KUALA LUMPUR: If you do not own your own home, you are probably renting one from someone else. Having been a tenant ourselves we understand the challenges faced by every tenant in Malaysia. Before I moved to my own house 15 years ago, I have moved a total of 20 times over the past 13 years before I bought my own apartment. One of the challenges include anticipating rental increases after renting the same property from a landlord for a few years and in my opinion this is inevitable. So, the options we are faced with is to either bear with the increases and if it becomes unbearable, move to a new place. But where?

One of the ways of researching highly searched rental locations are to read articles written by property listing portals such as PropertyGuru, iProperty, PropSocial and the likes. These property listing portals deal with big data from search result history of users browsing their websites to search for their dream home, be it for sale or for rent advertised by property agents and negotiators. Some portals and websites also have properties for sale by owners (FSBOs)

The Top 10 Most Searched Areas for Rent in Malaysia in 2020

According to an article in iProperty.com.my (https://bit.ly/3MD8Rnd) by author Rebecca Hani Romeli, the Top 10 most searched areas for rent in Malaysia in 2020 are (in descending order):

10. Bukit Jalil (search percentage 7.8%)

9. KLCC (search percentage 8.1%)

8. Subang Jaya (search percentage 8.3%)

7. Ara Damansara (search percentage 8.5%)

6. Bangsar (search percentage 8.5%)

5. Ampang (KL) (search percentage 9.0%)

4. Mont Kiara (search percentage 11.8%)

3. Petaling Jaya (search percentage 11.8%)

2. Cyberjaya (search percentage 12.2%)

1. Cheras (KL) (search percentage 14.1%)

The article states the top 10 most searched areas to rent in Malaysia but we feel a more suitable title would be the top 10 most searched areas to rent in the Klang Valley as 10 out of 10 areas in the list are in the Klang Valley. We guess the high concentration of searches in these areas are because these are where most of the jobs and businesses are and because tenants don’t own the properties they wish to live in temporarily, there is greater flexibility for them to choose to live nearer to where they work instead of having to travel 50km a day to and from work if you had bought your dream home somewhere far FAR away like in Semenyih or Seremban!

Of course, searched locations may not be the one they eventually rent at because rental prices in some areas are ridiculously high beyond the expectation and affordability of tenants searching for a place to stay. Property portals are unable to record such rental transactions because they are only a property listing portal and the rental transaction is usually conducted offline after the tenant has contacted the property agent for a viewing, paid the security and utilities deposit as well as the advanced rental, execute the tenancy agreement and get the keys and move in the actual property.

Certain Properties Command Higher Than Average Rentals

Three out of ten of the areas listed in the iProperty article are relatively high end and commands higher than average rentals, they are Bangsar, KLCC, Ampang (KL) and Mont Kiara but that is not saying that other areas are cheap to rent. Locations such as Bukit Jalil, Ara Damansara, Subang Jaya and some parts of Petaling Jaya are seeing increases in rental asking prices in recent years due to healthy rental demand for these areas partially due to the improvement in public transport, the development of newer and nicer high rise residential buildings as well as its proximity to amenities such as international schools, colleges and universities, shopping malls, hospitals and ever growing commercial developments in those areas. These are the pull factors for tenants looking to rent in those areas.

However, the sad reality is, when demand increases, rental prices increase as well. This would go on and on until a certain area becomes inaccessible to the ordinary citizens and only the more well-off ones are able to rent properties there, or in the case of Mont Kiara and Bangsar, only expatriates and corporate executives, professionals and those corporations renting for their top management staff.

Another reason why asking rental prices for new properties even in second choice locations are sky high is because of the high acquisition costs of some new high rise residential properties with all sorts of high-end facilities and close to amenities. We’ve seen an 800+ square feet 3-bedroom 2 bathroom newly completed serviced residence in PJ sell for RM800k. That’s about RM1k per square feet. A 90% loan at 3% for 35 years would set you back RM3.1k per month in instalment payments. How much would you need to rent out that property in order to pay your mortgage every month?

Checks on iProperty reveals that the particular property we were talking about rents for between RM1800 to RM2600 a month. As the owner, that’s RM500 to RM1300 a month extra which you need to fork out to settle your home loan after your tenant has paid you rent. This is not including around RM300 more per month you need to pay in maintenance fees. Well, that’s the landlord’s pain which they must bear for the next 35 years of home ownership.

