Inspiration

Finding student housing is harder than it should be. Many students sign leases without fully understanding the true cost of living, neighborhood safety, commute times, hidden fees, or landlord reputation. We realized that students often make one of the biggest financial decisions of their college experience with very limited information.

We wanted to create a tool that acts like a trusted housing advisor, helping students make informed decisions before committing to a lease.

What it does

Havenly is an AI-powered student housing advisor that helps students evaluate apartments and leases before signing.

Users can upload an apartment listing or lease, and Havenly generates a Housing Safety Score based on:

• Affordability and rent-to-income ratio
• Commute time to campus
• Neighborhood safety
• Nearby essentials such as grocery stores and public transportation
• Landlord and property reputation
• Hidden costs including utilities, parking, internet, and move-in fees

The platform also provides a detailed cost breakdown so students understand the true monthly and upfront costs of a rental.

How we built it

We built Havenly using modern web technologies and AI-powered analysis tools.

The platform combines:

• AI-driven document and listing analysis
• Housing affordability calculations
• Location-based commute insights
• Safety and convenience scoring
• Interactive dashboards for students

Our goal was to create an experience that is simple enough for any student to use while providing meaningful and actionable housing insights.

Challenges we ran into

One of the biggest challenges was designing a scoring system that balances multiple factors without overwhelming users. Housing decisions involve affordability, safety, convenience, and quality of life, all of which matter differently to each student.

Another challenge was creating clear explanations behind each recommendation so users understand why a property received a certain score.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

• Built a complete AI-powered housing advisor focused specifically on students
• Created a transparent Housing Safety Score system
• Developed detailed lease and cost analysis features
• Designed a clean and intuitive user experience

What we learned

Through this project, we learned how complex housing decisions can be and how AI can simplify difficult financial choices. We also gained experience building systems that combine multiple data sources into a single, understandable recommendation.

What's next for Havenly

Future versions of Havenly will include:

• Personalized housing recommendations
• Roommate matching
• Scholarship and financial aid integration
• Real-time rental market insights
• Expanded safety and neighborhood analytics

Our vision is to become the go-to platform for helping students find housing that is affordable, safe, and aligned with their needs. ( random youtube link helper said we didnt have to upload demo )

Built With

• ai/ml
• api
• css
• google
• maps
• openai
• postgresql
• react
• supabase
• tailwind
• typescript
• vercel