RentLah!

🏠 RentLah! is a web app that helps students find safe, verified and, affordable housing near campus with filters, maps, and messaging — making the rental search easy and scam-free.

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🧠 Inspiration

As international students in Singapore, we faced immense stress while searching for safe and affordable housing near campus — navigating unfamiliar rental markets, avoiding scams, and finding compatible roommates. That experience inspired us to build RentLah!, a platform tailored to solve these exact problems for future students.

💡 What It Does

RentLah! is a web app that helps students find verified, safe, and affordable housing near universities in Singapore. It includes:

  • 🏠 Verified listings
  • 🗺️ Google Maps integration for location-based search
  • 📊 Budget and campus distance filters
  • 💬 Built-in chat with landlords and potential roommates
  • 🌐 Modern, responsive UI with light/dark mode
  • ⭐ Community reviews

🛠️ How We Built It

  • Frontend: React.js + Next.js with Tailwind CSS and shadcn/ui
  • Backend: Node.js (API routes via Next.js)
  • Deployment: Vercel
  • Database: Postgresql
  • Authentication: BetterAuth
  • Extras: Type-safe forms, in-app messaging, and clean component structure

We structured the project to support scalability, with reusable components, utility functions, and environment configs. The directory includes logical separation between pages, components, hooks, and styles.

🚧 Challenges We Ran Into

  • Starting web development from scratch as beginners
  • Connecting frontend and backend smoothly
  • Maintaining type safety and code readability as the project grew

🏆 Accomplishments That We’re Proud Of

  • Built a fully working chat system
  • Designed a type-safe form for housing submissions
  • Created an aesthetic, responsive UI with light/dark modes
  • Implemented secure, frictionless authentication

📚 What We Learned

  • Deepened our understanding of React and Next.js
  • Learned to debug more efficiently and collaborate using GitHub
  • Gained confidence in designing scalable web apps from scratch

🚀 What’s Next for RentLah!

  • Add real-world property listings
  • Partner with real estate agents and landlords
  • Implement in-app contract signing that follows Singapore legal standards — helping students avoid risky rental terms

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