[aclimatt]

Perfectly said on both counts. Rents, unlike broker fees, are highly transparent prices that are far more influenced by market pressure and competition, a win for buyers in a market already very lopsided toward sellers. Because broker fees are disclosed selectively and later in the purchase funnel, buyers (renters) often make less optimal and more expensive choices due to that information asymmetry.

There definitely will be a small spike in the cost of rentals, but 1) it will definitely not be a perfect 12-15% transfer from what the fee costs, and 2) I predict that downward price pressure will bring rental costs around what they are now, especially given the prevalence of no fee units. The cost will likely just cut into landlords' revenue, and anyone claiming prices will rise substantially are probably lobbying on behalf of landlords.

[mistrial9]

Whatever lecture this came from needs to get a reality check -- "downward price pressure" on rental units in most of the USA was slowly disappearing until the COVID-19 lockdown, at which time the prices increased dramatically, across the board, in all markets (except maybe the Ohio valley? Mississippi ?). Secondly, AirBnB gave reliable revenue streams to property owners, across the western world, keeping units empty. Third, local government has converged on artificial constraint of construction in many markets.

[mattzito]

In NYC, rents went way down, to the point where there was a sticker shock from people who moved to NY during Covid and were shocked when prices went back up a year or two later.