UnitHub

AI-powered property management for modern landlords

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Inspiration

What it does

How we built it

Challenges we ran into ## Inspiration

Managing rental properties shouldn't require expensive enterprise software or endless spreadsheets. As a landlord myself, I experienced the frustration of juggling tenant communications, rent tracking, maintenance requests, and documents across multiple tools. Existing solutions were either too basic (spreadsheets) or too expensive and complex (enterprise platforms like Buildium at $50-500/month).

I wanted to build something that sits in the sweet spot: powerful enough for professional management, affordable enough for individual landlords.

## What it does

UnitHub is an AI-powered property management platform that helps landlords:

  • Track rent payments with automated reminders and payment history
  • Manage maintenance requests with priority categorization and vendor tracking
  • Store documents securely with AI-powered search (RAG)
  • Sync emails automatically from Gmail to create communication logs
  • Send SMS notifications to tenants via Twilio/TNZ integration
  • Process payments through Stripe with a tenant portal
  • Manage listings with photo galleries and application tracking

## How I built it

UnitHub is a full-stack Next.js 15 application with:

  • Frontend: React 19, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, shadcn/ui components
  • Backend: Next.js Server Actions, API routes
  • Database: Supabase (PostgreSQL) with Row Level Security
  • Auth: Supabase Auth with Google OAuth
  • AI: OpenAI GPT-4 for document search and email categorization
  • Payments: Stripe for subscriptions and tenant payments
  • SMS: Twilio and TNZ for notifications
  • Email: Resend for transactional emails, Gmail API for sync
  • Storage: Supabase Storage for documents and photos
  • Deployment: Vercel

## Challenges I faced

  • Multi-tenant security: Implementing Row Level Security across 11 database tables to ensure users only see their own data
  • Gmail OAuth: Navigating Google's verification process and CASA Tier 2 security assessment
  • Real-time sync: Building a cron job system to sync Gmail emails and auto-match them to tenants using AI
  • Internationalization: Supporting 14 languages with next-intl for global reach

## What I learned

  • The importance of building security-first (RLS policies saved countless hours)
  • AI can dramatically improve UX when applied thoughtfully (email matching, document search)
  • Iterating based on real user feedback is more valuable than building features in isolation

## What's next

  • Tenant-guided inspections: Let tenants complete property inspections via mobile
  • Maintenance marketplace: Connect landlords with vetted contractors
  • Enhanced dashboard widgets: Rent collection progress, vacancy tracking

Accomplishments that we're proud of

What we learned

What's next for UnitHub

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