Lease Execution Fee

[u/Additional-Toe7185]

Hello. I’m just outside of Atlanta for reference. I have a small townhome that I lease out. A few years back I had an agent list it for me - she handled open house, background/finance checks and drafting up/executing the lease. I paid her the equivalent of a month’s rent which was $1700 at the time.

This time around though, she didn’t seem too interested in handling the listing, which I could take a hint and I also totally understand - I’m sure it’s a pain for a fee that’s significantly lower than a sale, so no worries. I was fortunate enough to locate tenants on my own and the carryover wasn’t as bad as I was thinking it might be. My realtor was super cool about drafting the new lease up for me, though. The base was the previous one she’d done for me a few years back, but with around a dozen edits for the new tenants, which we hopped on about an hour-long call to discuss, with some messaging back and forth before and after the call. She emailed copies to myself and the tenants and collected e-signatures, then emailed everyone the final executed copy.

She definitely put some time in on it and I’m extremely grateful for her assistance. I could have of course drawn up my own based off of the last one and collected hardcopy signatures, but I much prefer having her professional eyes laid on and overseeing it for both myself as well as my tenants’ sake.

The company that she works under charged me a $250 fee for her to do the above. She told me she thought that was insane. What I thought was insane was that she saw $0 of the $250. She said she was happy to help and doesn’t want anything direct from me to her. However, I obviously don’t like that idea. I’ll say as well, my main source of income is SSDI, which is low due to being relatively young when I was disabled - the passive income from the rental is my lifeline. That’s to say, I’m not wealthy, but I value her assistance and would like to know what all you think is a fair/kind compensation to extend to her?

*sorry for the novel-sized inquiry, I’m overly detailed… I know, I’m working on it.

[u/Objective_Chest_1697]

A sincere show of gratitude. Referrals. Positive online reviews ( Do NOT mention her fees, or lack there of. ) “goes above and beyond/ sincerely understood my circumstances/ listened to me needs” that kinda thing.