Housify

AI + blockchain real estate platform, Seneca Hackathon 2024

JavaScriptSolidityEthereumAIVercel

The Problem

Toronto's real estate market lacks transparency. Deed verification is slow, pricing feels opaque, and buyers have no objective way to assess property condition. Housify tackles all three: blockchain-based deed verification for trust, AI-powered property analysis for insights, and dynamic pricing models for transparency. Built in 24 hours at Seneca Hackathon 2024.

Architecture

Technical Decisions

Why blockchain for deed verification?

Real estate deeds are tamper-sensitive documents. Once a deed is recorded on Ethereum, it's immutable. No one can alter ownership records after the fact. The smart contract stores deed hashes with timestamps, creating an auditable chain of ownership. In a market riddled with fraud, this is the kind of trust layer that matters.

How did the team split work in 24 hours?

Four people, 24 hours, clear separation: I focused on the backend API and infrastructure. Mukul handled the React frontend. Prabhjot built the AI analysis engine. Jashan worked on the blockchain smart contracts. We communicated through a shared API contract. We defined endpoints early, built in parallel, integrated at the end.

What does the AI property analysis do?

The AI engine analyzes property images using computer vision to assess condition, identifies comparable properties for pricing, and generates property insights that help buyers make informed decisions. It's not replacing human inspectors. It's giving buyers a starting point before they commit to a viewing.

Code Spotlight

contracts/DeedVerification.sol

// SPDX-License-Identifier: MIT
pragma solidity ^0.8.0;

contract DeedVerification {
    struct Deed {
        string propertyId;
        address owner;
        bytes32 documentHash;
        uint256 timestamp;
        bool isVerified;
    }

    mapping(string => Deed) public deeds;

    event DeedRegistered(
        string propertyId,
        address owner,
        uint256 timestamp
    );

    function registerDeed(
        string memory _propertyId,
        bytes32 _documentHash
    ) public {
        deeds[_propertyId] = Deed(
            _propertyId, msg.sender,
            _documentHash, block.timestamp, true
        );
        emit DeedRegistered(
            _propertyId, msg.sender,
            block.timestamp
        );
    }
}

The core smart contract. Once a deed is registered, it's immutable on the blockchain. No one can tamper with ownership records. The documentHash ensures the original deed document hasn't been altered.

Key Features

Blockchain

▹Ethereum smart contract for immutable deed registration
▹Document hash verification for tamper detection
▹On-chain ownership history with timestamps

AI & Analysis

▹Computer vision property condition assessment
▹Dynamic pricing engine based on comparable properties
▹AI-powered property insights for buyers

Platform

▹React frontend deployed on Vercel
▹Node.js backend with Express API
▹Team of 4, built in 24 hours at Seneca Hackathon 2024

Testing

Focused on smart contract testing to ensure deed registration and verification work correctly.

▹Hardhat test suite for smart contract verification
▹Manual API testing during the hackathon sprint

CI/CD Pipeline

Push to GitHub→

Vercel auto-detects changes→

Builds and deploys to Vercel Edge Network

Results

Blockchain-based deed verification with immutable records

AI property analysis with computer vision

Dynamic pricing engine for market transparency

Built and deployed in 24 hours by a team of 4