MetroRent.com is no longer operating. Started in 1989, before the internet (can you believe there was a time before the internet?), the company helped many people find and lease apartments over the past two decades. We transitioned from books, to computers, to email, to the internet - using whatever new technology could help landlords and tenants.
In 1999, I sold MetroRent and it became part of the Move.com network. The company expanded online throughout the country. In 2001, I once again became the owner of MetroRent, and operated it though 2008.
Two things led to the decision to close the company.
1) Obviously, competing with Craigslist is pretty difficult. Though MetroRent's had a loyal following, its role as a "marketplace" diminished over time. Eventually, the company became a niche business. Not that profitable, and not that much fun to run.
2) My energies and capital are going into start-ups in the renewable energy and green building industries. Helping people find an apartment with exploding new technology was very cool. But now, the world's getting hot. Too hot. So it's time for an important change.
If you would like to stay in touch, click here to get to my website, where you can reach me by email.
Thanks,
Joe Preis