Cribitt app wants to help New Yorkers find an apartment fast

Living in New York City is difficult enough, and that doesn’t even take into consideration how hard it is to just find a place to live. Not only are apartments in New York among the most expensive in the U.S., but they are also some of the fastest moving as well. But now, there’s an app that could help you snag that great deal with great speed. It’s called Cribitt and it is heralded as the “only on-demand rental app,” allowing renters to summon an agent and view apartments with the tap of a button.

Using Cribitt, your smartphone is all you need to discover available apartments, coordinate instant viewings, and even apply for a new residence. Simply select an apartment that catches your eye, summon a broker, and keep tabs on said broker’s location in real time to avoid unexpected delays or the dreaded no-show. While other apps and websites require users to call agents to book their appointments up to days in advance, Cribitt wants to make everything fully responsive to the renter’s schedule.

“The real estate industry is at least a decade behind when it comes to incorporating technology and the process of renting an apartment has hardly changed in the last 10 years,” Cribitt founder and CEO Stephen Steiner said in a statement. “Renters still have to mine through listings — many of which are often no longer available, call to schedule a viewing and take a gamble on whether or not the agent shows up. Cribitt eliminates that uncertainty for both the renter and the agent.”

Cribitt not only wants to benefit apartment hunters, but purveyors as well. The app promises to pay the licensing fee of any new agents, giving them the opportunity to show apartments and earn commissions on their own time. And that commission is said to be quite hefty — the app is said to offer agents a commission split of up to 90 percent of the broker fee.

As it stands, Cribitt is available in the Midtown West neighborhood of Manhattan and has plans to expand to other areas in the city later in 2017.