Turning a Bad Turn Day into a Good One with Technology

Hours upon hours and days upon days can be spent planning and executing student housing lease-ups. Vendor schedules must be coordinated, leases approved, apartments assigned and roommates matched. Property management technology can assist but the sweat of the brow is often necessary. Most of all, listening to students and parents as they embark upon one of the biggest events in their lives when students venture from the family nest to a place of their own, becomes more important than ever. And no matter what, industry professionals say, always expect the unexpected. It’s those unforeseen events that test even the most well-oiled student housing staffs when moving trucks and mini-vans are unloading in a frenzy. Or, in the case of one California property staff that was tested a few years ago when occupancy permits weren’t granted days before move-in. Elicia Ribeiro, an eager 25-year-old student housing leasing consultant who learned to manage one surprise after another. Managing unexpected events Ribeiro had moved to Sacramento, Calif., on January 2011 to assist with leasing up West Village on the University of California-Davis campus for Carmel Partners. The first leasing consultant hired, she had never leased-up a property still under construction and the August move-in date was fast approaching.  Also, because of campus rules, the property could be only be leased to UC-Davis students, limiting the pool of prospects, and no models were available to show prospective renters. Ribeiro and colleague Casey Carnegie leased apartments from an office in downtown Davis and gave site tours in hard hats. They worked with students and parents helping them to pick out apartments based on maps and drawings. To help students and parents feel at home and match roommates, the company hosted a pizza party off-site. A lot of hand-holding, Ribeiro remembers, but things were moving along. Before moving to a makeshift office on-site, about 30 percent of the units in th...