Mu936/ai-home-loan-assistant

Streamlit app for South African home-loan Q&A with offline affordability calculator # 🏠 AI Home Loan Assistant (South Africa) Live Link:ai-home-loan-assistant-irnx… A simple Streamlit app where you can ask home-loan questions and get clear answers. It supports: - Online mode (OpenAI GPT-4o-mini) - Offline mode (no API required): affordability calculator + quick FAQs ## Demo Screenshots Place screenshots in the `screenshots/` folder and they will appear below automatically. - Home screen: - Offline affordability result: > Tip: You can take screenshots with Shift+Cmd+4 (macOS) and save them into the `screenshots/` folder as `home.png` and `offline-affordability.png`. --- ## 1) Requirements - Python 3.9+ (Python 3.13 works too) - pip (or use `python3 -m pip` on macOS) Install dependencies: ```bash python3 -m pip install -r requirements.txt ``` --- ## 2) Configure your OpenAI API key (optional) If you plan to use online AI answers: 1. Get a key at platform.openai.com 2. Add it to `.env`: ``` OPENAI_API_KEY=sk-...your_key_here... ``` Security: - Never commit real keys to GitHub (this repo’s `.gitignore` already ignores `.env`). - You may need to add billing to use the API: platform.openai.com > If you don’t have an API key or billing, just use the app in Offline mode (see below). --- ## 3) Run the app From the project folder: ```bash streamlit run app.py ``` If `pip` is not found or Streamlit doesn’t start, use: ```bash python3 -m streamlit run app.py ``` Open the URL shown in the terminal (usually localhost). If it doesn’t open, try: - 127.0.0.1 - Or run on a different port: ```bash python3 -m streamlit run app.py --server.port 8502 ``` --- ## 4) Using the app - In the left sidebar, toggle **Offline mode (no API)** ON to avoid OpenAI usage. - Ask an affordability question including your monthly income, e.g.: - “I earn R20,000 per month — how much can I borrow?” - Adjust assumptions in the sidebar: - Interest rate …