Referral fee (Tampa: renter, condo, mortgage) - Tampa Bay - Florida (FL) -Tampa - St. Petersburg - Clearwater - City-Data Forum

Johan1983 · 09-14-2010, 01:45 PM

I am going to rent out my condo in Tampa Bay (St Petersburg)

My realtor who i pay 20% of the rent has mailed me a offer he got from another realtor. He will rent it out for three month.

He told me that i have to pay his 20% (i dont argue about that) but on top of that, also $100 as a "referral fee" to the other realtor.

Is that really correct?

craigm1841 · 09-14-2010, 01:59 PM

HOLY CRAP?!?!?!? 20%

I have NEVER met anyone paying a property manager more than 10%. God knows I dont.

Typically a property manager will charge either a referral/tenant and lease set-up fee equivilant to one months rent, which is a service to put a tenant under your roof for you to manage or 10% of your rental income for the duration of the lease and they manage the property for you.

I say dump that property manager. Unfortunately he has you in a bind as the market is bad. having a renter under your roof is far more lucrative for you then it is for him, and he knows that. If you say no, he will shrug off your 100-300 a month and move on. your 1000-3000 is much more important to you as you have a mortgage payment to make. the guy is a slimeball. If you move on to another manager, you lose your current prospective tenant

Johan1983 · 09-14-2010, 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by craigm1841

HOLY CRAP?!?!?!? 20%

I have NEVER met anyone paying a property manager more than 10%. God knows I dont.

Typically a property manager will charge either a referral/tenant and lease set-up fee equivilant to one months rent, which is a service to put a tenant under your roof for you to manage or 10% of your rental income for the duration of the lease and they manage the property for you.

I say dump that property manager. Unfortunately he has you in a bind as the market is bad. having a renter under your roof is far more lucrative for you then it is for him, and he knows that. If you say no, he will shrug off your 100-300 a month and move on. your 1000-3000 is much more important to you as you have a mortgage payment to make. the guy is a slimeball. If you move on to another manager, you lose your current prospective tenant

I know, people tells me it's too high. But we signed with him for a year, after this year is gone. we will sit down and calculate if he has been renting out good. If not, we pick someone else.
The most importent thing is to have someone that really works for it and rents out as much as he can instead of someone that thinks that the profit isnt so big for them.

After i posted the thread, i called him and discussed this fee and he said "okey, i pay the fee". so i told him to rent the condo

craigm1841 · 09-14-2010, 02:08 PM

^^^just thinking about it- it is possible another agent provided him the lead and now wants a kickback. that HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU AT ALL. you hired him for a service, if he wants to utilize additional resources, that is fine, but you hired him to provide a service which is put someone in your home. It doesn't matter if he had to build a spaceship and fly to venus to bring back a f*cking space alien to live in your condo. You arent paying for that.

If you insist on keeping this scuzzbucket who is taking advantage of you to the tune of a few hundred bucks a month, so be it- but you can tell him to pull that $100 out of his *ss if he has to, but he is not getting it from you. You didnt hire him to be lazy and have other realtors bring people to you. Next time he will be more proactive and get his own leads and save himself the $100 bucks. not your problem.

and 3 months????? i wouldnt ever do a 3 month lease, unless it is a vacation rental and that is common for you.

craigm1841 · 09-14-2010, 02:09 PM

I was typing my last post while you were typing yours. Good.. that fee is for him to pay. I am glad you at least got him to take care of that.

Johan1983 · 09-17-2010, 04:39 AM

I must say that this guy is good with the calculator.

Our original deal was that the tentant would pay electricity after moving out as a separate payment because people use diffrent leveles of electricity.
Now he wants to include the electricity in the rent because "it is easier".

And after some calculation, i figured out that with his 20%, he will earn almost exactly the $100 that i wouldnt pay as a refferal fee.

I have to give it to him, he is good but he didnt think that i would notice :-)

Johan1983 · 09-17-2010, 10:31 PM

What do you think about that? should i pay commission to the realtor on what the tenant pays for the electricity?

Johan1983 · 09-18-2010, 04:57 AM

Or what do you think?

Mike1306 · 09-18-2010, 06:11 AM

I would never include the electric. Let the renter pay that unless you are sure the extra would more than cover it.
Also tell the Realtor if you do include the electric he would not get 20% on the extra and make sure you get that in writing.
It seems he is trying to take advantage of you and I would have a talk with him, maybe first have someone call his office posing as a possible owner looking to rent their place and see what kind of rate they get quoted. If it is a lot lower than yours, which I think it should be, I would talk to his broker about getting yours lowered.

Sunscape · 09-18-2010, 07:13 AM

I agree with Mike.
You should only pay the broker for whatever is in the contract. Nothing else.
It sounds to me like he/she is trying to take advantage of you.
And for a rent for 3 months , you don't pay full prize, unless this was stated in the contract.