What I Built
I built a conversational AI agent that helps people find rental apartments in Nigeria while avoiding common real-estate pitfalls.
Renting in Nigeria isn’t just about price; tenants often deal with:
- Hidden costs (agency fees, legal fees, caution fees)
- Unreliable infrastructure (power, water, road quality)
- Misleading listings that don’t reflect reality
This agent acts like a street-smart local guide.
Instead of just listing apartments, it answers questions like:
- “Is ₦800k realistic for a 2-bedroom in Lekki?”
- “What extra fees should I expect?”
- “Is this area good if I don’t have a car?”
The experience is friendly, conversational, and practical, designed to feel like asking a knowledgeable friend — not browsing a cold property website.
Demo
🔗 Live demo: Link
The demo shows:
- Natural back-and-forth conversation
- Area-specific rental guidance
- Cost breakdowns beyond rent
- Context-aware follow-up questions
How I Used Algolia Agent Studio
I used Algolia Agent Studio to power the agent’s retrieval-augmented conversations.
Indexed Data
I created a custom index containing:
- Rental listings across Nigerian cities
- Location metadata (state, city, neighborhood)
- Rent ranges and upfront fees
- Infrastructure notes (power, water, road access)
This data was indexed with searchable attributes and filters, enabling the agent to:
- retrieve relevant locations,
- present realistic price ranges,
- and provide contextual housing details.
Retrieval-Enhanced Dialogue
Instead of relying on generic LLM responses, the agent:
- retrieves relevant listings and area data from Algolia,
- grounds its answers in real indexed information,
- and responds conversationally using that context.
Prompt Engineering
I used targeted system instructions to ensure the agent:
- stays Nigeria-specific,
- avoids hallucinating prices or locations,
- explains why a listing may or may not be realistic,
- and highlights hidden costs and infrastructure realities.
Algolia handles what to retrieve; the agent focuses on how to explain it clearly to a human.
Why Fast Retrieval Matters
Real-estate conversations are interactive:
- users refine budgets,
- switch locations,
- compare trade-offs quickly.
Algolia’s fast, low-latency retrieval makes the agent feel responsive and intelligent:
- answers arrive instantly,
- follow-up questions stay contextually grounded,
- conversations flow naturally without delays.
Without fast retrieval, the experience would feel like guessing.
With Algolia, the agent feels informed, confident, and trustworthy — critical for high-stakes decisions like housing.
Thanks to Algolia Agent Studio for making it possible to focus on solving a real local problem, not the underlying search plumbing.
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