Strategies for New Development and Value

Virginia Love, Industry Principal at Entrata, Rebecca Smith from WPM Real Estate Management and Erin Schulte from Berger Communities got together for a conversation at Entrata Summit 2025 focused on leveraging Entrata tools to drive leasing velocity and establish a strong market presence in both new construction and value-add acquisition scenarios. Key themes included the imperative of speed, the expansion of the consumer research funnel, and the importance of digital tools in a market where renters are increasingly willing to lease sight-unseen.

Industry Context and Marketing Imperatives

The current market is highly competitive, with 675,000 units under construction and consumers keeping their leasing funnel wider for longer, often researching up to nine properties. To gain a competitive edge, properties must prioritize:

• Speed: Being fast to market and fast to process applications is the single most important factor.

• Transparency: 83% of consumers demand total pricing on the website, and 77% want photos of the exact unit.
  
• Response Time: One in three renters expects a response from a property the same day they submit a guest card.

Becky detailed a highly successful new development lease-up that reached stabilization two months ahead of projection (11 months total) by implementing an intensive, phased marketing strategy and ensuring early management involvement.

Strategy: Early Management and Phased Marketing

Management Involvement from Day One: WPM advocates for property management involvement 18 months prior to delivery to make crucial decisions (like trash removal and site design) that impact future payroll and efficiency.

Awareness Phase (18 to 6 Months Out): Focus is on learning the property, erecting site signage (with dynamic QR codes), launching basic landing pages for lead capture, and starting social media engagement to build the brand.

Ramp-Up Phase (6 to 3 Months Out): Launching the full website (using Entrata templates), starting SEO efforts, and conducting local outreach to build community relationships. Setting up the pre-leasing office is critical.

Pre-Leasing Phase (3 Months to Delivery): Hard hat tours begin (or a finished model unit is used). The Prospect Portal goes live. Leveraging Entrata’s applications, ResidentVerify, and Lease Generator allowed the team to secure their first signed lease three months before the first unit delivered.

Overcoming Challenges

The biggest challenges included convincing owners to fund site staff and marketing 12–18 months before revenue began, and managing delivery delays. WPM's solution was to create a billable corporate support structure and strategically build in a three-month delivery buffer on resident move-in dates to avoid bad reputation from construction delays. Switching to ResidentVerify and Snappt also significantly accelerated the application screening process.

Case Study: Value-Add Acquisition (Berger Communities)

Erin discussed the acquisition of an older high-rise in a brand new market, where the strategy involved renovating penthouse units and upgrading amenities while establishing credibility.

Strategy: Digital Presence and Targeted Marketing

Digital Front Door: The company immediately focused on the website, utilizing a commercial custom template to showcase the building's features and differentiate between classic vs. penthouse units. Moving to new Entrata templates later resulted in a 40% increase in user engagement time.

Website Features: They leveraged Matterport tours, 360 renderings, and Engrain’s Site Map integration to give prospects a realistic sense of the space, crucial for leasing sight-unseen.

Building Credibility: To overcome their lack of reputation in the new market, they used website popups to highlight their company's "burger flexibilities" (e.g., flexible transfers, no pet weight limits) and communicate their value proposition to prospects.

Targeted Advertising: Marketing dollars were hyper-focused on the higher-priced penthouse units using PPC and geo-fencing campaigns directed at luxury/upscale demographics, rather than broadly marketing the entire property. This was a tactical way to stretch the marketing budget.

Communication and Reputation Management

Consistent, transparent communication was essential for residents living through noise and disruption.

Proactive Communication: They used Message Center to proactively update residents on construction progress, mitigating complaints (even after fire alarms were accidentally triggered by dust). They also used Message Center to send updates, progress photos, and sneak peeks to prospects.

Reputation Recovery: Focusing on gathering honest feedback and monitoring/responding to reviews helped them establish trust. Their Google rating improved from a low three to 4.1, and the property was named a Top 10 finalist in a local apartment association award.

Intrata Tool Wins: Intrada Red (the pre-cursor to Eli Plus) was a game-changer for 24/7 lead capture and response in the new market. The seamless integration of the Intrata website with ILS sites ensured changes made on the property website were instantly reflected across listing platforms.