General Purpose:
A Leasing Manager plays a key role primarily on stabilized communities of over 300 units and/or leaseup communities. The Leasing Managers primary focus is to develop and implement a marketing strategy for the community and to advise, train and manage the leasing staff to ensure the achievement of the leasing, occupancy, and retention goals established for the community. Specifically, the Leasing Manager will partner with the Community Manager to achieve optimum performance in the following areas:
- Hire, train, and develop the Leasing Consultants.
- Lease the community.
- Market the community.
- Facilitate resident relations and resident retention programs.
- Coordinate and manage day-to-day office operations.
- Partner with the Assistant Community Manager.
- Partner effectively with both office and maintenance associates at the community, as well as associates from the corporate offices, Portico sister communities, competitors, locators, and vendors.
- Execute special projects and assignments as requested.
Essential Functions:
Hire, train, and develop the Leasing Consultants:
- Assist the Community Manager with recruiting, interviewing, and hiring Leasing Consultants.
- Submit new hire paperwork to Human Resources and register new associates for New Hire Orientation in a timely fashion.
- Provide on-going job skills training and coaching for associates.
- Encourage associate participation in company-wide training programs and provide coaching to help associates apply what theyve learned to their specific job duties.
- Motivate staff and provide encouragement and leadership for reaching leasing goals.
- Formally evaluate associate performance at least once annually per company policy. Provide on-going positive recognition or critical feedback to associates to assist them with achieving personal and community goals.
- Partner with the Community Manager to review mystery shops with Leasing Consultants, provide appropriate coaching, and co-develop performance improvement plans with the associate.
- Partner with the Community Manager to counsel associates for performance improvement and/or terminate associates when necessary.
- Provide Community Manager with recommendations regarding salary increases, bonuses, and leasing commissions.
- Motivate staff and implement employee incentive programs.
- Ensure that all office associates adhere to professional appearance guidelines on a daily basis including proper attire, personal grooming habits, and nametags.
- In conjunction with the Community Manager, facilitate a daily pre-shift meeting to discuss issues or concerns from the previous day, leasing goals, concessions/specials, follow-up, and focal areas for the day.
- Jointly facilitate weekly staff meetings in conjunction with the Community Manager and the Assistant Community Manager and leasing meetings with all on-site associates per the following guidelines:
- Hold these meetings on the same day/time each week.
- Have an agenda. Send this to your Regional Director prior to the meeting.
- Share the goals for the week including: leasing, marketing, renewals, make-ready, and maintenance goals.
- Review staff closing ratios and leasing success.
- Review the market survey results and discuss any changes.
- Discuss resident issues.
- Review any informational updates from corporate.
- Involve the staff in the meeting.
- Take minutes and ensure that each associate receives a copy. Send these to your Regional Director and maintain a staff meeting log.
Lease the Community:
- The Leasing Manager is responsible for role modeling effective and appropriate leasing and sales techniques and is expected to take an active role in leasing the community on a daily basis.
- Answer the telephone to greet, build rapport with, and invite prospects to set appointments to tour the community.
- Respond to internet/email leasing inquires within 24 hours and strive to convert these inquiries to telephone conversations and property visits.
- Monitor and ensure that the answering service is providing customer-centered service.
- Complete a Guest Card for every interaction with a prospect whether the first point-ofcontact is via internet/email, telephone, or in person. Enter all Guest Cards into OneSite daily.
- Warmly greet and build rapport with each prospect and provide a customized community tour that fits their unique needs, hot buttons, and preferences. Strive to show a vacant made-ready apartment, as well as the model.
- Adhere to Fair Housing Standards in all interactions with prospects and residents.
- Verify and screen applications and notify applicant of approval/denial within 72 hours.
- Follow-up on undecided prospects by setting a second appointment to visit or via handwritten thank you card, telephone call/message, and/or email per Portico Policy. Design innovative follow-up strategies.
