Listing your property for rent in Malaysia is free
Listing your property for rent in Malaysia costs nothing upfront. You need four things: photos of the unit, basic property details, a realistic rent price, and five minutes. SPEEDHOME's listing tool walks you through address, unit type, photos, and pricing, then publishes your property to active tenants searching in your area.
In SPEEDHOME's experience running 30,000+ tenancies across Malaysia, listings priced near the local median and carrying eight or more clear photos are the ones that move fastest. Get the price near the market and load enough real photos before you publish.
What "free property listing" actually means in Malaysia
Free listing means you pay nothing upfront to advertise your property — no agent commission, no platform fee. The default fee on a traditional Malaysian letting is one month's rent plus 10% SST, collected only after the tenancy is signed — but verify the exact commission in writing with any agent you engage.
The Malaysian rental market has traditionally run through property agents. An agent finds the tenant, collects a commission, and hands over after signing. Free listing platforms remove that upfront cost. But "free listing" is not universal across platforms:
| Platform type | Listing cost | When you pay |
|---|---|---|
| Traditional agent | RM0 upfront, then typically one month's rent + 10% SST commission | After tenancy is signed |
| Portal (PropertyGuru, iProperty) | Free basic listing; paid boost/featured placements available | Only if you choose a boost/featured upgrade |
| SPEEDHOME | Free to list | SPEEDHOME offers optional landlord service plans; the listing itself costs nothing |
| Mudah/classifieds | Free basic listing | Boost/feature charged separately |
Note on "free listing": it assumes you self-manage the listing, enquiries and viewings. SPEEDHOME and similar platforms do not charge for the listing slot, but your time is the cost. If you would rather hand that work to a service plan, see the honest comparison of property agents vs SPEEDHOME before you commit — some landlords list on SPEEDHOME and run a traditional agent in parallel, and that is allowed because there is no exclusivity lock.
What you need before you create your listing
Three things: photos, your unit's basic details, and a rent price. You do not need a lawyer, an agent, or a signed tenancy agreement before creating a listing.
Photos
Take 8–12 clear shots — main bedroom, additional bedrooms, living room, kitchen, bathroom, and building exterior. Use natural light, remove clutter first; a phone camera is fine. Listings with more uploaded photos consistently attract more enquiries; aim for at least eight and the photo count stops being a weak link.
Unit details to have ready:
- Full address including postcode
- Property type: apartment, condo, terraced house, semi-D, or studio
- Number of bedrooms and bathrooms
- Furnishing level: fully furnished, partly furnished, or unfurnished
- Floor area in sq ft (if known)
- Facilities: parking, gym, pool, security — include what is relevant
Rent price
Check 3–5 comparable units in your building or street on PropertyGuru or iProperty. Price within 5% of the mid-range; that band is where comparable Klang Valley listings tend to find their first tenant fastest.
How to create your free listing on SPEEDHOME
SPEEDHOME's listing wizard has four steps. Start at speedhome.com/post-rent/property-address and you will be done in under 10 minutes.
Step 1 — Property address
Enter your full address. If your building name does not autocomplete, enter your postcode first — SPEEDHOME's lookup is postcode-anchored, then filters by building name within that postcode.
Step 2 — Property details
Select property type, number of rooms, bathrooms, furnishing level, floor area, and available facilities. Use the description field to name the nearest MRT or LRT station and walking time — tenants filter by commute, and this detail shows up in search results.
Step 3 — Photos
Upload your photos. Lead with the main bedroom or living area — that is what tenants look at first. Listings with substantially more uploaded photos tend to perform better in tenant search.
Step 4 — Rent and availability
Set your asking rent and the date the unit is available from. You can adjust the rent after publishing if inquiries are slow — there is no lock-in period. Then publish.
Your listing goes live immediately. Tenants searching in your area see it on the SPEEDHOME app and website, and you receive inquiry notifications directly on your phone.
How to price your rental correctly
Check what comparable units in your area are actually renting for — not what they are listed for. A unit that has been on the market for three months is overpriced.
