[Interview] "Electronic Real Estate Contracts Like Booking a Hotel at 3 AM"

Interview with Han Yusun, Owner of Dabangs
Breaking the Stereotype of 'Seeing the House Before Contract'
One-Stop Solution from Listing Search to Condition Check and Contract
Introduced Starting with One-Room Monthly Rent Transactions
Positive Effects Expected from Future Brokerage Fee Reduction

Han Yusun, owner of Dabangs, is being interviewed by Asia Economy on the 10th. / Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Onyu Lim] "You will be able to make real estate contracts at 3 a.m. just like booking a hotel. Neither the landlord nor the real estate agent needs to meet."

Dabang will introduce electronic real estate contracts as early as June. On the 25th, Han Yusun, CEO of Dabang, whom we met at the office in Seocho-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul (photo), explained, "This is different from simply changing paper contracts to electronic contracts," adding, "With just one application (app), you can handle everything from searching listings to checking their status and drafting contracts all at once." Dabang is also preparing virtual reality (VR) 360-degree videos to indirectly experience listings, breaking the market notion that "you must see the house to sign a contract."

There are other advantages to electronic contracts. In an era where COVID-19 has become routine, the hassle of landlords and tenants, sellers and buyers having to meet at a real estate agent's office at the same time is eliminated. Contracts that were stored on paper can now be stored in the app. CEO Han said, "In the future, it will be even more convenient as you will be able to transfer not only the deposit and balance but also monthly rent through the app."

Han Yusun, owner of Dabangs, is being interviewed by Asia Economy on the 10th. / Photo by Mun Honam munonam@

Dabang's introduction of electronic contracts is not the first case in the real estate market. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has been operating such a system since 2016. However, the usage rate is less than 2% of all transactions. This is because it is more cumbersome as the public certification certificates of the real estate agent and the contracting parties must be gathered on one PC.

Dabang also struggled with this issue, but recently, with the abolition of public certification certificates, the path to simplifying the authentication process has opened. CEO Han explained, "With just Pass authentication (a telecom company authentication service) available through a mobile phone number or the first part of the resident registration number, a valid real estate contract becomes possible."

Dabang plans to first implement electronic contracts for one-room and monthly rent transactions, which have low risk and a high proportion of in-house listings. They intend to expand the scope to apartment, commercial building, and land sales in the future. CEO Han expressed confidence, saying, "With the imminent implementation of the Jeonse and monthly rent reporting system and the issue of fake reported prices, it is only a matter of time before electronic contracts, which leave all records, become the standard."

CEO Han ultimately expects the introduction of electronic contracts to contribute to lowering brokerage fees. Recently, excessive brokerage fees have come under scrutiny due to the sharp rise in apartment sale and Jeonse prices. He explained, "From the perspective of real estate agents, through Dabang's electronic contracts, there is greater room to reduce fees because labor costs for brokerage assistants involved in field activities and office rental fees can be saved." However, he also added, "Of course, fee reduction is at the discretion of the brokers."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.