← all 15 maps
PRODUCT MARKETPLACE
Finding & renting an apartment in Beirut — reality map
Not a process diagram — a wall of what the renter actually experiences, A to Z. One sticky = one thought, decision, action, problem, or cost. Color reveals where ailb deletes, simplifies, or takes over.
Maya, 26, moving to Beirut — landed an NGO job in Hamra, has $600/month fresh USD for rent, and is discovering that the listed rent is never the real monthly cost.
Trigger / thought
Action — a thing I do
Decision — a choice I make
Pain point / fear
Cost / fee / waiting
ailb takeover opportunity
Trigger & framing
Budget math in two currencies before a single listing is opened.
triggerGot the job — it's in Hamra
triggerLandlord raised the rent. Again.
decisionWhat can I actually pay, in fresh USD?
painSalary part lollar, rent 100% fresh
decisionHamra, Badaro, Geitawi — or commute from further?
decisionAlone, or find a roommate?
ailb takeoverTurn salary + commute into a realistic shortlist of areas
The search
OLX, five Facebook groups, friends-of-friends, and the simsar — all at once.
actionScroll OLX listings nightly~1 hr/night
actionJoin 5 "Apartments for rent Beirut" FB groups
actionAsk friends-of-friends — maybe someone knows a landlord
actionCall a simsar. Then another.
painHalf the listings are months stale
pain3 dark photos and "price: contact me"
painSimsar fee: one full month's rent
costScrolling & calling before the first real visit~2–3 wks
ailb takeoverAgent scans every source, dedupes, extracts price + real photos
Visits
Ten minutes in a flat to make a year-long decision.
actionSchedule visits around work hours
actionTaxi across town for each one~$5–10 each way
actionView the flat — 10 minutes, decide forever
painThe photos lied. They always lie.
pain5th floor, elevator "temporarily" dead since 2021
decisionShortlist this one, or keep looking?
cost8 visits over 2 weeks~2 wks of evenings
ailb takeoverPre-screen hard so I only visit real candidates
The utilities interrogation
The rent is half the story — the moteur is the other half.
actionAsk: moteur subscription? 5 or 10 amps? Sho l'si3er?
actionAsk: how many hours of EDL, really?
actionAsk: water tank? Delivery truck? Who pays?
decisionCan I afford rent + moteur on top?
pain"Kahraba 24/7 habibi" — it's not
painSurprise building fees nobody mentioned
costMoteur + water + internet, hidden on top of rent~$100–150/mo
ailb takeoverStandard utilities checklist answered before I ever visit
Negotiating & closing
No standard lease, no receipts — and three months' rent due on day one.
actionNegotiate the rent — no comps, just nerve
decision3 months up front, 6, or monthly?
painThe "lease" is one page the landlord's cousin typed
painDeposit in cash, receipt optional
actionSign whatever it is
costDeposit + first months + simsar fee, day one~3 months' rent
decisionWalk away over the contract, or just take it?
ailb takeoverProper AR/EN lease template + deposit receipt protocol
Moving in & the paper trail
The forgotten tail — and the part that protects you later.
actionRegister the lease at the baladiyye~half day, small fee
painNobody actually registers — so nobody's protected
actionSet up the moteur subscription with the neighborhood guy
actionOrder internet — wait days for the install
ailb takeoverAgent reminds + preps the registration papers
thoughtHome. Five weeks later.
It's not linear — it loops
Draw the arrows and the "process" collapses into a few tight feedback loops. These are where renters get stuck, re-decide, and abandon.
Rent ↔ Moteur math ↔ Neighborhood
A cheap flat with a $120 moteur bill costs the same as a pricier one with better power. Every "affordable" find reopens the neighborhood question.
Listing ↔ Visit ↔ Disappointment
Photos lie, so you visit; the visit disappoints, so you scroll again. Each cycle burns an evening and a taxi fare, and the search restarts from zero.
Avoid the simsar ↔ Fewer listings
Dodge the one-month fee and half the market disappears; crawl back to the simsar and the budget breaks. Most people loop here until urgency decides for them.
Where ailb takes over (gold)
The agent can't walk through the flat for you — but it can make sure every flat you walk through is real, priced, and fully interrogated first.
goldScan OLX + FB groups + brokers, dedupe everything
goldInterrogate every landlord with the utilities checklist
goldVerify freshness — kill stale listings
goldEstimate true monthly cost: rent + moteur + water + fees
goldRoute 3–4 visits into one afternoon
goldNegotiate with comps from similar flats
goldProvide a real AR/EN lease + deposit receipt
goldPrep the baladiyye registration papers
The ailb flow — same outcome, 5 steps
What survives after delete → simplify → automate. The human visits and signs — those can't be deleted. The agent does every other step.
STEP 1
Brief the agent
You: budget, job location, must-haves in one chat. Agent: builds the true-cost search spec.
→
STEP 2
Agent hunts & interrogates
Agent scans all sources, contacts landlords, runs the moteur/EDL/water checklist. You: nothing.
→
STEP 3
One visit afternoon
You: walk through 3–4 vetted flats on an agent-planned route. Agent: confirms timings with landlords.
→
STEP 4
Negotiate & paper it
Agent negotiates with comps and produces a proper lease + receipt. You: read and decide.
→
STEP 5
Sign & register
You: sign and pay the deposit. Agent: preps baladiyye registration and utility setup reminders.
Verdict — should ailb disrupt this?
7/10Pain density
6/10AI collapse ratio
6/10Frequency × market
7/10Demo feasibility by Saturday
The killer insight is that listed rent is fiction — the agent's real product is the true monthly cost (rent + moteur + water + fees), answered before you waste a taxi ride. But physical visits are irreducible, the simsar is structurally entrenched, and people only move every few years. Recommendation: roadmap. Strong second-wave vertical once the high-frequency marketplace flows prove the agent; the utilities-interrogation checklist could cameo in the demo as a wow moment.