How to find the right number:
- Search PropertyGuru and iProperty for your building name or area, filtered by room type
- Look at units marked as "rented" or recently updated — those reflect current market, not wishful asking prices
- Cross-check against active SPEEDHOME listings in your area
The vacancy math matters: on a RM1,500/month unit (as a rough illustration), one empty month costs RM1,500. A modest discount of RM50–100/month over a 12-month tenancy costs RM600–1,200 total — cheaper than sitting vacant.
| Rent bracket | How this band behaves at the median (SPEEDHOME operator observation, Klang Valley managed tenancies) | What an empty month costs you |
|---|---|---|
| RM1,000–RM1,500 | The most price-sensitive band — even a small premium over median stretches vacancy out | Forgone rent for the month, plus the listing-fee savings on your next vacancy are wiped out |
| RM1,500–RM2,500 | The band that turns over fastest of any in the portfolio when priced at or below median | Each extra week vacant is roughly RM350–RM625 in lost rent |
| RM2,500–RM4,000 | Tenant pool is thinner; good photos and MRT access matter as much as price | Higher absolute rent lost per week, but price cuts land faster because the band is well-defined |
| Above RM4,000 | Supply and demand are both thinner; matching time is the longest of any band | A single empty month often exceeds a full agent commission — discount is usually the cheaper path |
Mass-market units in the RM1,000–RM2,500 band tend to rent fastest when priced at or slightly below the local median.
What makes a listing get more inquiries
Photos and price drive the majority of inquiry volume. Landlords who do not receive an inquiry within the first two weeks are almost always overpriced, under-photographed, or both.
Beyond photos and price, these details convert browsers into serious applicants:
Title: Be specific. "3BR Condo Cheras, 5 min walk to MRT Taman Connaught" beats "Nice condo for rent Cheras." Tenants search by location and commute, so name both. Lead with the room count + property type + area + the nearest station line — the four filters tenants actually use.
Furnishing: State it clearly and list what is included. "Fully furnished: queen bed, sofa, dining set, fridge, washing machine, air conditioning" converts better than just "furnished." The item list also protects you at move-out because the tenant agreed in writing to what was on-site.
House rules upfront: If you do not allow pets, smoking, or short-stay guests, state it in the listing. It saves both parties time and avoids uncomfortable conversations after a viewing. A separate, signed house-rules schedule is stronger than a one-line note in the description.
Availability date: Tenants plan their move 3–6 weeks ahead. A clear available-from date gets more qualified inquiries than "available soon." If the unit is tenant-occupied with a fixed handover date, name the date and the existing tenant's lease end — it tells the next applicant when to expect to move in.
What happens after your listing goes live
SPEEDHOME screens incoming tenants with credit-history, employment and rental-history checks before connecting them to you. You see the screening result attached to each inquiry before approving a viewing.
The credit-history check is Experian-backed, so you get a single line on whether the applicant has open defaults, recent write-offs, or a thin credit file. The employment and rental-history checks confirm where they work, that income is real, and that a previous landlord will take their reference call. For a deeper primer on what the screening actually looks at, read how SPEEDHOME screens tenants before your first inquiry lands.
This is the practical difference between listing on SPEEDHOME versus posting on Mudah or on unverified social-media listing channels. On those platforms, any inquiry comes through unfiltered — no way to know if the person is employed, has a payment-default history, or has been flagged by a previous landlord. On SPEEDHOME, the screening result comes attached to the inquiry.
The process after your listing is live:
- Tenant submits an inquiry — SPEEDHOME runs their screening in the background
- You receive the inquiry with the screening result attached
- You approve or decline a viewing
- If you want to proceed, the Tenancy Agreement is handled digitally through SPEEDSIGN — no printing, no courier, stamps paid online. SPEEDSIGN has stamped the bulk of SPEEDHOME's 30,000+ managed tenancy agreements end-to-end on the platform
For a deeper look at how the full landlord process works from listing to tenancy, read the guide on how to rent out your house in Malaysia.
After the tenant signs: stamp duty and tax declarations in Malaysia
Three things a Malaysian landlord must still do after the tenant moves in: stamp the Tenancy Agreement via e-Duti Setem on MyTax within 30 days of signing, declare the rental income to LHDN by 30 April the following year, and keep the records for as long as LHDN may ask for them (commonly several years).
