Hi everyone,
A little about me is that I am a 22-year-old currently a Junior in College. While I've been attending, I have been learning how to automate businesses with AI, such as helping them with scheduling and creating chatbots to provide better customer service, etc. This summer, I got a job as a Sales/Leasing Coordinator for a trucking company (absolutely hate it) before I leave to go back to school. For a while now, the place has been slow since no one is buying trucks or leasing, so I spend my time reading extensively on business and conducting market research on various topics.
Which comes to my next point, I thought of a business idea of creating a platform that is transparent for renting, finding roommates with similar living criteria.
This platform should be a scam-free, renter-friendly platform with verified listings, renter reviews, and streamlined applications. The target audience would be renters, recent college graduates, and people fed up with Zillow/Craigslist/ FB groups.
The problem:
- People waste time on fake or duplicate listings (FB groups, Zillow, Apartments.com, etc.)
- Many are scammed, especially students, immigrants, and first-time renters
- Even when listings are real, there's no way to know the landlord is trustworthy or what the building condition is like
The solution:
Revenue model
- Free for renters, but pay extras for a boosted profile (get seen more)
- Background check (if possible)
- Subscription for landlords/property managers to list
- Can do a survey potentially to see if people would be interested in this idea and if they would pay for the services provided, can sell a subscription for $20-$30/mo.
Top complaints about Housing and Renting:
Little market research to get a general assumption:
- 20 billion dollar industry
- Millions of renters move every year
- Zillow and Apartments.com dominate, but offer poor trust, user experience, and security.
While I was researching this, I overheard a person at work talking to another colleague about how her neighbor rented out his house, and apparently, the only payments the renters have made are the deposit and the first month of rent, and the family owes over $8k. This conversation heard made a stronger conviction that this problem could be solved.
Thank you, everyone, in advance! Appreciate it.
A little about me is that I am a 22-year-old currently a Junior in College. While I've been attending, I have been learning how to automate businesses with AI, such as helping them with scheduling and creating chatbots to provide better customer service, etc. This summer, I got a job as a Sales/Leasing Coordinator for a trucking company (absolutely hate it) before I leave to go back to school. For a while now, the place has been slow since no one is buying trucks or leasing, so I spend my time reading extensively on business and conducting market research on various topics.
Which comes to my next point, I thought of a business idea of creating a platform that is transparent for renting, finding roommates with similar living criteria.
This platform should be a scam-free, renter-friendly platform with verified listings, renter reviews, and streamlined applications. The target audience would be renters, recent college graduates, and people fed up with Zillow/Craigslist/ FB groups.
The problem:
- People waste time on fake or duplicate listings (FB groups, Zillow, Apartments.com, etc.)
- Many are scammed, especially students, immigrants, and first-time renters
- Even when listings are real, there's no way to know the landlord is trustworthy or what the building condition is like
The solution:
- Transparent Rental Comparison Tool
- Platform that shows price history, avg. neighborhood rent, and real tenant reviews.
- Think: Zillow meets Trustpilot
- Verified Rental Listings + Scam-Free Platform
- Focused marketplace w/ human-verified or AI-flagged listings to eliminate fake or duplicate units
- Bonus: Highlight rooms in shared apartments (lots of demand for this)
- Roommates & Co-living Match Platform
- Match based on lifestyle, noise tolerance, cleaning habits, schedules, etc.
- Add built-in communication, bill splitting, or rental contracts
- "Easy to Apply" for Renters (like LinkedIn Easy Apply for jobs)
- One-click application to multiple listings
- Short-Term Flexible Leasing Platform
- Focus on remote workers, digital nomads, or students
- Hosts/landlords list places for 1–6 month stays — cleaner and more structured than Craigslist or FB
- Tenant Support App
- Submit maintenance requests, chat w/ landlords, payment log, complaints — all tracked
- Could build a reputation score for both landlords and tenants
Revenue model
- Free for renters, but pay extras for a boosted profile (get seen more)
- Background check (if possible)
- Subscription for landlords/property managers to list
- Can do a survey potentially to see if people would be interested in this idea and if they would pay for the services provided, can sell a subscription for $20-$30/mo.
Top complaints about Housing and Renting:
- Rent is too expensive / keeps going up
- No transparency on why rent changes
- Hard to compare fair pricing in neighborhoods
- Finding a place is stressful and time-consuming
- Scams on listing sites
- Fake or outdated listings
- Noisy roommates or bad landlords you don’t discover until too late
- It’s hard to get approved even if I can afford it
- High credit score requirements
- Complicated paperwork & income proof
- Moving sucks – finding movers, switching utilities, packing
- All manual, disconnected tasks
- Hidden fees
- “Landlords are unresponsive or sketchy”
- Maintenance takes forever & no accountability
Little market research to get a general assumption:
- 20 billion dollar industry
- Millions of renters move every year
- Zillow and Apartments.com dominate, but offer poor trust, user experience, and security.
While I was researching this, I overheard a person at work talking to another colleague about how her neighbor rented out his house, and apparently, the only payments the renters have made are the deposit and the first month of rent, and the family owes over $8k. This conversation heard made a stronger conviction that this problem could be solved.
Thank you, everyone, in advance! Appreciate it.
Dislike ads? Become a Fastlane member:
Subscribe today and surround yourself with winners and millionaire mentors, not those broke friends who only want to drink beer and play video games. :-)
Membership Required: Upgrade to Expose Nearly 1,000,000 Posts
Ready to Unleash the Millionaire Entrepreneur in You?
Become a member of the Fastlane Forum, the private community founded by best-selling author and multi-millionaire entrepreneur MJ DeMarco. Since 2007, MJ DeMarco has poured his heart and soul into the Fastlane Forum, helping entrepreneurs reclaim their time, win their financial freedom, and live their best life.
With more than 39,000 posts packed with insights, strategies, and advice, you’re not just a member—you’re stepping into MJ’s inner-circle, a place where you’ll never be left alone.
Become a member and gain immediate access to...
- Active Community: Ever join a community only to find it DEAD? Not at Fastlane! As you can see from our home page, life-changing content is posted dozens of times daily.
- Exclusive Insights: Direct access to MJ DeMarco’s daily contributions and wisdom.
- Powerful Networking Opportunities: Connect with a diverse group of successful entrepreneurs who can offer mentorship, collaboration, and opportunities.
- Proven Strategies: Learn from the best in the business, with actionable advice and strategies that can accelerate your success.
"You are the average of the five people you surround yourself with the most..."
Who are you surrounding yourself with? Surround yourself with millionaire success. Join Fastlane today!
Join Today
