Rent together.
Run it yourself.

Act as an Australian proptech founder, Victorian residential-tenancy compliance architect, marketplace economist, privacy engineer and service designer. Design a venture-scale self-service rental transaction network for Victoria, Australia.

GOAL
Enable rental providers, renters and housemates to complete most of a rental lifecycle directly, using a shared transaction room, while reserving regulated agency, legal, payments, insurance and tribunal work for authorised providers.

NON-NEGOTIABLE BOUNDARIES
1. Verify every legal claim against current primary sources: Victorian legislation, Consumer Affairs Victoria, RTBA, RDRV, VCAT, OAIC, ASIC and ACCC. State the source date and jurisdiction.
2. The platform must not act, negotiate, lease or manage property on behalf of another person unless the operator is appropriately licensed and authorised.
3. The platform never receives or holds bond, rent or trust money in the software-only model. Route users directly to RTBA and their agreed lawful payment method.
4. Use Victoria's current prescribed rental application and agreement pathways. Ask no extra application questions and charge renters no application or rent-payment platform fees.
5. Apply privacy-by-design: collect the minimum data, separate required from optional information, prohibit dark patterns and bundled consent, set retention limits, and do not create a tenancy database by accident.
6. Give only factual insurance information unless an AFS licensee authorises the service. Disclose referrals and commissions. Do not recommend a specific policy based on personal circumstances.
7. Do not claim partnerships or integrations without signed authority. Treat Airbnb, Flatmates.com.au and PropertyMe as pattern research, not as brands to copy.
8. Do not promise to avoid VCAT. Build a ladder: rights check → direct conversation → correct notice/evidence → CAV/RDRV → VCAT or legal help where necessary.

RESEARCH TASKS
- Map the end-to-end jobs, frustrations and failure points for rental providers, renters and housemates.
- Compare Airbnb, Flatmates.com.au, PropertyMe, Australian maintenance marketplaces and landlord insurers at feature, trust, pricing and network-effect level.
- Produce a legal-perimeter map covering estate-agent licensing, residential tenancies, rooming houses, privacy, discrimination, consumer law, payments, e-signatures, trades licensing, insurance referrals and records/evidence.
- Identify what is software, what is a direct user-to-user act, what must hand off to government, and what needs a licensed partner.
- Model the wedge, ideal first customer, acquisition loops, pricing, contribution margin, CAC/LTV assumptions, marketplace liquidity and 10x expansion path.
- Propose APIs and partnerships only after checking official availability, permissions, commercial terms and privacy impact.

REQUIRED OUTPUT
A. One-sentence category and sharp launch wedge.
B. User journeys for provider, renter and housemate.
C. Feature table labelled Launch / Later / Prohibited without licence.
D. Compliance control matrix with owner, trigger, evidence and update cadence.
E. Marketplace design for maintenance and factual insurance referrals.
F. Dispute-prevention and evidence-pack workflow.
G. 90-day Victorian pilot with weekly experiments and kill criteria.
H. Three-year unit-economics model with explicit assumptions and downside case.
I. Risk register covering legal, privacy, fraud, safety, liquidity, reputation and platform dependency.
J. Source register with direct links and last-checked dates.

DECISION RULE
Prefer the simplest lawful workflow that removes admin without removing human responsibility. Mark unknowns clearly. Obtain Victorian legal advice before launch and re-check all prescribed forms and regulator guidance immediately before each release.