WHY DID WE BUILD SAYWA FOR YOU? WONG’S “AHA” MOMENT

Aha moments are great! Better than Eureka because you do not tend to run out of your bathroom buck naked waving a crown! (Archimedes anyone?)

I am Wong, in a rare moment of self glory, have made the executive decision of penning the backstory of the SAYWA app for all my readers. It isn’t sexy, but it is true and very relevant. So read on……

HOW SAYWA WAS BORN?

Renting out a house is quite a task right? I’m certain that you have gone through this exact same thought process at some time, and I created SAYWA simply to help you break the vicious circle of worry-wring hands-wait for agent’s call- be disappointed-worry.

10th Oct 2013
I received an email from my property developer that my condominium is finally ready, and that I can make an appointment to get the key on the next day.

11th Oct 2013
At 10AM sharp, my wife and I took the key, and I believed I had the first mover advantage because I was the first to get my hands on the key. I believed I could renovate and eventually rent it out in the market before anyone else. I was nervous, this was one of the biggest investments of my life, and I wanted to get it churning returns for me.

I snapped a few photos and then my head kept spinning:

Where do I find agents, and I mean good and knowledgeable agents who will act in my best interest? Is there anything that I can do to accelerate the renting process?

Being an IT savvy person, I knew I could do that easily via 2 of the largest property listing sites in Malaysia. I quickly browsed through them and I was delighted and DOOMED- at the same time!

DELIGHTED:
I could find agents contact there, and I actually sent SMSes to 53 different agents! (When one is desperate, one does crazy things)

DOOMED:
I couldn’t post my advertisement on these property listing sites because they only did business with agents! That’s outrageous! That’s favouritism!
Out of the 53 SMS I had sent out to various agents, 15 replied back.
>> 5 made appointments to ‘view’ my unit and take photos.
>>6 asked me to send the photos over so that they could ‘market’ it for me. (Whatever that means)
>>The other 4 thought I was a tenant looking to rent. (Clearly hadn’t paid attention to my SMSes)

Knowing that all I could do was wait. ..…..I waited, frequently trying to hurry things along by asking the agents for updates. Their answers could have come from Siri they were so identical and unemotional:

AgentSpeak: The market is slow. Reality: So keep on waiting dear Wong!
AgentSpeak: Rental reduction can get more enquiries. Reality: You can’t make too much money Wong when we are handling your business!

23 days after initial contact, I finally received the first appointment! Anna (an agent, and yes not her real name) successfully scheduled a viewing. I was thrilled although that deal didn’t materialize.

On 9th Dec 2013, I received my second appointment, from Anna again, and we closed the deal in 2 weeks’ time. That sort of ended my worry!
But I strongly believe many investors out there are facing the same problem and its dis-empowering that we can’t be more proactive and need to keep waiting for appointments, be at the mercy of third part facilitators. And if I the property owner was having such a horror of an experience, I shuddered to think of what the renters in Malaysia (with possible eviction notices) were going through. That was my “aha” moment which was really when SAYWA was conceived.

Rather than crying foul about the present process I  set out to make it right and SAYWA was the end result.

SAYWA wants to solve all your problems and ensure that your investment is getting treated right.

So hop over to the home page and download this little power house. You will say “Waaa so easy”.