Leasing Turnover Myths

I think that multifamily folks would generally agree that leasing may well be the highest turnover position in most apartment operators staffing. But why is that, and what can be done to reduce and or prevent that from happening?

There has been much written by the HR pun dents about what makes a great workplace. And, there has been much said by apartment folks about what they think makes for a bad working environment.

Myth Busters

I am compelled to write this post, because having long term staff has given us a distinct advantage at our boutique apartment management company.  One of our leasing gals have been with us almost ten years and the other going on four years. So, we really haven’t had much turnover. One could go on and on about the advantages of low turnover, but I do think that we tend to totally underestimate the value of an employee with company culture history and longevity.

Here are a few myths that just aren’t so, at least not in our case;

1. Leasing Hours; The hours are too long and folks get burned out. Really, Our Centralized Leasing Center is open seven days a week from 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM Mon-Thur, and 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM Fri-Sun, so that must be a myth. Oh, and we have zero overlap, meaning we never have more than one leasing person in the Urbane Underground at the same time. Overlap is a huge waste of leasing dollars. That said, you need to purge many things you may have your leasing folks doing that really doesn’t matter, although that may mean omitting that those reports you made up six years ago aren’t really helpful.
2. Crazy Boss; Over demanding property managers. Hm, Here is another crazy myth. I am clearly not the easiest cat in town to work with, and I become highly agitated and very reactionary whenever occupancy dips, or even looks like it might dip. Craig’s List Ads, regular Tweets and Facebook Postings are a daily routine, just like brushing your teeth, no exceptions, and I have no patience for excuses. That said, I tend to be very unstructured and stay out of folks shorts if occupancy is high and NOI is trending up. Whoever coined Life is Good as Long as We are Full was Spot On.
3. A Low Pay Position; This one is really hard to understand. Why would any company put the lowest paid deck mate to be the company spokes person. Your leasing staff are the first, and maybe only people that your prospect may ever meet from your company. If occupancy and NOI are really important metrics to me and our business, the folks that have a direct role with that should be compensated accordingly.

What is your secret to keeping long term employees?

Eric’s background is rooted in the rental and real estate industries. He founded metro Detroit’s Urbane Apartments in 2003, after serving as senior vice president for a major Midwest apartment developer. He established a proven track record of effectively repositioning existing rental properties in a way that added value for investors while enhancing the resident experience.

He also established The Urbane Way, a social media marketing and PR laboratory, where innovative marketing ideas are tested. Eric has been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine and Business Week Magazine.

You can connect with Eric_Urbane on Twitter.

Eric also writes regular articles for the following publications;

Eric Brown

Eric’s background is rooted in the rental and real estate industries. He founded metro Detroit’s Urbane Apartments in 2003, after serving as senior vice president for a major Midwest apartment developer. He established a proven track record of effectively repositioning existing rental properties in a way that added value for investors while enhancing the resident experience. He also established Urbane Media, a social media marketing and PR laboratory, where innovative marketing ideas are tested. Eric has been featured in Entrepreneur Magazine and Business Week Magazine. You can connect with Urbane_Media on Twitter. Eric also writes regular articles for the following publications;  Multi Housing News Social Media Examiner Search Engine Guide

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This entry was posted on October 25, 2011 at 2:43 pm and is filed under Apartment Marketing. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.