KUALA LUMPUR: The property sector is still lacking in the digitalisation journey and will require the collaboration of all stakeholders namely the government, banks, lawyers and developers to go digital to be at par with western countries.
Didian Realtor Sdn Bhd (DRSB) director Chow Nam Kit said for the property sector to go all digital, there are still a lot of moving parts.
"For example, many developers and banks still require certain forms to be signed physically by the buyers.
"In the meantime, some markets already allow have platforms for digital signatures which are verified and accepted by other platforms," he told The New Straits Times.
"It's still a hit or miss in some cases especially when the technology is untested.
"As for Didian, we are focusing on empowering agents to sell more and be more productive. We design products and services to help the agents on our platform to grow and succeed.
"For the developers, our platform allows them to reach out to more agents which will enable them to have better sales velocity. Our platform also provides 3D virtual viewings and real time bookings amongst many other functions.
DRSB operates Didian, a real estate marketplace, aimed at helping property agents generate more income by digitising the sales process.
Chow said property technology or proptech companies all want to disrupt the real estate sector as it is a massive
industry.
"In a world where digitalisation has disrupted processes of many industries, real estate in next in line to undergo digital transformation and innovative its traditional ways.
"There won't be a playing field as the tech game is all about dominance where there is no place for second.
"Hence in order for the proptech companies to stay ahead of the rest, they need to ensure they have solid financial backing. Example, companies like E-House and Leju are backed by Ali Baba Group while Beike which was recently listed on Nasdaq is backed by Tencent Holdings Ltd," he said.
When asked on trends of bigger companies buying out smaller proptech companies to expand reach and presence, Chow said from a global context, the company sees more mergers and acquisitions (M&A) happening, as acquisitions will be the fastest way for global giants to secure footprint in the proptech sector.
"In Malaysia however the proptech sector is still pretty much at its infancy stage whereby every startup is still doing their own thing. Of course, you have iProperty and PropertyGuru which are the biggest in the market," he said.
Elaborating on Didian, Chow said the platform allows real estate agents and negotiators greater access to developers' product offerings.
Chow said in the past, developers appointed a single or several agencies and it can lead to a lot of time wastage, higher marketing costs and so forth.
Smaller agencies would also have little to no chance to participate in selling developer properties. In essence, we are democratising the sale of developer properties to a significantly wider audience.
"This is one of our key selling points and motivation to keep expanding the Didian marketplace. We help developers to have better sales velocity and empower agents to be more productive or sell more.
"We have seen one of our top negotiators earning more than RM1 million by selling RM45 million of properties over 18 months on our platform," he said.
Chow said for Didian, the business model is built on getting more registered estate agencies and negotiators onboard nationwide.
"One of the key benefits of being a proptech firm is the ability to scale and we are looking at expanding to the rest of South East Asia over the next few years," he said.
