SUHQ aims to take the hassle out of selling property

• Wants to put control back in the hands of sellers
• May be looking at commercial property next

 
FEW people can claim that they have pursued their passion and successfully turned it into their career, but Previndran Singhe (pic above) is one of those lucky few.
 
As a man who lives and breathes real estate, Previndran founded his own corporate real estate agency Zerin Properties back in 2002. Despite running it successfully for 14 years, he is just getting started on his latest venture, an online ‘property broadcast’ platform called SUHQ.
 
The acronym is derived from the phrase ‘Sell Your House Quickly.’ It also happens to sounds like ‘souk,’ which means marketplace in Arabic.
 
As the name suggests, the platform is focused on providing a simple, fast and convenient way for people to sell or rent their property.
 
The idea behind SUHQ is to put control back in the hands of sellers while making the process as easy as possible, says Previndran, speaking from his office in Kuala Lumpur recently.
 
“Selling a house can be a real headache for homeowners as it involves a lot of time. This includes advertising the availability of the property, answering phone calls from buyers, and scheduling viewings.
 
“Most of the time, sellers would rather employ a real estate agent to do the job for them,” he adds.
 
In the span of just four months, Previndran – together with chief executive officer Arjuna Indralingam and two other partners – have taken SUHQ from a concept and rapidly turned it into a full-fledged online platform.
 
“We figured there must be an easier way to connect sellers with potential buyers,” says Arjuna.
 
“We just want to be ahead of the curve – if it wasn’t us, someone else would already be making this a reality,” he adds.
 

 
With SUHQ, home sellers need only choose one of the three available packages (starting at RM498 per month), provide payment, and then upload their property information and photos to the system.
 
SUHQ would then take over and help get the word out. It also provides other services such as appraisal of the property, advertisement design, and even listing the property on major property websites as well as classifieds in print media.
 
The platform also provides other professional services including curating calls and scheduling viewings; sellers can also consult with SUHQ’s real estate and legal experts.
 
“It is our aim to make the entire process of selling a home as quick and as hassle-free as possible,” says Previndran.
 
He also says that unlike other property broadcasting platforms that cut out real estate agents from the process, SUHQ does not exclude them.
 
“We view ourselves as a B2B (business-to-business) and B2C (business-to-consumer) business,” he says.
 
“The way I see it, everybody wins if we are inclusive rather than exclusive. In a way, the model is akin to Grab or Uber – when we list the property on property sites, agents would be aware of the sale, so instead of just one agent selling the property, there could be 10 other agents fighting to sell it.
 
“Honestly, we are surprised by the success of the platform in generating sales. Instead of taking months for sales to happen, sellers were getting 20 calls a day, and we were able to close deals within just a few days,” he claims.
 
SUHQ was also keen to stress that it is not competing with real estate listing sites, which it actually uses.
 

 
According to Arjuna (pic above), the site has had 15 listings to date, out of which 10 came during its prelaunch beta. Only two currently remain unsold.
 
“Our platform is designed to maximise the exposure our clients’ properties get in the market, so it is agents who approach us to ask to help market these properties,” he says.
 
“The more attractive the property, the more agents we have wanting to market the property for the owner, thus leaving the owner with a pool of agents who actively push the listing through their own channels, enabling the owner to get the best price for his or her property,” he adds in a follow-up email to DNA.
 
The SUHQ team may be small but they have aspirations to expand the platform across South-East Asia into countries like Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam and the Philippines.
 
“In every market, there are properties to be sold and is highly likely that our next market is Vietnam due to the growing middle class and high interest in real estate,” says Previndran.
 
He acknowledges that localisation is key when entering new markets and says there are plans to translate SUHQ into other languages such as Vietnamese and Bahasa Indonesia to broaden its reach.
 
Though SUHQ is primarily targeted at facilitating the sale of residential units, there are plans to take the same model and apply it towards commercial properties next.
 
“Change is constant, the real estate market is going online and platforms like SUHQ will be one of the primary methods people will use to sell their property moving forward,” says Previndran.
 
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