Malaysia’s property landscape has not been left unscathed by the fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic. With the Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO) now in effect and more Malaysians returning to work, the focus for the property sector has been on bouncing back and overcoming the challenges of social distancing.
The pandemic and consequent Movement Control Order (MCO) which resulted in the nation’s economic shutdown had a profound impact on the property industry including real estate firms which employ over 25,000 registered estate agents (REA) and negotiators (REN)s.
To overcome the tough times that REA’s and REN’s are currently going through, proptech start-up Didian Realtor Sdn Bhd quickly adapted to the situation, releasing new features and services on its Didian platform, Malaysia’s first online B2B marketplace for primary residential properties from developers.
“During the MCO, we saw some real estate practitioners earn little to absolutely nothing which is harrowing when you need to feed your family. As an online platform that helps developers and the real estate fraternity, we felt it was important to accelerate the evolution of the platform to allow for seamless access and transactions between registered estate agents and negotiators with their customers,” said Brian Wong, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of Didian Realtor Sdn Bhd.
To address social distancing norms, new features have been incorporated such as showcasing virtual viewings of developer projects and virtual training sessions for new agents who sign up, allowing REAs and RENs to brief their customers easily.
The platform, available in both web and mobile app versions, would also help both property developers and real estate agents and negotiators to connect and drive the property sales of curated units at projects that are under construction or close to completion.
Wong added that REAs and RENs managed to close about RM 45 million in Gross Development Value (GDV) worth in units during the MCO period but he expects the property market to continue its sluggish growth now and in the immediate period post-Covid-19.
“As more and more real estate agents utilize technology in their everyday workflow, it is essential that Didian provides the tools and services to make sure these agents can operate at maximum efficiency to improve their conversion rate,” said Ng Han Yang, Head of Business Development at Didian.
For agents and negotiators, he said Didian offers a seven days express commission payable from the date the SPA and loan agreement is signed which can help to improve the financial situation of the more than 1,000 REN’s and REA’s utilising their platform.
“Our platform digitizes the sales process allowing agents and negotiators unparalleled access to ongoing developer product offerings at the click of a button; facilitating and accelerating property sales for all our stakeholders. This is the core focus of our business and will be our engine for continued, sustainable growth.
“We have transformed our platform to be even more user-friendly. Agents can now access live price charts, make bookings in real-time, access a fresh supply of projects and manage their client’s progress. Team leaders in real estate firms also have a live dashboard to track the performance of their team members,” said Wong.
Ng said the company also launched its inaugural Didian Preferred Partner programme today. The programme will allow high performing real estate agencies to leverage additional benefits such as access to selected developer properties, higher commissions and even higher-value marketplace rewards. Team leaders from Reapfield, PropNex, Forest Properties and Dreamvest have already joined the programme.
“The concept behind Didian Preferred Partners is to ensure that our partner agents get every possible tool and service to improve their chance of closing sales fast and seamlessly,” said Ng.
He added that an E-Store had also been created to allow real estate agents to create their own profile to boost their credibility and profiles to their customers.
Negotiators are also able to take part in selling projects by reputable developers regardless of their size and geographic area.
Wong said at the moment the total value of properties currently on the system is valued at close to RM1.2 billion in GDV with over 2,000 units listed.
Participating developers include Sime Darby Property, Gadang Holdings, Paramount Property, MCT, IJM Land, Sime Darby Brunsfield and IOI Properties, Armani Group, and Nadi Cergas Development.
