Starting a Lease Up: What You Should Be Doing

Starting a lease up can be very nerve-wracking. There are many moving pieces when it comes to getting everything set up for leasing. If you are like me, you prefer to nail the pre-leasing. After all, driving traffic to a building is key, but how are you supposed to get leases before the building even opens?

The pre-leasing part is going to be the MOST important! So you need to make sure your pre-leasing game is strong, this way you can ride out a successful lease-up with a lot of traffic, interest, and most importantly, leases!

Let's discuss a few very important points. These are all factors that are going to determine whether your lease up will be successful...

1). Are you currently advertising like crazy?

This does not mean listing your building on a few rental search sites. This means really going all out on your marketing campaigns. Your goal before your building opens is to gather a large email list, and start accumulating interest in the building. You should have so many people asking when the building will open and getting hyped, so that when the building does open, these people are ready to move in!

There are many useful places where you can list your building and gain more exposure. One of the most beneficial places to advertise will definitely be Google Ads. And it is important to consult with a marketing expert, to make sure that you are targeting popular keywords. So for instance, when someone searches on Google, "apartments for rent in Brewerytown Philadelphia" then your website will show up as the first result.

2). How are you pitching the building to prospects?

I cannot stress enough how important this part really is. I can't count how many times I have seen a leasing specialist send an email with a subject line that just does not sound enticing. So what happens here? Well, that email won't get read. Total waste of communication efforts with that prospect. You only have one shot initially, so make it count.

So how are you describing your building to prospects? Are you just describing it by its name? Or are you using more descriptive words to make the building sound enticing? For example, would you rather tour a building called ABC, or would you rather tour a luxury building with a resort-style pool? I don't know about you, but I'll take that resort-style pool. Who knows what ABC is like...for all we know it can be a run down building with no pool!

3). Are you making initial contact and following up with prospects on a regular basis?

Communication is key here. You don't know how many times I have seen leasing specialists just ignore new leads, or brush them off to the side. This is a huge mistake. Even though the building is not opened yet, you should be creating hype. You should be pre-leasing the building, and encouraging prospects to place deposits before the building even opens! How are you supposed to do that if you don't have fast and effective communication with your prospects?

4). What kind of marketing material are you using?

Just because you are not open, does not mean that you should not start sending or e-blasting a lot of marketing material to your prospects. At this point, you should have some sort of email list built up. Are you sending attractive email flyers out to your prospects at least one time per week? If so, is the marketing piece you are sending trigger some kind of call of action? Your goal is to have the prospect so excited that they want to pick up the phone and call you on the spot!

5). Are you offering open houses or hard-hat tours?

New construction is very exciting, and I have personally worked with a lot of renters that love to watch a building start from square one. Even if your building is just finishing up with construction, or has not officially opened yet, consider hosting an open house in a safe area or doing a hard-hat tour. This will invite prospects out to see the progress of their new potential home, and it also allows them to meet you in person. This is also a great time to have handy marketing material that you can leave your prospects with. Helpful reminder here: always follow up! :)

Of course there are plenty of other ways that will help launch an apartment lease up. These are just a few solid ways to get you going initially.

Starting a lease up and want to make sure that you are doing everything you can to gain exposure and traction? No problem! We are here to help! Reach out today and let us know what kinds of questions you have!