Zoning Code Reviewer (US Real Estate Software) - Part-Time, 20 hrs/week, $5/hr

THE JOB IN ONE SENTENCE

Check the zoning numbers Lot Decoder uses against each US city's official code and fix every wrong one before a user sees it.

• Hours: 20 hours a week, on your own schedule, Monday to Friday
• Pay: $5/hr, as an independent contractor
• Where: remote, Philippines-based
• Team: you, a Price Accuracy Checker, and a full-time User Tester whose job is to find mistakes for both of you

WHAT IS LOT DECODER?

Agents, investors and builders type in an address. Lot Decoder tells them what they can build on that lot and what it might cost and earn, in any US city. That answer depends on the right zoning numbers: minimum lot size, height, setbacks and more. Your job is to make those numbers right.

WHAT WE EXPECT FROM YOU

This is a high-output role. These are the numbers you'll be measured on every week.

• Conflicts cleared: within 1 business day
• Re-checks cleared: within 3 business days
• New zones fully checked (all 10 numbers): Weeks 1–2: 20 a week; Weeks 3–4: 30 a week; Week 5 on: 40 a week
• Guessed zones answered: within 2 business days
• Zoning defects from the User Tester answered: within 1 business day
• Accuracy on the owner's spot check (5 random approvals a week): 98%

Two rules never bend:

1. Never guess. A blank is better than a wrong number. A guessed number counts as an error.
2. Never leave a conflict overnight. A conflict means some users may be seeing the wrong number right now.

Missing the weekly targets two weeks in a row means we talk about whether the role is a fit.

YOUR DAILY ROUTINE

Do these in order, every working day. Steps 1 to 4 come first. Only start Step 5 when they're done.

Step 1: Check your queues (5 minutes)

1. Log in and go to the review page.
2. Write down the number on each tab: Conflicts, Re-check, Needs review, Guessed zones, Prices.
3. Open the Defect tracker (a shared sheet from the owner) and filter to Type = Zoning, Status = New.
4. Post the numbers in the team chat in one line, like this: "Zoning: 2 conflicts, 1 re-check, 48 needs review, 3 guessed, 2 tester defects."

Step 2: Clear every conflict

1. Click the Conflicts tab.
2. For each one, click Open source and find the number in the city's official code.
3. If the approved number is still right, click Reject on the new one.
4. If the city changed its code, click Undo on the old number, then approve the new one.
5. Keep going until the tab shows 0.

Step 3: Answer the User Tester's zoning defects

1. In the Defect tracker, open each row with Type = Zoning, Status = New.
2. Put your name in Claimed by.
3. Open the report link in the row and find the zone.
4. Check the number the tester flagged against the official code, using "How to check one zone" below.
5. Fix it on the review page if it's wrong.
6. In the tracker, set Status to Fixed, Not a defect or Needs owner, and write one line explaining why, with the code link.

Step 4: Clear re-checks and guessed zones

1. Re-check tab: open the code and compare each number. If nothing changed, click Still correct. If something changed, fix it and approve it again.
2. Guessed zones tab: look up the lot on the county's official zoning map, type the right zone, paste the map link and click Send. The owner approves it and the report re-runs.

Step 5: Check new zones (the rest of your hours)

1. Open the Needs review tab. The busiest zones are at the top.
2. Start at the top. Check every zone completely, all 10 numbers, using "How to check one zone" below.
3. If a zone has something unusual (an overlay district, or a limit that depends on the lot), type it in the zone's Note for buyers box. Users see it as "Confirm with the city."
4. When the owner sends a list of upcoming cities, use Add zones ahead of searches: type any address in that city and the zone codes from its zoning map. The zones show up in Needs review the next day.

Step 6: Log your day (5 minutes)

In the Hours sheet, write your hours split by queue: Conflicts, Re-check, Needs review, Guessed zones, Tester defects, and Prices (if you helped the Price Checker).

HOW TO CHECK ONE ZONE

Each zone has up to 10 numbers: lot size, lot width, homes per acre, height, stories, lot coverage, floor area ratio, and front, side and rear setbacks.

For each number:

1. Click "Open source".
2. Find the number in the city's official code. Use only the code itself: Municode, American Legal, eCode360, or the city's or county's own website.
3. Pick one: Approve (the number matches the code), Reject (the number is wrong), or Enter the number (none of the numbers are right, or there's only text: type the number, paste the exact words from the code, and paste the link).
4. Skip it if the code doesn't set that number. Don't guess.

A practiced reviewer checks a full zone in about 15 to 20 minutes. Once you approve a number, every report in that zone uses it right away.

SIX RULES FOR READING CODE

1. Use the normal lot. Skip special rows like "cluster", "corner lot" or "accessory building".
2. Side setback means one side, not both sides added together.
3. If the code gives a range, use the smallest number.
4. Lot size in square feet. 1 acre = 43,560 sq ft.
5. Height in feet and stories are separate numbers. Don't convert one into the other.
6. Only trust the official code. Never use a real estate website, a summary or an AI answer.

When you're not sure, skip it and put it in your weekly note.

HELPING THE PRICE ACCURACY CHECKER

You and the Price Accuracy Checker cover for each other. Neither of you should ever sit idle while the other has a backlog.

When you help them: your Conflicts, Re-check and Guessed zones tabs are at 0, your tester defects are answered, and Needs review has fewer than 10 zones. Then spend the rest of your hours on their work.

How:

1. Post in the team chat: "Zoning queue is light. Taking Prices from the top."
2. Open the Prices tab and work it from the top, using the Price Checker's "How to check one price" steps (the owner gives you their guide).
3. Or take Defect tracker rows with Type = Price, Status = New. Put your name in Claimed by first so you don't both work the same row.
4. Log those hours under Prices.

When they help you: if the Price Checker posts that they're taking zones, take zones from the top of Needs review, and they'll take them from the bottom. That way you never check the same zone twice.

Before you help: in your first week, you'll check 5 price items with the Price Checker reviewing your answers, and they'll check 5 zones with you reviewing theirs. After that, you can both work either queue.

YOUR WEEKLY NOTE (FRIDAY, 10 MINUTES)

Send the owner 5 lines:

1. Zones fully checked this week, and your target.
2. Conflicts and re-checks cleared, and how fast.
3. Tester defects answered: how many were fixed and how many were not defects.
4. Hours spent helping on prices.
5. Anything strange, such as an overlay district, a city whose code website wouldn't load, or a number that depends on the lot.

WHO WE'RE LOOKING FOR

• You've read US city or county zoning codes before. Planning, zoning or permit work is ideal.
• You're fast and careful at the same time, and you quote the code word for word.
• You can keep up a steady weekly output without being chased.
• A plus: GIS or map experience, codes from several US states, or experience pricing homes.

HOW IT STARTS

1. Paid trial: check 10 zones in up to 3 hours, paid at $5/hr. We grade every number.
2. 60 days: we review your accuracy, speed and weekly targets together.
3. Contract: independent contractor agreement with confidentiality and work-for-hire terms.

Your access: your own login that opens the review page only. No billing, customers or reports list.

Please note: your approvals confirm the numbers match the code. They aren't official city decisions, and reports still tell users to confirm with the city.

TO APPLY

Send:

1. A few lines about your zoning or planning experience and which US states you've worked with.
2. Confirm that $5/hr for 20 hours a week works for you.
3. One example: a US zone you know, its minimum lot size and front setback, with the link and the exact code words.
4. How many zones you think you could fully check in a 20-hour week, and why.