Cloud-based B2B2C Real estate platform
The platform, being a SaaS, allows landlords, brokers and agents to represent and promote their property in the best way and receive automated rental fees and reports in one place. At the same time, the tenants receive a convenient and adjustable tool for the calculation of core points for them, a payment module and a bunch of other services available via the web.
About
The customer's business runs in the domain of Real Estate, lease provision and rental services. According to the National Association of Realtors Profile of Home Buyers and Sellers, 51% of buyers and tenants found the home they purchased on the internet which represents rather a high level of competitiveness in the market. Though, it still allows great opportunities for unique and ice-breaking tools that can drive new approaches to outdated techniques. The customer came to the team with the goal to build the platform allowing bringing a high level of automatisation to routine processes, numerous dashboards and segmentation of the user experience for different types of users.
Challenge
The basic idea behind this solution was to provide users with automated and user-friendly tools they need to run a real estate business. Initially, the business had several ideations with the rough wireframes which became the basis for the platform. The customer requirements also included legal parts and numerous points on the protection of users' security and privacy.
Solution
The team had a primary goal in the creation of several user flows (personas) with maximal possible automatisation of the processes and attention to security. Three user flows allowed the building of a unique and different spectrum of front-office functions.
7
Engineers
Agile
Dev process
12+
Months
UK
Market
Pecularities of implementation
Routine processes redesigned
The primary routine process is making a payment within the platform for renting the apartment and receipt of the notification of changes in the rental listings directory. With invoicing and payment management directly through the platform, it is easier to monitor expiration dates, and when it is sent automatically, the agencies received additional free time for their agents. Another typical process which raised irritation with the users is communication through the manager, it found its representation by the specialised live chat. With it, tenants can get access to view any apartments and landlord contacts without the manager’s involvement as an additional unnecessary step. The chatting function satisfies privacy requirements as well. The filtration system was completely redesigned compared to competitors. The tenants received an option to add any apartment to favourites for the creation of lists with liked options and their sorting. It is integrated together with a calculator to provide all valuable data in one place and allow users to compare renting options in terms of numbers. The maps function allows seeing the property neighbourhood. Hovering on a location on the map, each can highlight the relevant item and go to the property page. If a tenant has questions about the property, they can submit a special form to a landlord.
Three different user personas
The team created a special account with a unique flow for each user type – tenants, landlords, and agencies. That was made to fully satisfy their needs without excessive information or functions inappropriately for their goals. When registering an account, landlords can easily fill in a step-by-step form with the required information. They also got access to their own profile page where they can add as many properties for rent as they want. When they get a booking, the data on the platform automatically synchronises with the module of leads management. Tenants can view and change the details of their accounts and the listings they wish to see. They can apply not only the map filtering functions, but also use an adjustable calculator to make the property selection as precise as possible. The agency persona is able to interact with both businesses and users to provide their services. They also create a personal profile, though have to confirm their identities with the Legal department to find clients. In addition, they have a big service module with statistics and various dashboards allowing them to complement their strategy with real-time data. Admin properties were necessary for moderation and are granted exclusively to an owner of the platform and are not available for general users.
Deployment and data-driven support
After the development of the planned features, the team started to adjust the cloud environment to deploy the platform. Also, the team set up CI/CD processes for reliable releases and planned updates. Upon release, the team started monitoring the performance of the system using different metrics of status checks and worked on feature and performance improvements and fixes. The primary optimization was focused on the performance optimization of high-loaded operations within the thousands of listings operations on the market. Stable uptime and a high retention rate became the key factors showing that the strategy taken made a great profit.
Results
The finalised SaaS platform offers a convenient viewing of the listed real estate for all participants of the process. It satisfies their needs and offers a unique experience regardless of the goal you came for. Numerous basic processes found new life with the UX approach of creating something new to the things we all get used to. The payment option simplified the process of accepting payments from the tenants and made it automatic with special notifications. That ensured keeping track of all dues are cleared in time. Chat and map functions were developed with consideration of the requirements of user-friendliness and privacy. Any kind of user can receive the necessary info without violating the rights of others and start chatting or clarifying the details.
70%
retention rate in the first month
1k+
early adopters in both B2B and B2C
50+
options in specialised calculators