How To Position An Apartment In A Disadvantageous Season!

​We just closed on a building with a vacant apartment.  It is near the end of September. Fall is not the best time of year to rent an apartment.  Most tenant prospects have already secured their housing.  So what do you do?

1.)  Expedite the make ready of your apartment.  Time is not your friend.

2.). Make sure you are showing a finished product and so that it outclasses other rent comps so you can attract the best tenant prospect.

3.)  You May need to price your apartment lower in order to be competitive.

4.)  When you do place a tenant this time of the year, DO NOT do a one year lease, you don’t want to put yourself in this position again!  Make sure to time it anywhere between April 30th and August 31st.  * This is what applies to Rochester NY apartment markets and may not be relevant for warmer weather climates.  If you have many apartments it’s good to have a sprinkling of lease expirations throughout the leasing season.  Assuming you have a good retention rate, you won’t get stuck with an unmanageable amount of make readies the following year.