what is better? One month rent is around 8% of the monthly payment. As a tenant I would prefer to not lose it.

What the benefits are?

Do you mean 'as a landlord....'? Otherwise a tenant doesn't pay it and therefore doesn't lose it.

I think it really depends on your area and the type of tenant you have and whether you have a job that allows you to take calls and how close you live to the property.

I am self-managing. For one thing I have low-income properties and only a few PMs are willing to work in this neighborhood and they charge minimum per door per month that come out to 20-30% of my rents.

Yes. I meant as landlord. Thanks for response.

This makes sense.

@Vlad D.  

Here in Boston the market is quite lousy for tenants. They usually end up paying an extra month's rent to find a place. Demand is quite a bit higher than supply so the "one month fee" has been shifted from landlord to tenant when paying realtors. 

That ONLY works in a situation like Boston. I recommend doing your own placement and showings if at all possible. If you have nice places that rent quickly, you'll have no issues spending four or five hours to get your places rented and save several hundred in realtor fees. 

I pay my contractors $20 for each showing, as my husband and I live out of state for the majority of the rentals. I handle all tenant screening and placement. It's never added up to a month's rent, which is what I would have to pay to a realtor to handle renting our properties.

Thanks all.

My intention was to check common rules but it sounds as there is no such thing. There is a different set of rules per location.