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F-031: Rent Check — Am I Overpaying? ​

Status: Done · Priority: P1 · Branch: feature/F-031-rent-check · Updated: Mar 9, 2026

Summary ​

A standalone tool where anyone (not just listing browsers) can check if their rent is fair. Enter your address, bedrooms, bathrooms, optional square footage — get an instant market comparison showing where your rent sits relative to comparable listings in the area.

This is a powerful lead-gen and SEO tool. Competitors like RentHop ("Fair Rent Calculator"), Zillow ("Zestimate for rent"), and Rentals.ca rent reports drive massive traffic with similar tools. No Montreal-specific version exists.

Requirements ​

  • [ ] Dedicated page at /rent-check (or /fair-rent)
  • [ ] Address input with Google Places Autocomplete (determines lat/lng + neighborhood/FSA)
  • [ ] Bedrooms selector (studio, 1-4+)
  • [ ] Bathrooms selector (1-3+)
  • [ ] Square footage input (optional)
  • [ ] Current rent input (what user pays now)
  • [ ] Results panel showing:
    • Percentile position ("Your rent is higher than 72% of similar listings")
    • Median rent for comparable listings in the area
    • Price range (P20-P80) for comparables
    • Visual gauge/meter showing where user's rent falls
    • Nearby comparable listings (link to browse)
  • [ ] Bilingual (FR/EN)
  • [ ] No auth required
  • [ ] SEO-optimized (meta tags, structured data)

Design Ideas ​

Data Sources ​

We already have everything needed:

  • Active listings — filter by bedrooms, proximity (e.g., 2km radius or same neighborhood/FSA)
  • Rent benchmarks — rent_benchmarks table has per-neighborhood per-bedroom median/p20/p80
  • CMHC rent data — rent_snapshots with historical avg rent by zone
  • Census income — for affordability context (rent-to-income ratio)

API ​

GET /rent-check?lat=X&lng=Y&bedrooms=N&bathrooms=N&area=N&rent=N

Returns:

  • percentile (where user's rent falls among comparables)
  • median, p20, p80 for the area + bedroom count
  • comparable listing count
  • neighborhood name + FSA
  • optional: CMHC historical avg for context
  • optional: affordability ratio vs area median income

Frontend ​

  • Clean single-page tool with a form on the left, results on the right (or stacked on mobile)
  • Address autocomplete using Google Places API (already configured)
  • Animated gauge/meter showing rent position (green = good deal, yellow = fair, red = overpaying)
  • "See similar listings" CTA linking to filtered browse page
  • Shareable results URL

SEO Value ​

  • Target keywords: "am I overpaying rent Montreal", "fair rent price Montreal", "rent calculator Quebec"
  • Could auto-generate neighborhood-specific landing pages: "Fair rent in Plateau Mont-Royal"
  • Blog content tie-in: "Average Rent in Montreal 2026"

Discussion Notes ​

Mar 7, 2026 — Created. Strong lead-gen potential. All data sources already exist (rent benchmarks, active listings, CMHC data). S effort for MVP, could expand with neighborhood landing pages later.