Applicant portal
Registration, profiles, property and application records, document upload and a dashboard showing case progress.
Case Study
We built a property document and case management application from scratch, giving applicants one place to submit documents, follow their case and talk to the professional handling it.
Built for a property services business handling applications that involve documents, reviews and several people.
Real estate and property services. Client and project names are kept confidential.
- Industry
- Real estate and property services
- Project type
- Custom application built from scratch
- Services
- Custom Software Development, Web App Development, CRM and Internal Tools, Security and Data Protection
- Used by
- Applicant, Case handler, Administrator
- Technology
- MongoDB, Express.js, React, Node.js
Overview
Bringing documents, cases and people into one workflow.
From scattered paperwork to one case record
Email attachmentsPaper documentsStatus calls
Case management app
Property applications rarely involve one person. An applicant supplies documents, a professional reviews them, someone approves the result and everyone wants to know where things stand. When that runs on email and attachments, the applicant is left guessing and the handler is left chasing.
We built a property document and case management application that connects document handling, case tracking, human review and applicant visibility in one place.
The problem
Applicants and handlers were working without a shared view.
Each case depended on documents moving between applicants and the professionals reviewing them. Without a central system, documents were hard to keep organised, responsibility for a case was not always clear and applicants had little sense of progress.
The business needed a structured way to receive documents, assign cases, review them and keep applicants informed, with the right people seeing the right information.
Documents arrived through different channels
It was not always clear who owned a case
Applicants could not see their progress
Conversations sat outside the case record
Reviews and approvals had no fixed structure
Sensitive documents needed controlled access
What needed to change
Deciding how a case should move from submission to outcome.
We mapped the journey for applicants, handlers and administrators before writing code, and used these questions to shape the workflow and the roadmap.
Questions we worked through
- Should each case type carry a required-document checklist with missing-item alerts?
- How should resubmitted or replaced documents be handled during review?
- Would handlers benefit from assignment queues, priorities or deadline tracking?
- Which actions should be recorded in a case timeline or audit history?
- Would email or SMS reminders help applicants respond sooner?
- What reporting would administrators need on case volume?
The solution
A MERN case management application built around the case record.
We built the application from scratch on MongoDB, Express.js, React and Node.js. Every case links the applicant, the property record, the uploaded documents, the assigned handler and the conversation, with status updates moving through an approval workflow.
Applicant account
Document upload
Case record
Assigned handler review
Approval and status updates
Document management
Stores and organises uploaded documents against the right case for review.
Case workflow
Creates cases, assigns them to a handler and moves them through review, approval and status changes.
Communication
Lets applicants and their assigned professional talk inside the case, with notifications on status changes.
Administration and access
Role-based access and admin tools for managing users, assignments and case activity.
How the workflow works
How a case moves through the application.
The workflow mirrors how the business already worked, but every step now happens in one shared record.
- 01
Register
The applicant creates an account and sets up their profile.
- 02
Submit the application
They create a property application and upload the supporting documents.
- 03
Case created and assigned
A case is opened and assigned to a professional, whose details the applicant can see.
- 04
Document review
The handler reviews the documents and requests more information where needed.
- 05
Status updates
The handler updates the case status, and the applicant is notified of progress.
- 06
Communicate
Applicant and handler message each other inside the case.
- 07
Approval and outcome
The case moves through the approval workflow and the applicant receives the outcome.
Who uses it
Three roles, each with the view they need.
Role-based access means each person sees the cases and documents that belong to them.
Applicant
Creates an account, submits an application and documents, tracks status and talks to the assigned handler until the outcome arrives.
Case handler
Receives assignments, reviews cases and documents, requests extra information, updates status and moves each case through the workflow.
Administrator
Manages users, assignments, statuses and permissions, with oversight of overall case activity.
Role-based access
Each person sees the part of the case they need.
Applicants, case handlers and administrators work in the same system with different permissions.
| Applicant | Case handler | Admin | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Submit an application and upload documents | |||
| Track case status and progress | |||
| Message about the case | |||
| Review documents and request information | |||
| Move the case through the workflow | |||
| Manage users, assignments and permissions |
Key features
What the application includes.
Registration and login
Applicants and staff each have their own secure account.
Document upload and storage
Documents are uploaded, stored and organised against the right case.
Case creation and assignment
Each case is created and assigned to a named professional.
Document review
Handlers review submitted documents inside the case.
Approval workflow
Cases move through defined review and approval stages.
Applicant dashboard
Applicants see their case status and progress in one place.
Applicant and handler messaging
Conversations stay attached to the case they belong to.
Role-based access
Applicants, handlers and admins see only what their role allows.
Business value
What changed for applicants and the team.
The application replaced guesswork with a shared, structured record that every party can rely on.
Before
- Documents spread across channels
- Unclear case ownership
- Applicants chasing for updates
- Messages outside the case
- Loose review steps
After
- Documents organised per case
- A named handler on every case
- Progress visible on the dashboard
- Conversation kept with the case
- A defined approval workflow
The outcome
A digital workflow for multi-party property cases.
The application connects document management, case tracking, human review and applicant visibility, which is where the real value of the project sits.
- Applicants can see where their case stands
- Every case has a clear owner
- Documents are stored in one organised place
- Communication stays with the case it relates to
- Administrators have oversight of users, assignments and case activity
Services in this project
The services behind this system.
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