Proven Tactics

Optimize Rental Leasing with Automation and Smart Workflows

Find out how you can streamline your property leasing processes to optimize conversion rates, improve the resident experience, and grow your bottom line.

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The State of the Rental Leasing Market

Between escalating operational costs, rising insurance costs, and stagnant rental income, there are many challenges and opportunities on the horizon for leasing teams. Here’s a pulse on the current state of the market:

U.S. apartment vacancy rates finished the year 2024 at 6.8%, while year-over-year rent growth ended up at -0.6%.*

Maintaining high occupancy rates is the industry’s top concern, with 20% more property managers identifying this as a threat compared to last year.**

19% of renters say the main reason they are considering moving is because they are seeking a better property manager.***

Source: *2025 Apartment List National Rent Report **2025 AppFolio Benchmark Report ***2025 AppFolio Renter Preferences Report

The Importance of Efficient Rental Leasing in Property Management

Leasing is the lifeblood of your business. Increasing operational efficiency in leasing is ultimately the biggest lever you can pull to improve profitability for your business. However, unnecessary friction caused by manual processes and disjointed systems can greatly impact your performance. You can relieve this and set your business up for success by optimizing your leasing workflow with leasing automation software and digital tools designed for property managers.

“There are so many efficiencies that are created when you have an optimized leasing workflow. Your team is able to be more efficient with their time and make meaningful relationships with people on a day-to-day basis.”

Kayla Roeder

Chief Operating Officer, Cambridge Management Group, Inc

Why Automation Makes You Efficient

Attracts More Leads

When your leasing processes are automated, you can attract more leads because you can update listings with vacancies in real time.

Fills Vacancies Faster

Automated workflows help you respond to and follow up with interested prospects faster so you can reduce the number of days a unit is vacant.

Frees Teams

Automation enables employees to spend less time on repetitive, labor-intensive tasks and more time providing great service to qualified leads.

Ready To Optimize Your Leasing Workflow?

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Technology's Crucial Role in a Seamless Lead-to-Lease Process

Throughout the leasing journey, from a renter’s first inquiry to their move-in day, there are opportunities for digital solutions to automate the leasing process, remove friction, save time, and provide a better renter experience.

Marketing Vacancies

Vacancy posting tools integrated into your property management software allow you to maintain consistency across third-party listing sites, in addition to your own website, so you can make a great first impression.

Managing Showings

From scheduling showings to answering questions, a conversational AI can provide thoughtful, personable responses to prospective renters 24/7 so leasing agents can prioritize their time to dedicate to serious prospects.

Facilitating Showings

Self-guided, 3D, in-person, and virtual showings, along with access control integrations, bring convenience and flexibility to the renter, creating a seamless experience and increasing the likelihood they will submit an application.

Processing Applications

Online rental applications and digital tenant screening move qualified applicants through the process as quickly as possible, all while empowering your team to make consistent, informed, and unbiased decisions.

Increase Profitability and Occupancy with These Proven Strategies

Prioritize Renewals and the Resident Experience

Resident retention has a major impact on your cash flow and property asset value. However, it’s very dependent on resident satisfaction. Keep your residents happy year-round by staying responsive and using mobile and digital tools that enable self-service and effective communication, such as online payments, maintenance requests, and texting. And when it’s time to renew, offer online lease options to make the process as effortless as possible.

Use Data to Generate Actionable Insights

In order to get the insights you need to maximize your leasing performance, you need to make sure you’re measuring the right metrics. However, manually compiling data from multiple sources is time-consuming and can lead to errors. Having a system that automatically measures key leasing metrics and organizes everything into a single view — from leasing activity to future occupancy — can give you the information you need to make smart decisions.

Stay on Top of Pricing

If your properties are priced too high, you run the risk of losing to the competition. If they are too low, your ROI will suffer. By using a pricing tool that factors in external market conditions, including comparable properties, as well as your internal goals, you can confidently set fair prices for your upcoming vacancies.

Integrate Your Leasing Tools

Using separate systems to respond to incoming leads and manage showings makes it harder for your leasing team to maintain oversight and work efficiently. By integrating your leasing technology with your property management software, you can streamline workflows and free your team to focus on closing leases.

Transform Your Leasing Operations with AppFolio Property Manager

Automate the leasing process, save time, and drive profitability for your business.

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“AppFolio has fundamentally changed the nature of what we do on the front lines and taken a large amount of repetitive work off our team’s plate. As a result, we’re able to drive occupancy and rent rates.”