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@xnodeoncode xnodeoncode released this 11 Mar 10:14
· 1 commit to main since this release

Nine. v1.0.0 - Release Notes

Release Date: March 2, 2026
Product: Nine.
Version: 1.0.0
Status: General Availability (GA)


πŸŽ‰ Welcome to Nine. v1.0.0!

This is the first production release of Nine. β€” a modern desktop property management system designed specifically for landlords and real estate investors managing up to nine residential rental properties.


πŸ“‹ Executive Summary

What is Nine.?

Nine. is a standalone desktop application that helps landlords efficiently manage their rental properties, tenants, leases, finances, and maintenance β€” all in one place. Built with modern technology and designed for simplicity, it provides professional-grade features without the complexity or costs of enterprise solutions.

Target Audience

  • Real estate investors managing up to 9 residential rental properties
  • Independent landlords who want to self-manage their portfolio
  • New investors building their rental business

Key Differentiators

Feature Nine. Nine. Professional (Future)
Properties Up to 9 Unlimited
Users 3 (1 system + 2 login) Unlimited
Organizations 1 Multiple
Deployment Desktop (Electron) Web + Desktop
Target Landlords / Investors Property management companies
Licensing One-time purchase Subscription
Complexity Simplified workflows Advanced features

✨ What's New in v1.0.0

Property Management

Core Features:

  • βœ… Property portfolio management β€” Track up to 9 residential properties
  • βœ… Property profiles β€” Complete property information with photos and documents
  • βœ… Property types β€” Single Family, Multi-Family, Apartment, Condo, Townhouse
  • βœ… Property status tracking β€” Available, Occupied, Under Renovation, Off Market
  • βœ… Unit management β€” Track individual units within multi-family properties
  • βœ… Property documents β€” Store leases, certificates, insurance documents (10MB per file)
  • βœ… Property inspections β€” Routine, move-in, move-out, maintenance inspections with 26-item checklist

Property Lifecycle:

  1. Add property details (address, type, units, rent)
  2. Upload photos and documents
  3. Mark property as Available
  4. Receive applications from prospects
  5. Create lease and convert prospect to tenant
  6. Property automatically marked as Occupied
  7. Schedule routine inspections
  8. Track maintenance and repairs
  9. Handle lease expiration and renewal

Tenant Management

Prospect-to-Tenant Journey:

  • βœ… Prospect tracking β€” Capture leads and inquiries
  • βœ… Tour scheduling β€” Schedule and track property tours
  • βœ… Rental applications β€” Digital application submission with income verification
  • βœ… Application screening β€” Background and credit check tracking
  • βœ… Application approval/denial β€” Streamlined decision workflow
  • βœ… Tenant conversion β€” Automatic conversion from prospect to tenant with audit trail
  • βœ… Tenant profiles β€” Complete tenant information with contact details and emergency contacts

Tenant Statuses:

Inquiry β†’ Tour Scheduled β†’ Toured β†’ Application Submitted β†’ Under Review β†’ Application Approved/Denied β†’ Lease Offered β†’ Lease Accepted/Declined β†’ Converted to Tenant

Lease Management

Lease Features:

  • βœ… Lease creation β€” Generate leases from approved applications
  • βœ… Lease terms β€” Start date, end date, monthly rent, security deposit
  • βœ… Lease status β€” Draft, Offered, Active, Expired, Terminated
  • βœ… Lease offers β€” Generate lease offers with 30-day expiration
  • βœ… Lease acceptance β€” Digital lease acceptance with signature audit trail (IP, timestamp, user ID)
  • βœ… Multi-lease support β€” Tenants can have multiple active leases simultaneously
  • βœ… Lease expiration tracking β€” Automatic notifications 60/30/14 days before expiration
  • βœ… Lease renewal β€” Streamlined renewal workflow
  • βœ… Lease termination β€” Handle early termination with reason tracking
  • βœ… Lease documents β€” Generate PDF lease agreements with QuestPDF

Security Deposit Investment Model:

  • βœ… Pooled investment approach β€” All security deposits invested collectively
  • βœ… Annual dividend distribution β€” Earnings distributed to tenants annually
  • βœ… Pro-rated dividends β€” Dividends calculated based on move-in date (mid-year = 50%)
  • βœ… Tenant choice β€” Apply as lease credit OR receive as check
  • βœ… Loss protection β€” Organization absorbs investment losses (no negative dividends)
  • βœ… Multi-lease dividends β€” Each active lease receives separate dividend
  • βœ… Post-move-out dividends β€” Dividends sent to forwarding address if tenant has moved out

Financial Management

Invoice & Payment Tracking:

