BaytBaytak: A Better Way to Buy or Rent Apartments in Lebanon

Maybe you just want to rent a place with a friend; or you’re getting married and want to buy a new apartment; or perhaps you want to move out of your parents' house and gain independence.

Regardless, you’re on the search for a place to live. But where do you find that information in Lebanon?

You can look at newspaper classifieds or buy real estate magazines. You can also ask friends and family, or drive around to look for good deals.

There's now a new option. Baytbaytak.com launched two weeks ago with an online platform that helps apartment hunters directly find property owners who want to sell or rent a home.

BaytBaytak’s team says that, before BayBaytak’s launch, the residential real estate rental and sale process was not clear, especially online, and often involved costly intermediaries such as brokers

Baytbaytak simplifies searching for places by using an intuitive map-based interface. Having a map means users can directly see the offerings in their regions of interest.

In addition, Sale and Rent listings are clearly separated; filters of price, surface area and room count are readily available; and listing locations are clearly shown using color-coded markers.

The result is a data-rich environment that is nevertheless easy to navigate.

"We aim to build not just the largest, but the most accurate and cost-effective real-estate website in the region. This will take time, but we’re committed to making this work and we’re very excited by the traction that we got over the past weeks, with over 800 listings currently available”, said Marwan Harmouche, a co-founder of BaytBaytak.

BaytBaytak is currently free to use for both apartment hunters and owners. To inquire about an apartment, the user can directly contact the owner of the house and therefore pay absolutely zero broker commission.

As for property owners, they will soon be able to post their properties online on their own. Until then, they can contact Baytbaytak's team, who will help them get their placement posted.

BaytBaytak’s team is comprised of Marwan Harmouche, business director, who comes from an advertising background; Piotr Yordanov, technical director, who has a background in software engineering; and Tania Khazzaka, creative director, who previously worked as an illustrator.

The Entrepreneurship Section is curated and edited by Seeqnce, a Beirut-based internet startup accelerator.