PropFind - Real Estate Platform

Project Overview

My Responsibilities

• Application Architecture: Designed the Next.js App Router structure, API route layout, and data flow between the frontend, backend, and MongoDB.
• Backend Development: Built REST API routes for authentication (signup, login, logout, session check) and property management (create, list with pagination, fetch by ID) using Next.js Route Handlers.
• Database Design: Designed Mongoose schemas for Property (title, description, price, location, property type, status, features, images, owner reference) and User (name, email, hashed password).
• Authentication & Security: Implemented JWT-based authentication with bcrypt password hashing, httpOnly cookies, and a `jose`-based middleware layer that guards protected routes.
• Media Handling: Integrated Cloudinary for property image uploads and built the multi-image upload UI with client-side previews.
• Frontend Development: Built all pages (home, listings, property details, add property, login, signup) and shared components (navbar, footer, hero, search bar, testimonials) using React 19 and Tailwind CSS.
• Component Library Integration: Assembled a shared UI kit from Radix UI primitives (dialogs, tabs, sliders, selects, dropdowns, etc.) styled with Tailwind for consistent design across the app.
• State & Auth Context: Built a React context for authentication state so login/logout status and user info are available throughout the component tree.
• Forms & Validation: Implemented controlled forms for login, signup, property creation, and contact inquiries, with client-side feedback and error handling.

Key Features

• Property Listings: Homepage and listings page display properties fetched from the database, with property cards showing price, location, type, and key features (area, bedrooms, bathrooms).
• Property Detail Pages: Dynamic property pages with an image gallery/carousel, tabbed content (Description, Details, Amenities), agent contact info, and a direct inquiry form.
• Add Property Workflow: Multi-step property creation form with multi-image upload (via Cloudinary), amenity selection, and a live preview card that updates as the form is filled out.
• Authentication System: Email/password signup and login with bcrypt password hashing, JWT issuance, and httpOnly auth cookies; includes session persistence via a `/api/auth/me` check and a global auth context used across the app.
• Protected Routes: Centralized Next.js middleware verifies the JWT on every request and redirects unauthenticated users to the login page (with a return-to path), while keeping marketing pages public.
• Image Upload Pipeline: Property images are uploaded as base64 payloads and stored in Cloudinary, with URLs and public IDs persisted on the property document.
• Contact Agent Inquiries: Visitors can submit an inquiry from a property page; the API resolves the property owner and records the inquiry details.
• Search & Filtering UI: Listings page supports filtering by status, property type, price range, bedroom/bathroom count, and "featured" flag, plus sorting by price, size, beds, and baths.
• Paginated Property API: The property listing endpoint supports page/limit query params and returns total counts for pagination.
• Responsive Design: Fully responsive layout with a mobile navigation menu, built entirely with Tailwind CSS and Radix UI primitives.
• Toast Notifications: User feedback for form submissions, uploads, and errors handled via Sonner toasts.