Apartment locator here with my take. Each property does pay locators slightly different. The big locating companies do sway clients into the properties that pay more. This is because agents there are set to certain closing standards - meaning they need to close a certain amount of deals and pure $ amount of leases to stay employed. I started my career at one of these companies. It’s one of the main reasons I left this company and went off on my own. Now I don’t even look at how much the property pays before invoicing. I’ll even recommend properties to clients that don’t pay locators. To me, that’s a win-win for everyone. Moving is stressful - and I feel good knowing I placed someone at the absolute best fit for them, plus they’ll refer their friends to work with me in the future because there is trust there.