What is your pain as a tenant?

What then IS your pain as a tenant? Is it paying 3.5 months every time you move into a new home? So, say the rental is RM1800 per month, the upfront cost is RM6,300 (RM1800 x 3 + RM900) that’s akin to purchasing a brand-new high end gaming laptop in cash! The 2.5 months deposit or RM4500 is held by the landlord for 1 year (or whatever duration you plan to stay in their property) and is returned to you when the tenancy ends IF you did not damage anything inside the property or owe the landlord any utilities bills. That’s quite a sum of money to be entrusted to someone for a long time without knowing how much money you would be getting back at the end of it all.

But we guess it’s a fair trade-off. The landlord entrusts you with their brand spanking new RM800k property to stay in for 1 year or more and you entrust him or her with your RM4500 security deposit both assuming that they would get back what is rightfully theirs at the end of the agreement period.  

What if… there were no more rental deposits? That was the idea that we BlueDuck had in mind when we co-developed the zero-deposit rental insurance product with Liberty Insurance Malaysia way back when we were incorporated in 2018. Liberty Insurance Berhad, formerly known as Uni.Asia General Insurance Berhad was launched in 2015.  

BlueDuck & Liberty Insurance? Who Are They?

Liberty Insurance has 5 regional offices and 25 branches in Malaysia and 638 personnel, and its distribution network also includes 10 mini branches at Puspakom, POS Malaysia’s approximately 700 outlets, 4 franchise holders, 119 dealers, and a 1,800 strong agency force. The company is a MYEG Insurance Partner and a bancassurance partner of UOB Bank and Bank Simpanan Nasional.

On the other hand, BlueDuck, incorporated in 2018 is a fast-growing fintech company and a licensed insurance agency in Malaysia transacting on Zero Deposit Insurance recognized by MDEC, MAGiC and a few renown venture capitalists and in early 2022 won the first place in Alpha Start-ups at MyFintechWeek 2022 an event organized by Bank Negara Malaysia together with 1337 Ventures and supported by MDEC.

The Zero Deposit Solution

A zero-deposit solution which is widely gaining popularity in Malaysia as well as in other parts of the world like the US, UK and many countries in Europe including Switzerland and Germany. Here the tenants purchase a zero-deposit insurance policy to replace the traditional security deposit usually paid before moving into a rental property. Here if the tenant defaults on rental payments, utility bills and causes malicious damages to the landlord’s property, the zero-deposit insurance pays out for the losses suffered by the landlord up to the limit of the sum assured stipulated in the insurance policy.

Although this does not eliminate the risk of tenants running away, owing thousands in unpaid utility bills and damaging property beyond repair or betterment, it gives landlords a certain degree of assurance and peace of mind knowing that if such unlucky incidents were to happen, they would know that they would get fair and adequate compensation equivalent to the risk they are taking renting out their property to a tenant they barely know.

If you are a prospective tenant looking for your next place to rent and call home, or if you’re a landlord who have just gotten your keys to your brand-new condo and want to rent it out as fast as possible or even if you’re a property agent who would like to offer your clients a new age solution, do check the zero deposit insurance packages we have on offer for whole residential units (house, apartments, condos) to individual rooms and now EVEN commercial units like shop lots and office spaces. Hit us up at https://www.blueduck.my/ we are pretty sure you won’t be disappointed.

 

©2022 BlueDuck. All rights reserved.

Along with the times, people now prefer that everything can be done easily and practically. In fact, the payment system can be done automatically without making it difficult or bothered by forgetting.

So don't be surprised if automation is an alternative that makes all payments such as bills, instalments, tuition fees, all of these things easier. So what is the difference between these two automatic payment systems?

Automatic Payment

This automatic payment is also called a regular payment which you can set with the payment system platform that you use such as e-wallet like GrabPay, TouchnGo, Apple Pay or others.

When using the online banking platform, you can choose which bank account you want to use if you have more than one bank account.

Before starting the automatic payment system, you can set a number of things, such as the total amount to be paid, how many payments you want to make, etc., for example,in January because at the beginning of the year, you choose to make two payments in the middle and end of January (only certain e-wallet).

