🏢 RentLens - Advanced Property Rental Platform

RentLens is a next-generation real estate and property rental platform designed to bring transparency, data analytics, and a seamless user experience to the housing market. It bridges the gap between landlords and tenants through an intelligent scoring algorithm, interactive maps, and rich data visualization.

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🌟 Key Features

1. Rent Value Score (RVS) Engine

At the core of RentLens is the Rent Value Score (RVS). Instead of relying purely on subjective opinions, our proprietary algorithm automatically evaluates every property and scores it out of 100 based on:

• Market Price Positioning: Compares the rent to the current global market average.
• Location Proximity: Calculates distance to major transport hubs and universities.
• Facility Richness: Evaluates included amenities (WiFi, AC, Parking, etc.).
• Community Rating: Incorporates verified tenant reviews.

2. Advanced Analytics Dashboard

A powerful data center built for real estate monitoring:

• RVS Distribution (Area Chart): Visualizes the quality of properties across the market.
• Rent by Bedrooms (Bar Chart): Real-time aggregation of average prices based on property size.
• Property Typology (Donut Chart): Breakdown of Houses, Apartments, Rooms, and Commercial spaces.
• Top Ranked Properties: Real-time data table displaying the highest-scoring properties on the platform.

3. Airbnb-Style Map Search

• Split-screen interactive map powered by React-Leaflet and OpenStreetMap.
• Users can visually explore properties across different cities and neighborhoods.
• Live filtering syncs instantly with the map markers.

4. Smart Budget Advisor

• Users input their maximum monthly budget.
• The system automatically retrieves and ranks the best possible properties under that budget using the RVS engine, ensuring users get the best value for their money.

5. Rich Property Listings

• Extensive property details including virtual tours, multi-image masonry galleries, verified badges, and dynamic map pins.
• Landlords can easily list properties with our intuitive, multi-section property submission form, complete with drag-and-drop image uploads.

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🛠️ Technology Stack

Frontend (User Interface)

• Framework: React 18 with Vite
• Styling: Tailwind CSS for a modern, responsive, glassmorphic UI.
• Icons: Lucide React
• Data Visualization: Recharts
• Maps: React-Leaflet & Leaflet.js
• Routing: React Router DOM

Backend (API & Core Logic)

• Framework: Spring Boot 3 (Java 17)
• Data Access: Spring Data JPA / Hibernate
• Database: MySQL
• Validation: Jakarta Bean Validation
• Build Tool: Maven

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🚀 Getting Started

Prerequisites

• Node.js (v18+)
• Java 17+
• MySQL Server (v8+)
• Maven

1. Database Setup

Create a new MySQL database for the application:

CREATE DATABASE rentlens_db;

Ensure your application.properties (in backend/src/main/resources) matches your MySQL credentials:

spring.datasource.username=root
spring.datasource.password=your_password

2. Running the Backend (Spring Boot)

Open a terminal in the backend directory and run:

cd backend
mvn spring-boot:run

Note: The backend runs on http://localhost:8080. On the first startup, the DataSeeder will automatically inject sample properties, users, and reviews into your database.

3. Running the Frontend (React + Vite)

Open a terminal in the frontend directory, install dependencies, and start the development server:

cd frontend
npm install
npm run dev

The frontend will be available at http://localhost:3000.

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📁 Project Structure

RentLens/
├── backend/                  # Spring Boot Application
│   ├── src/main/java/.../
│   │   ├── config/           # CORS, Exception Handling, Data Seeder
│   │   ├── controller/       # REST API Endpoints
│   │   ├── dto/              # Data Transfer Objects
│   │   ├── model/            # JPA Entities (Property, Review, etc.)
│   │   ├── repository/       # Spring Data Repositories
│   │   └── service/          # Business Logic & RVS Algorithm
│   └── pom.xml               # Maven Dependencies
│
└── frontend/                 # React Application
    ├── src/
    │   ├── components/       # Reusable UI components (Navbar, Cards)
    │   ├── pages/            # Application routes (Dashboard, MapSearch, AddProperty)
    │   ├── lib/              # API clients and utilities
    │   └── index.css         # Tailwind global styles
    ├── package.json          # Node dependencies
    └── vite.config.js        # Vite configuration

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🔐 Security & CORS

• The backend is configured to accept Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) from http://localhost:3000 via the CorsConfig class.
• File uploads are securely stored locally, and paths are sanitized to prevent directory traversal attacks.

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🎨 Design Philosophy

RentLens prioritizes Visual Excellence. The UI moves away from generic, flat designs by incorporating:

• Soft shadows and glassmorphism.
• Highly readable, modern typography.
• Color-coded badges (Green/Amber/Red) for instantaneous cognitive recognition of property scores.
• Fluid micro-animations on hover states for an app-like feel.

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Built with ❤️ for the future of real estate.