[IMPACT]
Our solution is a rental marketplace for cryptocurrency payments, where properties can be listed for single rental prices or for auction sales.
The Loqul marketplace will function similarly to other rental marketplaces, both on- and off-chain with the added feature of crypto transactions and secure proofs of payment. Inspired by current NFT marketplaces on Cardano, rental agreements and payment receipts will be managed on our platform.
The user will be able to see different rental property listings posted by landlords and their descriptions. Once they find a property they’re interested in, they can place an offer of interest for the property, in the case of a standard listing, or participate in the auction. All transactions are handled by smart contracts.
The auction will be formatted like an eBay listing; users can see the highest bid, the time left on the auction, and, if applicable, a “rent it now” option. To be able to submit a bid or even list a property, users will have to connect their wallets and show their IAMX identity. (We hope to be using Atala Prism in the coming months). These listings can be for a whole property/unit or just a room, allowing landlords to increase revenues while decreasing tenants' housing costs.
Upon auction close or rental contract payment accepted, landlords are issued 12 NFTs of the rental agreement that will be sold to the tenant every month; thus, acting as an NFT-receipt and irrefutable proof of payment. These receipts can be used to calculate a "crypto credit score" and assist users in acquiring other economic identities on the blockchain.
To ensure the best possible User Experience, we have partnered with: ADA****Handle, COTI, Genius Yield, GeroWallet, MELD, and MLabs.
Landlords, Tenants, and Roommates will be held accountable through a rating system, similar to that of Uber and Lyft's rating system. That way, roommates and tenants alike will be incentivized to not damage their reputation. Similarly, Landlords can now be held accountable for their actions and are encouraged to service tenants swiftly.
Our target audience is Landlords that have 1-4 Units that they manage on their own (B2B), and Gen-Z/Young Professionals/College Students since they are already open to having housemates (B2C). We are also looking to partner with larger property owners and property managers interested in using our platform.
97% of U.S. landlords own between 1-4 units and 73% of those Landlords are individual investors. We believe that these investors could benefit from a simple, secure, affordable system to handle their payments and tenant search; while experiencing increased revenues over traditional rental solutions.
Gen Z includes people who are more likely to own/be interested in crypto, share living spaces, or be willing to adopt new real estate marketplaces. We especially see this type of model attracting more students, or college towns, and cities where there is a large young professional population with high rental costs such as Miami, NYC, and LA.
Our main objective is to deliver a blockchain solution with real-world impact and utility to all parties involved in a transaction. By introducing transparency, speed, secured payments, and a frictionless process enabled by the Cardano blockchain, we believe that we are adding real-world value to property owners, tenants, and the Cardano community as a whole as we bring new fresh users to the ecosystem as they explore new and more valuable mechanisms on web 3. Through our partnerships and strategic advisors, we have collaborated with other projects for future integrations growing the ecosystem as a whole. By building a great set of smart contracts and applications we are helping both individuals and businesses enter the ecosystem, benefit from it, and grow in a trusted and frictionless manner.
Our performance indicators include:
- New Addresses and identity credentials to track new users
- Number of properties listed and turnover rates
- Number of tenants on the site
- Transactions are done through our protocol
- Assets Minted on our protocol
- Products that our end users use eg. (ADAHandle, ADAdomains, IAMX, GeroWallet)
- Revenues for property owners
Risks we see:
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Losing users due to some friction of not wanting to do payments in crypto/ADA/stablecoins. Nonetheless, our partners & our web development team will work to improve and make the process as frictionless as we can, so users will not be hesitant to pay with crypto.
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Homeowner associations/condos could possibly fight our systems. In fact, this is a valid concern because many HOA’s or condominiums have rules against renting, or subleasing, which could cause problems as we launch in different markets. However, we are able to assign this liability to the landlord, while we implement compliance processes for these specific case scenarios.
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Getting blockchain-friendly legislation passed. Florida (where we plan to launch our beta) is one of the most crypto-friendly states. Also, we are a part of the Florida Blockchain Business Association (FBBA.io) which has already succeeded in getting crypto-friendly bills passed in the Florida legislature.
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Expanding/scaling to new markets/jurisdictions. As we prove the concept through high traction on our beta in Miami, Florida, we plan to expand to other metropolitan areas with the proper due diligence in hopes of being embraced as we enter these new cities. Furthermore, Loqul's long-term vision is Global. We are aiming to build the future of living, a global protocol that uses global currencies.
