Meet the Speakers: Talking proptech with Manoj Varsani
Filling in his tax return on Christmas Day, landlord Manoj Varsani realised there must be a simpler way of pulling together all his financial data.
This was back in 2015 when he bought his first investment property. Balancing his career in IT with his new property business left him with very little spare time, which is when he had his Eureka moment, realising he could combine the two to save himself time and money.
He said: “Life was so full on the only time I had to fill in my return was Christmas Day. But even as I was filling it out, I realised there was something I had missed – I hadn’t added expenses or maintenance costs.
“It was then that I realised there has to be a better way of doing this.”
Taking the plunge
Manoj, who now has a portfolio of four rental properties already knew something of the of the property world, having worked for peer-to-peer lending and property crowdfunding company The House Crowd and as chief technology officer for MyHomeGroupLtd, a one-stop online estate agent.
Using this and his own experience as a landlord he took the plunge and, together with his two co-founders, launched the first digital accounting platform dedicated to landlords, Hammock, providing automated bookkeeping, property tax statements and investment insights.
He said: “I quickly realised that, using the software I could do the bookkeeping in five minutes and get real time investment insights immediately, giving me a clear and comprehensive picture of what I was making on my properties.
“I realised that if Hammock was helping me, it could be useful to others. I launched the pilot in January 2019 and, almost six years later, I am still helping fellow landlords save time and money.”
Manoj, who has also received an MBE for his charity work, will be taking part in a panel discussion on the role of technology in property at the NRLA Landlord Conference on 6 November.
He will be joined on stage by James Kent, the NRLA’s Chief Innovation Officer, and founder of digital compliance platform Safe2, along with Anna Moore, Co-Founder & CEO of retrofit strategists Hestia and Hannah Chappatte, founder of Hybr which helps match students with suitable landlords and properties.
The ‘Digital Landlords: Innovating the PRS’ panel discussion will see the speakers share their experiences and discuss the impact that adopting a tech-first approach can have on you and your business.
The conference will be hosted by TV's Nick Knowles with a keynote speech from former Dragon's Den star James Caan.
There will also be talks and panel discussions featuring a range of industry experts as well as networking opportunities and more.
