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Our Homepage and Log In
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User Friendly Sign Up!
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Simple Map Interface with a popup and house description
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Profile Page and Chat Application
Inspiration
In 2020, we were faced with a revolutionary wave of social injustices. This initiated a global effort for equality on all levels. At the center of this effort was the Black Lives Matter movement. In the fight for racial equality, real estate and housing policy is an area that is not usually thought of as being discriminative. The unfortunate truth is that it still is. Companies that value homes for sale or refinancing are bound by law not to discriminate. Black homeowners say it happens anyway. According to an article by the New York Times, a couple had their home appraised for $330,000 the first time around, which they believed was inaccurate. In their second appraisal, the couple removed all furniture that resembled black culture, and to their surprise, their home was given a value of $450,000. This is more than a 40% increase! To address this problem, we created the first of its kind Anti-Discrimination Real Estate (ADREstate) web platform for homeowners and appraisers. Appraisals are a deal-breaker no matter if you are trying to sell, buy, or refinance. Thus, it is integral that the appraisals that we get are the most objective and accurate as possible.
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What it does
Our web platform allows home sellers to obtain a completely unbiased appraisal via a double-blinding approach. Homeowners can first post a listing anywhere in the world using the map which provides an interactive method for users to look into houses. They can also add pictures, descriptions, and any additional information they deem necessary for a fair assessment. On the other side, appraisers can give value to homes and provide their reasoning for their value. Both the home appraisers and the home sellers do not know who each other are until the appraisal is done, at which point the appraiser and homeowner can chat via a convenient chat application that we created. Using our chat app, each party will be able to get the other’s contact information to schedule a formal meeting or discussion if need be. Home sellers and appraisers can also see the values of other homes done by different appraisers. If the homeowner believes that their house has been unfairly valued, they can easily challenge the appraisal by contacting the appraiser and getting a second opinion. Ultimately, homeowners can gain valuable insight into their home’s unbiased value through various appraisals while also connecting them with potential buyers and expert appraisers. Homeowners and appraisers can also look at their profiles to find which houses they have submitted along with their statuses and values.
How we built it
In our project, we used one of the hottest tech stacks: the MERN (MongoDB, Express.js, React.js, and Node.js) stack. For the front end side, we primarily used React and it's JSX elements to build a user friendly and convenient interface. In addition to React, we used CSS to style our pages and interfaces. On the backend side, we used node, express, and Axios to create routes and API requests in order to link the processes to the front-end. For both the frontend and backend, we used an extended list of npm packages including but not limited to reactstrap, redux, bcryptjs, and config (See Built With). As for the database, we used mongoose to create JSON-like models to connect to MongoDB. Finally, the map was generated using Leaflet.js.
Challenges we ran into
Starting off, coming up with an idea that revolved around social good was quite difficult. Our team ended up pulling from things we have seen in the news and media to come up with a problem we wanted to address. Eventually, we decided on creating ADREstate. For all of us, this was our first time really implementing a full-stack web application using primarily Javascript. Initially, we had trouble getting the API requests to go through with Express, but we figured it out in due time. Additionally, the leaflet library took us some time to learn. One of the biggest challenges we faced was creating dynamic buttons and popups. It took hours of search through StackOverflow to find a solution that fit our project.
Accomplishments we are proud of
In a short amount of time, our team effectively and efficiently built a full-stack web application. For all of us, this was our first time creating a full-stack application using essentially only Javascript. We learned the entire workflow of a node react full stack and how different processes are connected. Our main goal going into this hackathon was to make a socially beneficial web application, and we certainly did that after completing this project.
What we learned
We enhanced our knowledge in Javascript and handling backend requests. Going into the hackathon, we had only prior knowledge of some basic HTML and some React, so the backend components tested and expanded our knowledge in that aspect. Lastly, this was our first time working with Leaflet.js, and we gained familiarity with how the library works and how to generate maps for different purposes.
What’s next for ADREstate
We plan on using ADREstate as a basis for a startup. We want to look more closely into the customer segments that our product fits and conduct a more in-depth market analysis to adapt our product for a better audience. Then, we will create a sustainable revenue model. Ultimately, we will design a minimum viable product to present in front of venture capitalists. We want to develop a platform for the entire home selling process while still limiting the amount of human-to-human contact, thus reducing the chance of discrimination in any form. With the rise of machine learning, we plan on integrating an AI algorithm to come up with a home value to remove bias completely. However, we still recognize the importance of having a human assessment as a measure of checking validity. The end goal is to provide social and economic equality in terms of real estate.
Built With
Frontend: React.js, CSS Backend: Node.js, Express.js, Leaflet.js Database: MongoDB Npm Libraries: react-leaflet, reactstrap, react-bootstrap, @iconify, @fortawesome, @material-ui, mongoose, react-redux, redux, redux-thunk, axios, config, jsonwebtoken, bcryptjs, prop-types, API: OpenStreetMap, TalkJS Machine Learning: Tensorflow.js
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