The lease-up phase is one of the most critical times for any apartment development. It’s the final hurdle between a developer and a successful, cash flowing property. While there’s a lot of focus on marketing campaigns, model units, and community events during this phase, one common and costly oversight tends to be realized in the disconnect between management and the front line team during during the lease-up process.
This disconnect happens when property managers, developers, and leasing professionals are not fully aligned or working toward the same goals. Without clear communication and oversight, even the best lease-up strategy can falter, leading to slower absorption rates, increased vacancies, and wasted resources.
The Cost of Misalignment in Your Lease-Up
The consequences of management disconnect during a lease-up can be severe, impacting your bottom line in many ways, including:
- Slower Absorption Rates: With inconsistent strategies and unaddressed challenges, your property will take longer to fill up, causing delays in reaching full occupancy.
- Increased Marketing Costs: A slow lease-up means more money spent on marketing and outreach to keep the pipeline full. These additional expenses cut into the profitability of your project.
- Higher Vacancy Rates: Vacant units are a drain on profitability, especially during a lease-up when developers are eager to stabilize the property. Misalignment between management and leasing teams can prolong vacancies.
- Reduced Tenant Satisfaction: Prospects notice when a property’s leasing team isn’t fully in sync. Disorganized tours, conflicting information, or a lack of follow-up can leave a bad impression, reducing the chances of lease signings and impacting tenant retention later on.
- Conflicting Goals: The developer could be planning to sell the building after lease-up, and needs the highest valuation. If the leasing team is not informed of this and compensated for signing higher rents, they may have conflicting goals during the lease-up.
- Higher Staff Turnover: Leasing can be a demanding role. If management is not involved or not recognizing their staff with rewards like flash bonuses, they are likely to see higher staff turnover resulting in a slower lease-up with more setbacks.
The Solution: Active Managerial Involvement in the Lease-Up Process
To avoid these pitfalls, managers and developers must be actively involved in the leasing process, ensuring leasing professionals are supported, aligned, and equipped to meet lease-up goals. Here’s how to build that alignment:
- Regular Manager Check-ins: Schedule structured check-ins between managers and leasing professionals. This ensures that managers are fully informed about what’s happening on the ground and can address any challenges or misalignments early.
- Consistent Feedback Loops: Establish clear lines of communication where leasing professionals can provide feedback to management about what they’re hearing from prospects—concerns about pricing, amenities, or competitor properties. Management can then adjust the lease-up strategy accordingly.
- Tracking Leasing Progress: Managers should use tools like checklists and progress tracking systems to monitor each leasing professional’s activities and outcomes. This enables managers to spot trends, identify bottlenecks, and intervene as needed to keep the lease-up on track.
- Ongoing Support and Training: The lease-up phase is not the time for a “set it and forget it” approach to training. Ensure that managers are reinforcing training and providing real-time coaching to their leasing teams, helping them adapt to the fast-paced nature of this critical phase.
Our Solution: High-Performance Leasing Workshop
At SVN Rock Advisors Inc., we understand how critical the lease-up phase is for any apartment developer. That’s why we’ve designed our High-Performance Leasing Workshop to specifically address the common challenges faced during this crucial time.
What makes our workshop unique is the integration of management into the process, ensuring a cohesive, unified approach to leasing. Here’s how we support both leasing professionals and managers during lease-ups:
- Manager Check-ins Throughout the Program: We provide structured opportunities for managers to stay involved, offering feedback and guidance to ensure the leasing team is performing at its best. These regular check-ins help avoid misalignments and keep the team on track toward lease-up goals.
- Leasing Progress Checklist for Managers: Our program includes a comprehensive checklist that allows managers to easily track the progress and effectiveness of each leasing professional. This ensures that no one falls behind and that leasing goals are consistently met.
By fostering an ongoing dialogue between managers and leasing professionals, our workshop ensures that everyone is aligned and working together to achieve a successful, fast lease-up.
Ready to speed up your lease-up process and hit full occupancy sooner? Join our High-Performance Leasing Workshop today and see how our proven system can help you meet and exceed your lease-up goals!