Rent without the middleman. A transparent, blockchain-powered rental marketplace for Nigeria and Africa β built on Stellar and Soroban.
# π HomeDirect
> **Rent without the middleman.** A transparent, blockchain-powered rental marketplace for Nigeria and Africa β built on Stellar.
---
## The Problem
Renting a home in Nigeria is a gauntlet of fees:
| Fee | Typical cost |
|-----|-------------|
| Agent commission | 10β15% of annual rent |
| Legal / agreement fee | β¦20,000 β β¦100,000+ |
| Caution deposit | 1β3 months rent (held informally) |
| Inspection fees | β¦2,000 β β¦10,000 per visit |
Agents inflate rents, hold deposits informally, and control access to information that should be freely available. Tenants β especially young Nigerians relocating for work β bear all of this cost with zero transparency.
## The Solution
HomeDirect is a direct landlord-to-tenant rental platform:
- β
**No agent in the chain** β landlords list directly, tenants apply directly
- β
**One flat 5% service fee** β paid by tenant at lease signing, replaces all middlemen
- β
**Smart contract leases** β encoded on Stellar, tamper-proof and legally referenceable
- β
**Escrow deposits** β security deposits locked in Soroban smart contracts, not held by anyone
- β
**NGN + USDC payments** β pay in naira or dollar-pegged stablecoin via Stellar
**Phase 1 cities:** Lagos Β· Abuja Β· Ibadan (Oyo) Β· Port Harcourt (Rivers) Β· Anambra
**Vision:** Expand across Africa β Ghana, Kenya, South Africa and beyond
---
## Repo Structure
```
homedirect/
βββ frontend/ # Next.js 14 + TypeScript + Tailwind CSS
β βββ app/
β β βββ components/ # UI components (WalletConnect, etc.)
β β βββ dashboard/ # Landlord and tenant dashboards
β β β βββ landlord/ # Property listing management
β β β βββ tenant/ # Application and lease management
β β βββ page.tsx # Homepage
β βββ hooks/ # React hooks (useStellarWallet)
β βββ lib/
β β βββ stellar/ # Stellar wallet integration
β βββ Dockerfile
β
βββ contracts/ # Stellar Soroban smart contracts (Rust)
β βββ h β¦