Review of mobile application for real estate search

Recently, in one edition, I saw a very interesting statistic: it turns out that each Russian has an average of just over 20 m² of housing, while in Germany, despite a large population density, this figure is 4 times, and in the US - more than 6 times above. It is not surprising that the housing problem is still acute, as in the days of Bulgakov. But new time brings new solutions - startups offering assistance with renting and buying housing on the market are already quite a lot. One of them is a project of the company Fast Lane Ventures, the site DOMGEO.RU , a free search engine for residential and commercial real estate in Moscow.

But today we’ll talk not about the site itself, but about the DOMGEO mobile application for iOS and Android platforms. Being a user of Sony phones for a long time, I tested the version for Andorid.
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Installation

Find this application in Google Play for domgeo. It weighs only 1 MB and installed per minute. As it is easy to see, the program offers two use cases: a quick search for real estate objects for rent or for sale without registration, or enhanced search management capabilities, saved objects and a profile for authorized users. We entered the application for the first time, therefore, naturally, it has not yet been authorized, and 3 of the 4 tabs of the main menu are not yet available to us. Well, great - let's get acquainted with the opportunities that are available to an unregistered user at the first start.

First start

As you can see, when starting the application offers to enter the address or use the current location. I click “use current” - the program automatically (using cellular networks or GPS, if at least one of these two ways of tracking the location is enabled in the settings) determines your street and then you can see what is being sold / sold at this address. On my street, as it turned out, there is nothing in the Domgeo database, so I entered an arbitrary address.



You can specify, for example, the name of the metro - the system will offer to clarify whether you are interested in the metro or the street with the same name, and then give a list of properties for sale or for rent nearby. Perhaps, the “Circle-and-find!” System, which is on the DOMGEO website itself, is missing - a search for housing in an arbitrarily selected area on the map.

You can configure the filters for issue, or display all the objects on the map:

Save the object in the selected unregistered will not work, which means it is time to return to the first screen. Tap on the "Start" tab and find ourselves there - at the very beginning. There is no drop-down list with prompts when entering, you must be authorized to save previously entered search queries. Therefore - registration.

check in

A click on the “Register” button takes us to the browser, where we are on the registration page on the DOMGEO website . Let us pretend that we did not notice the possibility to log in through accounts on social networks or google and try to go through the procedure:



After logging out of the browser, I returned to the application and tapped "Login". This is how the login page on the Sony Xperia S screen with a resolution of 1280 pixels vertically looks like - as you can easily see, the login / password input fields are only on the second screen:



Click "Enter", put a tick in the check-box Authorize access, zhamka Save changes - what it means and why it is needed - I have no idea, but, for example, if you do not tick, then the system will give error 404: "This page does not exists":

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If you tick, the system finally rolls us back into the application, only the menu tabs are already active.

But before exploring the opportunities, unlock and try to log in again - through an account in another system.

Authorization through social networks

We have several options: login via Facebook, Twitter, Vkontakte or Google. When you click on the corresponding button, we are again transferred to the authorization page in the corresponding service in the browser:



After entering the login and password, we are again thrown out to the previous page, and at once you don’t even understand what they want from us - in the end I understand that we are logged in and now you just need to fill in the profile: name and mailbox. Having done this, and pressing the mysterious button Save changes, we again find ourselves in the application.

The intermediate result is as follows: it is better to register immediately on DOMGEO, without bothering with authorization through social networks - this will not save time at all. In defense of the authorization system I will say, perhaps, that after authorization, the application remembers you and you will not need to re-enter the password after the new login. In addition, all actions performed in the application are saved for the user account on the site. Those. saved several objects in the application - they were added to the "Favorites" and on domgeo.ru. I saved several search areas on the site - they were displayed in the application - you can safely use all the functionality provided by the developers. About him now and talk.

Main functionality

The main specificity of the application, as well as the service DOMGEO - search for housing to buy. The site shows that several sections are devoted to the sale (secondary housing, fence, commercial, new buildings) - the base of apartments for sale, according to the developers, is broader than many similar portals offer. Rent exists rather optional. The main snag is that rental offers are changing daily, so they are very difficult to call and moderate. Nevertheless, the service tries to somehow encourage people renting housing through them: now, for example, the action “DOMGEO reimburses the commission” is taking place, according to which the realtor’s commission is returned to every 10th person who sends a request - and looks for ways to maintain relevance and on the rental base to expand the offer for it too.

The very same functionality of finding housing for purchase / rent is not different - the difference is only in the order of prices when issuing :)

We don’t have any saved objects, so we’ll enter the address that interests us again - let it be Belyaevo this time. Choosing metro Belyaevo (in the village Belyaevo there is nothing interesting, I checked):



When you click “Save”, the search query will be saved in the “My Search” folder, so a second time entering the same address, as in the case when you are logged in, is no longer necessary:



We return to the search page and look at the first apartment. By clicking, we open the basic parameters of the apartment and the menu for selecting actions: you can call this address (or rather, the agent who put up this apartment), you can unsubscribe to the post office, you can see the other photos:



Pressing "On the map", we will see the same apartment surrounded by the main infrastructure facilities:



By clicking “Get directions”, the application will offer to enter the point of departure, then transfer it to the Google Map:



I chose “Favorite” and the apartment appeared in my “Objects”:



When objects are handed over or sold, they disappear from the base and from the favorites too (the base is updated every day). You can delete an object from your favorites yourself, just as you added it - the “From Favorites” button will appear in the same place.

There is nothing interesting in the “Profile” tab:



The context menu button (this question is relevant for Android owners who have this button in principle) only works on the main screen, allowing you to log out.

What do we have in the end?

- raw authorization system
- limited search capabilities
+ marketable application
+ convenient work with the found options

A great idea from the category of "always lacking": in the process of finding housing for rent, I was personally most annoyed by the calling process - you find the number on the site, dial, then leave somewhere in the third place notes ... Uncomfortable. Here all the main functionality in one program: found, saved, rang, after the conversation - added a note. Very convenient, a decent saving of time is obtained, and most importantly - all in one place.

Supplementing, perhaps, the implementation of the registration process - however, it pleases that the process is one-time and will not interfere with the use of the application in the future.

What is missing?

Perhaps, the advanced search capabilities - the choice of several metro stations, the choice of the search area on the map, etc., and more subtle filtering results in the configuration. However, the application, as well as the project itself, is completely new, so, I hope, all the best from it is still to come.