  • βœ… Automated invoicing β€” Recurring rent invoices generated monthly
  • βœ… Invoice types β€” Rent, Late Fee, Maintenance, Utilities, Other
  • βœ… Invoice status β€” Pending, Paid, Partial, Overdue, Cancelled
  • βœ… Payment recording β€” Track payments by method (Cash, Check, Credit Card, ACH, Online Portal)
  • βœ… Payment allocation β€” Automatic invoice status updates based on payments
  • βœ… Late fee automation β€” Automatic late fee application after grace period (configurable)
  • βœ… Financial reports β€” Income statements, payment history, outstanding balances

Late Fee System:

  • Configurable grace period (default: 5 days after due date)
  • Automatic late fee application via background task (runs daily at 2 AM)
  • Late fee amount: Configurable percentage or flat fee
  • One-time late fee per invoice (no duplicate fees)

Security Deposit Tracking:

  • Security deposit collection at lease signing
  • Investment pool tracking and annual performance
  • Dividend calculation and distribution
  • Refund processing at lease termination

Maintenance & Inspections

Maintenance Requests:

  • βœ… Request tracking β€” Create and manage repair requests
  • βœ… Request types β€” Emergency, Urgent, Routine
  • βœ… Request status β€” New, Assigned, In Progress, Completed, Cancelled
  • βœ… Priority levels β€” Critical, High, Medium, Low
  • βœ… Vendor assignment β€” Track which vendor is handling the request
  • βœ… Cost tracking β€” Record estimated and actual costs
  • βœ… Completion notes β€” Document what was done and parts used
  • βœ… Request history β€” Full audit trail of all actions

Inspection System:

  • βœ… Inspection types β€” Routine, Move-In, Move-Out, Maintenance
  • βœ… 26-item checklist β€” Comprehensive checklist covering 5 categories:
    • Exterior (4 items)
    • Interior (6 items)
    • Kitchen (4 items)
    • Bathroom (4 items)
    • Systems (8 items)
  • βœ… Inspection scheduling β€” Schedule recurring routine inspections
  • βœ… Inspection results β€” Pass/Fail/Needs Repair for each item
  • βœ… Inspection notes β€” Document findings and required actions
  • βœ… PDF generation β€” Create inspection reports with QuestPDF
  • βœ… Automatic scheduling β€” Move-in inspections auto-scheduled at lease start

Calendar & Scheduling

  • βœ… Event management β€” Schedule tours, inspections, maintenance appointments
  • βœ… Event types β€” Tour, Inspection, Maintenance, Payment Due, Other
  • βœ… Calendar view β€” Month view with color-coded events
  • βœ… Automated events β€” Rent due dates, lease expiration reminders, scheduled inspections

Notifications & Communications

  • βœ… In-app notifications β€” Real-time notifications within application
  • βœ… Email notifications β€” Automated emails via SendGrid (optional)
  • βœ… SMS notifications β€” Text message alerts via Twilio (optional)
  • βœ… Notification preferences β€” User-configurable notification settings
  • βœ… Notification center β€” Centralized management with read/unread tracking

Database & Security

  • βœ… SQLite file-based database β€” No server required
  • βœ… Database encryption at rest β€” SQLCipher AES-256
  • βœ… OS keychain integration β€” Secure password management (Linux Secret Service / Windows DPAPI)
  • βœ… Automatic schema migrations β€” EF Core managed migrations
  • βœ… Manual and scheduled backups β€” With staged restore and preview
  • βœ… Content Security Policy (CSP) headers β€” XSS protection

Multi-User & Access Control

  • βœ… Role-based access control β€” Administrator, Property Manager, Tenant
  • βœ… Maximum 3 users β€” 1 system account + 2 login users
  • βœ… Organization isolation β€” Multi-tenant data separation enforced at model level

Desktop Application

  • βœ… Native desktop experience β€” via ElectronNET on Linux and Windows
  • βœ… Linux AppImage β€” Nine-1.0.0-x86_64.AppImage with desktop integration script
  • βœ… Windows NSIS Installer β€” Nine-1.0.0-x64-Setup.exe
  • βœ… Windows Portable β€” Nine-1.0.0-x64-Portable.exe
  • βœ… AppImageHub catalog integration β€” Embedded license metadata

πŸ”„ Breaking Changes

Clean v1.0.0 Release

This is a first release with no upgrade path from any previous versions:

  • All database migrations are squashed into a single initial migration
  • Database schema version set to v1.0.0
  • Users start with a fresh installation

πŸ“Œ Known Limitations

Product Constraints

Feature Limitation Reason
Properties Maximum 9 properties Product positioning for investors
Users Maximum 3 users (1 system + 2 login) Simplified access control
Organizations 1 organization only Desktop application scope
File uploads 10MB per document Performance and storage management
Database SQLite (single file) Desktop application architecture