- Monitor Guest Card, application, screening, follow-up, and activity log documentation in OneSite.
- Assist Community Manager with establishing budgetary guidelines for market rent, advertised rent, renewal increases, and concessions/specials offered. Consult with Community Manager before approving different amounts.
- Promote rentable items such as: washer/dryer sets, garages, carports, etc.
- Notify maintenance and office staff of move-ins and move-in date changes to ensure adequate time for apartment preparation.
- Prepare, monitor, and approve lease files for move-in including the TAA lease, all addenda, and additional documentation per Portico Policy.
- Walk units to ensure readiness for move-in.
- Prepare move-in/welcome gifts and packets.
- Move-in residents by having the them review and sign the lease and all move-in documentation appropriately. Issue keys, gate/access cards, or remotes.
- Manage priority wait lists.
- Monitor associates Leasing Notebooks to ensure these have current information about the community, including but not limited to: a completed product knowledge survey, floor plans, and local information and resources. Leasing Notebooks should be available at each leasing desk and in the model.
- Maintain a Market Comp Book with collateral brochures and floor plans from competitors, in an effort to discourage prospects from visiting other communities and to encourage them to lease at a Portico community.
- Coordinate and facilitate regular leasing and leasing training meetings.
Market the Community:
- Ensure that each member of the Leasing Staff is knowledgeable at all times of the overall market and competition by:
- Identifying the competition.
- Personally visiting and learning about the competition on a monthly basis.
- Maintaining the bi-weekly market survey.
- Leading leasing meetings to inform and solicit ideas and feedback.
- Develop overall marketing strategies with the direction of the Community Manager and ensure that Leasing Staff are involved and knowledgeable about:
- Outreach programs
- Preferred employer programs
- Maintaining positive rapport with all advertising vendors and locators.
- Creating and maintaining hospitality or concierge services for prospects if applicable
- Tracking and monitoring traffic sources
- Evaluate the effectiveness of print and internet advertisements, guides and signage.
- Create, maintain, and monitor a schedule for Leasing Consultants conducting the daily opening and closing inspection checklist to ensure cleanliness of the leasing center, the model, the condition of the leasing path, the grounds, and amenity areas.
- Inspect community signage daily and ensure that bootlegs, banners, balloons, and brochures are in excellent condition.
- Ensure that refreshments are prepared daily, and order supplies as needed.
- Set up mini-models in units that are difficult to lease as assigned by the Community Manager.
Maintain Resident Satisfaction and Facilitate Resident Retention:
- Ensure that residents needs are handled with exceptional responsiveness, care, and urgency.
- Manage and execute daily services that promote positive resident relations such as package pick-up, work order follow-up, rent payment acceptance, and question answering.
- Document and monitor service requests in OneSite and ensure that the maintenance team receives these in a timely fashion.
- Oversee and monitor lease expirations and notices-to-vacate. Initiate, manage, and maintain a lease renewal program.
- Organize and facilitate regular, resident activities and parties and partner with the communitys CARES Team if applicable.
- Coordinate and publish a monthly resident newsletter.
- Establish hospitality and concierge services if applicable.
- Move out residents by accepting keys and conducting the final walk-through of the apartment.
Coordinate and Manage Day-to-Day Office Operations:
- Ensure all activity is entered into OneSite on the same day as it occurs or no later than 10 AM the next business day.
- Monitor the answering service frequently. Respond and distribute messages.
- Ensure that the leasing@ community email is checked by Leasing Staff and responded to in a timely manner and at minimum three times daily: In the morning before the office opens, mid-day, and prior to the office closing.
- Ensure desks are kept clean and organized.
- Manage and maintain inventory of office supplies, lease, and collateral material. Order supplies as needed.
- Ensure all reports are completed and submitted on time.
- Monitor and maintain organized resident and community filing systems.
- Ensure and monitor the accuracy and integrity of all data and property reports.
