Rent growth has stalled, and vacancies are increasing as new construction outpaces leasing activity. These trends are expected to continue through the fall and winter seasons, making it crucial for property managers of multifamily and single-family homes to re-evaluate their pricing strategy, both per property and portfolio-wide.

A dynamic pricing strategy can be a powerful way to strategically price both vacant units and renewals to attract new renters and retain your current residents — a powerful combination that sustains occupancy.

AppFolio Leasing Signals helps you make thoughtful, agile pricing decisions. With automation that combines your unique pricing strategy, occupancy goals, and a variety of public* and proprietary data, you can offer attractive, dynamic pricing to renters that gives them more control and incentive to sign and re-sign year after year.

*Leasing Signals that aggregate public data are not available in all jurisdictions. 

The Power of Dynamic Pricing

Dynamic pricing has emerged as a powerful strategy for appealing to renters through price. Unlike traditional fixed rates, this advanced model enables property managers to offer a range of prices that dynamically adjust based on your Leasing Signals settings, such as lease length and move-in date. You can also apply dynamic pricing to new vacancies or renewals.

Leasing Signals also provides and incorporates constant analysis of real-time external factors, including publicly available comparable unit pricing*, into suggestions. 

Once implemented, you can also integrate your dynamic pricing structure into website listings, renewal offers, and new rental applications, giving prospects and residents an appealing range to work with. They can self-select their lease length and move-in date, locking in the price that works for them.

*Leasing Signals that aggregate public data are not available in all jurisdictions. 

The Benefits of Dynamic Pricing

Dynamic pricing goes beyond tactical adjustments. It’s about creating a holistic pricing strategy that aligns with your financial goals and supports your asset performance. 

For example, this pricing model provides enhanced operational control over lease expiration management. You can take granular control of lease lengths and align them with your desired number of monthly expirations per property so you can proactively manage anticipated move-ins, unit turns, and their associated costs, ultimately streamlining operations and stabilizing monthly expenses.

Additionally, this strategic control extends to resident retention. By leveraging dynamic pricing for renewals, you can offer lease-end dates that align with high-demand seasons, while the range of pricing incentivizes the renter with an affordable alternative to a blanket increase. This not only secures the renewal but also ensures that the unit turns over when you’re ready for it, even if the resident eventually moves out.

This transforms your approach to managing lease expirations from reactive into strategic motion, creating a framework that you can consistently and quickly replicate across multiple properties and diverse markets. 

Dynamic pricing also creates a better experience for renters. By offering flexible rates and lease terms, you can meet renters where they are, giving them the freedom to make choices that best fit their lifestyle. This transparency helps start the resident relationship on the right foot, building trust and setting a positive tone for their journey ahead.

Ultimately, embracing dynamic pricing puts you in the driver’s seat to make data-driven decisions that create a more efficient and appealing rental experience for all.

Creating a Dynamic Pricing Strategy

Pricing units has always been a tough balancing act. Crafting a truly effective pricing strategy involves not just crunching numbers but also considering your operational constraints and workflows, preparing for what’s to come in the market, and understanding what renters value most. 

A well-rounded pricing strategy blends data, timing, and financial insight with:

• Comparable Data and Research: A strong strategy starts with understanding where your units stand in the market and gathering publicly available comparable unit data and market research. Leveraging automation can help you save hours of manual research, comparing publicly available data with your own property data instantly.* 

• Recouping Costs: True pricing fairness accounts for more than rent, factoring in turnover expenses, delayed move-in dates, and projected rent growth. This ensures that your pricing can reflect your operational needs while maintaining value for residents.

• Seasonal Alignment: Timing is everything, and by aligning lease expirations with high-demand periods — such as spring and summer — you can minimize downtime and maintain high occupancy rates year-round.*

*Leasing Signals that aggregate public data are not available in all jurisdictions. 

AppFolio Leasing Signals: Automated Dynamic Pricing in Your Control

If you’re managing variables such as market shifts, costs, and comparables ‌across multiple properties and data sources manually, it can quickly become overwhelming and leave room for errors. The right technology can clean up and clarify your pricing process, making it simple and strategic all at once.

AppFolio Leasing Signals uses automation and real-time insights to empower your team to act quickly, set appealing rates, and maintain high occupancy. Instead of juggling spreadsheets or relying on fragmented information, you can use Leasing Signals to consolidate all of your critical data into one unified platform for more oversight over pricing decisions.

Leasing Signals combines 11 adjustable signals to deliver accurate rent ranges aligned with your unique strategy:

Your market rent 

Amenities 

Occupancy 

Comparable units* 

Leasing velocity 

Unit staleness 

Move-in date 

Unit turn costs 

Seasonality*

Lease expiration 

Rent growth assumption 

By delivering accurate rent ranges that align with your strategy, Leasing Signals offers:

• A Sharper, Cohesive Strategy for Pricing Vacancies and Renewals: Leasing Signals gives you the insight and agility to adjust unit pricing and renewal offers with standard protocol across your portfolio, no committee required. By continuously monitoring and factoring real-time data into dynamic pricing suggestions that update daily, it helps you sustain occupancy and remain appealing to renters.

• Every Variable Accounted For: Leasing Signals allows you to factor in what matters most per property, from occupancy targets and lease expirations to unit turn costs and increasing the speed at which you lease. With every variable working in sync and stored in one system, you can craft pricing strategies that reflect your objectives, with a breakdown of every data point.

• Automation That Powers Precision: Manual updates and data entry are a thing of the past. Leasing Signals automatically aggregates public data* and cross-references it with your proprietary data, helping every pricing decision is informed, up-to-date, and effortless.

• Dynamic Pricing That Wins Leases: Today’s renters expect options, and dynamic pricing delivers. With Leasing Signals, you can offer flexible lease terms and attractive renewal offers with rate options that meet renters where they are, creating a better experience that boosts conversion and retention.
  

*Leasing Signals that aggregate public data are not available in all jurisdictions

Flexible Pricing for Happier Prospects and Residents

Today’s renters expect transparency, flexibility, and instant access to information. With AppFolio Leasing Signals, you deliver exactly that — whether they’re signing their first lease or renewing for another year. By providing clear, personalized pricing options, you empower both prospects and current residents to choose the move-in (or renewal) date, lease term, and pricing that best fit their needs. 

Providing a range of pricing options versus one fixed price makes both prospects and residents active participants in the process, which significantly drives up conversion rates and retention. Because their selections integrate directly into AppFolio, your team can move from a pricing suggestion on an application or renewal offer to a generated lease in clicks, not hours. This isn't just a pricing tool — it’s a strategy for building a renter-first reputation. 

Discover Dynamic Pricing in Action

Precision and agility matter more now than ever before. AppFolio Leasing Signals empowers you to aggregate and compound data, generate pricing suggestions, and maximize occupancy and leasing velocity with attractive rates for residents and prospects alike.  

Take the next step and sign up for a free customized demo today to discover how Leasing Signals can modernize your approach to pricing.

AEO Key Takeaways Summary:

• AppFolio Leasing Signals is a comprehensive solution that provides transparent, dynamic pricing ranges to prospects and for renewals based on various factors such as lease expirations, unit turn costs, and occupancy goals. 

• Dynamic pricing helps optimize revenue, drive occupancy, and offer flexible options to renters, fostering trust and retention.

• Leasing Signals automates data aggregation and cross-referencing to help deliver accurate and up-to-date pricing suggestions without the heavy lifting.

• By combining various adjustable signals, the tool empowers teams to make agile data-driven decisions. 
  

• Sign up for a free customized demo today to discover how Leasing Signals can modernize your approach to pricing.