Real Estate MVC Demo

A mock real-estate web application built with Java, Spring Boot, Thymeleaf, Spring Security, JPA, and MySQL. The project simulates a small listing platform where buyers can browse homes, save favorites, and message agents, while agents manage listings and admins manage users.

Overview

This project was builtt to demonstrate a full-stack server-rendered Spring application with:

• role-based authentication and authorization
• property browsing and detail pages
• agent-managed property listings
• buyer favorites and messaging
• admin tools for managing users and creating agents
• seeded sample data for quick demos

Features

Buyer

• Register and log in
• Browse available properties
• View individual property details
• View saved favorites
• Send messages to listing agents
• Edit profile information and upload a profile picture

Agent

• Log in and access an agent dashboard
• Add, edit, and delete property listings
• Upload property images
• View buyer messages and send replies
• Manage profile information

Admin

• View all users
• Delete users
• Create new agent accounts

Tech Stack

• Java 21
• Spring Boot 3.5
• Spring MVC
• Thymeleaf
• Spring Security
• JWT authentication
• Spring Data JPA / Hibernate
• MySQL
• Maven

Seeded Demo Data

On startup, the app seeds demo users, properties, messages, and favorites through the data initializer.

Included sample content:

• 10 sample property listings
• buyer, agent, and admin accounts
• sample buyer-to-agent messages
• preloaded favorites for buyer accounts

Example demo accounts:

Role	Email	Password
Buyer	johnson@email.com	bj.123
Agent	jackson@email.com	mj.123
Admin	douglas@email.com	jd.123

Additional seeded users are defined in DataInitializer if you want more demo logins.

Local Setup

1. Prerequisites

Make sure you have installed:

• Java 21
• MySQL
• Maven, or use the included Maven wrapper

2. Create the database

The current application properties expect a local MySQL database named real_estate_mvc and these credentials:

• username: realestate
• password: realestate123

You can create them with:

CREATE SCHEMA real_estate_mvc;
CREATE USER 'realestate'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'realestate123';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON real_estate_mvc.* TO 'realestate'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

3. Run the app

From the project root:

./mvnw spring-boot:run

Then open:

http://localhost:8080

Important Configuration Notes

• The app currently uses spring.jpa.hibernate.ddl-auto=create-drop.
• That means the schema is recreated on startup and dropped when the app shuts down.
• This is convenient for demos, but not appropriate for persistent local data.
• Authentication is backed by Spring Security with JWT support and role-based route protection.
• Uploaded images are served from the uploads/ directory at runtime.

Project Structure

src/main/java/com/example/demo
|- config/          Spring Security and web configuration
|- controllers/     MVC controller endpoints
|- dtos/            Request and response DTOs
|- entities/        JPA entities such as User, Property, Favorite, and Message
|- exceptions/      Custom exception types
|- initializers/    Seed data loader
|- jwt/             JWT utilities
|- repositories/    Spring Data repositories
|- services/        Business logic
|- utils/           Filters and support utilities

src/main/resources
|- templates/       Thymeleaf views
|- static/          CSS and image assets
|- application.properties

Main Workflows

• Visitors land on the public home page and can register or log in.
• Buyers can browse listings, open property pages, save favorites, and contact listing agents.
• Agents can manage listings and respond to incoming buyer messages.
• Admins can manage users and create agent accounts.

Testing

Run the test suite with:

./mvnw test

Screens and Templates

The UI is implemented with Thymeleaf templates and custom CSS for pages such as:

• landing page
• dashboard
• property list and property detail views
• favorites
• messages
• profile management
• listing management

Notes

This is a mock showcase project intended to demonstrate a real-estate workflow rather than a production deployment. If you want to keep uploaded files and database records between runs, update the database and file-storage configuration before deployment.