It must be acknowledged that over the past 2-3 years, the Thai real estate sector has been facing significant challenges, not only due to the economic situation but also because the lending system does not meet the needs of the new work trends, particularly among the younger generation and freelancers.

Various data sources indicate that the rejection rate for home loans valued under 3 million baht is over 70%. Among these, there are many potential buyers with strong purchasing power and repayment capabilities. However, due to the new work trends where many are opting for freelance work rather than traditional employment (such as freelancers, business owners, influencers, online sellers, and more), they do not meet the criteria of the traditional lending system, preventing them from owning assets or homes.

Conversely, this phenomenon has led to lost opportunities for real estate developers, as they are unable to deliver completed homes or properties to these actual buyers.

This pain point has led to the emergence of a new business model under the name PROPTLANE, a startup that aims to ‘fill the gap’ by designing an ecosystem through a new rent-to-own service that acts as a “bridge to opportunities”, addressing the needs of all stakeholders involved, including those seeking housing, investors, developers, and real estate agents. This initiative aims to elevate the Thai real estate industry to a new standard, ensuring that homes reach the hands of genuine consumers.


Unlocking Potential with an Ecosystem of Opportunities

PROPTLANE's rent-to-own service was conceived by Chayangkoon Loksakulsin, Chief Executive Officer of PROPTLANE, who has experience from working in financial institutions and as an investor himself.

“Our starting point came from a significant pain point, which is the group of high-potential customers, mostly young professionals and freelancers, such as YouTubers, TikTokers, or business owners, who have high incomes and repayment capabilities but cannot meet the conditions of traditional loans. With the new work trends, this group continues to expand,” Chayangkoon explained about this gap from his firsthand experience.

After exchanging ideas with Pirapat Kanthana, COO of PROPTLANE, who also has a background in finance, they came up with the idea of enhancing the existing rent-to-own service, traditionally conducted on a person-to-person basis, into a more credible company format under PROPTLANE, creating a screening system and professional customer care to fill this market gap.

 
An Ecosystem Connecting All Sectors

The development of PROPTLANE is not just about creating a business model, but also about building an ecosystem that connects the needs of four main parties together, resulting in a truly Win-Win Situation:

1. Rent-to-Own Buyers can acquire the homes they desire, with the PROPTLANE team providing guidance throughout the contract period to help them truly become homeowners.

2. Investors, whether employees or business owners, with or without experience in rent-to-own, can have clear expectations (with returns starting at 6-7.5% per year) from investing in real estate without the hassle of managing the properties themselves. This new investment model differs from traditional real estate investments.

3. Property Developers can convert customers who were rejected for loans into actual sales, recovering lost opportunities of up to 70%.

4. Real Estate Agents have new options to present solutions to clients who do not meet the criteria for traditional loan applications, allowing these clients to become homeowners or acquire assets.

“Our biggest challenge is making Thai people understand and trust this relatively new model, both for Buyers who are concerned about whether they will actually get a home, and for Investors who want to know what they are investing in and what returns they can expect. Therefore, we must ensure clarity and transparency at every step,” Chayangkoon emphasized the most crucial point that everyone in the ecosystem desires: “confidence that must be clear and transparent.”

A Model Creating Opportunities: The Unique Features of PROPTLANE

This is the foundation for establishing PROPTLANE's strengths that set it apart from traditional rent-to-own models. Besides being a bridge connecting the entire ecosystem, it serves as a “trust-building intermediary” and a platform that provides holistic customer care, highlighting the following strengths:

1. Rigorous yet Flexible Screening: PROPTLANE has a robust backend system for screening both customers (Buyers) and assets entering the portfolio, focusing on actual repayment capability rather than just employment documentation.

2. Dedicated Support Team: This is the core of PROPTLANE's service, with a team of experts providing guidance to customers from the very beginning, helping them prepare to successfully close on their homes within three years.

3. Clarity and Trust: Every step of the rent-to-own contract with PROPTLANE is clear, transparent, and backed by a solid agreement, unlike the person-to-person models of the past where both buyers and investors may lack confidence in whether they would actually own the property or receive real returns.