Stamp the Tenancy Agreement. Since January 2026, stamping is done on LHDN's e-Duti Setem portal at mytax.hasil.gov.my (the old STAMPS portal is no longer in use). Duty follows the Finance Act 2024 scale of RM1 / RM3 / RM5 / RM7 per RM250 of annual rent by lease duration, and the former RM2,400 annual-rent exemption was removed in January 2025. Worked example: a 12-month tenancy at RM1,500/month = RM18,000 annual rent. That sits in the 1–3 year band, so duty is RM3 × (18,000 ÷ 250) = RM3 × 72 = RM216. (A tenancy of one year or less would land in the RM1 band, which is where the RM72 figure comes from — pick the right band for the lease term you sign.) Late stamping under s.47A of the Stamp Act 1949 costs RM50 or 10% of the deficient duty if you stamp within 3 months after the 30-day window, and RM100 or 20% if you stamp later — whichever is higher. Unstamped documents are not admissible as evidence in a Malaysian court if you ever need them, so this step is not optional — stamp it as soon as both parties have signed.
Declare the rental income. LHDN treats ordinary residential letting as a non-business (investment) source under Section 4(d) of the Income Tax Act 1967 (LHDN Public Ruling No. 12/2018, paras 4 and 5), so the rent goes onto your Form BE / B under "Penggunaan Kuasa Perolehan / Sewa". Per LHDN PR 12/2018 para 8.2, direct expenses wholly and exclusively incurred in producing the rent are deductible, namely: assessment and quit rent, fire insurance, interest on the loan taken to buy the property, rent-collection and rent-enforcement costs, agent commission for a renewal or subsequent tenant, and repairs that keep the property in its existing state. Note: costs of getting the first tenant — initial advertising, first-tenancy legal fees, the stamp duty itself, and first-tenant agent commission — are initial expenses and are NOT deductible against rent (PR 12/2018 para 8.3, Examples 18 and 19). Filing deadline is 30 April for the prior year's income. If your only rental income is below the filing threshold, you still need to confirm that with LHDN before skipping the return. For the full step-by-step, see the landlord guide to declaring rental income in Malaysia.
Keep the records as long as LHDN may ask for them. LHDN's record-keeping guidance generally requires landlords to keep the tenancy agreement, payment receipts, bank statements showing the rent in, and expense invoices for several years after the year of assessment — commonly quoted at around seven years, but verify the current retention period against LHDN's record-keeping guidance before relying on a specific number. Hold them digitally; do not rely on paper files.
Ready to post your listing?
Listing on SPEEDHOME is free. Start at speedhome.com/post-rent/property-address — you will be done in under 10 minutes. If you are weighing a traditional agent against listing yourself, the honest comparison of agent vs SPEEDHOME is the related read before you commit.
FAQ
Is listing my property on SPEEDHOME really free?
Yes — listing is free; only optional landlord service plans are paid.
How long does it take to get my first inquiry?
Listings priced near the local median and with a strong photo set tend to receive their first inquiry within days. Listings above the median, or in quieter sub-markets, tend to wait longer. If two weeks have passed without an inquiry, the price or the photo count is almost always the cause.
Can I list on SPEEDHOME and use an agent at the same time?
Yes. There is no exclusivity requirement. Some landlords list on SPEEDHOME to generate direct screened inquiries while an agent works in parallel. If SPEEDHOME finds a tenant first, you have saved the agent commission.
What is the difference between listing on SPEEDHOME and listing on Mudah or PropertyGuru?
Mudah and PropertyGuru are classified listing sites — they pass inquiries through without tenant screening. SPEEDHOME screens tenants first and handles the Tenancy Agreement digitally through SPEEDSIGN, including the stamp-duty payment. The full comparison is in the agent vs SPEEDHOME guide.
After the tenant moves in, do I have any Malaysian legal obligations as a landlord?
Yes — stamp the Tenancy Agreement on e-Duti Setem within 30 days of signing, declare the rental income to LHDN by 30 April the following year under Section 4(d), and keep the supporting records as long as LHDN may ask for them. The landlord tax guide walks through each step.