zillow-icon-newThis coming weekend in Seattle, Zillow is sponsoring a hackathon with participation from the White House, the U.S. Department of Commerce and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and offering up a $10k grand prize for the winner.

It was announced a couple weeks ago, but I didn’t see it until today.

What: Hack Housing: Empowering Smarter Decisions – A Weekend Hackathon

We’re opening Zillow Tower in downtown Seattle for the weekend to develop products and create solutions to aid home buyers and renters with particular needs. Deep housing data is more accessible than ever thanks to companies like Zillow and federal open data efforts. But this wealth of information remains fragmented across a number of dense .gov websites and can be confusing even for the experts.

During this weekend-long hackathon, teams will be asked to come up with creative solutions to make it easier for first-time homebuyers, low-income renters and senior citizens to find a home that meets their needs.

As part of the event, participants will have access to newly released government data sets on topics like federal housing programs, apartment buildings with accessory dwelling units and transit information. In addition, Zillow will make available its data on home values and rents.

  • Where: 1301 2nd Ave , Floor 31, Seattle, WA
  • When: Friday, February 6, 2015 at 6:00 PM Sunday, February 8, 2015 at 4:00 PM (PST)
  • Cost: Free

Prizes:

  • First place team wins $10,000 cash
  • Second place team wins $5,000 cash
  • Third place team wins $3,000 cash

More details can be found on Eventbrite.

Who’s going to hack this weekend?