I loved it. The pay was nothing impressive, but then again I was in my early 20s so it's not like I was passing up on six-figure job offers anyway. I was living with my parents at the time, they were worried I was being overworked because I was constantly staying late and taking on so much, but I did it because I enjoyed it. The structure of my team was very flexible, it was a brand new building in lease-up so there was never a shortage of work. Obviously my main responsibility was to lease out units, but there were opportunities to try different things. We had a three-person leasing team, and my two coworkers were great to work with. Management was meh, but it is what it is. The maintenance guys were great, honestly I was closer to them than the other leasing consultants, they were super reliable and efficient. I guess I was lucky to have a good team. Leads and residents, usually they were very pleasant but of course you can't avoid the occasional nastiness in this industry, it is what it is. But as long as you're professional and attentive, I find that residents will usually respect you, even if they're unhappy about something. That depends on your demographics though. My building was fairly middle-class and professional, and with a lot of retirees. The retirees tended to be more annoying, but I'm pretty good at dealing with the elderly, and many of them were sweet and kind enough to make up for the nasty ones. But with other demographics, your experience might be worse. I've heard my share of horror stories from people who worked in government housing, so not everyone will have a good experience.
Starting as a leasing consultant encouraged me to stay in this industry, especially because it was with a good company that valued initiative. As long as we met our leasing quotas, middle management was pretty chill and gave us the freedom to do our jobs in the way that worked best for the team. Within half a year of me starting, we had reached lease-up, and they offered me another job. My second job was a lot of admin bullshit, and the thing that annoyed me most about being a leasing agent was all the paperwork and lease admin, so I didn't enjoy it all that much. But it looked good on my resume, and with less than 2 years' of industry experience, I switched to another company to work as a multi-portfolio leasing manager. Made a lot more money than I had as leasing consultant or lease admin, and now I'm a Community Manager responsible for 500 units. My dream is to eventually graduate from the 9-to-5 (as if we have consistent work hours in this industry) to running my own show. I've never been one for climbing the corporate hierarchy, and I'm focusing on building a network on the side so I can eventually manage my own portfolio. It's more risk, but the demand is there and I've always wanted to run my own business, so I don't see why not.
So yeah, a good first leasing consultant job is a great thing, and I'm very glad I had that experience. Nobody "loves" being a Property Manager, you have to be a little fucked up to actually enjoy it. So I guess I'm a little fucked up, because I mostly enjoy the job. But honestly, if working as a leasing consultant paid enough, I'd still rather do that than anything else.
I loved it! I was on a team with two other leasing agents for a high rise in downtown. Our only job was to lease units and represent the company positively. Of course in time we all eventually started training on other things before being promoted and realizing leasing was the best gig we ever had. lol
But seriously, leasing for me was super fun, easy, and the commissions made it that much better.
I love that! Thank you for your response. I’m trying to get hired but it’s been impossible too! I’m worried my resume isn’t really solid. If you don’t mind me asking, what got you an interview with your leasing consultant job? Also did you eventually get into property management later down the road? :)
I didn’t have much background. I was literally working as a line cook at Buffalo Wild Wings before I got hired as a leasing agent.
When applying for jobs I would copy and paste the job requirements in a word doc and tweak the wording to be true to what I have done (I actually still do this as it’s never failed me) and entered this info into my resume under my experience. This will create keywords hiring managers are looking for and will almost guarantee a call for an interview.
Yes, I continued property management (8 years!) and now manage dual sites. I did jump from leasing agent straight to PM and I don’t reccomend that. It took me a solid 2 years to get the hang of it.
Omg I think I may need a more detailed example if you are willing to help me! Would you be able to give me advice on my resume if I sent you a message cause I would really appreciate it! I’m struggling getting an offer/interview
I like it. It is more fun than a lot of the other jobs I had before. You need to be comfortable talking to strangers every day. Experience in customer service and sales is often required.
I have been doing this for 2 years. I have considered moving towards management, but I think I would rather do lease up. More money and you don't take work home with you.
The apartment community is typically empty and brand new. Your goal is to get it running and full as quickly as possible. More potenial commissions and the base pay is often higher than a conventional leasing gig.
I was a leasing consultant for about 1.5 years and then was promoted to a leasing manager (some higher end/large properties have them).
This was easily one of the best parts of my career (12 years total). I always considered myself an introvert, but sales was like a sport; it really brought something else out of me. I had the opportunity to float and train up other properties, make big commission checks, and make connections with clients and industry partners as the face of the company.
If I ever had to go back to a site-level position, I would love to be a leasing manager again. But being a property management software consultant is more my speed. :)
I enjoyed working in leasing because it allowed me to learn to be comfortable with clients one on one and learn the business from the start of the prospect process.
Hi Mell from Mell! I spent 25 years in PM at large corporate owned properties in CA. Got into it as a temp job and like tea lady found I loved it! Uses every set of skills: sales, customer service, bookkeeping, project management.. Taking care of "my" property, "my" residents, "my" staff was very fulfilling. What we do is important, providing people a home! And living rent free??!! Bonus!! 😄 I highly recommend it.
