They usually get to keep your deposit. So if you’re paying first and last month’s rent when you move in, the landlord gets one month of rent and the agency gets the other.

This is fine, except that it gives the agencies incentive to find you a place that is the maximum possible rent that you can pay or are willing to pay. So the agents then have a reason to collude with the landlord to get you to pay more. So a place that was really $250 will be offered up to you at $350.

If an agent is taking you around to apartments and every single place you see is renting for exactly the top dollar amount of the range you’ve given them (say your range is $0 to $350, and every place he brings you to is renting for $350) consider a different agent, because that one is just trying to get the biggest payday they can get out of you and not working in your best interests.

Do this: Set your price range lower than what you can actually pay, just put it at a minimum amount for a barang to find liveable accommodations ($100 to $200 typically for most neighborhoods, and usually more like $200) and see if you find anything you like that way. If he can only show you unsatisfactory places in the lowest price range, suggest that you could stretch your budget a bit and see where you go from there.