One of Nigeria’s biggest online real estate companies, PropertyPro.ng is set to expand its operations into the Zimbabwean market, promoting virtual sales, rent and leases of property, 263Chat Business has learnt.
PropertyPro.ng was established in 2017 after its holding company ToLet.com acquired Jumia House Nigeria, a subsidiary of pan-African e-commerce giant, Jumia.com.
The acquisition entailed that PropertyPro.ng obtains ToLet’s then 60 000 listings and Jumia House’s 22 000 listings making the property startup the largest in Nigeria with 65 percent market share.
Now PropertyPro.ng is strategically eyeing Zimbabwe and Kenya, as it seek gateway to penetrating Southern and East African markets.
“The presence of PropertyPro is in Kenya and Zimbabwe is to help realtors drive their businesses forward. To this end, PropertyPro is offering a 12-month free subscription to real estate companies and agents to market their properties on the platforms to get a high level of exposure,” the company said.
The company focuses on signing up realtors or estate agents to its massive digital platform to increase their property business online.
Agent estate will in turn make listings of their properties on the platform.
Virtual real estate business has been growing steadily in Zimbabwe in recent years as digitization continues to shape the way businesses should operate but there has not been a major tech company of the size of PropertyPro emerging as yet among the local players.
The company is believed to be making its earnings from agent subscription fees.
“Virtual house hunting has been a popular means to find a home where pictures of properties related to a particular search will be displayed on a website. Much less, house seekers will also have the opportunity of getting an idea of the cost of prices in a choice area and can check out other locations in the comfort of their homes,” said PropertyPro.
The platform comes with a sophisticated desktop and mobile interface to capture the attention of home shoppers, features such as budget, types of property, location can be applied for a house search, and agents can upload video tours of apartments to increase their chances with prospective clients.
Digitization has enabled African start-ups to extended their business influence beyond local borders in the process exposing them to wider market reach.
