FastLease vs a flat-fee or discount listing service.
A discount listing wins the invoice and frequently loses the calendar. The number that actually decides your return is the fee plus the vacancy it leaves you holding.
| Dimension | Flat-fee / discount listing | FastLease |
|---|---|---|
| What you're buying | A listing. The flat-fee model is à-la-carte: it puts the unit on MLS (and sometimes a portal), then hands the showings, screening, and paperwork back to you. | A signed, qualified tenant. The engagement is full-service — pricing, photography, distribution, hosted showings, five-layer screening, and the lease — and it ends when the tenant signs. |
| Who carries the vacancy risk | You do. The fee is paid up front regardless of outcome, so there is no built-in incentive to lease quickly. Every extra vacant week is yours to absorb. | FastLease shares it. The target is a signed tenant by day 21; miss it and the fee drops 21% automatically. The cost of slowness lands partly on the brokerage, not only on you. |
| Distribution | Usually MLS-only, or MLS plus one portal as a paid add-on. Featured placement is rarely included. | MLS plus day-one exposure on property.ca and condos.ca through Property.ca Inc. Brokerage. |
| Tenant screening | Yours to run. A flat-fee listing typically hands you the applications and leaves credit, income, employment, and reference checks to you — or skips them. | Five layers on every applicant: credit, income-to-rent ratio, employment verification, two prior-landlord references contacted by phone, and document authentication. Applicants who clear four of five are not put forward. |
| Showings | You host them. Coordinating, confirming, and attending showings is on the owner — the part most owners least want to do. | Hosted and filtered for you. Most FastLease owners attend zero showings; the weekly report carries anything worth knowing. |
| Photography | Owner-supplied or a paid add-on. Listing quality varies with whoever holds the phone. | Professional photography included, on day 2. No separate fee. |
| The real cost comparison | A low flat fee plus a long vacancy. At roughly $74 a day in lost rent on an average one-bedroom, a few extra weeks empty erases the headline saving and then some. | A contingent fee plus a short vacancy. Fee-plus-expected-vacancy is the number that matters, and pricing precision plus distribution is what keeps the vacancy side small. |
| When the unit doesn't lease | You've already paid. The flat fee is spent whether the unit leases in 10 days or 60, and the work of re-listing falls back on you. | You pay only on a signed lease, and the fee is smaller if it took past day 21. No listing fee, no photography fee, no walk-away charge. |
Fee plus expected vacancy is the only honest number.
A flat-fee listing optimizes the one line you can see — the fee — and quietly loads the cost onto the line you can't: the rent you lose while the unit sits. Because the fee is paid up front, nothing in the arrangement gets the unit leased faster, and the vacancy bill is yours alone.
FastLease inverts that. The fee is contingent and drops 21% if a qualified tenant isn't signed by day 21, so the brokerage shares the cost of slowness. The same inputs that make a unit lease fast — precise pricing, professional photography, and featured portal placement — are the ones that shrink the vacancy you never see on an invoice.
Compare fee-plus-vacancy, not fee. The cheaper listing is rarely the cheaper outcome.
Isn't a flat-fee listing cheaper?
On the invoice, usually yes. On the calendar, often no. A flat fee is paid up front regardless of result, so it removes the incentive to lease quickly — and vacancy is the larger cost. At about $74 a day in lost rent on an average one-bedroom, a few extra weeks empty can cost more than a full month's brokerage fee. The honest comparison is fee plus expected vacancy, not fee alone.
What do I have to do myself with a flat-fee listing?
Typically the showings, the screening, and the paperwork. The flat-fee model is à-la-carte by design: it gets your unit onto MLS and then hands the time-consuming, judgment-heavy work — hosting showings, running credit and reference checks, and preparing the lease — back to you.
Does a discount listing reach the same renters?
Usually not. Many flat-fee offerings are MLS-only. FastLease includes MLS plus Property.ca and Condos.ca exposure through Property.ca Inc. Brokerage.
Who handles tenant screening on a flat-fee listing?
You do, in most cases. That's the hidden cost: a single bad tenant — missed rent, damage, a drawn-out turnover — dwarfs any fee saving. FastLease runs the same five-layer screening on every applicant (credit, income, employment, two spoken landlord references, document authentication) and presents each application to you with the summary before anyone signs.
When would a flat-fee listing actually make sense?
If you're comfortable hosting your own showings, running thorough screening yourself, and you have a unit in a high-demand pocket that tends to lease itself, a flat-fee listing can work. The trade is your time and the vacancy risk in exchange for a lower upfront fee. FastLease is the better fit when leasing fast, screening rigorously, and staying hands-off matter more than the headline number.