What is it about?
Imagine you're searching for a rental home online. You find one you love, schedule a visit, and decide to make an offer. But after all that effort, you discover that someone else has already secured it. Frustrating, right? At the same time, some other great homes receive little attention and sit empty for too long, making homeowners unhappy. Our project helps solve this problem by making rental demand spread more efficiently across available homes. We noticed that many people were making offers on homes that were essentially already taken—wasting time and effort. To fix this, we developed a smart system that predicts when a home has received enough demand to be rented. When a home reaches this point, we adjust search rankings to encourage renters to explore other great options that might not be getting enough attention. This way, renters don’t waste time on homes that are already spoken for, and homeowners have a better chance of finding tenants faster. We tested this approach in a controlled experiment, and the results were impressive: - More houses received offers, making homeowners happier. - More rental contracts were signed, improving overall efficiency and users more satisfied.
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Why is it important?
At QuintoAndar, our mission is to help people love where they live. This project had a real impact on our users' lives, as finding a home is one of the most important decisions a person can make. By predicting when a home has enough demand and adjusting its visibility accordingly, we ensure users find available homes faster, reducing frustration and making their journey smoother.
Perspectives
Developing this project came with many challenges and required a deep understanding of our users’ journey on the platform. In the housing market, every home is unique, and the competition to rent a property can lead to significant frustration. By implementing this solution, we saw a real impact on our users’ lives. Finding a home is one of the most important decisions a person makes, and improving this process helps make that journey smoother and more positive.
Guilherme Bonaldo
QuintoAndar
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Beyond Relevance: A Demand Balancer Model for Rental Platforms with Single-Unit Inventory, March 2025, ACM (Association for Computing Machinery),
DOI: 10.1145/3701551.3706126.
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