 

 


The Right Model for Leapfrog Growth

With a model that meets the needs of all parties, the results have been remarkable. Over the past year, PROPTLANE has provided opportunities for over 268 families to become homeowners, with a total asset value delivered exceeding 1,087 million baht, far surpassing the initial expectations when the business was founded, which aimed for only 60 families.
“We have seen interesting cases, such as a 28-year-old Buyer who purchased a 19 million baht home and was able to close within just one year, confirming our belief that this group truly has potential. The customers entering our portfolio also show a high repayment rate, indicating that this group has real demand and strong repayment capabilities.”

PROPTLANE's ultimate goal is to provide equal opportunities for Thai people to access and own homes. The CEO indicated that the direction for the next 3-5 years will focus on qualitative growth alongside expanding opportunities, aiming to deliver assets to 400 families (by 2026) and expanding partnerships, moving forward with MOUs with leading property developers.

“The goal is not just growth, but to set a new standard for access to housing in Thailand, while adhering to the principle of delivering assets to Real Demand or those who genuinely need housing, to build the highest level of confidence for everyone in this ecosystem.”

‘People’ are the Key to Building Trust

Since the key to this business model is building trust among ‘employees’, they are the frontline in creating confidence. Given that the business operates as a startup, the development of people and the organization, which is PROPTLANE's backend work, is crucial in driving this complex business model.

“I have had the mindset since the beginning of the business that I want to prioritize employee care because if they are happy, the work will be good, including customer service,” said Pirapat Kanthana, Chief Operations Officer of PROPTLANE, reflecting on the initial steps in caring for the organization and employees when the company was first established.

As COO, Pirapat emphasizes giving employees the freedom to work (flexibility) while focusing on results (performance).

“We do not base our work on processes primarily, but on performance. We provide an overview of the work needed and allow them to design their own methods to achieve the goals. The work philosophy must create a sense of ownership among employees, starting with giving each Back Office team the freedom to manage their own work hours as appropriate to maximize efficiency, except for the Operations and Customer Service teams, which must have clear customer response times.”


Creating a Mindset to Instill Confidence from Within

Before instilling confidence in customers, every employee must "Believe" in the business model of PROPTLANE first. Pirapat holds quarterly talks to review which customer groups the business is helping, explore the real estate market, and constantly reiterate the mission to employees.

“If our employees do not believe in our products or business model, they will be anxious and unable to sell effectively. But if they believe, they can deliver the work to customers efficiently.”

Additionally, PROPTLANE places great importance on ‘clarity at every step’, which is a key factor in building trust with both Buyers and Investors, broadly categorized into:

  • Personnel Selection: As a rapidly growing startup, PROPTLANE emphasizes selecting talented individuals, especially among the younger generation (mostly in their late 20s to mid-30s) who share a chemistry for creating new things and accept a highly flexible work environment.
  • Customer Management: Utilizing technology to assist in operations, along with a team providing clear and straightforward information at every step of the contract, and closely monitoring customers to ensure that Buyers can improve their financial status to truly “become homeowners” when the contract term ends, with a technology-to-human ratio of 30-70%.

“Even though we are a startup, we still prioritize employees alongside technology because our rent-to-own business model does not just sell properties; we are selling ‘confidence’ and ‘opportunities’ to a highly concerned customer group. Therefore, we use AI and Data Analytics to help screen information and reduce redundant steps, while working with personnel to provide detailed ‘consultation’. The complexity of credit or misunderstandings in contracts requires communication from highly skilled humans, which is the most crucial factor in building trust and ultimately leading customers to become homeowners.”

Organizational Culture and Team: The Foundation for Sustainability

Pirapat believes that “employee happiness” is the highest return on investment for creating organizational sustainability. Therefore, he focuses on ensuring that employees enjoy their work. PROPTLANE allocates budgets for specialized training tailored to each individual, in addition to general training budgets, and takes employee well-being seriously by regularly allocating recreational budgets for all teams, alongside salaries and performance-based bonuses.

“A clear example is that we have a recreational budget covering various dimensions, whether it’s organizing the company’s annual outing trip or even a personal recreational budget that allows employees to choose how to take care of themselves and recharge, such as some choosing to sign up for a gym or others opting for massages or skincare treatments to feel good about themselves and confidently meet customers.”

The flexibility in using this budget sends a message to our employees that ‘the organization genuinely cares about your happiness and health’, and when they have good energy, they can deliver confidence and excellent service back to customers, the COO concluded.

The remarkable growth figures of PROPTLANE have proven that this new business model is not just an option but a game changer in the Thai real estate market, creating opportunities and raising new standards that will lead to sustainable win-win value creation for all sectors.