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Management Team
Rent-Direct.com Pioneering the Online Apartment Rental Industry |
Laurence Rosenberg, President
Under Laurence Rosenberg’s direction, Rent-Direct.com has become the number-one source of no broker fee apartment information in the New York City metro area. Laurence is responsible for all aspects of accounting, website development, customer service and day-to-day operations for Apartments Illustrated, Inc. and its online division, Rent-Direct.com.
Prior to starting Apartments Illustrated, Inc., Rosenberg opened and co-owned the prestigious Greenwich Village real estate agency Swift & Watson Realty. Swift & Watson was the first rental agency to be admitted to the exclusive Downtown Brokers Association—the premier broker association of sales firms in the Lower Manhattan area at that time.
Before launching his own real estate brokerage, Laurence honed his industry knowledge working for top NYC real estate companies such as Rodman Realty, Kanelba & Robilotti in Greenwich Village and the tri-state area real estate giant Time Equities Inc. As Regional Sales Manager for Time Equities, he spearheaded all sales efforts of new coop conversions throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and New Jersey—56 buildings in all.
Laurence’s extensive industry experience spans twenty-three years giving him unique insight into the New York City metro area real estate market and the role technology plays in it. He is available to speak at industry and media events.
Ralph Barocas - Vice-President
Ralph Barocas is a graduate from SUNY Oneonta with a BS degree in Theater and Film. In 1984 he helped to create and build BrokerNet, Manhattan's first attempt at creating a computerized Multiple Listing Service. Real estate brokerage companies would have the ability to organize their own listings with a unique in-house software program and at the same time give them the ability to network exclusive or open listings on a secure level for co-brokerage. BrokerNet had the right idea, but was ahead of its time.
During the 80's very few brokerage houses needed or wanted to share their inventory with anyone else.
After the company closed in 1986, Ralph went onto work with Manhattan Apartments, first as a successful rental agent, then as its head of listings.
In 1988, Ralph joined formed Preferred Systems Inc.(PSI) and its subsidiary Brochures Plus, a one-stop graphic design service, combining photography, desktop publishing, and in-house color printing. Brochures Plus was one of the first companies in the country to utilize the Canon Laser Copier to create low-cost, low-run color brochures for companies like The Corcoran Group, Douglas Elliman, Stribling & Co, Coldwell Banker, and many others.
From 1992 to November 1995, Ralph worked with various Manhattan rental agencies as their sales manager and/or listings coordinator.
During the time from August 1995 to October 1995 Ralph created the prototype for a Virtual No-Fee rental agency, combining all the experience and knowledge he had in real estate, computers, desktop publishing, and photography. He took his ideas and designs to Laurence Rosenberg who joined as a initial investor. From there, Ralph went to two other investors for the remaining initial start-up capital investment to start Apartments Illustrated, or as we know it today, Rent-Direct.com
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