[FEASIBILITY]
In 2022 Q1, we will deliver the MVP marketplace and the project’s tokenomics. Our site will also be updated with new marketing material and Search Engine Optimization. By the middle of March 2022, we will have those deliverables up on the catalyst site for the final proposal. Our initial MVP will be available as a closed beta for Miami properties.
In 2022 Q2, we will add the per-room NFTs and NFT rental contracts. Additionally, we will be adding stable coin payments to the platform through AdaPay.
In 2022 Q3, we will be launching the new marketplace with full listing and onboarding features in a fully decentralized manner. This will be available to the greater-Miami area, and other metropolitan areas, as long as it is legal.
In 2022 Q4, we will implement the Rating System where Landlords, Tenants, and Roommates can rate each other. We will also be adding our sponsoring sections which Landlords can use to promote their listings on the marketplace; thus, generating Ad Revenue for us.
$91,000 | MLabs Development Fees
$20,000 | Branding / Marketing
$8,750 | Legal Consultations/Fees
$18,000 | 3 months of Runway for our Development Team
$25,000 | Runway for Founders (Food & Transportation Costs)
$10,000 | Office Space/Tools
Daniel Angel Manzi - Co-Founder & CEO
Hans Rueckschnat - Co-Founder & CTO
- <https://www.linkedin.com/in/hans-rueckschnat/>
Agustin Pillado Matheu - Co-Founder and CFO
- <https://www.linkedin.com/in/apilladomatheu/>
Sergio Reyes - COO
- <https://www.linkedin.com/in/sergioreyes4/>
Marcial Barros - Chief Blockchain Officer
- <https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcial-b-5a15a290/>
Randolph Vaughan Russell - Chief Mathematician
- BS in Mathematical Sciences | Exp. as a Customs Broker & Manager in St. Vincent & the Grenadines
Catherine Komi - Web Developer
- <https://www.linkedin.com/in/ekaterina-komissarova/>
Angel Mendez - Full Stack Developer
- <https://www.linkedin.com/in/angel-mendez-cs/>
[AUDITABILITY]
As of now, we are ahead of schedule on the Roadmap, which is strong progress. Additionally, our main method of calculating outcomes is by analyzing the % gains that we were able to get our Landlords every month, while also assessing the % savings we were able to get our tenants. Additionally, we will collect metrics on our Daily Active Users, Weekly Active Users, and Monthly Active Users; allowing us to calculate a retention rate and track how effective our product is. Moreover, we will collect the number of tenants bidding per property, allowing us to leverage our tenant supply to our Landlords. Lastly, the biggest measure of progress will be the number of properties listed, % of those that get fully rented out, and how long it took to rent them out.
A working marketplace with multiple listings using the power of Cardano, to innovate the way that people live.
Essentially, we will have been successful once a new system of renting has been adopted in the United States, and we begin to expand Globally, specifically in Europe. Additionally, our Rating System is actively rewarding our Landlords, Tenants, and Roommates with tokens and our token fund has begun to accept applications from Real Estate Developers to build affordable housing properties. We plan to change the way that people live, and we will be fully successful once we have changed how the world lives and interacts with real estate.
This is an entirely new proposal.
However, this project is well underway with strong partnerships: ADAHandle, COTI, Genius Yield, GeroWallet, MELD, and MLabs.
Receiving funding would help us accelerate deployment and improve the product; ultimately, allowing us to scale faster and grow the protocol.
SDG Rating
SDG goals:
Goal 10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
Goal 11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
SDG subgoals:
11.1 By 2030, ensure access for all to adequate, safe and affordable housing and basic services and upgrade slums
11.3 By 2030, enhance inclusive and sustainable urbanization and capacity for participatory, integrated and sustainable human settlement planning and management in all countries
11.a Support positive economic, social and environmental links between urban, peri-urban and rural areas by strengthening national and regional development planning
11.c Support least developed countries, including through financial and technical assistance, in building sustainable and resilient buildings utilizing local materials
Key Performance Indicator (KPI):
11.1.1 Proportion of urban population living in slums, informal settlements or inadequate housing
11.3.1 Ratio of land consumption rate to population growth rate
11.3.2 Proportion of cities with a direct participation structure of civil society in urban planning and management that operate regularly and democratically
11.a.1 Number of countries that have national urban policies or regional development plans that (a) respond to population dynamics; (b) ensure balanced territorial development; and (c) increase local fiscal space
#proposertoolsdg