Lease-up and new development sales glossary

Absorption rate

The share of a building's newly completed units that are leased over a given period, such as a month or a quarter. Developers, lenders, and leasing teams track it to see whether a lease-up is keeping the pace the pro forma assumed.

Carrying costs

The costs a developer pays to hold a building before rent or sales cover them: debt service, property taxes, insurance, utilities, and staff. Every month a unit sits empty adds to them.

Certificate of occupancy (CO)

The document a local building department issues when a building meets code and can be legally occupied. Residents can move in, and condo units can close, only in space a certificate covers.

Concession

An incentive an owner offers to get a lease signed or renewed, usually tied to rent, such as a free month. Concessions lower the effective rent.

Condo sell-out

The sales period for a new condominium building, from the start of sales until the developer has sold every unit. It is the sales counterpart of a rental lease-up.

Cost per lead

Marketing spend on a channel divided by the number of leads that channel produced. It shows what each inquiry costs, not what each signed lease costs.

Cost per lease

Marketing spend on a channel divided by the number of signed leases traced back to it. It tells a leasing team which ads and listing sites to keep paying for.

CRM (customer relationship management)

Software that stores contacts and tracks conversations and deals. General-purpose CRMs are built for any sales team, so they do not know units, tours, or lease stages without heavy setup.

Days on market

How long a unit stays listed as available before a lease or a purchase contract is signed.

Delivery

The point when construction finishes and units can be occupied. Leasing teams plan pre-leasing, pricing, and move-ins around the delivery schedule.

Duplicate lead

The same prospect recorded more than once, often because they inquired on several listing sites, called, and walked in. Duplicates inflate lead counts and can credit the wrong source or agent.

Effective rent

The rent a resident actually pays over the lease term once concessions are counted, also called net effective rent. A free month on a year-long lease lowers it by one-twelfth.

Exclusive leasing agreement

A contract that makes one brokerage the sole leasing agent for a building for a set term. The brokerage runs marketing, tours, and applications for the owner.

Fee manager

A third-party property management company that operates a building for the owner in exchange for a fee.

Guest card

The record a leasing team creates at a prospect's first inquiry: name, contact details, desired move-in date, unit type, budget, and how they heard about the building.

ILS (internet listing service)

A website that publishes rental listings, such as Zillow, Apartments.com, or StreetEasy. Each inquiry from a listing site becomes a lead for the building.

Interest list

A list of people who asked to hear about a building before leasing or sales open. It is the first audience for pre-leasing and launch announcements.

Lead

Anyone who has shown interest in renting or buying in a building, through a listing site, the building website, an ad, a call, a text, or a walk-in.

Lead attribution

Tracing each signed lease or purchase contract back to the source that produced the lead, so the marketing budget goes to the channels that actually fill units.

Lead source

The channel a lead came from, such as a listing site, the building website, a paid ad, a referral, signage, or an outside broker.

Lead-to-lease conversion rate

The share of leads that end in a signed lease over a period. Tracking it by source and by agent shows where leads are lost.

Lease-up

The period between the start of leasing in a new rental building and stabilization. It is when marketing spend, leasing staff, and concessions are at their highest.

Leased percentage

The share of units with a signed lease, including residents who have not moved in yet. During lease-up it runs ahead of the occupancy rate.

Leasing agent

A member of the onsite or brokerage team who answers inquiries, gives tours, and guides prospects through the application.

Leasing brokerage

A licensed real estate firm that leases units on behalf of owners, often for new buildings. Each state sets its own licensing rules.

Leasing velocity

How many leases a building signs per week or per month. Owners compare it with the pace their pro forma assumed.

Model unit

A finished, furnished unit shown on tours while the rest of the building is still being completed or leased.

Occupancy rate

The percentage of a building's units that are occupied.

Offering plan

In New York, the disclosure document a condominium developer, the sponsor, must file with the state Attorney General before offering units for sale.

PMS (property management system)

Software that runs a building after the lease is signed: residents, rent collection, accounting, and maintenance. Yardi, RealPage, and Entrata are common examples.

Pre-leasing

Signing leases before a building or a phase is ready for move-in, usually from floor plans, renderings, and a model unit.

Pro forma

The financial projection behind a development: expected rents or sale prices, absorption pace, concessions, and costs. Lease-up and sell-out results are measured against it.

Prospect

A lead who is actively considering a unit, for example someone who has booked a tour or asked about a specific unit.

Rent roll

A list of a building's units with each unit's status, resident, rent, and lease dates.

Self-guided tour

A tour a prospect takes on their own, usually entering the building or unit with a code or an app after verifying their identity.

Speed to lead

How quickly a leasing or sales team replies to a new inquiry. Prospects often contact several buildings at once, so a slow first reply can lose the tour.

Sponsor

The developer that offers condominium units for sale. It is the term used in New York offering plans.

Stabilization

The point when a new building reaches its target occupancy and steady operations after lease-up. The occupancy that counts as stabilized is set by the owner's business plan and its lender.

Tour

A visit to a building or unit by a prospect, in person with an agent, self-guided, or virtual.

Tour-to-lease conversion rate

The share of tours that end in a signed lease. It separates marketing problems, too few tours, from leasing problems, tours that do not convert.

Traffic

The number of prospects who contact or visit a building in a period, often split into first contacts and tours.

Unit mix

The share of each unit type in a building, such as studios, one-bedrooms, and two-bedrooms. It shapes pricing and which listings marketing pushes.

Unit type

A group of units with the same layout, bedroom count, and features.

Virtual tour

A tour given online, either by live video with an agent or as a recorded or interactive 3D walkthrough.

See how VAUNT handles these steps for a building: