[ZoBot_]

This is simply my personal opinion, I'm not sure if people have been successful with rental systems in the past but I'm sure you'd find that you would keep missing people who need to pay you due to time zones and different levels of activity. Also, if you have a fair amount of buildings to rent, keeping on top of the payments would become pretty hectic, I hardly deem it worthwhile.
For claiming, I suggest claiming everything then removing the claim when someone owns a building or house, simply to reduce grief and having to wait for a staff member to fix and ban before selling/renting the build.
Other tips, make sure to create a simple yet effective infrastructure, if people continually become lost they may not wish to own a build there. If the infrastructure is poor, it will be difficult to extend the town.
Add plants/trees. They make the town look more lively and vibrant, depending on your theme.
Vary housing, if the homes are ready-built. This means that the town looks interesting. Vary shapes and colours, but sticking with said theme.
Remember that it may be a slow start, not many people will know your town exists so advertise it well, making sure not to become spammy.
Finally, good luck! I'd love to see your town when it's finished.

Btw, these are just what I've found from looking around other towns on the old world, my town didn't follow most of these and I didn't have the motivation to build and build- which is probably why it failed. XD