The Platforms

There are many platforms that can be used as automatic payments, the most common today is E-wallet because verification is very easy and setting up automatic payments is easy too, then there is MBB like M2U own by Maybank but it has a complicated verification process because you need to open a bank account first. just created your MBB account and there is Apple pay which is usually used to pay for Apple music subscriptions, paid applications and others and there is Grabpay which can use for their platform purpose only like grabfood, grabcar, grabmart, etc and each platform has different functional extensions.

So, what if insufficient funds?

What happens when your bank does not have enough balance? 

Then the payment cannot be continued until you have sufficient balance in it and the bank will auto try again after your balance is enough.

However, you can change or cancel the automatic payment at any time via your e-wallet platform or your bank account.

Direct Debit

So, what about Direct Debit?

Direct debit is also called official payment through a valid authority or known official bank, such as Maybank, CIMB, RHB, etc.

Direct debit also requires approval from each bank through a signature or stamp. It has been known for a long time to fix payments such as electricity bills or loan debts to banks to pay for a product/ service.

People make direct debit payments according to a predetermined due date so it can't be changed or as we wish when we pay it.

For example, at the beginning of ratification or granting a debit - like your housing loan, the bank notifies your direct debit schedule every month on the 10th, every 10th the money in your bank account will be automatically deducted according to the payment amount that has been determined at the beginning.

BD Pay

In the rental market, BD Pay assists with an automatic payment method that eliminates manual systems where one of them is in collecting property rental payments so that agents or landlords don't have to worry about forgetting to pay rent by their tenants. BD Pay uses FPX direct debit which is a convenient, efficient and less cost interbank collection service to make recurring payments. It is the latest evolution in the payment history for the rental market.

But, what if there are insufficient funds in the bank?

It happens! We know. So, in this scenario, the bank continues to withdraw your money and the bank will charge you an overdraft fee (or not), depending on the agreement between you and the bank. 

If you don't want to use your current direct debit bank service, then you have to really make sure that your direct debit has been cancelled and you also have to meet the direct debit service provider directly.

Feel free to know more on the fintech solution in the market. Drop us a message to bit.ly/heyBD or email to hello@blueduck.my.

Many people think that building and developing a startup is an easy thing as well as working at a start-up, but many do not meet their expectations.

On the startup founder's pov, he hopes that his startup has a bright future and continues to grow.

1. Solving the problem they are passionate

Many perceptions say that no matter how good an idea or product a startup has if it is unable to solve the problem then it becomes meaningless.

Paul Graham, a big investor in big companies like Dropbox, Airbnb, Reddit, etc., also said that "Usually a company that can help many people always start with making a product that solves the problem of the founder itself".

It happened with Google when Larry Page and Sergey Brin created Google because they had difficulty finding information directly, so they created Google with their own expertise as well. And hey, who doesn’t know about Google today?

From here, we can see that all founders have that burning desire to solve an ongoing issue with the solution they provide. Where their passions lead to motivation and excitement to stick it out when it gets tough. 

2. Building a future

BlueDuck is a job creator in the fintech sector and we're proud that this is giving many individuals to explore the fintech scene and an opportunity to develop their personal growth.

For this reason, it is necessary for businesses to grow. By growing, in a way that creates a lot of job opportunities. Empowering the market, the sector, the individuals, and the national economy.

An employer hires people because the person has unique value skills and proposition, for example, Their creativity in designing visuals which fixes the company problem in user interface and there are no other effective alternatives or affordable solutions to design their visuals.

For example, a company hires a marketer because they face a business problem: a lack of customers.

Also, the famous saying goes - "Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean." -- Ryunosuke Satoro

Another example, is Apple started their company 45 years ago with two founders namely Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak started in a garage. Then their friend Bill Fernandez was the first Apple employee along with the development of Apple at this time they already have thousands of employees almost all over the world, with many employees in the world Apple was able to make a change to the technology scene for decades also it is impact for jobless and economic growth.

"The best way to predict the future is to create it"

3. Encouraging you to explore more

In creating a startup innovation you need to explore anything you have never done before, of course, there will be many obstacles that must be faced, one of which is experiencing failure.

With failure, the founder can learn many things which can be used to determine the next strategy. The level of success of a startup also cannot be measured with certainty. Well, it is about each small step that brings the solution closer to the goal.

