Abdullah Alsaleh

Founded in 2018, Sakan has become a leading property marketplace that focuses on connecting clients with stakeholders in real estate while delivering a seamless guest experience.

Can you provide an overview of Sakan?

Sakan started as a concept in 2016 that we continued to develop before eventually launching the company in late 2018. We tested the Kuwaiti market for year in Kuwait and expanded a year later. We currently operate in Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman and also have three offices in Saudi Arabia: Jeddah, Riyadh, and Al-Khobar. We are currently planning to expand more in 2023 to cover the entire GCC. The idea is to cater to all stakeholders, whether one is a property owner, developer, property company, agency, or someone looking for a property. Our main goal is to make it easy and simple to find a property and complete the entire transaction, and not just finding it. This is the innovative part we are focused on. In Kuwait, there are some competitors though most only focus on classified ads not properties or property services. I believe Sakan is the only one—at least in Kuwait—focusing on that. There are currently many players in Saudi Arabia, some of which are global companies, well-funded companies; however, we are currently competing toe-to-toe against them, which is a good thing. We understand the local market and how local agents work.

How do you find solutions to cater to specific niches in each one of the markets?

There are differences in terms of approaching the market and how to rent or buy property out of GCC countries. The markets in Dubai and Bahrain are slightly more sophisticated, though the other GCC countries are still more conventional; the real estate sector still works primarily by making calls, having three or four agents dealing with one property or unit, not sharing sufficient information about the property, and so on. However, the way in which Sakan pitches a property to the market is changing. If someone is looking for a property, they want to find something in minutes rather than spend one week. The more information we can give clients, the better and easier they can decide. The positive thing in Saudi Arabia is that there have been constructive developments in terms of regulation. The authorities are regulating the market. For example, in July Saudi launched a new brokerage system that allows brokers to license each advertisement or listing. Each one should have its own QR code and reference number, which will help limit fraud or misinformation. This is a positive move in Saudi Arabia that is similar to the UAE.

How would you characterize the Kuwaiti market?

In Kuwait, we look forward to launching our new product, namely renting online. In September 2023, we launched short-term rentals given that the market is somewhat easier. Long-term rentals have more regulations and requirements. We have integrated our online portal with the national electronic ID in Kuwait, MyID. Users can make a request to rent and everything will be verified by our team. There will not be any misleading information, and all the apartments being listed are verified. Users can apply to rent any of these apartments online using their MyIDs, sign the contract online, and pay all the upfront fees online.

Are you looking also into other markets apart from the GCC?

We are interested in expanding in the regional market, though mainly in MENA. We are already licensed in certain countries though we have not launched operations yet. Once we have developed the optimal electronic technologies, then we will start expanding to other regions. The vision is to be one of the best property platforms to cater to all stakeholders. Looking for a property is a journey that starts with searches and ends with property management—each step of that journey is a potential product for us. We started with research and are now working on transactions, which includes contracting, authentication, and settlement. After that, we will move on to property management, which includes maintenance, leasing, and community management.