Rental listing on professional platform

[Joe Nguyen]

How’s everyone experience with using a realtor agent to list your rental property (does background check, advertising, showing, etc) on a realtors only licensed platform like HAR compared to free listing platform like Zillow, Redfin?

- Recently acquired a new SFH in the Houston area and thinking of working with an agent to list property on HAR and trying to brainstorm if it's worth the fee (1st month rental approx $2k)

Thank you for your input.

[Nathan Gesner]

Quote from @Joe Nguyen:

It depends on what service they are providing and the quality of that service.

Proper screening is the #1 way to prevent problems. I want the person screening applications to have a lot of experience. For example, my office screens over 1,000 applications a year. Most REALTORS won't do 10 in a year. I have strong screening skills and criteria, I know the current scams and problems, and more.

I would shop around. You may find a Property Manager that charges 50% of a month's rent for leasing and that has 10x the experience of these agents charging a full month's rent. You may find someone that can screen and manage for just a little more than what the amateurs cost of screening alone.