She didn't argue or negotiate, she took it.

So just to be clear, Ben is the master of "politician debate" in which he states a premise that is made up, and then will argue that premise till the day he dies. :) That said, the "2% rule" is just a fancy way of quickly screening properties.

I hope you aren't paying them by the hour to argue back and forth about this @Kent JulianA couple questions...

@Mark Kao You should also look into The ABC's of Real Estate Investing by Ken McElroy. 

She is trying to set you up to do something wrong, or at least drag out the court process arguing so, and as such its in your best interest to get an attorney on board to ensure everything is done by the book.

You could argue collusion and that all agents are charging about the same price, but you're still free to do a FSBO or an MLS entry only listing.

So far I've collected $2550 from him, which he argues is more than fair for such a short amount of time.  

They said it'll take about 30 days to go into effect so I'm sure I'll have to argue with the seller for May rent at closing.

I'm not arguing with you Joe, I can't say that some county office can't give someone all the documents required for a sale transfer and file it, I'm saying that filing a deed is not all there is to it, even in Texas, I think it's still in the United States.

Ken McElroy has two great books on apartment investments and one on property management: The ABCs of Real Estate Investing: The Secrets of Finding Hidden Profits Most Investors Miss The Advanced Guide to Real Estate Investing: How to Identify the Hottest Markets and Secure the Best Deals The ABC's of Property Management: What You Need to Know to Maximize Your Money Now Also see Ken's BP interview on Podcast 052: Buying Apartment Complexes, etc. here: http://www.biggerpockets.com/renewsblog/2014/01/09/bp-podcast-052-raising-millions-ken-mcelroy-rich-dad/ The best way to learn the apartment business is to get your brokers license and a property management job to feed you while you build your sales.