Flat Rate Pricing Contributes to LOST Leases

Many communities tried "one price fits all" pricing methods during the recession in an effort to fill up fast.  While this may have resulted in a nice bump in occupancy, the leasing team was left with all the “less desirable” apartments to lease making their challenges even tougher. The long term problem is that now they have a community where people think that most pay the same amount in rent. The price was typically based on the lowest rent we could offer even though more than half the apartments had higher value. Price the apartment based on the attributes which make the apartment unique.

Why should a person rent the subject apartment over another? The answer to that question will help you see the individual opportunity for this apartment price. Once you move to this type of price structure it is easier to sell a new price on an apartment.  The reason is pretty simple, it limits that number of apartments that will meet the customer’s needs.  If you have 10 one bedrooms available and they are all $899 then the customer has 10 to choose from making the decision harder not to mention you will lose your sense of urgency. 

It makes more sense to qualify the customer based on price they can afford and them limit their choice based on this need.  Ideally, you want the customer to consider 2 apartments vs 10 apartments.