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About RentBid
In the past, renting an apartment was a very time-consuming,
uncertain process for both renters and landlords.
For renters, it meant scouring classified ads in
search of the right apartment for the right price.
And, even if the renter found that apartment, it may
have been too late to make an offer on it. Many
times, someone else may have arrived only a few
minutes earlier - with checkbook in hand - to grab
the apartment at the asking price.
For landlords, trying to get a tenant meant trying
to guess the market price of an apartment the moment
they put the apartment out for rent. Getting the
price wrong meant losing a month - or more - of
rent. It also meant fielding many phone calls,
scheduling various times to show the apartment, and
qualifying potential tenants.
Now there's RentBid, the fast, fun, fair way to find
a flat!
RentBid provides liquidity, transparency, and
efficiency to the rental real estate market in an
easy-to-use online auction.
With RentBid, renters can now easily search for an
apartment by price range, neighborhood, amenities,
and availability date. They can then visit the
apartment at a scheduled open house, place a bid,
and win the lease within a day. The RentBid process
allows renters to quickly determine which apartments
best meets their needs and budget and do so with the
confidence that they are paying a fair price.
For landlords, RentBid streamlines the tenant
selection process. Landlords can filter potential
tenants based on income, FICO® score, pets and other
factors affecting risk. By standardizing the open
house and auction process for all RentBid users,
landlords save countless hours by not having to have
someone available at a moment's notice to show a
listing. Landlords can even use the open house to
meet and pre-approve tenants prior to the auction.
Conceived originally as a university project in 2003
by Aaron Russell with the help of Ana Duenas,
RentBid has now grown with the addition of Lawrence
V. Lewitinn, a real estate professional and Internet
veteran and Norman Brust, an expert in public
relations and advertising.
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Founders' Bios
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Aaron Russell |
Aaron has over six years of Internet industry experience in both business-side
and technical capacities. Prior to starting RentBid,
Aaron worked for more than three years in various
Internet related capacities for Kaplan Inc.
His final role was Director of Project
Management and Business Analysis for Kaplan Test Prep.
Prior to joining Kaplan, Aaron was Finance Manager for TheStreet.com.
Aaron received an MS in Computer Information Systems from Baruch College in 2004 and an MA in Economics from New York University in 2001. He did his undergraduate studies at The University at Albany and graduated Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude. |
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Ana Duenas |
Ana has over eight years of experience developing information systems.
Before heading to New York for her MBA at Baruch College,
Ana worked as a systems developer in Mexico City.
She also worked for Oracle Mexico where she participated in the
development of several information systems.
Ana received an MBA in Computer Information Systems from Baruch College in 2004
and graduated with honors,
in computer science engineering from Instituto Tecnologico
de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey in 1997. |
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Lawrence V. Lewitinn |
When not working on RentBid, Lawrence is a real estate investor and is also Broker of Record for Exclusive Realty, Inc., a real estate brokerage
specializing in luxury residential properties in New
Jersey and Florida. Previously he was Director of
Acquisitions for Knightsbridge Properties Corp.,
an investment and management firm in commercial real
estate.
Lawrence's experience has been more than just real estate. Lawrence was Marketing Manager and
later, Business Development Strategist for TheStreet.com where
he structured multimillion
dollar agreements with such companies as America
Online and Yahoo! and was responsible for the
development of three exchanged-traded indices,
including industry benchmark TheStreet.com Internet
Sector Index. Before that,
Lawrence worked as a hedge fund currency
trader with KB Currency Advisors, Inc. and Millennium Partners, LP. Lawrence is also
civically active and was a candidate for the New
Jersey General Assembly in 2003.
Lawrence received both an MBA in finance and a
Master of International Affairs from Columbia University.
His bachelor's degree is in
economics and political science from New York University.
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