🏠 Rent Tracker – Full Stack Rent Management App

Rent Tracker is a full-stack web application developed as part of a university project for the module Full-Stack Web Development at HWR Berlin. The app supports property owners in managing apartments, tenants, rent payments, and monthly reminders via Telegram and Email integration.

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Table of Contents

• 🏠 Rent Tracker – Full Stack Rent Management App
  • Table of Contents
  • Project Context
  • Getting Started
    • 1. Clone the repository
    • 2. Create a virtual environment & install dependencies
    • 3. Set up environment variables
    • 4. Initialize the database
    • 5. Run the app
  • Demo User for Testing
    • Insert Sample Data
    • Test Credentials
  • Environment Variables
  • Reminders & Integrations
  • Documentation
  • Final Presentation
  • ⚖️ License

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Project Context

• 📅 Project Start: 10 April 2025
• 🎤 Final Presentation: 03 July 2025
• 📌 Final Submission Deadline: 20 July 2025

This application was developed by Denis Cercasin and Caren Kedis as part of the summer semester curriculum.

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Getting Started

To run this project locally:

1. Clone the repository

    git clone https://github.com/DenisCercasin/RentTracker.git
    cd renttracker

2. Create a virtual environment & install dependencies

python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate   # On Windows: venv\Scripts\activate
pip install -r requirements.txt

3. Set up environment variables

Create a .env file in the root directory and define your secrets (see below).

4. Initialize the database

flask init-db

5. Run the app

flask run

The app will be available at http://127.0.0.1:5000.

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Demo User for Testing

The registration flow in Rent Tracker requires a working SendGrid API key to send confirmation emails. However, if you want to try out the app without setting up SendGrid, you can use a predefined test account.

Insert Sample Data

Visit the following route in your browser:

http://127.0.0.1:5000/insert_sample

You’ll see a confirmation message:

Database flushed and populated with some sample data.

This will create:

• A test user with id = 1
• Sample apartments
• Tenants
• Rental agreements
• Rent payments

Test Credentials

You can now go back to the landing page and go to login or directly log in at http://127.0.0.1:5000/login using:

• Email: test@email.com
• Password: Asdf.12345!

Note: This user is automatically confirmed and fully functional. You can access the dashboard, add/edit/delete entries, and explore all features freely. Reminder service will not work without the corresponding API keys.

Environment Variables

The app uses the following environment variables stored in a .env file:

Variable Name	Required?	Description
FLASK_SECRET_KEY	✅ Yes	Secret key for Flask session & CSRF protection
SENDGRID_API_KEY	✅ Yes	Required for sending registration confirmation emails, but test account can be used without it
TELEGRAM_BOT_TOKEN	❌ Optional	Enables Telegram integration for rent reminders

Note: If you don’t want to use SendGrid, use the demo user instead.
Telegram integration is optional – you can use email reminders only.

Reminders & Integrations

Rent Tracker supports automated monthly rent reminders via Telegram Bot and Email.

• Email reminders work out of the box using SendGrid
• Telegram reminders require a connected bot (see integration guide)

For instructions on setting up the Telegram bot and reminder system, refer to our Architecture Guide

Documentation

All documentation is available on our GitHub Pages site:

Project Documentation (GitHub Pages)

Includes:

• Architecture Overview
• Data Model
• Design Decisions
• User Evaluation
• Development Workflow

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Final Presentation

Download our final project presentation (PDF) from 03 July 2025 here:
👉 Rent Tracker – Final Presentation (July 2025)

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⚖️ License

This project is open-source and available under the MIT License