RealEasy
Unlock Your Home Journey: Simplifying Real Estate, Empowering Canadians
Product Experience
Problem Statement
How might we make the process of acquiring Real Estate simplified for the everyday Canadian that eliminates the complexity and ambiguity involved?
Problem Background
A part of the current ‘Canadian Dream’ for residents and future immigrants is the aspect of home ownership. A simple google search would show all the statistics that reflect the fact that Canadian homeownership is at a 20 year low. Although this is primarily due to rising Housing prices, the process of home purchasing can be grueling, stressful, and confusing. This is due to involvement of multiple stakeholders such as Realtors, Lawyers, Mortgage Brokers, Appraisers, and so on. The average Canadian that has not gone through the experience is often being educated during the process of purchasing a home and usually would not classify it as enjoyable, let alone transparent.
Research Objective
To understand the average Canadian resident’s current sentiment towards the home purchasing process, the experienced individuals' pain points with the process, and overall areas our product can allow home purchasing become streamlined.
Research Insights
User Pain Points
Surveyed 15 Millennials who are immigrants and Canadian residents for over 5 years. About 50% own Canadian property and have been through the home buying process within the last 5 years. The trends evident from the results are:
Approx. 50% of individuals utilize Real Estate Agents to search for property, although 40% reported feeling neutral regarding satisfaction with their agents.
60% of the individuals who had purchased property reported experiencing unexpected costs or fees during their home purchase.
57% of the individuals who had purchased property were not satisfied with the transparency of the end to end process.
70% reported finding the mortgage application and approval process straightforward. Hence, a positive experience is reported working with mortgage brokers.
66% of all candidates do not feel well-informed about the legal aspects of the home buying process.
86% of all candidates are interested in a platform or service that aims to simplify and streamline the home purchasing process.
Landing on the Solution
Our overarching goal is to streamline the home purchasing process for Canadians, making it transparent, predictable, and less stressful. By addressing pain points identified through research, we aim to increase customer satisfaction, particularly among millennials and immigrants, and contribute to a positive shift in homeownership trends.
Future Steps
From speaking with a representative population of our target customers, our solution is a user-friendly platform that integrates real-time updates, cost estimation tools, educational resources, and enhanced agent interactions. By centralizing information and guiding users through each step of the home purchasing journey, we aim to simplify the process, making it more enjoyable and transparent.
Sample Marketing Image
Learnings
Product Manager Learnings:
Dunsin Adebise
> Co.Lab provided me with hands-on experience of working through validating a problem space in a method that can assist with narrowing down problem areas and understanding potential user stories
> The concept of having a strong MVP that can be built on with feedback and time.
Designer Learnings:
Designer Learnings:
Jo Sturdivant
- Adapting to an Established Team: Joining the team in week 6 of 8 was challenging, as I had to quickly adapt to existing workflows, dynamics, and goals. This mirrors real-world situations where you often integrate into teams mid-project, and flexibility is essential.
- Work-Blocking for Efficiency: With only two weeks to complete the project, I learned the importance of a structured work-blocking system. This approach allowed me to manage my time effectively and meet deadlines under pressure.
- Making Data-Driven Design Decisions: Unlike my past projects, I had to rely on research conducted by others. This was a valuable experience in using pre-existing data to guide design decisions, helping me focus on the core insights without starting from scratch.
Developer Learnings:
Developer Learnings:
Vanady Beard
&
As the back-end developer, I learned how important it is to create efficient and reliable systems that support the entire application. This experience also taught me the importance of optimising the database and ensuring the backend is scalable and easy to maintain.
Developer Learnings:
Stephen Asiedu
&
As a back-end developer, I've come to understand the importance of being familiar with various database systems and modules. This knowledge enables me to build diverse applications and maintain versatility in my work. I've also learned that the responsibility for making the right choices rests on my shoulders, guided by my best judgement.
Developer Learnings:
&
Developer Learnings:
Maurquise Williams
&
- Process of Creating an MVP: Developing a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) taught me how to focus on delivering core functionalities balancing between essential features and avoiding scope creep.
- Collaboration in a Real-World Tech Setting: This experience taught me how to collaborate efficiently in a fast-paced tech environment, keeping the team aligned and productive, even while working remotely across time zones.
- Sharpening Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills: This experience honed my ability to think critically and solve problems efficiently. By tackling challenges and finding quick solutions, I sharpened my decision-making and troubleshooting skills in a dynamic, real-world setting.
Developer Learnings:
Jeremiah Williams
&
All in all this experience was very awesome I learned that in coding with others being transparent is key
Developers Learnings:
Justin Farley
&
I learned how important communication is when working with a team. Communication provides understanding, advice, ideas, and much more. While working with the product team, I’ve found that communication keeps everything flowing smoothly. Working with a team also showed me that every member brings something different to the table and we all have to work together in order to align and meet our end goal.