Apex Apartments - Property Rental Management Portal

A full-stack ASP.NET Core MVC web application built with .NET 10, Entity Framework Core, ASP.NET Identity, and Razor for property managers and apartment applicants.

Table of Contents

• Overview
• Prerequisites and Non-Standard Setup
• Architecture and Design Decisions
• Features and Technical Requirements
• Demo Credentials and Quick Switching
• Getting Started and Running
• Running the Unit Tests
• Bonus Capabilities

Overview

Apex Apartments is a property management portal facilitating apartment listings, tenant applications, and lease generation. The application enforces two roles:

• Property Manager: Maintains properties and units via modal dialogues, manages active/inactive unit type lookups, monitors the review queue, and reviews incoming applications to issue 12-month leases.
• Applicant: Discovers available apartments, completes a multi-step single-page rental application wizard, maintains prior residence records via modals, and tracks/resubmits applications.

Prerequisites and Non-Standard Setup

The application employs specific platform dependencies and forward-looking packages that require attention:

1 .NET 10 SDK Requirement

This application explicitly targets net10.0. Building or running on older runtimes (such as .NET 8 or .NET 9) will result in target framework resolution errors.

• Verify your installed SDK version:

dotnet --version

• If the output does not start with 10., install the .NET 10 SDK from Microsoft's download portal before proceeding.

2 SQL Server LocalDB Configuration and Fallback

The application is pre-configured for Windows SQL Server LocalDB via the connection string: Server=(localdb)\mssqllocaldb;Database=PropertyRentalPortalDb;Trusted_Connection=True;MultipleActiveResultSets=true;TrustServerCertificate=True

• Windows LocalDB Verification: If the default mssqllocaldb instance has never been initialized on your machine, initialize and start it:

sqllocaldb create mssqllocaldb
sqllocaldb start mssqllocaldb

• Alternative SQL Server / Docker Container: If running on non-Windows systems, full SQL Server, or a Docker container (mcr.microsoft.com/mssql/server), override the connection string via the ConnectionStrings__DefaultConnection environment variable or in appsettings.json:

"ConnectionStrings": {
  "DefaultConnection": "Server=localhost,1433;Database=PropertyRentalPortalDb;User Id=sa;Password=YourPassword123!;TrustServerCertificate=True;"
}

3 Automated Database Creation and Seeding

Unlike standard ASP.NET Core setups that require executing manual migrations (dotnet ef database update) or running separate SQL seeding scripts:

• Zero-Touch Startup Migration: On initial launch, Program.cs automatically invokes await context.Database.MigrateAsync(). If the database does not exist, it is created automatically.
• Idempotent Bogus Seeding: Seeding runs automatically on startup via DatabaseSeeder.SeedAsync(). It populates all lookups, active and inactive unit types, sample properties, units, and applications in every status (Draft, Submitted, UnderReview, Returned, Approved, Denied, Withdrawn) without requiring any manual database setup.

4 Scalar OpenAPI Endpoint Location

Rather than the traditional Swashbuckle Swagger UI (/swagger/index.html), this .NET 10 project integrates the modern Scalar API Reference engine powered by Microsoft's native Microsoft.AspNetCore.OpenApi:

• Interactive API Documentation UI: http://localhost:5141/scalar/v1
• Raw OpenAPI v1 JSON Schema: http://localhost:5141/openapi/v1.json

Architecture and Design Decisions

The solution is configured for .NET 10 LTS with global.json pinning and includes:

• PropertyRentalPortal.sln & PropertyRentalPortal.slnx: Provides both classic and modern solution files referencing all projects.
• PropertyRentalPortal.Web: The main ASP.NET Core 10 LTS MVC application containing:
  • Controllers for accounts, properties, applications, prior residences, application review, and an OpenAPI-documented REST grid endpoint.
  • Domain entities and ApplicationDbContext with code-first migrations.
  • Business service layer (IApplicationService, IUnitService) isolating core validation, lease checks, and review workflows.
  • Reusable Razor Partial Views for modal forms and wizard sections.
  • Razor View Components (StatusBadge, ApplicationTimeline, PropertyManagerNotes, ReusableGrid).
  • Idempotent database seeder using Bogus for realistic tenant data.
• PropertyRentalPortal.Tests: Comprehensive xUnit test suite containing 21 unit tests validating all business logic, lease conflicts, lookup enforcement, and review outcomes.

