Real Estate
Caval Homes is a real estate platform built to give people more choice and flexibility in how they find a home. Whether someone wants to buy a property, rent short or long term, or live in a shared apartment or co-living space, the platform brings these options together in one place. Users can also shortlist properties and customise them to match their needs. To make housing more accessible, Caval Homes supports installment payments instead of requiring large upfront costs. Every property and owner is verified through proper checks, and payments are handled securely with Graph Finance. This creates a safe and reliable experience where browsing, booking and managing homes can all be done in one simple platform.
The Problems
The Nigerian rental market runs on trust problems. Year-upfront payments, unverified agents, hidden fees, and rigid lease structures all compound into a single experience: people are afraid of losing money before they've even moved in. Caval Homes was designed to remove those specific fears.
Payment Barriers
Rent is usually paid for a whole year upfront, with no safe way to pay in parts.
Extra costs like deposits, agent fees and hidden charges make housing too expensive.
Fake agents, unreliable landlords and unclear deals make people afraid of losing money.
Rental contracts are too rigid and do not allow short stays or shared living.
The renting process is stressful, with poor support and little guidance.
People have to search on many different platforms, with no single trusted place.
Discovery & Research
To understand these challenges better, I looked at the housing market, studied existing platforms, and gathered insights from renters and property owners. This helped me see where people struggle the most and what solutions would matter to them.
Key Findings
Most renters want installment payment options but avoid them because of trust and fear of fraud.
High deposits and agent fees create financial stress, especially for young professionals and middle-income earners.
Renters often face fake agents, unreliable landlords and hidden charges, which reduce trust in the housing market.
People want more flexible choices such as short stays, co-living and furnished options that fit their lifestyle.
Metrics & Support Data
Over 70% of renters in Lagos struggle with paying a full year of rent upfront.
Fake agents and housing fraud are reported frequently, causing renters to lose significant amounts of money each year.
Young professionals and middle-income earners make up the largest demand group for flexible housing.
Internet and smartphone penetration in Nigeria is growing quickly, making digital housing solutions more practical.
Two findings drove the earliest design decisions: the near-universal distrust of paying landlords directly (which made secure escrow through Graph Finance a non-negotiable core feature rather than an add-on), and the demand for installment payments that every competitor acknowledged but implemented poorly. The secondary discovery — that renters wanted co-living options but found existing platforms didn't surface them at all — became the basis for the flexible-stay-type toggle on the browse screen.
Competitor Analysis
To position Caval Homes in the market, I studied existing platforms to see what they do well and where they fall short. This helped me understand how renters experience them and what opportunities there are to build something better.
Pros
Well-known for installment rent through the Pay Small Small model.
Lower barrier to entry with reduced upfront costs.
Wide property network across Lagos.
Cons
User experience can feel less premium and less community-focused.
Fewer co-living options compared to competitors.
Limited emphasis on lifestyle features or post-rental customisation.
Pros
Offers flexible rent and co-living options.
Strong brand presence and recognition in Nigeria.
Tech-enabled platform with a clean interface.
Cons
Parts of the journey switch outside the platform, causing a poor experience.
Pricing can be higher, making it less affordable for middle-income renters.
Smaller focus on property customisation and add-on services.
Takeaway — By carefully looking at the strengths and weaknesses of Spleet Africa and RentSmallSmall, I was able to understand what renters value most and where their frustrations lie. Spleet's focus on co-living and flexible rent showed the demand for community and choice, while RentSmallSmall's instalment model proved how important breaking down payments is for accessibility. At the same time, their gaps in trust, transparency, and overall experience made it clear what was missing. Using these insights, I designed Caval Homes to keep the best parts of these platforms while fixing their shortcomings, creating a housing solution that is more flexible, transparent, and reliable.
The Solutions
Caval Homes was designed to directly solve the challenges people face with housing. The platform focuses on flexible payments, building trust through verification and secure transactions, and giving both renters and property owners more choice and control in one simple place.
02
Installment as default, not an upgrade.
The original brief positioned instalment payments as a premium feature. Research showed that framing it as an upgrade would reduce adoption among exactly the people who needed it most. The UI treats instalment as the default view; lump-sum payment is the secondary option.
Final Screens
High-fidelity screens covering the core flows — property seeker flows (browse, shortlist, book, pay), co-living discovery, and the owner-side verification and listing management view.
My Role, Goals & Impact
The goal was to make housing more flexible, safe and easy to access. My role was to design the experience and bring these ideas to life. The impact is a platform that lowers costs, builds trust with secure payments, and gives people more choice in how they live.
My Goals
Make housing more flexible with installment payments and different stay options
Build trust through verified listings, landlords and secure transactions
Reduce financial stress by lowering deposits and removing hidden fees
Provide one reliable platform for browsing, booking and managing homes
My Role
Researched housing challenges and user needs
Studied competitor platforms to find strengths and weaknesses
Defined the main problems and product goals
Created high-fidelity UI screens and design system elements
Presented solutions that balance trust, flexibility and simplicity
My Impact
The installment-first framing tested significantly better than the premium-upgrade framing in prototype reviews — users in the target income bracket described it as "finally built for people like us" rather than a feature they'd have to pay extra for. The verification-first card layout reduced the time users spent asking "is this real?" before engaging with a listing — a friction point that came up in every user interview.
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