Published by Mr. Melchert, Mr. Naseem, you are both founders and directors of Housy GmbH, a portal for real estate ads on the Internet. There are Immoscout, Immonet, Immowelt and a dozen other, partly regional providers. Why one more?
Housy is the apartment portal, with which the search for accommodation finally comes to an end. The tenant is not looking for the right apartment via the portal, but the landlord is looking for the right tenant. The previously known process of housing placement is reversed at Housy.
With well-known apartment portals, landlords receive countless inquiries from interested parties, especially in big cities. Through the reverse process, the landlord looks at Housy directly out the right tenant. Online, convenient and without e-mail flood.
Based on the specified criteria of apartment seekers and landlords self-developed algorithms take over the preselection. Thanks to the matching process, landlords receive only pre-selected inquiries from potential tenants.
How do you intend to assert yourself against the seemingly overwhelming competition of the other providers? What exactly do you do differently from the others?
We offer landlords and tenants a faster, easier and more up-to-date housing agency. Landlords are the preselection of suitable tenants accepted. Through our matching algorithm, the requirements of the landlord and the criteria of the apartment finder can be compared live. They can send their exposés to potential tenants, saving time.
With only one click landlords and prospective tenants on the self-developed Housy Messenger in contact, make an appointment and exchange documents.
Our all-in-one dashboard manages the entire application process from booking to letting.
We guarantee all this through a clear design and understandable usability.
Mass visits are avoided, time and nerves saved.
That sounds attractive indeed. It saves both the owner and the tenant time and nerves! How did you get the idea?
As students we were looking for an apartment ourselves, scrolling through endless online advertisements, standing in line for hours only to find out that the landlord is looking for a family and not a flat share. Out of this need the first landing page arose - the birth of Housy.
How long have you been on the market?
With Housy we launched 2015 with a landing page. The concept quickly became popular, with more and more property managers and prospective tenants registered on the platform. 2017 followed the official foundation as a limited liability company and in the summer 2018 we completed our first round of financing.
How big is your company currently?
At present we are 11 employees, at the two locations Kleinmachnow and Berlin.
We are always looking for new colleagues who are passionate about the real estate industry and share our vision.
With multiple locations and 11 salaries, you'll need a resilient monthly cash flow. This is certainly not an easy phase for a young startup. Who is already working with you?
We maintain cooperation with private and municipal portfolio holders. From large corporations to small private landlords. As a result, we already have access to more than 200.000 objects.
How much does it cost to advertise your apartment?
We have found that custom pricing is the best way to effectively serve a diverse customer base. Thus we can offer suitable offers for private landlords but also for large property owners and property managers.
Currently and only for a limited time, the rental of the first apartment is even free of charge.
Mr Naseem, Mr Melchert, thank you very much for taking the time to talk with me.