Marketing and Leasing
Marketing and Leasing
This domain tests market awareness, a written marketing plan, lead generation, pricing, the leasing conversation, and fair housing compliance in advertising and screening. The goal is qualified traffic that converts to leases at the best effective rent.
Core rules and concepts
- Know the target market and competitive set; survey comparable properties for rent, concessions, occupancy, and amenities.
- Marketing plan: objectives, budget, channels, calendar, and measurement by lead source. Track which source produces leases, not just traffic.
- Pricing: market rent, effective rent, loss-to-lease, and concession strategy. A concession is a temporary price cut; show it in effective rent.
- Funnel metrics: traffic to guest cards to applications to approvals to leases. Closing ratio = leases divided by qualified traffic.
- Fair housing in ads: describe the property, not the preferred resident. Avoid phrases such as perfect for young professionals, no children, or Christian environment. Use the equal housing opportunity logo.
- Screening: apply written criteria consistently to every applicant.
Worked example
A property records 200 traffic in a month, 80 guest cards, 40 applications, 32 approvals, and 24 leases. Traffic-to-lease = 24 divided by 200 = 12%. Guest-card capture = 80 divided by 200 = 40%. Application rate = 40 divided by 80 = 50%. Approval rate = 32 divided by 40 = 80%. Lease conversion from approval = 24 divided by 32 = 75%. The weakest link is guest-card capture; improve the greeting and ask for contact information before the tour.
Traps
Do not quote base rent without fees, utilities, and concessions. Do not advertise discriminatory preferences. Do not count unqualified traffic in closing ratio. Do not use occupancy alone; check exposure and expiring leases. Do not reveal resident details in online review responses.