PreLease
Overview
I cofounded PreLease, a service designed to provide bespoke rental advice to both renters and landlords. At its core was the innovative ‘Rental Health Check’ tool, a key feature aimed at simplifying and accelerating the process of discovering essential resources and information related to rental properties and regulations. This initiative sought to empower individuals in the rental market with accessible and tailored guidance.
Challenges
A significant hurdle with PreLease was the process of integrating automation flows across disparate platforms to ensure a seamless user experience from initial input to receiving tailored advice. It required the complex task of aggregating state-based resources, each with its own specific regulations and formats, into a single, easily navigable system for automation parsing. In addition, effectively engaging stakeholders for testing and feedback was crucial but required a coordinated effort to ensure the tool accurately met the diverse needs of both renters and landlords and functioned reliably across various scenarios.
Functionality
The technical foundation of PreLease was primarily WordPress-based, leveraging its flexibility as a content management system. The core functionality of the ‘Rental Health Check’ and other tools was powered by a combination of Google Sheets for data management and aggregation, alongside low-code/no-code automation tools such as Make (formerly Integromat). This approach allowed for the creation of sophisticated automation sequences and data processing workflows without extensive custom coding, enabling efficient resource discovery and personalized advice generation for users. This blend of platforms facilitated rapid development and iteration while keeping the system manageable and adaptable.
