This is a translation of a news article originally published by Nanyang Siang Pau on 4 February 2025. You can read the original article here: https://www.enanyang.my/node/648876 

Exclusive story by: Lin Di Sheng

Founded in Malaysia and now expanding across Southeast Asia, long-stay accommodation provider LiveIn is committed to make housing more accessible for young people with limited financial resources. But beyond affordability, the company is dedicated to creating comfortable, safe, and vibrant living spaces that foster a strong sense of community.

While LiveIn’s model shares similarities with the traditional “master tenant” concept, it has gone beyond just leasing properties, scaling its operations across Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam.

This unique approach has earned LiveIn international recognition, including a spot on Forbes Asia 100 to Watch 2024 list, solidifying its reputation as an unconventional “master tenant” with a distinct competitive edge.

In an exclusive interview with Nanyang Siang Pau, LiveIn Co-founder and CEO Keek Wen Khai shared that a strong mission and clear goals have been key to overcoming challenges and growing the company to where it is today.

“Our goal is simple—to solve the real struggles young people face when renting. We want to provide high-quality, long-stay accommodation at prices that young people with limited incomes can actually afford,” he said.

Khai pointed out that fresh graduates often start with modest salaries, making homeownership out of reach. As a result, they turn to renting, but rising costs and poor living conditions have become pressing social issues.

“My co-founder and I started out as property sales agents, which exposed us to the world of real estate investment. Investors, naturally, focus on maximizing returns. But when we visited the properties they rented out to students, we were shocked by the stark contrast between the high rents and the poor living conditions.”

Turning Vacant Properties Into Affordable Homes

Motivated by these experiences, Keek Wen Khai and his partners set out to tackle the problem head-on. After several entrepreneurial ventures, they eventually founded what is now LiveIn.

So, how does LiveIn work? Khai’s team partners directly with property owners, tapping into the vast supply of vacant units in the market. By optimizing these underutilized spaces, LiveIn is able to keep rental costs lower for tenants.

“The Malaysian housing market is actually oversupplied. Many properties that have been sold are purely investments and often left vacant.”

Khai explained that LiveIn actively seeks out property owners with large portfolios of empty units. Through its sales and marketing team, the company connects with these owners and explores partnership opportunities—leasing their properties under the LiveIn brand and platform.

“When property owners partner with us, they retain full ownership of their properties. Tenants pay rent directly to LiveIn, while owners receive their earnings after deducting a service fee of 10% to 20%,” he said.

LiveIn’s business model is particularly attractive to property owners with large portfolios of vacant units. The company has expanded its presence across four markets—Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam—managing a total of 10,500 rooms to date.

“Of these, we have over 6,000 rooms in Malaysia,” Khai added.

He also noted that LiveIn currently fully manages four enblocs in Malaysia and operates units within 40 apartment projects.

Once enough properties were secured, Khai noted that the next challenge was ensuring professional management so that tenants could enjoy a high-quality living experience.

“We charge property owners a renovation fee and make sure all rooms meet our high standards under the LiveIn brand. On top of that, we provide cleaning and other management services,” he said.

A reasonable rent should account for 30% of a tenant’s monthly salary

When it comes to the most pressing issue—rent—Khai emphasized that a reasonable monthly rent should not exceed 30% of a tenant’s salary. LiveIn sets its rental prices based on this standard.

“The average monthly salary for young people in Southeast Asia is around $700 (approximately 3,200 MYR), so our rent averages around $200 (about 900 MYR) per month. This aligns with the 30% salary-to-rent ratio,” he explained.

(Photo courtesy of Nanyang Siang Pau)

Building a Comprehensive Ecosystem

Beyond offering reasonable rent, Khai shared that LiveIn is dedicated to creating a healthy and comfortable living environment by building a comprehensive ecosystem for tenants.

He cited LiveIn @ Mansion Sentral as an example—one of LiveIn’s fully managed enblocs—where the company has introduced a “7 key pillars” concept to shape this ecosystem. These include food stalls run by tenants, small shops for selling handmade goods, a gym, a self-service laundry, a shared office, and a recreational space with gaming consoles, among other facilities.

Khai also noted that the occupancy rate across all LiveIn properties currently stands at 90%.

Despite LiveIn’s significant success, Khai remains focused on growth and aims to continue expanding until the company becomes the leader in the Southeast Asian market.

“Southeast Asia has 60 million young people, and the market potential is huge. Our goal is to bring 50,000 to 100,000 rooms into the LiveIn system across the region. Only then will we have achieved the scale we’re aiming for,” he said.

Khai also revealed that LiveIn has raised approximately $15 million (about 67.5 million MYR) in funding from both domestic and international investors through multiple rounds. To achieve its future expansion goals in the region, additional funding will be crucial, with an IPO being one of the long-term options.

However, he did not disclose the target amount for the next funding round.

Entrepreneurship Requires a Mission

When sharing his personal entrepreneurial journey, Khai highlighted the challenges that come with starting a business. He emphasized that entrepreneurs must be deeply passionate about their projects and have a strong sense of purpose and mission.

“Starting a business is truly painful. In the early stages, there are so many reasons to give up. If it weren’t for having a strong mission, like solving young people’s housing problems, it would be hard to keep going,” he said.

Khai encouraged aspiring entrepreneurs to be bold in taking risks, pursue their passions or missions, and take that first step toward starting their own business as soon as possible.