MISS MANAGEMENT
carol levey | levey enterprises
Making sure your units are market-ready
before showings
I’m a leasing professional that is proud of what I do at my
property and for renters looking for a quality apartment home.
Recently I have been transferred to a property within my company’s
portfolio that is experiencing increased turnover which gives me
a lot of apartments to lease, and I’m showing apartments that I’m
not confident have been made market-ready.
I usually talk them through these awkward moments with
statements like- “No problem, this apartment will be prefect when
you move in”. Well, that turns out to be a lie about half the time.
So, instead of an excited new resident I’m getting upset customers
that come back to me to make it “perfect” or else. What can you
tell me before I lose my enthusiasm for being a leasing star?
T
his is not an uncommon spiral that plagues apartment
communities from time to time. The physical condition of the
apartment when toured is a compelling part of the leasing
process. It says so much about resident expectations,
management policies and the quality of maintenance routines and
repairs. It also is a statement of whether you and your company deliver
housing value at a competitive price.
Delivering what is promised at move-in is imperative. Unrealized
value by a resident at this “point of sale” will stick with them through
the entire lease. It will bubble up in a variety of circumstances when you
expect certain things from them including- paying rent on time, reporting
maintenance repairs before major damage to the property, giving and
responding to notices in a timely fashion. The list goes on and on. The
point is if they moved in with a belief that saying one thing and delivering
less is okay for you it paves the path that anything goes on their end.
Here are several routines that need to be applied with energized
leadership from the entire team to correct these serious conditions.
1. Market- ready apartments require the attention and priority of
the entire team. As a leasing specialist you should be walking
these daily. If onsite maintenance team members cannot keep
up with the upcoming availability it is a situation that needs the
targeting of specific apartments including: cooperation of
leasing and/or prioritization by management and/or the
temporary use of external maintenance from other company
properties or outside vendors.
2. There must be a community team standard for market-ready.
Your weekly team meeting should periodically be conducted
inside a vacant apartment home. Everyone should be asked to
closely walk the apartment with specific questions in mind.
Would I rent this apartment for the quoted rent? If not, why not?
What expectations would you need satisfied? Each team
member should be given opportunity to contribute. This exercise
over a short period will create a team expectation of value.
3. The next step is to consistently deliver this value to every new
prospective resident on tour and every move-in. This is done
with a ready checklist that is posted in each vacant apartment
and initialed by everyone that touches the turn. An apartment
is ready when the documentation including a final walk says it’s
ready. Finally, upon move-in a team member does a personal
walk-through with the resident. If there is an item needing
correction a written service request is processed with urgency.
4. The same standards and procedures can be developed for the
common areas including common area checklists that get the
entire team identifying and delivering community value.
If you want more explicit details regarding market-ready apartments you should plan to attend
the Maintenance Olympics on April 15th. Chris Beno of ConAm Management and Carol Levey
of Levey Enterprises will be presenting this in-depth, interactive program.
Mark Your Calendar
MAINTENANCE OLYMPICS
JUNE AWARDS
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Thursday, June 18, 2015
EDUCATION CONFERENCE
& TRADE SHOW
Thursday, July 23, 2015
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
All dates are subject to change
www.aamdhq.org
SUMMER ECON
GOLF TOURNAMENT
Friday, August 14, 2015
FEBRUARY 2015 • TRENDS | 13