Murugo Real Estate - Complete Development Journey
A comprehensive technical deep-dive into building Rwanda’s first real estate platform. This series documents the complete journey from initial concept to production deployment, covering every major challenge and decision along the way.
Project Overview
Murugo is a real estate platform designed to modernize the property market in Rwanda. Built with Laravel and deployed using Docker, the platform connects landlords, renters, and buyers in a seamless and efficient way.
This project was developed as part of the MIT Emerging Talent Program, demonstrating the intersection of academic excellence and real-world problem solving.
The Complete Journey
1. From Idea to MVP - Building Rwanda’s First Comprehensive Real Estate Platform
September 14, 2025
The story of how Murugo went from a simple idea to a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). Learn about the problem we set out to solve, why we chose Laravel, and the core features that made up our initial release.
2. The Database Dilemma - Why We Started with SQLite and When We Knew We Had to Change
September 25, 2025
Every developer faces the database choice dilemma. This post explores why we started with SQLite for rapid prototyping and the performance bottlenecks that forced us to migrate to PostgreSQL.
3. Property Management Hell - How We Solved the Array-to-String Conversion Nightmare
October 02, 2025
Managing thousands of properties requires a robust system. This post covers the challenges of building a scalable property management system and the solutions we implemented.
4. Image Upload Chaos - From Broken Forms to Seamless File Management
October 05, 2025
File uploads can make or break a real estate platform. Learn about the challenges of handling image uploads at scale and the solutions we implemented for storage, processing, and delivery.
5. Navigation Nightmare: How We Solved Desktop Clutter and Mobile Responsiveness
October 12, 2025
User experience is crucial for any platform. This post covers the challenges of building an intuitive navigation system and the user research that guided our design decisions.
6. Session Security for Financial Apps: Why Standard Security Wasn’t Enough
October 13, 2025
When building a platform that will handle payments, standard security isn’t enough. Learn about the multi-layered session security approach we implemented to protect our users.
7. The Docker Deployment Saga: From Local Development to Production
October 22, 2025
The final chapter covers our journey from local development to production deployment using Docker. Learn about the challenges of containerization and the automated deployment process we created.
Key Technologies
- Backend: Laravel (PHP)
- Database: PostgreSQL
- Frontend: Blade templates with Vite
- Deployment: Docker & Docker Compose
- Security: Multi-layered session management
- Storage: File system with symbolic links
Lessons Learned
This series represents a comprehensive look at building a real-world application from scratch. Each post covers specific challenges and the solutions we implemented, providing valuable insights for developers working on similar projects.
The journey from idea to production taught us about:
- Rapid prototyping vs. scalable architecture
- Database selection and migration strategies
- Security considerations for financial applications
- Containerization and deployment automation
- User experience design for complex platforms
Project Impact
Murugo has become a valuable resource for the Rwandan real estate market, providing a centralized platform for property listings and connecting landlords with potential tenants and buyers. The technical challenges we overcame and documented in this series serve as a guide for other developers building similar platforms.