Design Highlights

• Single-Page Wizard Pattern: Driven by a single view model (ApplicationWizardViewModel) and one action (ProcessStep). The action evaluates which button was clicked (Back, Continue, Submit), validating and persisting the active section before moving forward.
• Server-Side Section Security: The same partial view dynamically renders as editable or read-only based on the application's lifecycle status. Editing is only permitted for applicants when in Draft or Returned status. Posts attempting unauthorized modifications are rejected on the server.
• Double-Lease Protection: Unit availability requires that no active lease covers the current date. Active lease checks are enforced at unit browsing, at application submission, and again at approval to prevent race conditions.
• Modal Re-rendering via Partial Views: Controller actions return partial views for modals. When model validation fails, the same partial view is returned with validation tags, allowing immediate in-place feedback without closing the modal.
• Unit Type Lookup Enforcement: When creating or editing units, inactive unit types cannot be selected. Units already assigned an inactive unit type display it with an inactive label, but other units cannot adopt it.

Features and Technical Requirements

1 Application Lifecycle and Statuses

Applications progress through clearly defined statuses:

• Draft: Initial state created by an applicant; editable.
• Submitted: Both sections validated and submitted by applicant.
• UnderReview: Claimed by a property manager in the review queue.
• Returned: Returned by a property manager for corrections with mandatory comments; editable by applicant for resubmission.
• Approved: Terminal state; automatically creates and issues a 12-month lease for the unit.
• Denied: Terminal state; denied by a property manager with mandatory comments.
• Withdrawn: Terminal state; withdrawn by applicant.

2 View Components and Partial Views

• View Components:
  • StatusBadgeViewComponent: Renders role-aware status badges with semantic styling and iconography.
  • ApplicationTimelineViewComponent: Displays chronological audit trails of status transitions, review outcomes, authors, timestamps, and feedback comments.
  • PropertyManagerNotesViewComponent: Renders confidential internal management notes; strictly omitted for applicants.
  • ReusableGridViewComponent: Renders database-paged, sortable application listings with queue actions.
• Partial Views:
  • _ApplicantInfoPartial.cshtml: Renders Section 1 in editable or read-only mode.
  • _ResidenceHistoryPartial.cshtml: Renders Section 2 in editable or read-only mode with modal triggers.
  • _ApplicationSummaryPartial.cshtml: Read-only review with readiness validation.
  • _ResidenceModalPartial.cshtml: Modal dialog for adding/editing prior residences.
  • _PropertyModalPartial.cshtml: Modal dialog for creating/updating properties.
  • _UnitModalPartial.cshtml: Modal dialog for creating/updating units with lookup validation.
  • _ReviewModalPartial.cshtml: Modal dialog for approving, returning, or denying applications.

Demo Credentials and Quick Switching

The database seeds default accounts with Bogus-generated applications:

• Property Manager:
  • Email: manager@rental.com
  • Password: Password123!
• Applicant:
  • Email: applicant@rental.com
  • Password: Password123!

A Demo Switch dropdown in the navigation bar enables 1-click role toggling during review.

Getting Started and Running

1 Ensure SQL Server LocalDB is running:

sqllocaldb start mssqllocaldb

2 Run the web application:

cd C:\<your repo directory>\PropertyRentalPortal --launch-profile https
dotnet run --project PropertyRentalPortal.Web/PropertyRentalPortal.Web.csproj

3 Open your browser to http://localhost:5141 or https://localhost:7156.

4 Explore the interactive OpenAPI documentation at http://localhost:5141/scalar/v1.

Running the Unit Tests

Execute the xUnit test suite from the root folder:

dotnet test

All 21 unit tests validate:

• UnitType active/inactive server enforcement.
• Lease term availability covering current dates.
• Double-lease prevention during both submission and approval.
• Single-page wizard validation step requirements.
• Review outcome comment mandates for Return and Deny.
• Review queue claim and release transitions.

Bonus Capabilities

• Bonus 1 - Reusable Grid & OpenAPI: Database-level paging, sorting, and filtering exposed via GET /api/applicationsapi and documented using OpenAPI with Scalar UI at /scalar/v1.
• Bonus 2 - Review Queue: Property managers can claim submitted applications into UnderReview status and release them back to the general queue.
• Bonus 3 - Property Manager Notes: Staff-only notes stored separately and never rendered or returned to applicants.