This story originally appeared on Vulcan Post.
Renting in Malaysia has always been constrained to the old fashioned manner of hastily scrawling down agents’ name and numbers emblazoned on banners flapping from a front gate whilst your car trundles past.
Even with sites such as iBilik, iProperty and PropertyGuru cropping up on the net, searching for that perfect home that enables you wake at a normal hour without being late to work is extremely difficult and requires a certain amount of luck.
Ishwar Dhanuka, CEO of myRent (Image credit: The Malay Mail Online)
After experiencing a situation somewhat similar to the one above, Ishwar Dhanukavowed that he and his fellow Malaysians would never have to go through such a cumbersome and difficult process again. Thus, with this thought in mind, Ishwar went on to become the CEO of myRent, a rapidly growing property rental app in Malaysia after its launch on 12th of April this year by Binarize.me.
Snagging approximately ten landlords within their first week, myRent promises a breezy and worry-free renting process to not only its tenants but for landlords as well. With mobile phones being as common as birds nowadays, myRent enables its users to view rental listings from anywhere at all; may it be your bed or from the comforts of your toilet.
Image Credit: myRent
Not only is this app accessible, it is one step ahead of its peers by linking Facebook to be used as a security measure. If you are scratching your head at this, myRent had a stroke of ingenuity wherein it allows tenants to vet through their choices by checking if they have any mutual Facebook friends with potential landlords.
So, for all you parents out there with kids hunting around for off campus accommodation, this app works one step further in you ensuring their safety and your peace of mind.
Image Credit: myRent
Let us not forget the added advantage of dealing directly with the landlords themselves and skipping through the middleman. This saves a lot of time trading back and forth and enables renters to nip straight to the bud.
This next feature greatly eases the burden of any rental seeker. Instead of trawling through notices pinned up on 7-Eleven boards or getting ink stains from flipping the paper’s ad section, Malaysians can now decide on the area where they wish to rent e.g Bukit Bintang, Taman Desa etc. and myRent would show you the list of properties available.
If you still can’t score that perfect residence within your initial range, just use one hand to spin the dial and increase your search radius. Talk about renting while having your Subway lunch in the other hand.
Image Credit: myRent
Further to narrowing down your location to the closest kilometer, this app also gives you the ability to vet through the listings by filtering the results by budget and the availability of public transportation. This works greatly for us KL urbanites where the daily traffic jam is perpetual pain and we rather squeeze like sardins in a can on the LRT than sit through two hours of mind numbing traffic.
This gives myRent an edge over the previously mentioned sites such as iBilik and iProperty as they do not offer up features such as an interactive map with automatic distance calculation and pinpointing of public transportation, instant messaging, standardised information, or a well executed mobile interface: all of which endears myRent to its users.
For all you landlords out there that are feeling the extra pinch in your pocket from empty rooms or properties, you now have a chance to change that by downloading myRent and getting an instant access to a list of potential tenants (Tenants, do not worry. Your private details are not revealed in this list). The best part all Malaysians want to hear; this list comes at no extra costs.
Image Credit: myRent
If you suddenly decide that you need that refrigerator which you listed as an essential offered in your rental property, myRent allows you to easily edit your published listings to avoid potentially embarrassing or sticky situations with expectant tenants.
While myRent is already up and running for free, the innovative CEO states that they are already in midst of providing landlords with the choice of upgrading to premium for added features such as statistics on the performance of their listings and the ability to segment potential tenants based on their search history.
With property prices soaring, many are seeking the alternative of renting while scraping enough savings to put down the first payment on their dream home. This coupled with the fact that it is safe to assume the vast majority of renters and landlords out there are smart phone users, myRent certainly seems to be on the right path.
Image Credit: thesun.co.uk.
To our neighbours who are wondering when such an app would reach their shores, fret not. Ishwar reveals that they have plans to launch localized versions in Australia and Singapore respectively. So, fingers crossed!
What are you waiting for then? Android lovers please head on over here to check this app out for yourself while Apple fans can scoot on over there.
