Built HousingPal to eliminate brokerage in Hyderabad rentals — looking for feedback

Hey everyone 👋

I’ve been working on a product called HousingPal, a hyperlocal rental marketplace focused on Hyderabad — and I’m excited (and a bit nervous) to finally share it here.

💡 The problem

If you’ve ever searched for a rental in India, you’ve probably faced this:

• Brokerage fees of ₹10,000–₹30,000

• Platforms hiding owner contact details behind paywalls

• Too many duplicate or outdated listings

Even platforms that claim “no brokerage” often end up pushing paid plans to actually connect with owners.

As a renter (and observing friends/colleagues), this felt broken.

🏗️ What I built

HousingPal is a simple platform where:

• 🏠 Owners can list properties for free

• 📲 Tenants can contact owners directly

• ❌ No brokerage, no middlemen

Right now, we’re focused on high-demand areas in Hyderabad like:

• Gachibowli

• Madhapur

• Kondapur

• Financial District

⚙️ Current stage

• MVP is live

• Started adding listings manually + onboarding owners

• Recently launched an Instagram page to attract both tenants and owners

Very early days — still validating demand and improving the experience.

📈 What I’m trying to figure out

I’d really appreciate feedback on:

1. How to get initial supply (property listings) at scale

2. Whether tenants would trust a new platform like this

3. Growth strategies that worked for other local marketplaces

4. What would make you switch from existing platforms

🎯 My goal

Short term:
👉 Get the first 100–500 real users (owners + tenants)

Long term:
👉 Build a trusted, no-broker rental ecosystem starting with one city

🙏 Would love your feedback

If you’ve built a marketplace, worked in proptech, or have thoughts on this space — I’d love to hear from you.

Also happy to share learnings as I go (thinking of building in public here).

Thanks for reading! 🙌