I am looking to get into some rental listings in Tampa,FL... This is pretty new for me. Is the commission based on the dollar amount of the total lease? What is a typical %? Paid by seller? At what point?

If your MLS includes Rentals, what do they offer? Simply taking a look there would give you an idea of "what" is "typical" in your area.

Commissions may be paid by either the Landlord OR the Tenant . . . . it depends upon what kind of market it is and the extent to which either party is willing to pay you for something they cannot . . . . or will not, do for themselves. In my market, there isn't a need for rental Agents . . . . Landlords merely put a 3" X 5" card on a bulletin board in a supermarket or a Laundromat and they're flooded with calls. And Tenants usually don't have any money to pay our Fees. Only rarely do I get involved . . . . sometimes when we have a Multi-Unit for sale and want to keep the occupancy at 100%.

From what I gather, One Month's Rent (usually the 1st) is about normal most places, but I'm sure that also varies depending on what services an Agent is prepared to perform in order to earn that Commission . . . . introductions, Credit Check; Criminal Background Check; Collections, maintenance of the Security Deposits et cetera.

Market conditions and local custom will actually determine "who" pays.

In answer to "when" the Fee should be paid, the best answer is (usually) ASAP.

Seller? I thought you were looking to list a rental property?

Typically landlords pay between half a one month's rent, as a commission to screen rental applicants and sign a lease agreement for the landlord, with a qualified tenant.

Here's an article about whether to outsource property management to a professional or handle it yourself: The Property Management Question.

If you're serious about getting into rental properties, you should probably learn how to advertise, screen tenants, etc. Eventually, you may be able to live off of rental income alone.

Rental properties (at least in my area) are super hot right now. It's truly a numbers game -- I'll show a home 5-10 times before landing a qualified renter willing to committ to a year's lease or longer. That said, rentals offer at least some of the following benefits over sales:

1) Usually title and escrow aren't invloved, so you get paid faster and more frequently, albeit much less than a sales deal.

2) You don't have to be an expert to survive as a leasing broker. Just find a good consistent way to generate leads and market the properties well.

3) Many people have no choice but to rent due to a change in work status or challenging credit, which in effect brings you more business.

4) You can sometimes negotiate a higher commission for a very long lease or even get a bonus commission paid by the renter.

5) Many real estate offices adjust their commission splits for rental deals. I pay 30% in brokerage fees for each sale, but only ~5% in fees for each rental.

6) New agents can use rentals as a way to get their foot in the door and learn the lay of the land, what features enhance a property's marketability, etc.

7) It is possible to generate both buyer and seller leads from rentals. Some of these folks will actaully want to buy after their leases expire, while many landlords may want to list their property for sale at a future date.

On the flip side, rentals can be vexing as many renters lie about their financial situation, credit, numbers of family members expected to live in the home etc.

Even worse, 1/10 tenants defaults on paying the rent at some point in time before the lease expires, which inevitably reflects negatively on the leasing broker (unless you offer to rerent the home for no commission).

You have to screen calls from section 8 holders, hard negotiators, people with ridiculous requests to modify the homes, and other deadbeats.

In short, if you HAVE TO MAKE ENOUGH MONEY TO PAY YOUR BILLS while waiting for some bigger sales deals to close, then yes, from personal experience I can attest that rentals will keep you alive.

Seattleite: I have had a lot of leads for the last 5 months, and 95% of them are junk leads. I qualify them, and I show properties to the people qualified, and after showing them properties, they disappear. They don't call back, they don't reply emails. This is extremely frustrating. I would love to have your advice, how you convince your qualified leads to make an offer on the properties you show? do you show them properties without any kind of commitment from them, like paying an application fee up front, before you show them properties? I mean, how can you make sure that lead is not using you as a tour guide and is serious in working and renting with you? What do you do in order to make them commit and make an offer with you?

Please, help me, your advice will be greatly appreciated!! Thanks!

To help save a ton of time and energy Anyelina, ask your rental leads the following five questions upfront (over the phone):

1. Are you a section 8 voucher holder? If yes, politely decline as these aren't worth the stress.

2. What is your timeframe? If they need to move today, then something is fishy; or if they are still several month's away, then you can put them in a separate file. You want renters that need to move in the next 2-6 weeks, and preferably those who are tranferring into your area for work.

3. Why are you moving? If they say they just sold their home, ask if it was a short sale or foreclosure. Typically these folks will have poor credit, which you can either politely decline or work with if they have the resources to prepay several month's rent. This is also a good transition into question #4..

4. How's your credit, honestly? Everybody lies about their credit, but once you field hundreds, if not thousands of calls, you learn to separate the wheat from the chaff pretty quickly. Too many little things to itemize here, so you need to learn this through trial and error if you really want to get proficient with rentals.

5. Are you aware that I charge for my services? That's right, I charge $100 upfront to introduce you to ANY properties (the max I will show is 3-4)! Wow!! If somebody is unwilling to pay you a small fee upfront for your services, then they are most likely not serious, instable or overly independent. I justify my $100 fee by negotiating a lower rent, flexible move-in date, cleaning, appliances left at the property, drawing up the contracts, etc, among other administrative duties (not to mention the high price of gas). There is nothing unethical about charging this small fee and it is perfectly legal so long as you claim it as part of your gross commissions. You'll find that 70% of the people don't even make it to question #5, and of those that do, a vast majority generally have no problem with the service payment. Worse case scenario, you show four properties over the course of four hours and still make $25/hr for your time. Try this approach and you should be able to improve your success rate while putting a few extra hundred dollars in your pocket every week