1Form - realestate.com.au online applications

[Perp]

Thanks to our recent flood, I'm on the other side of the fence and looking for a place to rent.

I was delighted to discover 1Form, a system set up by realestate.com.au whereby you can complete your application once, then pay to store it online, and when you see a property you like, you just hit "apply online", and it electronically submits your completed application. The "apply online" button appears on every rental ad, and apparently the individual agencies can't opt out from having this button appear.

1Form asked me if I wanted to pay the $30 (I think, for one week?) to store my application before I started, and I said no, and then I spent two hours filling the mongrel out, and they wisely ask you again, when you've finished and the $30 seems a bargain. LMAO - love a good entrepreneur!

But, to my dismay, I've since discovered that >80% of PMs has said "oh yeah, we don't accept them, you'll have to fill out one of ours" - and "theirs" has less information on it than the one I've already filled out.

Two points:

1) 1Form - you've got a great product, but until you get a greater uptake by PMs, you have to only put those buttons on ads from PMs who'll take 1Form applications, otherwise you just end up with pissed off prospective tenants. (I've written to 1Form on this point and they're at least as frustrated as I am and were great.)

2) (And why I'm posting here) PMs: for crying out loud, if all the information is there, why do we have to fill it out again in a different format???

If my PMs made it as difficult to apply for a rental as these PMs are making it for me, I'd be mightily annoyed. I intend to check today how my own PM would respond to receiving a 1Form application.

 

[Amadio]

Hi Perp - firstly I'm very sorry to hear that you are on the other side of the fence due to the flooding. It's just an awfully frustrating side to be on.

We found that there are all these excellent tools for PM's to use but they don't. They go the hard way. Every single application is different and every agency requires different paperwork.

Good luck and please post during the process - it will open the eyes of a lot of LL's on this forum coming from you.

 

[evand]

Hi Perp

I think the problem is most PM's wont let prospective tenants fill out an application until they see the premises.

Is it an application you are talking about or like a rental CV?

Its a case of RE.com.au providing features (benefits?) to their site that don't necessarily align with what RE agents want.

The email the agent is another one, which is why agents mostly see it as a waste of time and rarely reply to them.

oh and bad luck with the floods. Thats 2 in a couple years, a bit more than a 100 year flood.

 

[buzzlightyear]

The 1Form option asks tenants to pay as I understand it? For a few applications (say 2-3) on average that tenants may make, I would need to be convinced, as a PM, that they would be willing to pay $30 for 1 month or $45 for 2 months etc

For a PM, its $50 per month with a $180 setup cost. My initial reaction is that it is a a bit pricey for everyone I think.

 

[Perp]

For a PM, its $50 per month with a $180 setup cost. My initial reaction is that it is a a bit pricey for everyone I think.

Oh, I see, that changes everything; I didn't realise that the PMs had to pay to view the applications! Now I'm seeing the issue.

Perhaps 1Form would be wise to give PMs a 6-month free trial or something, so they get to see how easy it is, and people become accustomed to using it.

 

[buzzlightyear]

I still believe the idea is good but the pricing model (and pricing) is incorrect. I suspect there are license fees being charged by the websites developers to re.com.au to allow users to access the site and re.com.au are passing on.

For user pays, the tenant may use once or twice and I don't see $30 worth of value in that. For the agent however, if tenants could access for no charge, then I could see how the system would be utilised more and be of more value to the PM.

They do give a savings model for PM's. Would be interested to know from the PM's here if they think they are valid assumptions.

In addition, changing prospective tenants behaviours to take a rental application form when viewing the property seems at least more tangible than merely referring them to the website.

 

[1Form]

Oh, I see, that changes everything; I didn't realise that the PMs had to pay to view the applications! Now I'm seeing the issue.

Perhaps 1Form would be wise to give PMs a 6-month free trial or something, so they get to see how easy it is, and people become accustomed to using it.

Hi Everyone, I am actually one of the co-founders and directors of 1Form so I just wanted to clear up this point about cost.

We actually don't charge the property managers at all. So all property managers can receive unlimited 1Form applications for free and can fully review and asses them at no cost at all.

The previous cost mentioned for property managers is actually for some 'extra levels' of service that we provide and for extreme bespoke customisation that certain offices might require.

Also, we do have a free version of the system for tenants as well that tenants can use as often as they like.

I'm also more than happy to personally answer any further questions that anyone else on this forum may have?

Finally I would like to extend my apologies to the tenant in question for the dificulties that have been experienced here. Our intention has always been to make the lives of tenants easier rather than more difficult and I deeply regret that this hasn’t been the case here.

 

[Perp]

Hi Everyone, I am actually one of the co-founders and directors of 1Form so I just wanted to clear up this point about cost.

We actually don't charge the property managers at all. So all property managers can receive unlimited 1Form applications for free and can fully review and asses them at no cost at all.

The previous cost mentioned for property managers is actually for some 'extra levels' of service that we provide and for extreme bespoke customisation that certain offices might require.

Thanks for joining us and clarifying that.

I do think 1Form is a great idea and I go back to my position of sharing your frustration: I can't think of one good reason why any PM could reasonably refuse such an application. It's extremely comprehensive; there's not been a thing that a PM wanted to know which wasn't in the 1Form application.

 

[buzzlightyear]

Thanks 1Form for clarifying.

few questions...
How long has the service been around for? Maybe that accounts for the lack of take-up by some REA's?

Who owns the information/data that is loaded into 1Form? How easy it is for a PM to downlaod information stored by tenants who have applied to all their properties?

