Home Search Platform
A homebuying tool that thoroughly searches all homes for sale and shows users their top matches.
About the client
Our client is a U.S.–based real estate startup. Its founder himself faced multiple challenges while searching for a house to buy, so he came up with the idea for a platform that would enable users to quickly and easily find houses filtered by given criteria.
Engagement model
Time & Material
Solution
Web app
Effort and duration
11 months
Project background
When it comes to purchasing a home, people have to deal with a lot of tasks and high-stakes processes, as well as collaborate, communicate, and stay in sync with multiple stakeholders. The traditional methods of home search are time-consuming. The process is also often complicated by deficient filtering and comparison options. but what people want is to enjoy this exciting moment of buying a house instead of dealing with all those tedious and overwhelming issues.
Our client decided to create a tool that will allow people to find a suitable home without extra effort, based on specific criteria and preferences. To this end, they approached us as a full-cycle development agency with experience in building software for the real estate industry.
Project team
1 Business Analyst, 1 Project Manager, 1 UI/UX Designer, 1 Tech Lead, 3 Fullstack Developers, 1 QA Specialist
Tech stack / Platforms
Target audience
The platform is intended for data-savvy millennials, who buy their first home and are in the early stage of buying, and for people moving to a different state.
Solution overview
The platform is a web application that works as an instant home matching and home comparison tool. It allows users to select from a wide range of specific home criteria, enter weights for how important each criterion is and set their preferences to find the top home matches. The platform contains a user module and an admin module, each with its functions.
User module
Within this module, users can perform the following actions:
- register on the platform (SSO with Google account is available);
- create a profile, manage personal data;
- view and selects relevant property criteria;
- set weight and preferences for each criterion;
- filter homes based on the specified criteria;
- view the top matches homes;
- views houses on the map;
- mark favorite homes;
- send a request to contact the agent;
- get notifications on new homes matching specified criteria
- view detailed information about selected homes
Third-party integrations
- Google Maps and Google Places are integrated to enable the display of properties on a map and give potential buyers a better understanding of the property’s location, nearby amenities, and access to transportation.
- RapidAPI is a service that helps collect information from a variety of sources. It requests homes in the US available for sale and creates lists of properties.
- Integrations with traveltime.com, walkscore.com, howloud.com, and similar services provide the user with unique information about the noise level, commute time, and so on related to particular homes.
- Intercom API Integration. Is an instant communication tool that allows linking future home buyers and support centers.
Project approach
The project was implemented following the Scrum methodology. All tasks were categorized according to their priority and split into sprints. Each sprint lasted 2 weeks. Upon each sprint completion, the team conducted demo calls with the client via Zoom to demonstrate the implemented functionality and get early feedback, and reported to the client the sprint tasks statuses, as well as spent hours. The project team provided the client with daily status updates via Slack, which was the main communication tool. This approach enables efficient and transparent development and communication processes and allowed us to deliver the platform to the client right in time.
Technical solution highlights
The platform is a web application that is hosted on Google Cloud Platform and uses Machine Learning algorithms to offer the top matches homes for the users.
For web app development, we selected ReactJS for its component-based architecture which allowed us to break down the platform’s UI into small, reusable components, making it easier to manage and scale the application.
We also used the Python FastAPI framework which allows for building high-performance web applications quickly and efficiently, while ensuring maintainability and scalability.
Since our platform required a lot of data storage, we selected PostgreSQL as a database management system for its ability to handle large amounts of data, as well as to manage and analyze data and ensure its integrity, security, and scalability.
Results and future plans
11 months after the project started, we delivered an MVP version of the platform with a basic set of features. With the MVP, the client is all set to raise investments and then proceed to the implementation of advanced functionality.
At Itexus, we successfully implemented over 220 projects for our clients across various industries. We have experience in building software for financial services companies, the insurance industry, healthcare organizations, edtech, and more. Whatever the idea is, we have the skills and resources to realize it. Need a reliable tech partner? Book a free consultation.
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