Finding a home in Nigeria is often more exhausting than exciting. Between endless agent calls, inflated rents, and unclear listings, the real estate experience remains one of the most disorganized aspects of urban life.
Renters waste time chasing misleading ads or paying multiple inspection fees, while property owners and agents struggle to showcase their listings to the right audience.
In this chaos lies a familiar African problem, inefficiency born of fragmentation. Housing data sits scattered across countless social media pages, unverified agents, and city-based networks. The result is an informal system where transparency, accountability, and structure are absent.
In this edition of Techparley’s DRIVE100, where we spotlight Africa’s most promising startups, we turn our attention to IOREALTORS, a Nigeria-based AI-powered real estate marketplace founded by Isaiah Osarobo.
The startup, still in its pre-launch stage with its MVP already available on Google Play Store, aims to simplify how people search, rent, and manage properties.
IOREALTORS combines artificial intelligence (AI) and location-based technology to bring renters, agents, and landlords into one transparent ecosystem, or, as Osarobo calls it, “the Bolt of Real Estate.”
“Searching for real estate properties right now is expensive, time-consuming, and stressful,” says Osarobo. “We’re building IOREALTORS to fix that, a platform where agents, landlords, and renters can connect under a fair, structured, and transparent system.”
The Problem: A Broken Property Search Experience
Nigeria’s property market has long suffered from a trust deficit. Renters are often at the mercy of multiple intermediaries, each collecting inspection or service fees that sometimes exceed 10% of the total rent.
Worse still, many properties listed on informal sites are outdated, duplicated, or outright fraudulent.
“Most renters waste hours moving from one agent to another, and by the time they find a place, they’ve paid more in logistics and inspection than expected,” Osarobo explains.
“For agents, it’s no easier, there’s no dedicated platform where they can list verified properties and reach qualified leads directly.”
The pain points run deep:
- Renters face misinformation, inflated prices, and non-transparent charges.
- Landlords lack visibility in a cluttered digital landscape.
- Agents rely on scattered, non-specialized platforms like Facebook or WhatsApp groups, wasting resources without guaranteed leads.
This combination of inefficiency and exploitation has made property search one of the most frustrating urban experiences in Nigeria’s digital economy, a gap IOREALTORS is now aiming to close.
The Solution: IOREALTORS as the “Bolt of Real Estate”
IOREALTORS enters the market as a real estate-specific platform driven by artificial intelligence and location-based matching, offering users curated, verified property listings within their chosen area.
Much like Bolt connects drivers and riders through smart mapping, IOREALTORS connects agents, landlords, and renters through precision targeting and transparent data flow.
“Our goal is to make property search 10 times faster,” Osarobo says confidently. “That’s why I describe IOREALTORS as the Bolt of Real Estate, we’re matching people and properties in real time.”
Beyond discovery, IOREALTORS enforces a maximum 10% agent commission rule, making it, probably one of the first platforms to institutionalize fairness in property transactions.
This system ensures both parties, renter and agent, operate under standardized expectations, minimizing the exploitative practices that dominate the informal market.
How It Works: Transparency Through AI and Location-Based Tech
At the heart of IOREALTORS lies its AI and GIS (Geographic Information System) engine, a dual-powered system designed to make property search intuitive and location-relevant.
When a user logs in, the platform’s algorithm identifies nearby listings that fit their price range, preferred housing type, and desired amenities. This makes the experience as seamless as hailing a ride on Bolt or Uber, except this time, the destination is a new home.
For agents and agencies, the platform provides a dashboard where they can list, manage, and monitor all properties in real time.
It also allows premium agencies to feature verified offers and run targeted campaigns to attract credible renters, all without navigating multiple fragmented channels.
By integrating these tools, IOREALTORS not only saves time but also restores confidence to an industry plagued by opacity. It aims to turn property search from a gamble into a guided, data-driven experience.
Founder’s Journey: From YouTube Programmer to Real Estate Innovator
Before IOREALTORS, Isaiah Osarobo was a self-taught developer and tech content creator who ran a YouTube channel called IOCODES.
Through it, he taught programming, software deployment, and digital solutions to a growing community of aspiring developers.
However, Osarobo’s shift from coding tutorials to real estate technology wasn’t random, it was personal.
“I watched friends and family waste time and money trying to rent decent apartments,” he recalls. “I realized the problem wasn’t a lack of agents; it was the lack of structure. I wanted to change that.”
As a solo founder, Osarobo has designed, coded, and deployed the MVP himself, a rare feat in Nigeria’s startup ecosystem, where many founders depend on external developers.
He now seeks to expand his team with individuals who share his passion for solving real-world problems, not just chasing financial returns.
“I’m not looking for people who just want to make money,” he says. “I’m looking for people who want to make a difference in how Africans experience real estate.”
Challenges and Vision: Building a Smarter Housing Ecosystem for Africa
Funding remains IOREALTORS’ biggest hurdle. Building a platform that integrates advanced mapping, AI, and payment systems requires resources, something often out of reach for solo founders.
Yet, Osarobo is undeterred. “Right now, I’m growing by word of mouth and validating the market through surveys,” he notes. “Our plan is to onboard the first 1,000 users and 200 verified agents in the next 12 months.”
Despite its early stage, the startup has already achieved critical milestones:
- MVP Launch: IOREALTORS’ Android app is live on Google Play Store.
- User Testing: Initial users are providing feedback for refinement.
- Growth Strategy: Plans underway to partner with local housing agencies and developers.
In the long term, Osarobo envisions IOREALTORS as a Pan-African property marketplace, connecting verified real estate professionals across Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa.
Within five years, the goal is to make property discovery as easy as booking a cab, structured, transparent, and powered by trust.
The Road Ahead: From Idea to Industry Standard
While still at an early stage, IOREALTORS represents more than a startup, it symbolizes the next phase of Africa’s digital real estate transformation. Its potential lies not just in technology, but in its vision to decentralize access to housing opportunities.
If successfully executed, IOREALTORS could eliminate the opaque practices that have long haunted Nigeria’s rental system, offering a cleaner, more equitable digital marketplace for millions.
For Osarobo, the mission remains deeply human.
“We’re not just building an app,” he emphasizes. “We’re building a transparent housing ecosystem, one where everyone knows what they’re paying for and why.”
In a region where access, trust, and affordability define survival, IOREALTORS isn’t merely joining the proptech revolution, it’s rewriting its rules. And if its trajectory continues, this “Bolt of Real Estate” may soon become the blueprint for Africa’s property-tech future.
Talking Points
IOREALTORS presents a bold and timely attempt to solve one of Africa’s most persistent problems, the lack of transparency and efficiency in property search and rental transactions.
Its vision to become the “Bolt of Real Estate” by using AI and location-based technology is both innovative and practical, addressing key pain points like inflated agent fees and fragmented listings.
The startup’s 10% agent fee cap reflects a commitment to fairness, a rare value in Nigeria’s housing market.
However, success will hinge on execution, particularly in scaling user adoption, building trust through verified listings, and competing against established players like PropertyPro and Spleet.
With the right funding, mentorship, and strategic partnerships, IOREALTORS could evolve from a promising MVP into a true game-changer for Africa’s real estate landscape.
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