Meet Pave
The process of buying properties overseas can be a real headache. Enter Pave, a real estate brokerage built on a SaaS tech platform that offers cross-border real estate property assistance in purchasing new homes or apartments. Started by two entrepreneurs, Alan Schmoll and Charles Temple, Pave incorporated in Hong Kong to make the process of buying and managing global properties transparent, online, and straightforward.
Before Becoming Entrepreneurs
Before starting Pave, Alan worked at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch in Tokyo and Hong Kong. He then founded Lanturn, a tech-enabled corporate services firm, and Zave, a Corporate Governance software. On the other hand, Charles worked with PURE group, which kickstarted his entrepreneurial journey, starting several fitness brands in Hong Kong, Philippines, and Singapore. He then went on to work with listed developers in Thailand to expand their sales distribution channels in Hong Kong and China.
Making It Possible to Buy Property Online
Alan and Charles noticed that investors were buying real estate overseas either for capital appreciation to lease out or before immigrating to another country. To ease the discomfort of buying property online, Pave provides buyers information, videos, floor plans, information about the properties. They also conduct 3D walkthroughs using drones to view the property better.
Challenges Faced
Working in different countries, Charles in Thailand and Alan in Australia, throughout the pandemic was difficult. Not seeing each other physically since July 2019, they had to figure out how to set up a company in Hong Kong virtually. They also wanted to spend as little time as possible on the administrative and routine work to grow their business.
The Solution
To incorporate a company in Hong Kong while not being in the country itself, the co-founders of Pave used Osome’s incorporation service, which helped them register their company remotely, and open a business account online.
As this was not the first time the co-founders of Pave have opened their own company, they found that the experience working with Osome was efficient and cost-effective.
While working on previous companies, they would have a law firm to handle their company secretarial documents, and an independent accounting firm would manage their accounts. Using Osome, Alan and Charles found that using a chat function on the Osome app gives them a better experience as they get a reply within the day or, at most, a few days. The experience of chatting was more human and natural too. Whereas with other firms, they would get a response within a week.
In terms of cost, they found Osome cheaper too.
In the past, I hired someone to do all the paperwork for 20,000 HK per month. Right now, I save 70% of that with Osome, which I can channel to other growth-building activities.
Alan Scholl,CEO / Founder, Pave Limited
With all the information in one place, the business owners can also do their forecast better to prepare for upcoming rounds of funding.
Tip:
Set up your administrative processes properly right from the beginning. It can take time, but it is crucial to save time and cost in the long run.