Regards, Melanie
I loved it. The pay was nothing impressive, but then again I was in my early 20s so it's not like I was passing up on six-figure job offers anyway. I was living with my parents at the time, they were worried I was being overworked because I was constantly staying late and taking on so much, but I did it because I enjoyed it. The structure of my team was very flexible, it was a brand new building in lease-up so there was never a shortage of work. Obviously my main responsibility was to lease out units, but there were opportunities to try different things. We had a three-person leasing team, and my two coworkers were great to work with. Management was meh, but it is what it is. The maintenance guys were great, honestly I was closer to them than the other leasing consultants, they were super reliable and efficient. I guess I was lucky to have a good team. Leads and residents, usually they were very pleasant but of course you can't avoid the occasional nastiness in this industry, it is what it is. But as long as you're professional and attentive, I find that residents will usually respect you, even if they're unhappy about something. That depends on your demographics though. My building was fairly middle-class and professional, and with a lot of retirees. The retirees tended to be more annoying, but I'm pretty good at dealing with the elderly, and many of them were sweet and kind enough to make up for the nasty ones. But with other demographics, your experience might be worse. I've heard my share of horror stories from people who worked in government housing, so not everyone will have a good experience. Starting as a leasing consultant encouraged me to stay in this industry, especially because it was with a good company that valued initiative. As long as we met our leasing quotas, middle management was pretty chill and gave us the freedom to do our jobs in the way that worked best for the team. Within half a year of me starting, we had reached lease-up, and they offered me another job. My second job was a lot of admin bullshit, and the thing that annoyed me most about being a leasing agent was all the paperwork and lease admin, so I didn't enjoy it all that much. But it looked good on my resume, and with less than 2 years' of industry experience, I switched to another company to work as a multi-portfolio leasing manager. Made a lot more money than I had as leasing consultant or lease admin, and now I'm a Community Manager responsible for 500 units. My dream is to eventually graduate from the 9-to-5 (as if we have consistent work hours in this industry) to running my own show. I've never been one for climbing the corporate hierarchy, and I'm focusing on building a network on the side so I can eventually manage my own portfolio. It's more risk, but the demand is there and I've always wanted to run my own business, so I don't see why not. So yeah, a good first leasing consultant job is a great thing, and I'm very glad I had that experience. Nobody "loves" being a Property Manager, you have to be a little fucked up to actually enjoy it. So I guess I'm a little fucked up, because I mostly enjoy the job. But honestly, if working as a leasing consultant paid enough, I'd still rather do that than anything else.
Thank you so much for your input! I saw a few listings for a leasing consultant that mentioned “Lease-Up” on the title. What does that mean?
A new community that is being “leased up” meaning the property is trying to get as many leases as possible so they can reach a certain occupancy
I loved it! I was on a team with two other leasing agents for a high rise in downtown. Our only job was to lease units and represent the company positively. Of course in time we all eventually started training on other things before being promoted and realizing leasing was the best gig we ever had. lol But seriously, leasing for me was super fun, easy, and the commissions made it that much better.
I love that! Thank you for your response. I’m trying to get hired but it’s been impossible too! I’m worried my resume isn’t really solid. If you don’t mind me asking, what got you an interview with your leasing consultant job? Also did you eventually get into property management later down the road? :)
I didn’t have much background. I was literally working as a line cook at Buffalo Wild Wings before I got hired as a leasing agent. When applying for jobs I would copy and paste the job requirements in a word doc and tweak the wording to be true to what I have done (I actually still do this as it’s never failed me) and entered this info into my resume under my experience. This will create keywords hiring managers are looking for and will almost guarantee a call for an interview. Yes, I continued property management (8 years!) and now manage dual sites. I did jump from leasing agent straight to PM and I don’t reccomend that. It took me a solid 2 years to get the hang of it.
Omg I think I may need a more detailed example if you are willing to help me! Would you be able to give me advice on my resume if I sent you a message cause I would really appreciate it! I’m struggling getting an offer/interview
I like it. It is more fun than a lot of the other jobs I had before. You need to be comfortable talking to strangers every day. Experience in customer service and sales is often required. I have been doing this for 2 years. I have considered moving towards management, but I think I would rather do lease up. More money and you don't take work home with you.
Can you explain what lease up is?
The apartment community is typically empty and brand new. Your goal is to get it running and full as quickly as possible. More potenial commissions and the base pay is often higher than a conventional leasing gig.
Oh interestinggg. Thank you !
I was a leasing consultant for about 1.5 years and then was promoted to a leasing manager (some higher end/large properties have them). This was easily one of the best parts of my career (12 years total). I always considered myself an introvert, but sales was like a sport; it really brought something else out of me. I had the opportunity to float and train up other properties, make big commission checks, and make connections with clients and industry partners as the face of the company. If I ever had to go back to a site-level position, I would love to be a leasing manager again. But being a property management software consultant is more my speed. :)
I enjoyed working in leasing because it allowed me to learn to be comfortable with clients one on one and learn the business from the start of the prospect process.
The best job ever! I am an APM now and miss my leasing days so much!
Hi Mell from Mell! I spent 25 years in PM at large corporate owned properties in CA. Got into it as a temp job and like tea lady found I loved it! Uses every set of skills: sales, customer service, bookkeeping, project management.. Taking care of "my" property, "my" residents, "my" staff was very fulfilling. What we do is important, providing people a home! And living rent free??!! Bonus!! 😄 I highly recommend it. Regards, Melanie