HomeRun: A Real Estate Co-Ownership Platform for Accessible Investment

Real estate investment has long been considered a stable and lucrative way to build wealth, but high upfront costs often make it inaccessible to many. That’s where HomeRun comes in—our real estate co-ownership platform built during VT Hacks 12 at Virginia Tech. The goal of HomeRun is to make real estate investment more collaborative and affordable by allowing users to invest in properties with smaller initial amounts. This way, more people can get started in real estate without the financial barriers that typically prevent them from doing so.

Why HomeRun?

The idea behind HomeRun is simple: real estate investment shouldn’t be exclusive to individuals or large corporations with significant capital. With HomeRun, users can scout and view properties available for co-ownership. If they find a property they are interested in, they can invest a fraction of the total cost, making it easier to get started in real estate without needing a large sum of money upfront.

By pooling resources with others, investors can co-own properties, reducing the individual burden while still reaping the benefits of property appreciation and rental income.

Key Features

1. Property Scouting and Viewing:

   • Users can browse a list of properties available for co-ownership and view detailed information, including location, price, and property highlights. This helps potential investors make informed decisions before committing their funds.

2. Collaborative Investment:

   • HomeRun enables multiple users to invest in a property together, allowing them to share ownership. This reduces the financial burden on any one individual while still giving them access to the property market.

3. Real-Time Updates:

   • The platform provides real-time updates on investment opportunities, including new properties available for co-ownership and current investment statuses.

4. Secure and Simple Authentication:

   • We used PropelAuth for authentication, ensuring that user data and transactions are secure while keeping the login experience simple and user-friendly.

5. Seamless User Experience:

   • The frontend, built with React, provides a responsive and intuitive interface where users can easily navigate through available properties and make investments.

Tech Stack

• Frontend: React

  • We built the user interface using React to ensure a smooth and responsive experience for users. React’s component-based architecture allowed us to quickly iterate and implement new features during the hackathon.

• Backend: Flask

  • Flask was used to power the backend API, which handles property data, user interactions, and investment transactions. Flask’s lightweight framework was perfect for quick development while maintaining flexibility and scalability.

• Database: PostgreSQL with Supabase

  • Supabase served as the backend database layer for storing property data and user investment details. Using PostgreSQL as the database allowed us to efficiently manage relational data with strong support for scalability.

• Authentication: PropelAuth

  • PropelAuth made it easy to integrate a secure and scalable authentication system into our application, allowing users to register, log in, and manage their accounts seamlessly.

How HomeRun Works

The process of using HomeRun is simple:

1. Browse Properties: Users can scout available properties on the platform, each with detailed descriptions, location information, and ownership costs.

2. Decide to Invest: After reviewing the properties, users can decide to invest in a particular property by committing a fraction of the overall cost.

3. Co-Ownership: Once the required investment amount is reached through multiple users pooling resources, the property is jointly owned by all investors. From here, they can share in the property’s returns through rental income or appreciation.

The Hackathon Experience

Participating in VT Hacks 12 was an incredible learning experience. Working with a talented team, we built HomeRun in just a weekend, exploring new technologies and solving real-world challenges. The fast-paced environment helped us prioritize critical features and make the most of the tech stack we had chosen.

Conclusion

HomeRun is more than just a hackathon project—it’s a step toward making real estate investment more inclusive and accessible. By enabling collaborative ownership, we aim to democratize the real estate market, allowing more people to benefit from property investments without the high financial barrier to entry. We hope to continue refining HomeRun, adding more features to make the investment process even smoother.

If you’re interested in checking out the project, you can find it on GitHub here.

This hackathon project demonstrates the power of technology in transforming traditional investment models and making them more inclusive for all.

#hackathon #vthacks12 #realestate #investment #MLH #PropelAuth