Verified Housing Discovery
Students search by city, budget, amenities, rules, safety, and commute needs.
Mobile / Travel
Zustay PG App
A mobile housing discovery app helping students find verified PGs, hostels, and shared living options with confidence.
Year
2024
Team Size
7 engineers
Timeline
8 months
Technology
React Native, Node.js, MongoDB
The Challenge
Students relocating for college or work were relying on scattered listings, unverified brokers, and incomplete property details. The discovery process was stressful, especially for first-time movers and parents.
Zustay needed a verified listing marketplace with mobile search, booking requests, payments, owner tools, and trust signals such as photos, amenities, reviews, and safety information.
The product had to launch quickly in priority cities, then scale listing operations and monthly active users without weakening data quality.
Client Name
Zustay
Industry
Travel / PropTech
Engagement Type
Mobile Marketplace Build
Timeline
4 month MVP, 8 month scale-up
Team Size
7 engineers
Budget Range
$250K-$380K
Status
Live, Series A funded
Live Users
50K+ monthly active users
100K+
Listings
50K+
Monthly Active Users
4.6/5
App Rating
How We Solved It
The Solution
We built a React Native marketplace with verified listings, city search, filters, favorites, booking requests, owner dashboards, and payment flows. The app highlights trust signals such as verification status, amenities, locality details, and review quality.
The MVP launched in four months with a focused discovery and inquiry flow. Scale phases added owner tools, operational moderation, payment support, and analytics for listing quality.
Owner Listing Tools
Owners manage property details, availability, photos, leads, and booking requests.
Trust & Moderation
Verification workflows, reviews, and quality scoring protect students from weak listings.
Months 1-4
MVP
Complete
Mobile search, listings, inquiries
Initial city launch
Months 5-6
Marketplace Scale
Complete
Owner tools, moderation, payments
100K listings
Months 7-8
Growth
Complete
Analytics, reviews, referral loops
50K monthly active users
Technology
Architecture & Tech Stack
Frontend
React Native
API Gateway
Secure APIs
Backend
Node.js
Data Layer
MongoDB
Integrations
Secure APIs
Frontend
- React Native
- TypeScript
- Redux Toolkit
- Map UI
Backend
- Node.js
- Express
- REST APIs
- Notification services
Data & Storage
- MongoDB
- Redis
- S3
- Search index
Infrastructure
- AWS
- Docker
- CloudFront
- Terraform
Tools & Services
- Stripe
- Firebase
- Google Maps
- GitHub Actions
Features
What We Built
Verified Listings
Quality checks, photos, amenities, and trust badges help students choose safely.
City Search
Filters by budget, locality, gender preference, food, commute, and amenities.
Owner Dashboard
Property owners manage listings, leads, pricing, and availability.
Booking Requests
Students request visits or bookings and track status in the app.
Reviews & Safety Signals
Reviews, verification, rules, and locality details build confidence.
Payments
Supports booking fees, deposits, refunds, and transaction records.
Results
The Impact
Zustay reached 100K+ listings and 50K+ monthly active users within eight months. The app earned a 4.6 rating by making housing discovery clearer, safer, and more mobile-friendly.
Owner tools improved listing freshness, while moderation workflows protected marketplace quality as the platform expanded across cities.
100K+
Listings
Verified and searchable
50K+
MAU
After 8 months
4.6/5
Rating
Mobile stores
8
Months
To 50K MAU
Return on Investment
- Reached 50K monthly active users within 8 months.
- Verified listing workflows improved lead quality for owners.
- Referral loops reduced acquisition dependency in student communities.
- Series A narrative strengthened by marketplace supply and demand metrics.
DigiteraX understood that housing discovery is emotional. They built trust into the product, not just search filters.
Founder, Zustay
The Team
People Behind the Project
TM
Tara Mehta
Mobile Lead
React Native, marketplace UX
AR
Arjun Rao
Backend Engineer
Node.js, search, moderation
FN
Fatima Noor
Product Designer
Trust flows, mobile onboarding
RD
Ryan Dsouza
Cloud Engineer
AWS, media delivery, scaling
Challenges & Lessons
Overcoming Obstacles
Listing Trust
Low-quality listings could damage user confidence quickly.
Added verification states, moderation queues, and quality scores.
Marketplace growth must protect trust from day one.
Mobile Discovery
Students needed fast comparison on small screens.
Built compact cards, saved lists, and map-aware filters.
Mobile marketplaces win through comparison speed.
Owner Adoption
Owners varied widely in technical comfort.
Created simple listing tools and assisted onboarding flows.
Supply-side UX matters as much as buyer-side UX.
Evolution
From Launch to Continuous Improvement
Month 4
MVP
Complete
Search and inquiries
Priority city launch
Month 6
Supply Scale
Complete
Owner tools and verification
100K listings
Month 8
Demand Scale
Complete
Reviews and referrals
50K MAU
Future
Expansion
Planned
More cities and campus partnerships
Broader student coverage
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