Thanks to OYO LIFE, you can move into your new home with just a smartphone. On March 28, 2019, OYO, a hotel company from India, launched a unique rental service together with Yahoo! Japan. OYO LIFE has the potential to change the Japanese rental industry forever.
OYO LIFE shakes up the rental market in Japan
OYO LIFE, under the captivating catchphrase “Let’s live like a journey”, has launched a revolutionary service. With OYO LIFE, you don’t need to pay a key deposit and can move in easily using just your smartphone. Turning up empty-handed is no problem because the rentals come with furniture and Wi-Fi. They even provide tableware, towels, sheets, pillowcases, vacuum cleaners, laundry poles, curtains, and other necessities for daily life.
On the official page of OYO LIFE, there are many properties near transport hubs. One listing boasts a “6 minute walk from Higashi-Ikebukuro Station 1K 157,000 Yen”. As of April 2019, the service is only available in the Tokyo metropolitan area, but the business has plans to expand gradually until it is available nationwide, beginning with regional cities. The OYO LIFE service is operated by a joint venture company established by the Indian hotel operation company OYO and Yahoo! Japan.
OYO has a global presence in eight countries. The Japanese rental market is facing a major change thanks to the new service.
Features of OYO LIFE
In OYO LIFE, you can choose two types of visit, short stay from 31 days to 90 days and long stay from 91 days. The minimum contract period is 31 days. In addition, there is a trial period of several days for OYO LIFE, so you can sign up with confidence. With OYO LIFE, you can search for a property, make a contract, and make a settlement all by smartphone, and you can move in within 30 minutes.
Not only is there no security deposit and key charge, but also brokerage fees will not be charged. In addition, housekeeping service, public utility charges and communication charges are included in the service. It is true that the rental prices on OYO LIFE are a little bit expensive. In the earlier example, the condominium-style property rents for over 100,000 yen because it’s close to a station in the Tokyo metropolitan area. However, there is a possibility that OYO LIFE will be cheaper if you exclude the moving cost and the complicated procedures normally involved in moving.
Also, by subscribing to the fixed price service called OYO PASSPORT, you can experience the services of OYO’s partner companies such as housekeeping, shared office space and car sharing for one month free. OYO will continue to actively increase the number of partner companies, and OYO PASSPORT is expected to be further enhanced. As OYO LIFE suggests, it can be used for short stays such as travel or business trips as well as for a life of location independence depending on work or mood.
OYO LIFE could have a significant impact not only on the rental market but also on how people live and spend their leisure time. In recent years, there has been a movement away from ownership towards sharing, coinciding with the rise of minimalists who do not own things. In today’s affluent society, the era in which ownership as a status symbol is over, the goal is to live lightly and in your own way.
OYO LIFE demonstrates a new way of real estate management in response to such changes in people’s attitudes.
OYO LIFE benefits real estate owners
OYO LIFE encourages real estate owners to register rental properties. Contracting with OYO LIFE offers many advantages for real estate owners, such as eliminating the risk of vacancy by long-term leasing, eliminating the need to pay fees to the management company, and maintaining the value of rental properties through regular maintenance. OYO LIFE employs a large number of IT specialists, including artificial intelligence, and analyses accommodation data in an effort to optimise rent settings and reduce vacancy risk.
In the hotel business, the company also provides smartphone tools for hotel owners to manage revenue and occupancy rates. In the future, they may expand services for tenants and improve services for owners. Real estate owners who own properties in local cities, as well as rental properties near stations in the Tokyo metropolitan area, should pay attention to the rise of OYO LIFE.
