Justin Ling and his wife, Grace Wong are the founders of Easy Rooms Management Sdn Bhd. In a recent interview with Top 10 of Malaysia, the aspiring entrepreneurs share about their journey in venturing into the property investment business and also the various services provided by the company.
Justin Ling ventured into the construction renovation and steel business when he was nineteen. After many years of experience, he realized that there are many property investors who did not know how to monetize their property spaces despite paying a hefty amount of bank installments and would end up selling their property. Ling adds, “I know that no agency would manage both renovation makeover and rental management. Property owners definitely will be frustrated as they have to deal with multiple parties just for the sake of getting the return on investment (ROI).”
Easy Rooms Management Sdn Bhd was established in 2016 and it has become a property interior makeover and tenancy management solution provider for property owners. Its aim is to help distressed owners monetise their property space from practical and budget suited renovation solutions to managing rental collections, inspection and cleaning services. Over the course of three years, the company has been managing over 900 tenants living in more than 500 rooms across several properties.
Ling shares, “We run background checks on our tenants first. We ensure that there’s a proper tenancy agreement in place, and we establish a standard operating procedure for the rental collection and reminder process. We also mention about CTOS score when issuing warning to tenants.”
“We also adhere to local regulations and have in-depth knowledge about the property market. As such, we are able to make sound judgments and decisions about our business,” adds Wong.
“When a new condo building is ready, we want to be the property investment solution provider to investors and home owners, to ensure that their money spent for the entire process is well-documented, well-managed and well-monetised, if possible, within three months. This is to get the unit ready for rental soonest possible,” says Ling.
Ling focuses their business portfolios on high-rise condominiums with interior makeover upgrade, especially those in the secondary property market as it is easier to rent them out to tenants and rental collection won’t be delayed. As the demographic population of the area where the condominiums were located are predominantly college and universities students, he partitioned the home units and made them similar to a hostel and rented out rooms to increase his rental yields. “It sounds easy but managing above 5 tenants in one unit is a disaster, if it’s ungeared. We have our own customized management system to govern the whole process of rental collection and penalty enactment for non-payment.”
“We were able to do that because the condo units are commercial-titled properties. Initially, a number of property owners asked for our help to manage their tenants and rental collections. This gave us the idea to set up a rental collection service for property owners,” says Ling.
Ling and Wong decided to offer not just rental collection service and renovation services, but minor repair and maintenance works since they have their own workers. “We are able to give our clients a reasonably competitive pricing with efficient and proper advice based on the condition of the respective property and the step which could be taken next,” says Ling.
“We survey and assess the property to determine if it’s suitable for long term rentals, student hostel, homestay etc. We quote reasonable prices for renovation because the interior decoration and furniture have to be practical and durable especially if the unit is to be rented out to students,” adds Wong.
Ling adds, “We aim to complete all renovation works within a month and once it’s completed, we would already have the prospective tenants available for the unit. The property owners would not miss out on rental yields.”
The entrepreneurs’ future plan is to help more property owners monetize their spaces effectively within a reasonable budget and with quality interior. They also plan to continue investing in more properties, expand more condos, advise and also assist more clients to achieve their ROIs.