⚠️ When you reach limits:

  • Adding the 10th property will show an upgrade message
  • Third user registration will be blocked with guidance
  • Single organization enforced at data model level

Technical Debt

Calendar Feature:

  • Calendar uses legacy PropertyManagementService (5 usages)
  • Impact: No functional issues, code cleanup needed
  • Status: Accepted technical debt, will be refactored in v1.1.0

Integration Tests:

  • 9 UI integration tests require a running application to pass
  • Tests are end-to-end and need a live Blazor server
  • Impact: Excluded from CI pipeline
  • Coverage: Validated manually during UAT

Code Signing (Windows):

  • Windows builds are unsigned
  • Users may see SmartScreen warning on first run
  • Status: Planned for v1.1.0

πŸ’» System Requirements

Operating Systems

Platform Status Format
Linux βœ… AppImage (x86_64)
Windows βœ… NSIS Installer + Portable (x64)
macOS ⏳ Planned β€” not included in v1.0.0

Supported Linux distributions: Ubuntu 20.04+, Debian 11+, Fedora 35+, RHEL 8+

Hardware Requirements

Minimum:

  • CPU: 2-core processor, 1.5 GHz
  • RAM: 2 GB
  • Disk Space: 500 MB for application + database
  • Display: 1280Γ—720 resolution

Recommended:

  • CPU: 4-core processor, 2.5 GHz
  • RAM: 4 GB
  • Disk Space: 1 GB (allows for growth)
  • Display: 1920Γ—1080 resolution

Software Dependencies

Bundled with Application:

  • .NET 10 Runtime (embedded in Electron build)
  • SQLite / SQLCipher 3.x
  • All necessary libraries and dependencies

No installation required β€” Application is self-contained.

Email/SMS Services (Optional)

  • SendGrid account β€” for email notifications
  • Twilio account β€” for SMS notifications

Email/SMS are optional β€” Nine. works fully without them using in-app notifications only.


πŸ“¦ Installation

Linux Installation

# Download AppImage
chmod +x Nine-1.0.0-x86_64.AppImage

# Option 1: Desktop integration (recommended)
./install-desktop-integration.sh Nine-1.0.0-x86_64.AppImage

# Option 2: Run directly
./Nine-1.0.0-x86_64.AppImage

Windows Installation

Option A: NSIS Installer (Recommended)

  1. Download Nine-1.0.0-x64-Setup.exe
  2. Double-click to run installer
  3. Follow installation wizard
  4. Launch from Start Menu or Desktop shortcut

Option B: Portable Executable

  1. Download Nine-1.0.0-x64-Portable.exe
  2. Place in desired location
  3. Double-click to run (no installation required)

First-Time Setup

After installation, Nine. launches the New Setup Wizard:

  1. Create your organization (business name, contact info)
  2. Register your administrator account (email, password)
  3. Choose theme (Light/Dark/Auto)
  4. Configure notification preferences (optional)
  5. Application is ready to use

Data Location:

  • Linux: ~/.config/Nine/Data/
  • Windows: %APPDATA%/Nine/Data/

πŸš€ Getting Started

Quick Start (15 Minutes)

  1. Add Your First Property β€” Property Management β†’ Properties β†’ Add Property
  2. Add a Prospect β€” Tenant Management β†’ Prospects β†’ Add Prospect
  3. Submit an Application β€” Prospect record β†’ Submit Application
  4. Approve and Generate Lease β€” Applications β†’ Review β†’ Approve β†’ Generate Lease Offer
  5. Accept Lease β€” Leases β†’ Accept β†’ Tenant converted and property marked Occupied
  6. Generate Invoice β€” Financial Management β†’ Invoices β†’ Create Invoice

πŸ—ΊοΈ Roadmap

v1.1.0 (Q2 2026)

  • 🎯 Windows/macOS keychain integration
  • 🎯 Rate limiting and antiforgery tokens
  • 🎯 Code signing for Windows builds
  • 🎯 Calendar feature refactoring (remove legacy service dependency)

πŸ”— Links


πŸ“„ Technical Details

  • Application Version: 1.0.0
  • Database Schema: v1.0.0
  • Assembly Version: 1.0.0.0
  • Framework: ASP.NET Core 10.0 + Blazor Server
  • Target Framework: net10.0
  • Desktop: ElectronNET.API 23.6.2
  • PDF Generation: QuestPDF 2025.12.1
  • Email: SendGrid 9.29.3
  • SMS: Twilio 7.14.0
  • Database Encryption: SQLitePCLRaw.bundle_e_sqlcipher 2.1.11