Real Estate App. How does it work with Flutter?

John – Have you just said you created a real estate App like Airbnb?

Maks – Not LIKE. It’s not the same. But it’s the real estate business. 

Oskar – You both sound serious. I admit sometimes it’s hard to notice it, while you, as a software developer, are actually CODING this. But the client and their agents are good with reminding you it’s not just another casual app for your cat.

John – Can you explain in more detail? I am not sure I follow. I know you are developing this for two platforms simultaneously.

Oskar – It is a complex app and actual business at the end of the day. But the Flutter framework helps so much. That’s why I said programming is actually a nice part of it. The old-style way would be to create two separate repositories, two apps, one for Android and one for iOS. 2 specialized teams are required. Now, I can say the development process narrows down to logic, UI implementation, and backend integration only once. Moreover, we automatized many things. As a result, we don’t struggle with native issues frequently.

Maks – You must be joking. How about deploying the app?  

Oskar – Fair enough. There are things like Google Play Store/ Apple AppStore deployment. Code signing. They are different. They always were.

Maks – You should spend some time with me configuring this stuff next time.

Oskar – C’mon. I said frequently. You did it only once. It has been working since project initialization. Successfully.

John – So if the implementation is nice, what’s the tricky part then?

Maks– From my perspective, the hardest part of the job was understanding the business requirements. We needed to understand what the product would look like. Obviously, a single particular technology is not the ultimate solution. You can’t build the pyramid with a baby shovel and you can’t implement a game engine like Unity with Flutter. Unless you’re passionate or have a lot of time. Choose your tools well once you know what you want.

John – We all know things evolve. If you were the decision maker, would you now choose the same tools again?

Maks – In fact, WE ARE decision makers. It’s the client’s right not to know how tech works behind the stage. So we constantly evaluate things we are implementing regarding business goals. I think the question should be: „Do tools still serve their purpose? If not, how expensive is it to change?”. In our case, no changes are needed. We usually add new puzzles to this system. But I can imagine involving i.e. complicated 3D graphics would make new challenges. You know, everything depends on a specific context. So you should be agile with delivering new features. Eventually, be warned that a well-designed game plan is still needed, especially at the very beginning.

John – Wait a sec. How exactly can you EVALUATE technology?

Oskar: Excluding extra resources? Yes, it’s possible; it comes with sacrifices. You don’t need new design files, but you need to reimplement logic. I can feel you already know how big it could become. There is one super cool thing. If we rewrote the app separately for Android and iOS, it would look exactly the same! Flutter’s superpowers. Summing up is possible, but it is closely related to the extra time you’d like to spend on tools

John – OK, eventually, why Flutter?

Maks, Oskar– Haven’t we convinced you yet?

John – Let’s stop with explaining technologies. I want to know more about the biz.

Maks: As a casual observer, you may feel it’s similar stuff as always. You search for rooms, and you can rent them, filter by property dets. However, magic happens behind the stage. There is a dedicated mechanism involving real people who are actually finding room for you. And this is unique. Additionally, being a user allows you to play on both sides of this game.

Oskar: You can take for granted this system is designed to be used by various end users. You should not limit your role. It allows one to earn money, rent properties, and choose paths somewhere in between. You can see it in the app and website themselves. And yes – it is a system. The mobile app is only a gate to walk through it. And because you see it at first, it needs to be dope.

And this is unique.

Summing up

You can say we’ve just told you a short imaginative story. Partially, it’s true – John does not exist. But, on the other hand, we are Codigee, Maks and Oskar are real personas, the real estate app is Houzit, it is launching in Barcelona now, and what’s best, you can download it here: Houzit.com and watch the trailer on FB.