Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1034189
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 30 SEPTEMBER 2018 G11 GAMING BLOCKCHAIN IN an ever-changing world dominated by technology most industries have either adapted to the times or got left behind, worst still replaced. Yet some industries remain largely untouched. In property, the old hand- shake and paper contract remain the conventional method of conducting business. This does not mean that al- ternatives don't exist. On the contrary, there is a whole world of tech out there at our finger- tips to take full advantage of. One team pioneering new frontiers in technology for the property market are QLZH Group. QLZH, forged from the two companies that put them- selves on the frontline of PropTech in Malta, namely QuickLets & Zanzi Homes, have come a long way in a very short amount of time. Owing their success to technol- ogy and insight. Co-Founder & CEO, Steve Mercieca, had his vision to seize market opportunity in a time where growth was inevitable. The letting branch of this group aptly named QuickLets, does exactly what is says on the box. Steve's direct approach was, "give us your property and we will rent it out quickly for you". Five years down the line they are amongst the top brands when it comes to rentals in Malta. The demand in its infancy far out- weighed the supply. Having said that, finding the properties was the hard part. So QuickLets introduced the VA (Virtual Agent) system just after they launched, leveraging information for reward. Refer a property and get a piece of the pie, an easy solution to a simple problem. This helped grow the database to the biggest on the island while offer- ing the average person at home the opportunity to get involved in this booming market without ever leaving the comfort of their home. Zanzi Homes was a natural progres- sion to QuickLets. The landlords, pockets lined with their new rental success, were ready to invest to ex- pand their portfolio. Requests came in for new properties, this time to be purchased. Mercieca and his ambitious teams quickly resorted to finding leads for sale, adopting the same VA referral system. Zanzi eventually listed a large num- ber of properties being offered on plan or yet to be developed but identified the need to better showcase these properties in their final form and de- cided as early as 2016 to create that experience to view these listings. Enter Virtual Reality, a technology which Zanzi was able to harness so that plans were elevated from the two dimensional constraints of paper or screen. The Buyer, wearing a headset, could feel what it was like to stand inside the property and navigate their surround- ings. This platform also allowed Zanzi to visualise the property to the re- quirements of the buyer, thus pro- viding a more immersive experi- ence. As a group, QLZH has been able to thrive at the forefront of tech, maximising customer experience, and the Group at- tributes its success to its solid company culture, which has promoted core values not just internally, but externally too as shown through their core purpose is to have a solid company culture and always focus on the environ- ment and people's education and well- ness. 2018 marked the consolidation of these two pioneering companies and the addition of QLZH Foundation. The foundation was launched on January 12th 2018 by our patron Ma- rie-Louise Coleiro Preca, the Presi- dent of Malta. The Group believe in a greener, cleaner and healthier planet. The causes they have at heart are the envi- ronment and education. Their work stretches from Malta to Africa and all the way to Lombok. Although formally launched in 2018, the QLZH Group has been involved in sustainable projects since its incep- tion in 2013. QuickLets has also branched out recently, giving a separate avenue to handle the ever growing commercial m a r - ket. With this increase came a new demand for specialists in this com- petitive field. QLC (QuickLets Com- mercial) is one of the newest mem- bers taking on a team of experienced specialists mainly from their popular site officefinder.com and offering a commercial academy for training top letting specialist looking to make the jump into the exciting commercial world and backed by the same VA concept allowing the database to grow exponentially. "If its possible QLC will make it hap- pen" Mercieca says. "Once a client needed a prestige lo- cation, we contacted the owner, spoke to their current ten- ants, found them another place which worked bet- ter for them and got the prestige location want- ed by our clients" With 2019 and the Group's fifth year an- niversary there are many opportunities on the horizon. The group has spent the last 18 months rede- signing their software and investing in their R&D to make sure that their clients get the best ser- vice possible. The Group plans to keep grow- ing in Malta and aims to achieve new heights in all of its sectors. QLZH are definitely tech forward as companies go. It could be the youthful fresh ap- proach or the eagerness to get ahead, either way this team truly embraces the future of the industry. In a world where tech is opening up so many avenues there will be new opportunities with Blockchain and smart contracts. QLZH already ac- cept transactions in Crypto currency as well as offering crypto ATMs in a few of their branches. With advancements in VR, AI and AR, it will be interesting to see what the future holds. The tech savvy real estate agent, myth or fact? Steve Mercieca