Leading digital home rental platform Instahome closes record breaking transaction time of 9 hours. Using virtual tours of units instead of physical viewing of properties, tenants shift behaviour to fully digital end-to-end rental experiences.
COVID-19 has rapidly accelerated a shift in consumer behaviour from traditional offline processes to more online digitally immersive experiences across industries.
Founded in September 2020 by prolific internet entrepreneurs Patrick Grove and Eric Tan, Instahome looked to leverage the use of design and technology to help dramatically improve home rental experiences for tenants, agents and landlords by introducing; 3D virtual tours, HD photos and videos of every listing, renting online without the hassle of paperwork, getting rewards for paying rent on time and discovering and arranging maintenance services in an online marketplace.
With the recent MCO announcement, it has become essential for tenants to have alternative safe means to rent. An Instahome tenant who completed her whole transaction fully online without physical viewing, Navina Kurup shares her experience, "I would not hesitate to recommend Instahome to anyone. It is super fast, safe and convenient - I was able to secure a tenancy quicker than the traditional avenue. I have managed to browse through lots of great listings before I settled with one I felt suited me. I saw the virtual tour of the house, reserved the property, was screened by Instahome, signed the digital tenancy agreement and paid online - all within 9 hours!"
From an agent's perspective, these times have been difficult managing prospective tenants during CMCO and MCO. However the future is looking bright as the speed tenants can be acquired has outpaced traditional means, Kelson Kee from OneWSM Property Sdn Bhdb reports, "I am very glad to partner with Instahome. In my career in the property industry, this was probably the best platform that I have worked with - super fast, safe and convenient. I have managed to find good-quality tenants for my landlord very quickly and one of the properties that we rented out via Instahome was completely done online without any physical viewing at all. The tenant saw the virtual tour of the house, reserved the property, was screened by Instahome, signed the digital tenancy agreement and paid online - everything was done within 9 hours. It was very safe because we could reduce the number of viewings while closing more deals with them as their leads are truly way more qualified than other platforms. It's a win-win-win situation for myself, my landlord and the tenant, especially during this time of uncertainty"
Instahome now has more than 1,600 listings in Klang Valley, with many selections in prime areas such as KL City, Petaling Jaya, Bangsar South, Subang Jaya and Damansara, uploaded by their 350 partner agents on their platforms. According to Eric Tan, CEO of Instahome, the quality of the listings on their platforms have been the main growth driver. “With our high-quality listing with in-house 3D virtual tours, we have allowed consumers to rent a home without any physical viewing at all. 30% of the homes rented out on Instahome are done completely without any physical viewing at all. The leads that come through our platform are also more qualified. ” Tan added. “Instahome is especially well-positioned to serve today’s market need where consumers prioritise safety, speed and convenience when it comes to renting a new home.
Patrick Grove, investor & co-founder of Instahome, is uniquely positioned to bridge the experience from the older traditional home rental platforms to Instahome’s innovative fully digital rental experience, "In my years of working with property portals across 50 countries, this is the fastest rental transaction I've ever seen. We have built a truly 10x better, faster and safer experience for our customers and we really appreciate the faith that our customers have given us".
