import { Callout, Steps } from "nextra/components";

# Getting Started

This guide gets you from a new account to your first reviewed prospect. The core path takes about 15 minutes: add a property, publish your prospect link, test it, then review the submission.

When you open the dashboard, the setup checklist (**Get your prospect link ready**) on the **Overview** page follows the same steps. For a short guided tour of the dashboard, click **Restart tour** on the checklist.

<Steps>

### Create your account

Sign up at [rentalot.ai](https://rentalot.ai/signup) and confirm your email address with the verification link. Every new account starts on the 7-day Free Trial.

### Add your first property

Your account includes a sample property (**[Sample] 742 Sunflower Lane**) so you can explore. The checklist only counts a real property, so add one of your own:

1. In the checklist, click **Add property**. (You can also open **Properties** from the sidebar and click **Add Property**.)
2. Enter a **Property Title**. Save now to keep it as a private draft.
3. Add the details prospects ask about: address, rent, bedrooms, bathrooms, availability, pet policy, parking, and photos.

![Add Property form with Property Title, address, rent, bedroom and bathroom fields, and a private-draft notice](/images/docs/add-property.webp)

To publish a property, it needs a title, street address, monthly rent greater than zero, and a bathroom count greater than zero. The more detail you add, the better your AI agent can answer prospect questions.

Have many listings? [Import them from a spreadsheet](/docs/import-guide) instead.

### Publish your prospect link

Your prospect link is where prospects answer your pre-screening questions: `rentalot.ai/p/your-slug/prescreening`.

1. In the checklist step **Publish your prospect link**, turn on the switch. The status changes to **Active — prospects can reach your AI agent**.
2. Click **Copy prospect link** next to the URL.

You can change the same setting later in **Settings** > **Public Pages** > **Public prescreening enabled**. To change `your-slug`, edit **URL Slug** on that tab.

### Test the link yourself

Open the link in a private browser window, or use the **Open prospect link in a new tab** button in the checklist, and complete the questionnaire as if you were a prospect. Use an email address you can check.

When you finish, Rentalot creates a contact with your answers. If **Application completed** is on in **Settings** > **Notifications**, you also get an email about the new submission.

### Review the submission and respond

1. Open **Contacts** and select the contact you just created.
2. Open the pre-screening submission to read every answer.
3. Mark it **Approved** or **Denied**, and add private notes if you like.
4. Take the next step: send a booking link, share your property blast link, or reply to the prospect.

Once the test looks right, share your prospect link on listings, in email replies, and on flyers. See the [Rental Workflow Guide](/docs/rental-workflow) for the full prospect-to-showing flow.

### Ask your AI assistant

In the checklist step **Ask your AI assistant**, click **Open AI assistant**. The management chat opens with a suggested question ready to send, or pick one of the examples under **Try asking:**. The step checks off after your first message. See [Management chat and AI assistant](/docs/agent-behavior).

</Steps>

## Optional next steps

The checklist lists these under **Optional next steps**. Both need the **Starter** plan or higher. On the Free Trial they're marked **Starter+** with an **Upgrade to unlock** button that opens **Billing**.

- **Set up email.** Connect Gmail, Microsoft 365, or custom SMTP in **Settings** > **Integrations** so you can email prospects from your own address and reply from **Conversations**. See [Email](/docs/email).
- **Set up calendar.** Connect Google Calendar or Cal.com in **Settings** > **Integrations** so showings sync to your calendar. See [Showings](/docs/showings).

<Callout type="info">
  Your prospect link works without email or a calendar. Connect them when you're ready to respond and schedule from inside Rentalot.
</Callout>

## Keep going

- [Workflows](/docs/workflows): customize your pre-screening questions or build your own questionnaire.
- [Contacts](/docs/contacts): manage prospects, submissions, and next steps.
- [Management chat and AI assistant](/docs/agent-behavior): manage your rentals in plain language.
- [Slash Commands](/docs/slash-commands): instant lookups in the management chat.