Building Nekst Directory: A Two-Sided Marketplace MVP for Real Estate Professionals

The Challenge

Nekst.com had already built a successful transaction management platform helping real estate agents streamline the complex process of property purchases. Their users faced a recurring problem: finding qualified professionals to support transactions.

The market gap they identified:

• Real estate agents constantly search for transaction coordinators, virtual assistants, marketing specialists, and admin support
• No centralized directory existed for vetted real estate service professionals
• Agents needed to filter by location, tools, skills, and availability to find suitable partners
• Quality control was critical. Generic freelance marketplaces had too much noise

The strategic opportunity: A professional directory would serve two purposes:

1. Solve an immediate pain point for their existing user base
2. Introduce new professionals to the Nekst platform, expanding their ecosystem

They needed to validate demand quickly with an MVP that felt polished enough to represent their brand but flexible enough to evolve based on user feedback.

The Solution: Nekst Directory

We built a two-sided marketplace connecting real estate agents with qualified service professionals. The focus was on three critical user experiences: professional onboarding, agent discovery, and quality control.

View more at: directory.nekst.com

Core Features

Professional Onboarding & Profile Builder:

• Multi-step registration flow guiding professionals through profile creation
• Service category selection (transaction coordinator, admin, VA, marketing, etc.)
• Geographic coverage settings (cities, regions, states)
• Tool proficiency indicators (Nekst, DocuSign, Transaction Desk, etc.)
• Skills and specialization tagging
• Rate and availability information
• Portfolio and credential uploads
• Progressive disclosure design to prevent overwhelm

Agent Search & Discovery:

• Advanced filtering by service type, location, tools, and skills
• Visual profile cards with key information at a glance
• Bookmark functionality to save promising candidates
• Direct contact capabilities (email, phone, website)
• Mobile-responsive design for on-the-go searching
• Results sorted by relevance and profile completeness

Admin Approval & Quality Control:

• Backend dashboard for Nekst team to review submissions
• Approval workflow with notes and status tracking
• Profile visibility controls (draft, pending, approved, rejected)
• Bulk approval capabilities for efficiency
• Email notifications for status changes
• Quality metrics dashboard

Two-Sided Value Delivery:

• Professionals gain visibility to agents actively seeking help
• Agents discover pre-vetted, qualified service providers
• Nekst strengthens ecosystem and platform adoption
• Foundation for future premium features and monetization

Technical Architecture

Built for rapid validation and future expansion:

• Next.js for server-side rendering and SEO optimization
• React for interactive search and filtering
• Tailwind CSS for professional, responsive design
• Firebase for authentication, database, and file storage
• Role-based access control (professionals, agents, admins)
• Scalable architecture ready for feature additions

The codebase was structured with expansion in mind. As user feedback reveals what features matter most, new capabilities can be added without rebuilding.

Early Results & Learning Goals

Since this is a newly launched MVP, the focus is on validation metrics rather than scale metrics.

Validation Questions We're Testing

For Professionals:

• Do transaction coordinators and service providers see value in creating detailed profiles?
• Which profile features drive the most engagement?
• What motivates professionals to complete their profiles fully?
• Do they understand the approval process?

For Agents:

• Do agents actually search for professionals this way?
• Which filters and search criteria matter most?
• Is bookmarking useful, or do they contact immediately?
• What information is missing from profiles?

For Nekst:

• Does the directory introduce new users to the Nekst platform?
• Do working relationships formed through the directory lead to Nekst adoption?
• What quality issues emerge that need better vetting?
• Should this be free, freemium, or paid in the future?

Strategic Impact

The directory creates multiple growth loops:

1. Network effect: More professionals attract more agents. More agents attract more professionals.
2. Platform adoption: Professionals using the directory discover Nekst's transaction tools.
3. Quality signal: Approved profiles become a trust marker in the industry.
4. Data learning: Search patterns reveal what agents need most.

What Made This Work

MVP Mindset with Quality Bar: We built just enough to test the core hypothesis: Will agents and professionals use a vetted directory to find each other? But we didn't compromise on UX. The onboarding had to feel professional. The search had to work smoothly. First impressions matter, even in MVPs.

Sophisticated Onboarding as Competitive Moat: Most marketplaces make signup too easy, leading to low-quality profiles. We designed a detailed onboarding flow that:

• Filters out unqualified applicants (effort creates self-selection)
• Collects rich data for better matching
• Sets quality expectations from the start
• Gives Nekst meaningful information for approval decisions

Admin Tools from Day One: Many MVPs skip admin functionality. We built it first. Nekst needed to maintain quality control from launch. The approval workflow ensures every professional meets their standards before agents see them.

Built for Learning: We didn't build every feature we imagined. We built the minimum needed to test the concept, with a foundation that makes adding features fast. What do users ask for next? That becomes the roadmap.

Development Timeline

• Week 1: Discovery, user flow mapping, and wireframes
• Week 2: User registrations and admin panel for approval flow
• Week 3: Core development (onboarding, search and filters)
• Week 4: Bookmarks and contact feature, testing and deployments
• Post-Launch: Monitoring usage patterns and gathering feedback

The Business Strategy

This MVP serves multiple strategic purposes:

Immediate Value: Solves a real problem for Nekst's existing user base. Agents need professionals. Now there's a place to find them.

Ecosystem Expansion: Every professional who joins the directory is a potential Nekst platform user. The directory is lead generation for their core product.

Platform Stickiness: Agents who find great professionals through Nekst Directory have another reason to stay in the Nekst ecosystem. It's not just transaction software anymore. It's a professional network.

Future Monetization Options: The MVP is free while testing demand. But it creates optionality:

• Premium profiles for professionals
• Featured listings
• Advanced search for agents
• Verified badge program
• Integration with Nekst's transaction tools

Data and Insights: Every search, bookmark, and contact reveals what the market needs. This data informs both directory improvements and Nekst's core platform roadmap.

Lessons for Other Product Teams

Two-sided marketplaces are hard, but MVP testing is possible: You don't need thousands of users to validate the concept. You need enough supply (professionals) to make search useful and enough demand (agents) to make joining worthwhile. Start with one geography or specialty if needed.

Quality control is a feature, not a nice-to-have: The approval workflow isn't friction. It's a competitive advantage. It signals to agents that profiles are vetted. It signals to professionals that this is a serious platform. Generic marketplaces fail because they optimize for quantity over quality.

Onboarding is where you differentiate: Anyone can build a directory. Not everyone can build an onboarding flow that collects rich data while feeling effortless. The effort we put into guided profile creation became a moat. Low-effort competitors will have low-quality listings.

Build for learning, not perfection: We shipped without messaging features. Without reviews. Without payment processing. Those might matter later. Right now, we need to know: Will people use this at all? MVPs answer one question well. Everything else is iteration.

MVPs still need to represent your brand: This isn't a throwaway prototype. It has Nekst's name on it. The UX had to feel professional. The design had to feel polished. "Move fast" doesn't mean "ship garbage." It means "ship the smallest thing that's actually good."

MVP / Real Estate Technology

“From start to finish, Francois and his team are able to deliver a well thought out, expertly designed and well built product in such a short amount of time. His team takes care of a lot of the little details and just knows the right way to build software. Highly recommended!”

Nekst Directory represents a classic UX-first MVP project: 4-6 weeks of development, focused on validating demand with quality execution. The foundation is built. Now we learn what users actually need.

Want to build an MVP that's good enough to validate demand? Schedule a discovery call to discuss your concept and validation strategy.