Property managment Newbie Questions

[psient]

HI:

I'm new to renting. I have a nice condo in Diamond Bar California. I would like to ask some questions about management firms and their operations in this area.

My first question is:

Are the terms of rental fees in the standard CAR remitted by the realtor negotiable. That is, the forms I have received in looking for a manager list a 5% (about 700 bucks a year) of the total rent as a fee AND an initial retainer of between 150.00 and 600.00 dollars up front. Specifically can the 5% fee and the retainer be negotiated as a sign of good faith on the part of the management firm. The market in Diamond Bar is extremely competitive. Our condo is over 1200 square feet and we recently spent over 30K to renovate it. Everything is new. The location is desirable (withing a mile of the high school) and the condos here are not typically available in mass numbers.

Any comment, feedback, instructive & constructive criticism is greatly appreciated.

ONe other thing. How can I find the ratings of realtors in this area on RatingZ.net? I looked at the home page but was unable to call up any kind of ratings matrix/chart. Anyone with experience in using a firm over a period of several years who would like to comment on that firm's performance is also appreciated very much.

Thanks in advance,

psient

[jswap]

Hi, I can only answer your second question: if you click the "A Ratingz.net site" link at the top of the screen, it will take you to the home page of RealEstateRatingz.com (aka RealtorRatingz.com).

John