RentReady — the spec

RentReady is a self-serve client portal that lets everyday consumers find, book, and pay for rental items without any manual intervention from the owner. A renter searches by item type, location, and dates; sees live availability; and completes a booking — including payment and pickup details — in one sitting. Owners receive the booking, payment, and all renter communication automatically.

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Decisions locked

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The core loop

1. Renter lands on the portal and enters item type, location, and desired dates into the search bar.
2. Results return available listings with photos, price, and pickup location. Renter selects an item.
3. The listing page shows a live calendar; renter picks dates and triggers instant booking.
4. Renter completes payment — full or split — and receives an email or SMS confirmation with calendar invite.
5. Renter opens the pickup map, gets directions to the item location, and messages the owner if needed.
6. Owner receives automatic notification; booking appears on their calendar. No manual step required.

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v1 scope

Instant Booking with Calendar Sync
Locks the selected dates the moment payment clears, blocks those dates on the owner's calendar, and pushes a calendar invite (iCal/Google) to both parties. Lives on the listing detail screen and the owner's booking dashboard.

Payment Processing and Split Billing
Handles full payment or splits the charge across multiple payers at checkout. Supports standard card processing and issues receipts automatically. Lives on the checkout screen.

Pickup Location Mapping and Directions
Displays the item's pickup address on an embedded map with a one-tap link to turn-by-turn directions. Lives on the booking confirmation screen and the renter's active-bookings screen.

Messaging Between Renter and Owner
Threaded in-portal messaging tied to a specific booking, with email or SMS fallback notifications for new messages. Lives inside the booking detail screen for both renter and owner.

Search by Item Type, Location, and Dates
Faceted search that filters the full listings catalog by category, proximity, and date availability simultaneously. Returns only items that are genuinely bookable for the requested window. Lives on the search/home screen.

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Deliberately later

• Owner verification and renter ratings — trust infrastructure matters more once volume exists; adding it before launch over-complicates onboarding.
• Damage waiver and insurance options — requires legal and underwriting decisions; a v2 feature once the booking flow is proven stable.
• Rental history and repeat bookings — valuable for retention but depends on having a user base with enough history to act on; right-sized for v2.

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Data model sketch

• users — id, name, email, phone, role (renter/owner), account status
• listings — id, owner\_id, title, category, description, price\_per\_day, pickup\_address, lat/lng, photos
• bookings — id, listing\_id, renter\_id, start\_date, end\_date, status, total\_amount, created\_at
• availability — id, listing\_id, blocked\_dates, booking\_id (nullable)
• payments — id, booking\_id, amount, split\_config (JSON), status, processor\_reference, receipt\_url
• messages — id, booking\_id, sender\_id, body, sent\_at, read\_at
• notifications — id, user\_id, channel (email/SMS), event\_type, payload, sent\_at

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Screens

• Search / Home — entry point; item type, location, and date filters; returns live-availability results.
• Listing Detail — photos, description, pricing, live availability calendar, and Book Now trigger.
• Checkout — payment entry, split-billing configuration, and booking confirmation trigger.
• Booking Confirmation — summary, calendar add links, pickup map, and directions link.
• Active Bookings (Renter) — list of current and upcoming bookings with status and message access.
• Owner Dashboard — incoming bookings, calendar view of all blocked dates, and message threads.
• Messaging — per-booking threaded conversation between renter and owner.

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How to use this document

• Bring it into Mind Palace, where the guided platform and its AI coach pick up from exactly this document and build RentReady with you step by step.
• Hand it to a developer as the complete v1 brief — scope, data model, and screen list are ready to act on with no further discovery required.
• Keep it as the single source of truth while you build, so every feature decision and prioritization call traces back to one agreed-upon document.