You have received some great feedback and advice! I have completed a few lease ups, and with each one, there's always something new to learn....it is so much fun. Please remember, while you're staying very busy, and sometimes very overwhelmed, to enjoy the ride. The journey of a lease up is so incredible, you will look back and have some of the most fulfilling memories. Alright, so my list of "advice":

OVERCOMMUNICATE _ there is no such thing as too much communication....to your future residents, your prospects, your team, your development team, your regional, everyone. Make sure that everyone remains on the same page and that you truly value every single opinion, consideration, or input. 

TRUST and VERIFY _ there is nothing more important to a team dynamic (from the team you choose to build and the team you're working with in development) than trust. The trust they place in you will be a direct result of the above, overcommunicating and being transparent. However, while trusting, make sure you are also verifying. 

MONITORING _ Everything. Someone above mentioned monitoring inventory and pricing. I'll just give you a list of a few very important things to constantly monitor: move-ins/dates, release dates, leases, pricing, inventory, market comps, traffic sources, overtime, social media (yours AND your comps). We had weekly checks in for each item and weekly marketing calls as well. 

ENGAGEMENT _ make sure your social media is consistent, you have planned socials and events, don't forget that B2B marketing, build PARTNERSHIPS with your local community. Relationship marketing is so important when you're the new building in town. 

KEYS _ rule of thumb is once those keys are given to you, it's officially Operations apartment, not Development. Make sure you have a ready apartment and all is in working order....including the keys being Operations keys and not still keyed to Development. 

SET EXPECTATIONS _ The joy of a lease up is you can do this early. With your residents and with your team. Have a move in letter and a move in orientation process ready to go. Make sure you know the move in process....where the trucks will park, how many move ins you can actually do at a time, do they need to be controlled a certain way.

WALK THE BUILDING _ walk the building(s) regularly. Like you are a resident. Are there trash issues? Does trash disposal make sense? Do the gates work? Are there small details that require a pivot? Get ahead of it if you can. 



I am sure there are more....most importantly HAVE FUN! :) Good luck to you friend! 

I have done many lease ups and staying in constant communication with your prospects and applicants is key. They love to know what is happening as their new homes are being built - even small updates such as plumbing being installed. Use programs such as Canva to make a newsletter to send out on a monthly basis (or time frame of your choosing) to keep everyone informed of the latest construction updates. However, any delays or adverse news should be delivered to the applicant personally.
Another great idea is to use this time to get involved in the community. You want to generate a buzz around your new neighborhood. Host "hard hat tours" so people can get a sneak peek, even if it is in the framing stages. People still love to see it and feel like they are getting an exclusive first look. Happy leasing!!!

Market early (6-10 months), get involved in the community, attend events, get prospects excited by offering teaser info.  offer hold reservations at least 6 months before first move in.  Taking the reservations early has allowed us to exceed pro-forma on the last 4 lease ups. 

Agreed. In the lease-up I just completed we added 2 weeks to every delivery date (fortunately our construction team was dead on with dates we would get our CO and legally be allowed to move people in). But I knew there would still be things to complete in the buildings/units so I added the 2 week buffer for my teams' sanity and so we did not have to disappoint our future residents.

As stated earlier... Watch your lease expiration dates closely.  Otherwise, year 2 and beyond can turn around and bite you.  Don't end up with 40% of your leases expiring on the same month.

Call center. Yes, I work for one and would be biased. However, there is no time where a call center makes more sense. You are leasing non-stop, your staff is running around with more tours and people they can handle. You will miss 75% of your inbound phone calls.

They can start the interest list before tours start, and set lots of appointments for you when the staff is ready.