Partner with the Assistant Community Manager:
- Uphold, explain, and facilitate community policies and resolve resident conflicts with policies and procedures.
- Assist with the collection of rent and answering billing questions.
- Assist with coordinating and responding to vendors needs.
- Follow and uphold all safety regulations.
Partner Effectively with Both Office and Maintenance Associates at the Community, as well as Associates from the Corporate Offices, Portico Sister Communities, Competitors, Locators, and Vendors:
- Develop and maintain a respectful, courteous, and helpful rapport with all on-site and corporate office associates, Portico sister communities, competitors, vendors, and every customer. Respond to requests and inquiries in a timely manner.
- Maintain positive relations with all competitors and provide accurate data for their market surveys.
- Refer prospects to Portico sister communities if your community does not fit their financial or personal needs.
Execute Special Projects and Assignments as Requested.
Qualifications/Basic Job Requirements:
Years of job-related experience:
1-2 years of apartment leasing and customer service experience preferred with Mystery Shop scores consistently at or above 90%.
Degree required and area of study:
Bachelors degree preferred; Associates degree required; or High School diploma or General Education Degree (GED) and 1-2 years of related experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience.
Desired Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities:
- Professional and enthusiastic demeanor resulting from previous sales, leasing, marketing, or customer service experience.
- Proven ability to close the sale and to train other staff to maintain leasing standards.
- Strong motivational skills, able to lead others by example, and inspire leasing and sales excellence.
- Excellent communication and listening skills.
- Excellent customer service, sales, and negotiation skills.
- Effectively present information and respond to questions from groups of managers, clients, customers, and the general public.
- Read, understand, and explain lease documents.
- Effective team player and interacts well with others.
- Organized and detail-oriented.
- Patient, even-tempered, and works well under pressure.
- Work with residents, prospects, vendors, and all customers and staff in a courteous, empathetic, and professional manner. A strong understanding of customer service concepts and the ability to apply them will be necessary in this role.
- Maintain composure and function during crises or emergency situations.
- Read and interpret documents such as safety rules, legal correspondence, and procedural manuals.
- Write routine reports and correspondence.
- Add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals. Compute rates, ratios, percentages, discounts, and prorations.
- Apply common sense and understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral, or diagram form.
- Effective time management skills.
- Maintain confidentiality.
- Follow directions from a supervisor.
- Understand and follow posted work rules and procedures.
- Accept and provide constructive criticism.
Certifications and/or Specialized Training:
- Skilled in Microsoft Word and Excel.
- Proficient in OneSite, property management software.
Physical Demands:
Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The associate must be capable of the following:
- Talking: The ability to clearly communicate policies, procedures, and processes, as well as detailed instructions or information accurately, loudly, and quickly in English.
- Average Hearing: The ability to hear normal conversations and alarms and to receive ordinary information.
- Average Visual Abilities: Average, ordinary visual acuity to prepare or inspect documents or products or to operate computers. Depth perception is required.
- Physical Strength:
- Standing for prolonged periods of time
- Walking long distances or for prolonged periods of time.
- Walking up and down stairs.
- Reaching and pushing.
- Climbing ladders.
- Stooping and crouching.
- Driving a golf cart.
- Carrying/lifting up to 30 pounds.
- Repetitive Motions & Dexterity: Regularly requires repetitive motions using the wrists, hands, and/or fingers, including small movements such as typing and picking up small objects.
Work Environment:
- Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
- While performing the duties of this job, the employee is exposed to outside weather conditions (i.e. hot, cold, wet, humid, snowy, or icy). The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.
- The associate is frequently exposed to high-pressure demands to maintain leasing objectives. The associate may receive and have to manage frequent complaints from residents, vendors, staff, and prospects.
- Depending on staffing guidelines and reporting assignments, weekends and overtime may be required of the associate. Employees may be required to travel for professional training seminars, retreats, and meetings.
- Employees may work in a pet-friendly environment and be exposed to common household pets in residential units and common areas.