Therefore, most people invest in their own growth and self-development. And failing, and keep failing is the way to succeed. 

In conclusion, starting a new startup is different from other businesses because most startups that exist today really solve the problems that exist for the founders themselves and help each other in many things.

If you want to succeed, focus on changing yourself, not others.

New to the city?

Don’t know where to stay?

Do not have time and get a headache to think about it?

Here we are with top property platform in Malaysia.

Finding decent housing is a tricky thing in big cities, but you can take advantage of the services of several platforms that focus on the property sector.

Some of these types of platforms are quite popular and often used because they offer a number of conveniences to find housing quickly and precisely for your needs.

So, if you are planning to find a place to live in the near future, Then what are the best platforms to use to find property in 2022?

1. Property hunter

Property Hunter is the largest property media network in East Malaysia, The company focuses solely on the property industry, its bi-monthly publication, an interactive property web portal and mobile App.

Property Hunter also organizes a large-scale, annual exhibition series tour - known as Property Hunter Expo, That travels to major cities across East Malaysia, namely Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan, Tawau, Kuching, Sibu and Miri.

Solo private events which showcase premium properties to a highly targeted audience and PIHex which is a mid-scaled property exhibition series.

2. Nextsix

Nextsix is a comprehensive platform that connects property buyers/tenants to professional agents, Nextsix's motto is GPS your home, you deserve a better deal.

The Nextsix platform itself has several features to make it easier for you to find properties that match your wishes, such as houses, apartments, condos, even project developers that are still being built or developing.

3. iBilik

For an overseas student studying in Malaysia, of course, it will be quite confusing when it comes to choosing a place to live. Living in campus accommodation or apartments is definitely a consideration.

This property platform provides apartments or just rooms with various types and locations spread throughout Malaysia.

The quality of the apartments on the cubicle platform is also unquestionable and varied because they carry out the cross-check process again.

This is to ensure that the tenant or buyer gets a comfortable place to live that is in accordance with what is offered, and the prices offered are varied.

4. Instahome

A platform that provides a seamless home rental experience to tenants, agents and landlords in Malaysia. They have the goal of making home renting easy for everyone.

This platform also cares about the tenants who use its platform, namely being aware of the pains felt due to discrimination against tenants in the rental market, by consulting local NGOs which study the current racial stereotypes.

They also provide a rental calculator that makes it easy for each agent or tenant, so you just have to choose which property you want.

5. iProperty

iProperty just recently listed as part of PropertyGuru which is well known in various countries, and they are Southeast Asia's Leading Property Technology Company.

So it has been confirmed that iProperty is a platform that is already an expert in its field.

Here they offer several products or tools, such as loan services, guide assistance to choose the right property for you and of course a place to promote landlord property.

Here they have a choice of luxury properties that are suitable for the upper class, making it a varied property platform.

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Those are 5 recommended platforms in the property sector that can help you get housing easily.

Housing is a primary need, so when looking for housing, you need to be careful so you don't regret it in the future.

Always make sure the property you want is still available by first asking the property contact or property agent you want.

Well, I hope that you will find a property that is comfortable for you to live in.

Let's get in touch with us which actually can helping you in saving cost.

For more info, please contact : 016-6117154

Quack.

BlueDuck, a fintech startup founded by Mr. Earnest Wong with only one goal in mind “To remove the need for rental deposits”. In 2020, our founder laid the first brick for what BlueDuck is today. With more than 2,000 tenancies registered with us, we have emerged as the champion of the fastest growing fintech startup in Malaysia. 

Transparency In Tenant Profiling

As of today, with more than 4,200 users, we have filtered the best tenants for our landlords to ensure that only the best paymasters are selected for the landlords. This is done by using CTOS to analyze the tenant’s payment background taking into consideration the payment patterns and current loans and to determine the tenant’s payment history. This is essential as we would be able to raise the tenant standards.

This is done by first requesting the tenant to sign up Tenant Profiling (http://www.blueduck.my/tenantprofilesignup) where the tenant will be required to attach few essential documents like employment letter/ business registration forms that would be required. Then, the request will be accessed by BlueDuck’s tenant profiling department. In the case where, the tenant is eligible for Zero Deposit scheme, an email notification will be sent to the tenant. Then, the landlord and agent can proceed to purchase our Zero Deposit packages and proceed with the Tenancy Agreement.

