For years, rentals sat on the margins of many brokerages, often treated as low-priority work, delegated to new agents, or avoided altogether because of the lower price point. Today, that mindset is quietly costing brokerages revenue, relevance, and long-term client relationships.
The data from our 2026 Annual Real Estate Agent & Market Trends Report is clear: rentals are no longer optional. With 61.5% of agents classifying rentals as "essential" or "important" to their business strategy, this sector has graduated from a "fill-in" activity to a core revenue pillar.
The reality is simple: Your agents are already doing rentals. The question is, are they doing them efficiently enough to be profitable? With free Rental Beast member benefits like Search and Apply Now, brokers can empower agents to close more leases now while setting up smarter growth for the future.
Market conditions have changed. Transaction volume fluctuates. Buyers hesitate. But renters? They never disappear. In fact, nearly 90% of agents expect rental demand to either increase or stay the same in 2026.
Rentals provide:
However, agents face a massive hurdle: Efficiency. The top two challenges agents reported in our survey were low commission values (34.5%) and the time-consuming nature of the process (31.7%).
The Broker’s Opportunity: If your agents are bogged down by administrative work, the ROI on rentals decreases. Brokerages that lean into rentals with the right technology aren't just filling short-term gaps; they are fixing the efficiency problem that plagues their agents.
Success with rentals doesn’t come from simply telling agents to "do more." It comes from giving them tools that speed up transactions. Here is how your agents can use their free MLS member benefits to solve their biggest pain points.
Rental clients move quickly, but finding inventory is currently a scavenger hunt. Our survey shows that rental inventory is highly fragmented:
This fragmentation forces agents to check three or four different sources just to find a listing. Rental Beast Search solves this by consolidating MLS data and off-MLS inventory into a single view.
One of the biggest bottlenecks in rentals is execution. Agents are craving simplicity; when choosing a tool, 40.3% prioritize "Ease of Use" above all other factors.
Apply Now removes friction by letting renters submit applications directly from listings. It aligns perfectly with what agents trust: 30.4% of agents discover their screening tools through MLS recommendations.
Brokerage Benefits:
Rentals Today, Buyers Tomorrow (The Hidden Pipeline)
The long-term value of rentals is often underestimated. Every renter represents a future purchase opportunity, but most brokerages have a "leaky bucket" when it comes to converting renters into buyers.
Consider these statistics:
The Strategic Fix: Brokerages that encourage agents to use Rental Beast are helping structure this data. Instead of rental client details disappearing into a smartphone contact list, they remain in a professional ecosystem. By helping agents streamline the rental process today, you are helping them capture the 34.5% of renters who will buy within 2 years.
The most resilient brokerages don’t wait for the market to improve. They diversify how agents generate business.
Rentals offer predictable transaction volume and a practical on-ramp for new agents. But as the data shows, manual follow-ups (33.7%) and fragmented lead sources are slowing your team down.
With free tools like Rental Beast Search and Apply Now, brokerages already have what they need to activate rental success without added cost or complexity. The question isn’t whether rentals belong in your brokerage strategy; the data proves they do. The question is whether your agents are fully equipped to capitalize on them.
Interested in learning more? Schedule a time to meet with Kimberly Wilson.
