africajam

Awesome tips! Particularly like the one about staying behing the version rat race ;)

Great answer - thanks ;)

Probably different strategies will be needed for different markets.

I created PropertyWebBuilder, an open source tool for creating real estate websites and I find in that sector there just isn't enough technical knowledge for people to get involved directly. I think in that case some sort of groupfunding initiative where estate agents / brokers club together to finance projects that help them might be best.

You can find a more detailed examination of this in an article I wrote about the subject:

https://hackernoon.com/open-source-software-for-real-estate-...

Smart idea - got me curious about what else I can do with the github api

Why is this showing in "ask HN"? Perhaps I should ask HN...

nice project. Would you like to explain a bit about how it works?

You're right - lessons learnt ;)

Is this argument / debate the reason this post has been flagged?

Great!!! I love your possible alternative suggestion.

Perhaps something along the lines of:

This ReadMe document and/or the following statement may not be removed from this project or any works that derive from it:

The creator of PropertyWebBuilder is opposed to the racist statements made by Donald Trump during his presidential campaign of 2016.

Seriously? That's quite interesting. Got some evidence to back that up?

I don't expect it would be legally enforceable but I would like the chance to be able to make a statement with my code.

To be honest it would be more about making a statement than trying to enforce it legally.

I did not know about the open source definition. Is that just a guide line or does it carry some weight?

Also, is it discrimination if I give users a choice? You can use my software whoever you are, you just have to disagree with racism.

Oh wow, that's a great link. So it seems this person does continue to have a restriction on the use of his software in certain countries as a visit to his website shows.

RETS, (Real Estate Transaction Standard) without a doubt. Its an ancient xml protocol that is still important today but really painful to work with!

Is this something estate agents do a lot? I'm asking because I'm working on an open source project for estate agents and am interested in understanding what they do better.

The business case is that improved tools will improve efficiency.

The amount of money involved is exactly why I would expect there to be good tools. If a better website or improved communications can make the difference on a transaction worth thousands would that not encourage higher quality tools?

BTW, did you find this post under the "Ask HN" section? When I browse it I cannot see my own post.... :(

I'm mainly talking of the tools estate agents use to build their websites as well as manage their properties, clients etc.

You are right that getting listings is the primary pain point but I would have thought standards about how properties are categorised etc would help with this. In particular as real estate becomes more international it would really help for a broker in Mexico to be able to send details of a property to someone in Russia in a format that can be mutually understood.

I can also imagine a demand for open source tools that can help in the communication between all the different parties to the transaction. I have ideas about how such a tool could monetise and I'm surprised that no one else has thought to do it.

There are also very few open source projects for building websites for realtors.

A quick google for "real estate open source" shows mainly outdated projects, several of which are not actually open source.