Over the past few years, semigration across South Africa has maintained a steady pace with many in search of better job prospects or lifestyles. However, with relocation comes a host of challenges including searching for – and securing – a rental property in a market that is currently thriving.
Whether moving to a new suburb or province, the task of aimlessly scrolling through various rental listings can be tedious and frustrating, especially when the time spent searching online doesn’t equate to a successful application.
PocketProperty, a new cross-platform offering, is the ideal matchmaker between tenants and rentals, producing quality listings and prioritising its users in an easy and efficient online process.
“Searching for and securing a rental in Cape Town’s property market has proved difficult in the past for my family, especially with the sudden influx of semigrants,” says Michael Lukusa, founder of PocketProperty. “We had to wait approximately six months to secure a place. I would find that either a listing would go live and within a couple of hours it was taken, or I had forgotten to apply, only to go back to the listing to apply and to be added to the queue of other applicants.”
Integrated with WhatsApp (a pre-requisite for subscribing), PocketProperty offers two cost-effective subscriptions; its ‘Basic’ plan, at R10.00 per thirty days, which automatically curates a list of matched properties tailored to its users’ preferences, across various suburbs, who are then required to view and apply manually.
The ‘Professional’ plan, at R25.00 per month, offers premium benefits that include submitting requests directly to landlords and rental agents, ensuring their enquiries are placed ahead of the queue.
For both the professional and basic subscriptions, users can submit up to five different rental requests, allowing them to search for various property types, such as a townhouse or a house, either within the same area or in different neighborhoods. This increases their chances of finding the perfect match.
“PocketProperty is ideal for the average South African looking for a place to stay, even more so for semigrants who don’t have the time – or money – to travel around South Africa in an urgent search to secure accommodation,” he says. “We balance the cost with the service that people require, providing convenience while securing a rental they are satisfied with.”
Working with an aggregator platform that provides live, verified listings from multiple sites, PocketProperty’s approach is cross-portal meaning that smaller, independent rental agents and agencies are included.
“PocketProperty compliments the traditional rental agent model,” says Michael. “We recognise that it is essential for landlords to work with rental agencies to ensure the best outcome for their assets. Our offering is appealing to rental agencies as we can provide them with quality, clean leads at a much faster pace and by charging a subscription fee, they can be assured that our users are serious.”
Currently only available in South Africa, with plans to expand into Africa, signing up to PocketProperty is as simple as visiting pocketproperty.app to register with a verified WhatsApp number. Users will receive an OTP with a prompt to complete a form with their rental preferences, followed by a second form that requires more detail on what they require from a property.
A single subscription is valid for thirty days after which users will be prompted to renew their subscription, if needed. If they have found a rental within the initial subscription period, they can simply opt-out of receiving the WhatsApp notifications.
“South Africa’s rental market is booming with the development of new residential offerings mushrooming, which only adds more supply. PocketProperty cuts through the ‘fluff’ by ensuring that we match our users with their next rental by only targeting the areas they are searching for.”
PocketProperty sees itself becoming a household name that South Africans, and eventually Africans, will use for everything rental related. While they focus on matchmaking tenants with rentals, their bigger vision includes guiding their users through the entire rental journey.
“Ensuring that our users can move to another suburb or province via searching and applying on our platform, without having to be there in person, is crucial, especially with the rapid pace of semigration and urbanisation,” he concludes.