Freeing up Cash Flow

As the saying “Revenue is vanity, profit is sanity, but cash is king ” goes around. For any business to progress, cashflow is vital. With a good cashflow, any business can use its income to make progressive changes to the business. In a traditional rental method, where business owners will have to fork out huge amount of money to pay for the rental , utility or even renovation deposits but by using BlueDuck Smart Commercial, businesses will be able to save huge amount by just purchasing our BD Smart Commercial to save up on the rental deposits.

By saving up the cash intended for the rental deposit, business owners can use the money to employ more employees that might increase their productivity, bring in more stocks or even open out another branch that will rack in more profits. With a wide array of packages to be selected, the tenant could select a suitable plan and reap the benefit of deposit-less tenancy.

Modernization

In an increasingly advanced world, where everything is accessible through the click of a button, it is essential for us to keep up with the pace. To be a market leader, businesses should consider adopting a more sustainable modern solution in accepting insurtech solutions in their asset management. With BlueDuck Insurtech software and advantages, businesses will be able to gain an upper hand by being able to provide a better and more secure technology. 

Blueduck Smart Commercial not only protects business owners, but also asset management companies from bad potential customers which can turn this experience to a sour one for the Landlords.

By utilizing the wide array of products/services such as rental collection services, Tenant Profiling, Email reminders and notifications that BlueDuck provides, both landlords and tenants can benefit deposit-less but a secure rental experience.

For more info, please contact : http://bit.ly/heyBD 

It was a Happy Monday! Can't believe that we've pushed it through. In a short 12 months, we've extended our Zero Deposit solutions from houses to rooms, and now we're extending our coverage to commercial properties. 

Zero Deposit: A landlord insurance designed to protect tenant-related risks like rental loss, malicious damages or outstanding utility bills. It is used to replace traditional rental deposits in order to promote cash flow and reduce vacant units in the market.

Have anybody done it before, nope. Are we excited? Absolutely! 

This initiatives paves the way for us to extend our product range from residential properties to commercial properties. On average, number of SMEs increased 4.9% in Malaysia. With the launched of BlueDuck Smart Commercial, it support & empowers the brick and mortar businesses. 

"While the country is still actively recovering from the pandemic, the adoption of BlueDuck Smart Commercial cannot come at a more timely manner to support local business owners with its cutting-edge digital technology and reduce vacant commercial units in the real estate industry. This product launch was well-timed as it helps retailers and SMEs to improve the cash flow and expand the businesses at the same time," said Caleb Khoo, Director of BlueDuck.

From left: Earnest Wong (Founder & CEO of BlueDuck Malaysia), Caleb Khoo (Director of BlueDuck Malaysia), Sean Wong (CEO of Allianz General Bhd), and Horst (CSO of Allianz General Bhd)

With this, we will be introducing this solution to associations like Malaysia Retail Chain Associations (MRCA) and Small and Medium Enterprises Assocation of Malayisa (Samenta) to address the challenges faced by the SMEs due to the unprecedented pandemic and lockdown for the past two years. With this solution introduce to the market, we're seeing that the rental deposits can be better utilized for businesses to hire staffs, pay for raw materials, etc. 

"BlueDuck's vision is to embrace the advancement of technology and develop a holistic yet innovative fintech solution for the local real estate market, where it is accessible and affordable for both landlords and tenants. With BlueDuck's solution, everyone can afford to rent affordably locally without forking out a hefty sum of a deposit. Therefore, BlueDuck proudly brands their services towards the needs of the customers and strive to make the transaction easier, faster, and more secure for them too." said Earnest Wong, CEO of BlueDuck.

In order for business owners to enjoy this solution, a basic verification process will be done and this is where BlueDuck Tenant Profile is introduced. BlueDuck Tenant Profile is here to highlight tenant's credentials to appeal to potential landlords. 

For more information, whatsapp to mywa.link/6zicmway for more! If you haven't, follow and subscribe to our Facebook & YouTube channel for instant updates!

Read more of our news on BDxAllianz MoU

1) https://bit.ly/BDAllianzBiztoday

2) https://bit.ly/BDAllianzMalaysiakini

Yours truly,

Cassandra Wong.

Chief Revenue, BlueDuck Malaysia.