Luna Realty · Owner Cost Guide
In Massachusetts, the one cost you fully control is the listing fee. A traditional listing broker usually charges about one month’s rent — and since the 2025 law, when you hire the listing broker it is your cost, not the tenant’s. With Luna Realty it starts at $499.
Below: an honest breakdown of what renting out a unit really costs — and what each Luna Realty plan covers.
What owners actually pay to rent out a unit — and what Luna Realty’s plans already include.
From $499
The one cost you fully control. A traditional listing broker usually charges about one month’s rent. With Luna Realty, Essential is $499 each time the unit is listed; Full Service is $499 + half a month’s rent, and the half month is due only when a lease is signed. Since August 1, 2025, the owner who hires a listing broker pays that broker, not the tenant.
Varies
Paint, cleaning, minor repairs, and small fixes between tenants. Highly unit-dependent — a light turnover is modest; a full make-ready costs more.
Included
Professional photos are included on both Luna Realty plans, and your unit is posted to the broker listing network and rentluna.com, usually within one business day. There is no separate marketing bill.
Depends on plan
On Essential, the whole open market can show it: agents bring their renters, and you pick the times; offer one month’s rent and Luna Realty agents show it too. On Full Service, Luna Realty agents show your unit, for half a month’s rent more, only when a lease is signed.
Varies
The most expensive line item is usually an empty unit. Every week vacant is rent you never recover, which is why correct pricing and fast, wide exposure matter more than shaving a few dollars anywhere else.
Included
Applications with tenant screening come into your Owner Portal, and your lease is prepared in our lease builder, with MA Board addendums and online signing. Included on both plans.
Prep, repairs, and vacancy are real, but they depend on your building and your timing — there is a limit to how much you can compress them without cutting corners. The listing fee is different. It is a number you agree to when you hire a listing broker, and for years it defaulted to about one full month’s rent.
Example only: on a unit renting for $2,500 a month, a traditional listing broker charges about $2,500. With Luna Realty, Essential is $499, and the whole open market can show it; Full Service is $1,749 ($499 when you list + $1,250 when a lease is signed), and Luna Realty agents show it. The $499 is paid each time a unit is listed, so a unit you list twice in a year is $499 each time.
Since August 1, 2025, the listing fee can no longer be pushed onto the tenant when you are the one who hired the broker. It is your cost now — so it pays to know exactly what you are paying for. A renter who brings their own agent pays that agent, not you; offering one month’s rent makes it $0 for those renters.
The one cost you fully control is the listing fee. A traditional listing broker usually charges about one month’s rent, and since August 1, 2025 the owner who hires that broker pays it. With Luna Realty you choose a plan: Essential, $499 each time the unit is listed, or Full Service, $499 plus half of one month’s rent, due only when a lease is signed. Example only, on a unit renting for $2,500 a month: about $2,500 with a traditional listing broker, $499 on Essential, or $1,749 on Full Service ($499 when you list + $1,250 when a lease is signed). Beyond that, your other costs are prep/turnover and any vacancy, both of which vary by unit.
Yes, when the landlord hired the broker. Under the Massachusetts law effective August 1, 2025, the party who hires a broker pays that broker. When you hire the listing broker, you cannot pass that fee to the tenant, so it belongs on your cost sheet. A renter who brings their own agent pays that agent, not you; offering one month’s rent makes it $0 for those renters (you pay their agent, or give a one-month rent concession). General information, not legal advice.
Both plans include an exclusive listing with Luna Realty, a licensed Massachusetts brokerage; professional photos; posting to the broker listing network and rentluna.com, usually within one business day; and an Owner Portal with showing requests, applications with tenant screening, your lease prepared in our lease builder (MA Board addendums, online signing), analytics and Luna AI. On Essential, the whole open market can show it: agents bring their renters, and you pick the times (offer one month’s rent and Luna Realty agents show it too). On Full Service, Luna Realty agents show your unit.
Yes. $499 is paid each time a unit is listed, after you sign the listing agreement. Listings run 6 months and renew once at no charge. On Full Service, the half month’s rent is due only when a lease is signed while the listing is active.
Those genuinely vary by property and condition, so we won’t quote a fake number. A light turnover between good tenants is modest; a full make-ready is more. The biggest cost to watch is vacancy — an empty unit — which is why pricing it right and getting it in front of renters quickly matter most.
List your rental for $499 — or choose Full Service: $499 + half a month’s rent, only when a lease is signed, and Luna Realty agents show it. On either plan you can offer one month’s rent, paid to the renter’s agent or as a rent concession.
481 Main St, Waltham, MA 02451 · Broker/Owner Joshua Stone