What a great feeling it is, finally graduating from college or university with that degree/diploma after putting in all the hard work for the past 4 years completing assignments and coursework, studying until 3am for final exams and waking up early to go for classes at 9am in the morning. But it’s totally worth it. Now you can move on to your next adventure in life which is to prove to the world what you as a high achiever can do.
All of a sudden you are an adult and armed with an overwhelming sense of independence and determination. The whole world is yours for the taking. Suddenly reality starts to sink in very fast. To achieve your big goals and dreams you need to be where the action is, and where the action is are the big cities like KL, Penang, JB, KK, Kuching (to name a few lah, there are a lot more big cities in Malaysian) And if you are not from those cities, you may need to rent a place to stay when you get your first job in the big city. Even if you are from those places, now that you are all grown up you may want a say in how you live everyday, how you decorate your house, the rules you set for yourself in your own house. That is where renting your own place comes in. Now comes the dreadful part, having to pay security deposits to move into a new room or that condo with awesome facilities you have been eyeing for a while.
With a RM3,500 per month starting salary, suddenly a RM1,500 per month brand new fully furnished studio apartment with 24-hours, 4-tier security and an Olympic sized swimming pool on the 50th storey rooftop overlooking the city skyline isn’t really out of reach after all. What could sweeten the deal is if you could only pay RM1,500 and move in right away instead of RM5,250 upfront. RM5,250 upfront??!! That is absolutely absurd! Where do I find that kind of money when I’m just a fresh graduate? Of course I can afford the RM1.5k a month, that would come from my first salary when I start working, but to pay so much upfront when I still have a RM50k study loan to settle with PTPTN on top of all my expenses, to have so much money upfront I would need to borrow from my parents or start a crowdfund from friends and relatives, both might not get me the money anyway. My parents would ask me to just stay at home and save the money because they don’t have it and my friends or relatives would ban my number from their phones or WhatsApp and I will never ever be able to contact or talk to them again!
The Solution!
The solution, you might be surprised to learn, is an open secret which many people have known for years. It’s called zero deposit renting and thousands of people have been benefiting from it for at least 7 to 8 years it has been in the Malaysian market. Overseas in Europe and America it is something commonly practiced in the tenancy market especially in the UK, Germany and Switzerland to name a few.
So what is this all about? Zero deposit, as the name implies, gives you the option to pay zero security deposit to the landlord of the unit you wish to rent to move in. However you still need to pay the advance rental though. It’s the rental for the current month you are moving in. Which in the case of the unit we were talking about earlier, it’s RM1,500 to move in. So what about the security deposit? This one gets covered by a zero deposit insurance policy purchased to cover the property of the landlord in which you intend to rent from. Sounds interesting?
BlueDuck, a fast growing Fintech start-up, utilizes technology to bring you this Zero Deposit (ZD) solution to your security deposit woes by partnering with leading insurance provider Liberty Insurance Malaysia. ZD policies start from RM450 per annum for whole unit rentals up to RM3,500 per annum. What does paying RM450 per annum get you?
What Does It Cover?
For starters it covers 2 months of unpaid rental, unpaid utility bills and malicious damage to the landlord's property. Now I’m sure you are a good person who would never think of defaulting on a tenancy, or incurring high utility bills and refusing to pay for it when you move out from a rented property or worse, damage your landlord’s property intentionally but as the saying goes, you never know. Sometimes things happen beyond our control. Like you suddenly get terminated from your job because your company is relocating to Cambodia for cheaper labor or goes out of business. Suddenly your seemingly affordable RM1,500 per month condo becomes a liability to you and you lose the ability to buy instant noodles, let alone pay for your expensive rent.
You can check out the packages we offer here: www.blueduck.my
As a start your potential landlord needs to offer Zero Deposit as an option. For this to happen, it is up to you, as the tenant or your real estate negotiator, to ‘sweet talk’ your landlord or persuade them that this is a viable option to consider for them to rent out their property to you. However, based on our experience with ZD and over 2,300 tenancies over the last 2 years or so, many landlords are aware of this option and many of them are also very receptive of this idea to execute their tenancies.
However we do have some terms and conditions laid out in order to make this ZD happen for you. First of all you need to sign up for a Tenant Profile, which is like a CV you send to a prospective employer when applying for a job. It shows your personal details, employment status, credit score from CTOS, whether or not you are a bankrupt or have any special attention accounts from outstanding loans with banks. This can be purchased from the BlueDuck website for only RM15. Show this to your potential landlord to gain their confidence and trust. Then you need to also sign up for BlueDuck’s BDPay which uses direct debit via FPX to deduct rental payments every month to be credited to your new landlord’s account on a fixed date every month so that you don’t need to remember to bank in your monthly rent. This service only incurs a transaction charge of 1% every month for successful transfers.
Now you can choose your preferred ZD package from BlueDuck’s website and you are on your way to renting your first home without paying any security deposit! How awesome is that? Learn more at www.blueduck.my or visit our YouTube channel or Facebook page to get more information!