 

[Goofy]

I think the agency i used to work for was one of the early adopters of this system and that was about 5 years ago so i would say they have been around a little longer than that...

I was quick to get them onboard for the RE Agency i set up a few years ago also.

We have a link to the 1Form on our website, when the tenant completes the form it simply comes through to my email, i click on the attachment and viola! Pretty simple really, i really dont know why agencies dont accept/use them as all of the information you could ever need is on the forms. The tenant doesn't have to pay for them if they dont want to, nor does the agency. I think that sometimes agents just want to be painful to tenants because they can!

Of course we still have our own application forms that we take out to OFI's and have printed out at reception but it certainly compliments what we already have.

I also have to say, on a few occassions i have had some minor problems with the system (which in most cases turned out to be an error on the tenant not completing a step) in which i needed to contact the guys at 1Form and they are always SUPER helpful and fixed any issues very promptly

I do however think that if 1Form lowered their price point (eg $10) for saving the applications then more tenants would use that function and that would increase the revenue

 

[Xenia]

Hi Everyone, I am actually one of the co-founders and directors of 1Form so I just wanted to clear up this point about cost.

We actually don't charge the property managers at all. So all property managers can receive unlimited 1Form applications for free and can fully review and asses them at no cost at all.

The previous cost mentioned for property managers is actually for some 'extra levels' of service that we provide and for extreme bespoke customisation that certain offices might require.

Also, we do have a free version of the system for tenants as well that tenants can use as often as they like.

I'm also more than happy to personally answer any further questions that anyone else on this forum may have?

Finally I would like to extend my apologies to the tenant in question for the dificulties that have been experienced here. Our intention has always been to make the lives of tenants easier rather than more difficult and I deeply regret that this hasn’t been the case here.

great job, I think it's a fab idea. I'd love to see the form.

 

[Lil Skater]

Personally, I never knew it existed!

When I'm in the office tomorrow I think I'll ask and see what my manager says - I think it's a great idea, I'd actually like to see a system where ALL applications forms are universal for all agencies - but we all know this will never happen

 

[Perp]

For anybody who's interested in seeing the form, go to any rental listing on realestate.com.au, and hit the "apply online" button, and fill one out. (Just don't hit "submit" when you get to the end. ) The 1Form people assure me that the form complies with regulatory requirements in every state and territory in Australia. It is certainly comprehensive!

(No affiliation!)

 

[1Form]

Ok so it looks like I have a few more questions to answer:

How long has the service been around for?We launched in July 2006 which means we turn 5 on the 1st of July this year. In that time we have managed to get 60% to 70% of the market using our system but... as this blog demonstrates... there are still agents that don’t accept our form even though it caters for every set of circumstances

Who owns the information/data that is loaded into 1Form?Firstly, the tenant has full control over their data and can completely remove the details from the system whenever they wish. When a tenant sends an application to a property manager that information is able to be fully used by the property manager for the purposes of assessing their application (in the same fashion as paper. of course the information does sit on our server and has to as a function of the service we provide. But we take data security and privacy very seriously and work closely with both Verisign (the worlds largest and most respected online security company) and TRUSTe who are 'privacy' experts. Our system has been fully audited by these companies (and is continually done so) and we have recieved their seal of approval which is also displayed on the form as you fill it out.

How easy it is for a PM to download information stored by tenants who have applied to all their properties?Extremely easy, infact we give property managers tools to be able to do this at the click of a button through a special online platform that we provide... and yes all of this is free as well! On this system you can run reference checks automatically, connect the tenants utilities (using the Utility Connection company of your choice), email tenants using pre-written template responses... and we even have a new 'application analytics' tool which works the same way as Google Analytics... however instead of showing the demographics/stats of people who have visited your website... we show you the demographics/stats of the kinds of tenants that are applying (and yes this is also free)

Some of the other points that were raised were around cost and I can confirm that we are working on ways to reduce the cost of the system and perhaps even make it 100% free.... This might be a few months away... In the meantime we still have a free version for any and all who want to use it.

I noted another comment from a user that said "I'd actually like to see a system where ALL applications forms are universal for all agencies - but we all know this will never happen" - Well this is actually kind of how our system works... Every single property manager can have their own requirements programmed into our system so that it meets their specific needs. things such as different questions, different terms and conditions, handling whether tenants have inspected or not (we can actually prevent tenants from applying who haven’t inspected) these settings can all be completely unique to each and every agent.... but we then take all of those settings and essentially present them in the same format. This means that each and every agent gets an application that suits their needs perfectly... but on the flip side its one universal system that ends up spitting out a form that is extremely consistent and tenants only need to use 1 system.

Perhaps the following link to a video demonstration of system may be of assistance:

http://www.1form.com.au/property-managers/how-does-1form-work

Anyway, I hope that answers your respective questions. If I can be of assistance with anything further then please feel free to contact me personally at any time on [email protected]

 

[Perp]

Thanks again, Chris. I must say that you certainly seem to have thought through and countered every possible objection to using 1Form. The only thing that surprises me is that you've been around for 5 years and:

1) Many PMs still don't know much about 1Form, or know about it and won't accept applications from 1Form, and

2) I've never seen it discussed on this very active property investing board, including under the Property Management section.

I hope that our discussions here raise awareness a bit and prompt a few more of us (landlords) to ask our PMs whether they accept 1Form, and if not, why they're not making it as easy as possible for prospective tenants to become actual tenants in our properties.