Inspiration

As international students, we experienced how stressful and confusing it can be to find a place to live in a new country. Even after getting our visas, finding safe and suitable housing was still difficult because we did not have local contacts, listings were scattered, and it was not always easy to reach property owners. We realized that many newcomers face the same problem when they arrive in a new place. Instead of letting this remain a personal challenge, we decided to turn our own experience into a solution. That is how RoomMatch was born — with the goal of making the housing search easier, more organized, and more personalized for people who are trying to find a place that fits their needs.

What it does

RoomMatch helps users find rooms that match their selected preferences and requirements. Users can enter the features that are important to them and receive room options that better fit their needs. Instead of showing random listings, RoomMatch focuses on the user's preferences to make the search process easier and more personalized. The goal is to save users time and help them make better housing decisions.

How we built it

We built RoomMatch as a modern web application using React and TypeScript, with Vite for development and building. We used Tailwind CSS to create a responsive and user-friendly interface and Lucide Icons for the application's visual elements. For the backend and data features, we used Supabase for authentication, database functionality, photos, and realtime capabilities. We also used local storage to support demo-mode data and U.S. Census data for city and state information. We used GitHub for version control and collaboration and GitHub Pages with GitHub Actions to automatically build and deploy the application. During development, we also used AI development tools such as Claude, ChatGPT, and Antigravity to help with coding, debugging, and improving the project.

Challenges we ran into

Our biggest technical challenge was making RoomMatch reliable in different environments. We wanted the application to work with Supabase for real authentication and data, but we also needed a demo mode in case the backend wasn't available. We also had to handle a large amount of location data while keeping the interface responsive on smaller devices. Since we were building under a hackathon deadline, coordinating our work through GitHub was another important challenge.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We are proud that we were able to turn an idea based on a real-world problem into a working web application during the hackathon. We successfully built a responsive interface, added personalized room-search features, connected our application to Supabase, incorporated location data, and deployed the project online using GitHub Pages and GitHub Actions. Most importantly, we are proud that we created something designed around a problem we experienced ourselves as international students.

What we learned

Through this project, we learned more about building a modern React application with TypeScript, managing data with Supabase, using APIs and external data sources, and deploying a web application with GitHub Actions. We also learned that building a project in a short amount of time requires planning, communication, testing, and quickly solving problems when something does not work as expected. Most importantly, we learned how to take a real problem, work together as a team, and turn the idea into a working prototype.

What's next for RoomMatch

Now that RoomMatch already includes features such as personalized matching, location-based recommendations, room saving and comparison, roommate compatibility, reviews, and communication features, our next step is to improve and scale the platform. We want to make the matching algorithm more accurate by learning from user preferences and interactions. We also want to expand the number and quality of housing listings and improve the reliability of the information provided. In the future, we would like to make RoomMatch available in more cities and eventually expand it beyond students and international newcomers. Our goal is to continue improving the platform so that finding a suitable place to live becomes faster, safer, and easier for everyone.