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Property rental in India made easy

Zenify provides a comprehensive solution to NRIs with an assured rental return for their property

In a market saturated with property listing portals, Zenify comes as one of India's complete rental solutions for tenants and owners. The Bengaluru-based technology start-up simplifies rentals to such an extent that tenants just need to book the home of their choice online, move in and leave the rest to Zenify.
"For owners, Zenify is the only player to promise end-to-end property management. A quick look at www.zenify.in will show how analytics and design can come together to create a fair, hassle-free experience in what used to be a chaotic business," said CEO and Co-Founder Sudarshan Purohit.
Catering to the NRI market

Zenify provides a comprehensive rental solution to NRIs with an assured rental return for their property. It finds the right tenant after proper screening, drafts standard rental agreements, collects rent on a monthly basis on behalf of the owner, and carries out maintenance work whenever required. Zenify also stands as a point of contact for  the tenants in terms of any hassles in the property.
Speaking about the online rental property market scenario, Purohit says that India is a place with huge market potential and it is one of the biggest real estate markets in the world.
"The emergence of online rental concept provides huge possible growth in the segment, due to a quick and standardised process. Earlier, slow process was one of the factors towards decline in the industry. Now, the buyers are encouraged to buy properties with more confidence and receive better returns for their investment through the rental," he said.
According to current statistics, the online property search increased to 50 per cent owners and 70 per cent tenants in Bengaluru alone. While there is potential for growth in the industry, monetisation may rise as an issue and need to be controlled due to the large number of property listings, notably broker-driven properties, which may pull us back to the traditional way of handling property.
"As far as zenify.in is concerned, being a transaction-based company, we have exponentially grown over the years of our existence," he added.

What's in it for owners and tenants?

The owner needs a peace of mind when he decides to rent out his property, and Zenify provides that relief by ensuring the property is occupied and looks after maintenance. Tenants, on the other hand, need a hassle-free experience of booking a desired flats. Therefore, for both the parties, the portal simplies the rental process for a hassle-free experience. Zenify solves five basic problems in the realty industry via online residential property management, which happen to be among the biggest hassles faced by owners and tenants:
- No property visits required by owners and tenants. Tenants can view the property online at the comfort of their homes and book their property at market rent.
- Zenify takes care of screening tenants and shares reports with the owner before allowing tenants to occupy the property.
- Zenify drafts the standard rental agreement for the owner and tenants.
- Zenify handles end-to-end property management.
- Zenify collects the monthly rent and hands it over to the owner.  

Aid in property management
Zenify returns the property in the same condition as received from the owner, and takes care of any repair work (electrical, plumbing, etc.), painting and cleaning to ensure that the property is well-maintained:

Solving disputes
Maintenance and property complaints are addressed according to the case, and can be solved without involving the owners. During the agreement period between owners and tenants, Zenify discusses the requirements for the maintenance work between the two parties.
In case of light maintenance work, tenants will be liable to take care of it with the support of Zenify after notifying the owner. However, for situations that call for major maintenance, the owner will be liable to handle it with the support of Zenify. In this situation, Zenify will consult the owner on how to take the maintenance forward and take prior approval before carrying out work on their property.

Challenges and future goals

"When we started Zenify, our main challenge was acquiring properties from owners. It was quite difficult to create that trust and confidence among the owners to completely trust us with their property," Purohit said.
Secondly, its business model is such that picking the right kind of property is extremely important.
"Understanding the market, knowledge about the area and the psyche of the people are some of the key aspects that we need to consider while acquiring a property. When we started out, there was very little information about these aspects. Figuring out which property to pick up and which one to drop was yet another challenge for us," he added.
Over the years, Zenify has been able to overcome these challenges. Armed with a mission to simplify the rental process, it now aims to address other issues related to the real estate market in the future. Zenify currently targets India's top nine cities and has plans to launch its services in other countries, including the UAE and Singapore. 
- farhana@khaleejtimes.com