HouseME’s online bidding platform allows tenants to bid on properties they want, and also guarantees rental payments to landlords. To date, landlords have benefited from an average 9% upside through this mechanism.

With its 2.5% property management fee, HouseME has grown to be larger than traditional agency franchises – already managing close to 150 rental properties, with more than 80 marketed across the country. The company is recognising a 31% month-on-month growth in the number of properties.

Ben Shaw, CEO of HouseME, says, "We are very excited to have launched into Gauteng. We maintained that we’d only extend our business beyond the Western Cape once we’d proved the success of our platform, so this expansion marks a significant moment in HouseME’s story. We are now fully operational in a far larger market, with new business partners, a larger team, and our incredible new management suites." 

Shaw adds, "In Cape Town, every single landlord offered these services has chosen them over the current alternatives, and we’re expecting a similar response in Gauteng."

Currently, there are more than 1 400 landlords and an equivalent number of tenants registered on the HouseME platform. Prior to the Gauteng launch, HouseME had registered 300 landlords in Randburg, Sandton, and Midrand, with a further 100 on the waiting list for their new offering of management suites.

While HouseME is headquartered in Cape Town, two Gauteng offices have been set up in Sandton and Braamfontein to ensure the market is optimally serviced and prioritised.

HouseME is already integrated with five distinct property marketplaces across the country, including Gumtree and Private Property, and Shaw says HouseME is also working closely with other premium rental brands in various capacities.

Some clients who had piloted the services decided to bring entire rental books onto the HouseME system. “We are in the process of facilitating the move of more than one hundred units away from an agency and onto our platform – a decision that will save the landlord just under R100 000 per month. Our footprint has gone beyond our core DIY landlord market and we now serve a number of serious property investors," adds Shaw.

HouseME also incorporated its own banking backend for payment collections. "There is general speculation that the future of business will be created in Silicon Valley. We believe HouseME might one day be seen as an example of how Africa can produce world-class business technology from within," concludes Shaw.

For more information, visit www.house.me. Alternatively, connect with them on Facebook or on Twitter.