NestIn — real estate platform with live chat & map search
Real estate platform to find, list, and save properties — with an interactive map, real-time chat between buyers and estate owners via WebSockets, and Cloudinary image uploads. Styled entirely in SCSS.
Most real estate tools are static listing pages — no way to see where properties actually are on a map or quickly message the owner without leaving the platform. NestIn set out to make property discovery and buyer-owner communication feel instant.
Approach
Built the full stack solo: React + React Router frontend, Express/TypeScript API, and a dedicated Socket.IO server for real-time messaging.
Integrated an interactive map so users can explore properties geographically, with dynamic zoom based on result count.
Implemented real-time chat with Socket.IO and Zustand notification store — buyers message estate owners directly in-app.
Used Cloudinary for image uploads, supporting multiple images per post.
Chose MongoDB Atlas with Prisma as the ORM, and SCSS instead of Tailwind for full styling control.
Deployed API on Railway, frontend on Vercel with cookie-based auth tuned for cross-origin production.
Outcome
NestIn shipped as a full real estate platform — map search, property listings with multi-image upload, saved posts, and live buyer-owner chat, all in one app.
