Fraudsters posing as real estate agents threaten the reputation of real estate agencies in Nigeria.
These fraudsters have continually defrauded unsuspecting members of the public. The major
cause of this lapse is due largely to the fact that there is no known platform provided in the
country that allows members of the public to verify a given real estate agent. This paper aims to
provide support to real estate agency practice in Nigeria by developing a multi-modal listing
service for verifying registered real estate agents and to also provide information on real estates
available for sale, lease or rent. The requirements for the system were gathered through
observation, literature survey and user survey. These requirements were then modelled using the
Unified Modelling Language (UML). The system is developed both as a web and mobile
application using an open source content management system (WordPress). This paper
essentially presents the: requirements gathering process, design and implementation of the multimodal
listing service as well as how it compares with other similar services developed
elsewhere. The multi-modal listing service developed in this study is a welcome development
due to the availability and widespread adoption of the Internet and Internet-enabled mobile
devices in Nigeria. The tool can be of use to the National Association of Estate Agents in Nigeria
- a body saddled with the responsibility of rebranding the real estate agency profession in
Nigeria
