MISS MANAGEMENT
CAROL LEVEY | LEVEY ENTERPRISES
Working towards full occupancy takes teamwork
My community has enjoyed outstanding resident satisfaction and renewals despite steady rent increases. However, with new
construction now leasing up in our marketplace we are getting “push back” on our renewals; complaints about rent increases and
demands for improvements and/or concessions. Meanwhile, requests for repairs seem to be ramping up.
This changing situation is putting my team back on their heels. Maintennace is stretched between turns and service requests,
and our leasing team is under pressure to hit their numbers and are therefore offering greater latitude to potential residents like
alternative floorplans, locations, condition and move-in dates. Our existing residents are getting wind of what is being done to
accommodate new leases and demand similar treatment. Of course, all this custom treatment is impacting the service team as
well. We need every renewal and right now we are working harder to get it done. Any advice to help us work smarter?
Renewals are essential to the successful op-
eration of any apartment property. Renewals must
be understood and managed as a priority by the
entire team. Here’s where your leadership is es-
sential. Often, I discover from interaction with
onsite teams across the country that renewals are
treated as if they are outside our control. Existing
renters will make their move as their circum-
stances dictate, it is reasoned. When new apart-
ments arrive on the leasing horizon (for example
in metro Denver there are currently 26k apartment
homes under construction) all the attention goes
to new leases without considering how important
retention is to your team during this time. While
you cannot control the marketplace or your cus-
tomers you can make an incremental difference
to retention.
How much of a difference? I usually advise
onsite teams to focus on moving the retention
rate up by 3-5%. For example: an apartment com-
munity of 400 homes currently turns over half of
their rentals so they have a retention of 50% over
the year. Let’s make a priority that this year we
will retain 53-55%. This translates to renewing an
additional 12-20 leases.
Why? This incremental improvement will have
a leveraged benefit to net operating income (NOI)
because you have reduced your availability. Your
leasing traffic is directed to fewer vacant apartment
homes. Leasing is energized. Maintenance can
render better and more cost-efficient service when
retention is being optimized. The whole team is
working smarter. Further, ownership is encouraged
by increased NOI that the right team is in place,
property value is on the rise and further improve-
ments should be considered.
Your team can understand “why” renewals are
important because you can show them specifi-
cally. When this is the case they become more
open to you and “how” we are going to get it done
and “where” systems and routines can be developed
to keep renewals a priority, everyone wins.
June 20 & 21 | 8:30am - 5pm
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www.aamdhq.org
JUNE 2017 • TRENDS | 13