including for out-of-state relocations. A 2025 review describes Annette Given, who runs the firm, guiding a difficult long-distance sale of a relative's home to a fast close. There's one serious complaint worth knowing about: a 2022 review, later updated, describes months of unresolved repairs on a rental property, missing work-order documentation, and what the reviewer calls a pattern of neglect toward tenant safety — the same review also accuses the company of posting fake reviews and running a second Google listing to obscure its rating. That's a single account, but a specific and pointed one, and it stands apart from the sales-side reviews, which describe a different part of the business. Worth asking upfront which agent will be handling a given deal, and — if renting through their landlord side rather than buying or selling — what the maintenance and repair process actually looks like.
“Elizabeth Gibby-Homnick from [The Charles Realty](https://traded.co/agency/the-charles-realty) represented the buyer, while The Residential Group from William Raveis Real Estate handled the seller's representation”
Annette Given and the team at The Charles Realty made a very difficult and emotional long distance selling process simple and clear. I will be forever grateful to the team for everything they did to help sell my uncle’s home in record time. Annette was amazing, clear in her communication, and has a wealth of experience to help you make the right decisions around prep, pricing, and negotiating the sale and closing. Thank you, Annette and team. This was a challenging time and you were such a big help to get through it to the other side. I know the new owners will love the location and have much happiness there.
I couldn't recommend Jessica Laufer enough! When I first found out I'd be moving to Boston, everyone told me what a pain it was navigating the rental market. Jessica made this process easy and stress-free. She was incredibly responsive with all of my questions and helped me every step of the way. Truly the best!!
Andy was fantastic from the start, when we sat down for lunch to talk through what I and my fiancé were looking for. We had a general idea, but quickly changed our focus after the first few showings. Andy attended every open house with us, so I felt a touch guilty when we pivoted our search. Andy reassured me he was happy to accommodate and we worked together to narrow the search from there on. It was a telling sign of his patience. When it came to submitting offers, Andy was communicative and educated on the options we had to be competitive in a hot real estate market. Andy never came across as “pushy” or “salesy” and we consistently felt he was aligned with our goal. When it came to inspections, Andy had recommendations for each area we needed help (engineer, pest, home) and each were quality extensions of his team. They work with the best. Upon purchase, we wanted to rent the apartment we were previously living in. Andy helped us secure a great tenant. We worked with Andy for over a year and it was truly a full service experience! We look forward to working with Andy and team again in the future.
Annette and her team provide superior customer service and have the most extensive knowledge of Boston and surrounding areas. They are the best!
Annette Given runs The Charles Realty and is very good to the people who work for her. In addition she is a spectacular agent and diligent with her buyers and her sellers. I would recommend Annette Given at The Charles Realty any time!
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1 change recorded — last scanned Jul 29, 2026.
Repeat clients4.8
Verified license4.8
Sells above asking4.7
Fast sales4.6
Decades of repeat clients4.6
Sold a home in 24 hours over asking4.2
Fast leasing turnarounds2.1