Do you pay anything to use an apartment locator in Texas?
No. In Texas, apartment locators are licensed real estate brokerages or their agents, and the apartment community pays the brokerage a commission when a renter it referred signs a lease. You pay nothing, and your rent is the same either way. On Oct 25, 2026, our board tracked 144 new communities across the Austin metro, and that arrangement applies to every one we work with.
That’s the short answer. Here’s how it works in more detail, and how we keep the money from shaping what we recommend. If you want to see the service itself first, read how our free shortlist works on the homepage.
The one-line version
Communities pay Spirit Real Estate Group, LLC (TREC #562021). You pay $0. Your rent is the same either way.
How do apartment locators get paid?
New buildings budget for leasing costs while they fill. A lease-up building pays for marketing, leasing staff, and broker commissions because empty units cost more than any of those. When a renter we referred signs, the community pays the brokerage a commission set by the community. The commission comes out of the community’s leasing budget, not from your rent or deposit.
Two things follow from that:
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Who pays the locator? | The apartment community pays the brokerage |
| Does your rent change? | No, it’s the same either way |
| Do you sign a fee agreement? | No fee to renters |
| Who sets the commission? | The community |
| Does it affect our picks? | No; commission rates never affect score, sort, placement, picks, or alerts |
For you, the practical point is that the leasing office quotes us and you the same rent and the same special. When we ask for a deeper special or a waived fee, the saving goes to you.
Why commissions never affect our score
The obvious risk in a commission model is a locator steering you toward whichever building pays most. We handle that with a written commission policy: commission rates never affect the Austin New Build Score, the sort order on the board, placement, recommendations, or alerts. It’s enforced in the code that ranks every new building we track, not left to judgment.
The score itself is built from six parts that come from the feed: deal depth (30 points), price vs. nearby new builds (20), year-two risk (15), lease-up stage (15), fee disclosure (10), and build completion (10). None of those inputs is a commission rate, and the score never covers location, schools, reviews, or people.
We also disclose relationships. Any affiliation between a listed community and Spirit Real Estate Group, LLC or the team is disclosed in writing before a tour.
What is the TREC Information About Brokerage Services notice?
Texas requires every real estate brokerage to give consumers the TREC Information About Brokerage Services (IABS) form. In plain terms, it explains:
- What a broker is and who a broker can represent
- The duties a broker owes to the people it works with
- How to reach the brokerage and its designated broker
We link the IABS and the TREC Consumer Protection Notice in the footer of every page. Reading them doesn’t commit you to anything. They’re there so you know who you’re dealing with and how to check a license.
What do you get for free?
A locator should save you time and money, or there’s no reason to use one. Here’s what our free service includes:
- We make the calls. You don’t have time to call 20 leasing offices. We do, and confirm the unit, the special, and the written fee sheet the same day during hours.
- The math. Net effective, true monthly with required fees, and year two at 0% and +3% for every building on your list. Our guide to required monthly fees explains why fees matter so much.
- Tours. Up to four in one routed afternoon, or a live video walk of the actual unit.
- Approval pre-check. We check the income multiple and documents before any application fee.
- After move-in. Day 7 and day 30 ledger checks, and a month-10 Renewal Check with current comps.
When does a locator not help?
If you already know the one building you want and you’ve confirmed its special and fees in writing, a locator adds less. We’d still suggest asking how its year two compares with two or three nearby new builds, because renewals price from base rent and the jump can be large: about 26% at the board’s 10.8-week median special (Oct 25, 2026).
If you’d like us to run that comparison, send your move date and all-in budget and we’ll get my shortlist back to you the same day during hours. It costs you nothing, and your rent is the same either way.
