GURGAON, India, November 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --
Before cab-hailing apps broke onto the scene, being a London cabbie required more than 4 years of training to gain knowledge of streets, alleys and by-lanes of London; this evoked a deep sense of pride in the cabbies who had mastered this art. However, with the advent of cab-hailing apps, technology disrupted navigation and it meant that anyone with a driver's license could become a proficient cabbie overnight. A similar transformation is happening in the real estate rental brokerage industry in India today.
With no specific qualification or license required to be a real estate broker in India, the industry has a large influx of unemployed, semi-skilled youth who take up the profession of a broker in hope of making a quick buck. There is no supply side exclusivity in India which results in massive competition. Each property is available with as many as 5 brokers and the odds of success for rookies are ridiculously low. The disappointment sets in quickly with as many as 35% leaving the profession in first year and another 25% hanging their boots in the second year. With rookie agents under intense pressure to close deals, customers are at the receiving end of a very 'unprofessional' experience.
Fastfox.com is re-imagining how homes are rented in India. FastFox has disrupted the market by creating a new breed of part-time executives who provide a pleasant home viewing experience to customers in sharp contrast to the high-pressure sales environment that local brokers create. Just in Gurgaon, more than 50 part-time executives turn up every weekend to show houses to FastFox customers. These executives are equipped with a mobile application that provides accurate navigation to the properties shortlisted by the customer and in-depth information about the localities. The underlying technology not only delights home-seekers but also provides a support backbone for these part-time executives who are like the rookie drivers who sprung up with the advent of cab hailing apps and bettered the customer experience provided by veteran London cabbies.
According to Pallav Pandey, CEO, FastFox, "FastFox empowers field agents with technology, and makes it possible for them to manage the expectations of the new-age customers despite not having any prior real estate background or local knowledge".
Less than 10% of the information on available houses comes online. The local rental brokers do the necessary hard-work to identify the available rental houses in the offline world but have to depend on the established sale-purchase brokers who provide local networks for sourcing the customer footfall. Rental brokers pay a hefty cut to the sale-purchase broker for this support.
FastFox attracts massive number of home-seekers through its corporate partnerships and expertise in online marketing. FastFox partners with rental brokers who have information on available homes but need home-seekers to close deals. Rental brokers upload the information on available houses to FastFox using a mobile application. FastFox's Smart Recommendation Engine matches the available homes with suitable customer profiles and the brokers receive notifications when customer visits are scheduled on their property. The partner brokers are able to keep the information on the properties updated through the mobile application. FastFox partners with 300+ local brokers in Gurgaon who are collectively sourcing 4000+ rentable houses every month.
According to Pandey, "Rental brokers are specializing in collecting information on available rental homes, while FastFox takes care of creating a delightful customer experience. As a result of this partnership, our partners are making two times more money and we are able to offer the widest selection of available rental homes to our customers."
Just as cab hailing apps liberated the cab drivers from hefty rent extracting taxi-stands, FastFox is helping rental-brokers to thrive independently without dependence on the dominating buy-sell brokers
About FastFox:
Founded by second-time entrepreneur Pallav Pandey (IITK, Co-founder, Knowlarity) and Mukul Bhati (IITG CSE, PayU, Knowlarity), FastFox has a strong leadership team with IIT-IIM background, and deep technical and operational expertise. In top 8 cities, 6.6 Mn middle-class households annually pay $20 Bn as rent, FastFox is committed to transform their home rental experience. FastFox has raised USD 5.5Mn from Lightspeed India Partners, Blume Ventures, Cyber Agent Ventures and others. The company is operational in Gurgaon and Pune.
Media Contact:
Monojeet Sinha
[email protected]
+91-9654149008
FastFox.com
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