What Does a Leasing Consultant Do?
Leasing consultants work with rental properties and tenants. They are not the landlords, but often work for a property management company where they will help potential tenants view properties. They go through the lease terms and prices, applications for the rentals, and negotiate and renew leases. Since leasing consultants will be working with potential tenants on a regular basis, they will need to be experienced in customer service.
A leasing consultant should have excellent sales skills, communication skills, a strong desire to fix problems and make others happy, and the ability to negotiate. Leasing consultants help companies make a profit by advertising new properties, showing tenants, and securing the signing of the lease. They are an important asset to property management companies, and real estate companies alike.
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National Average Salary
Leasing consultant salaries vary by experience, industry, organization size, and geography. To explore salary ranges by local market, please visit our sister site zengig.com.
The average U.S. salary for a Leasing Consultant is:
$36,090
Leasing Consultant Job Descriptions
The first step when hiring a great leasing consultant is a well-crafted job description. Below are real-world examples to help give you the best chance of success on your recruiting journey.
Example 1
Without proficient leasing consultants, businesses would have a hard time finding potential properties to rent and dealing with potential customers. [Your Company Name] is looking to hire an experienced leasing consultant. At this job, you will spend your time viewing different listings to find superior properties that will be easy to rent out for our clients. After the properties are secured, you are then responsible for discussing prices and terms to potential clients and negotiating sales within the lease. An ideal candidate will be a good marketer that is able to gain the trust of our clients to reassure the agreements they sign in the lease are valid and fair.
Typical duties and responsibilities
- Find potential properties on behalf of the company they work for
- Respond to clients that are interested in any of the rental properties
- Take tenants to view the different properties they’re interested in
- Answer any questions the tenants have about a property or lease
- Negotiate sales and renewals with clients within the contract
- Finalize the terms and conditions in the lease
- Take care of tenant background checks, including reference letters, rental histories, and lease applications
- Properly write all terms of a lease in order to take the necessary steps in case the tenants don’t pay or follow the conditions listed in the agreement
- Inspect and clean properties
- Accept security deposits, rent, and late fees from tenants
- Manage and record move-in paperwork, lease renewals, and move-out forms
Education and experience
- High school diploma or GED
- A bachelor’s degree in business or real estate
Required skills and qualifications
- Strong interpersonal skills to develop trusting relationships with prospective renters
- Verbal and written communication skills are essential to developing the lease and answering any tenant questions
- Ability to help the client understand complicated financial and real estate terminology
- Attention to detail while managing aspects of lease terms
- Ability to listen to the needs of their clients
- Good researcher
- Ability to negotiate professionally
- Good record-keeping
- Ability to meet sales goals
Preferred qualifications
- Experience in sales or marketing
- Self-confidence
- High prospecting skills
- Good with office software and phone systems
- Excellent presentation skills
- Property knowledge
- Being persistent and proactive
Example 2
Your benefits
- FLSA Status Exempt
- Discretionary annual bonus
- Paid Time Off
- Health Insurance
- Dental Insurance
- Vision Insurance
- 401k Matching
- Paid Maternity Leave
Your responsibilities
- Prioritize interactions and communication with customers. Provide community and amenity tours
- Provide feedback on sales barriers and customer objections to management team
- Execute sales and engagement initiatives as outlined by management
- Provide recommendations on local marketing opportunities and messaging
- Assist with social media and communication on various platforms to engage customers
- Assist with planning, promoting and executing customer experience initiatives, engagement initiatives, and additional marketing opportunities
- Always represent the community positively and professionally, both in and out of the office
Property administration
- Demonstrate proficiency with general community, market and policy knowledge
- Log, file, and retrieve customer packages
- Assist with general housekeeping involved with opening, closing, and maintaining the office, clubhouse, grounds, and amenities
- Schedule and follow up on maintenance requests to aid in timely resolutions
- Maintain office organization and cleanliness
- Assist with after-hours lock out duties as required
What we require
- Customer-centric mindset
- Agility and flexibility with a frequently changing environment
- Great communication and interpersonal skills with a diverse population
- Reliability and self-discipline
- Availability to work during summer, holidays, and Turn periods
Operational details
- Job location is at the assigned property
- Working hours consist of daytime business hours and after hour on-call rotation
Example 3
Reporting to the Property Manager, the Leasing Consultant is responsible for effectively leasing and marketing efforts of the property. A leasing Consultant should see through the entirety of the leasing process from greeting guests in person and over the phone, promoting and selling the available units to prospects, meeting in person with prospects, and finally closing the sale by having the prospect sign a lease at our community. The leasing staff should have very high energy and passion to make a difference in the lives of our future and current residents.
Job responsibilities
- Provide outstanding customer service while addressing prospective residents, current residents, vendors, and colleagues. Demonstrate a strong sense of pride and accountability for the community
- Effectively show the community and model units to prospective residents. Apply product knowledge to clients needs by communicating the features and benefits; close the sale
- Demonstrate a sense of urgency and strong customer service while guiding the prospective resident through the leasing and move-in processes, while adhering to the company procedures and ensuring compliance with Fair Housing requirements
- Assist in lease renewal process; Distribute and follow-up on renewal notices to current residents in an organized and consistent manner
- Maintain an accurate and updated inventory of apartments available to rent, list of prospective residents to conduct follow ups and list of current resident information concerning renewals
- Assist other team members with maintenance service request and inform maintenance team in a timely manner. Ensure all maintenance repairs are handled satisfactorily by contacting residents with completed Service Requests on a weekly basis
- Ensure clear and consistent communication between the Leasing Office team and the Maintenance team
- Maintain marketing and advertising sources routinely; drive online and local presence. Monitor advertising effectiveness. Propose marketing strategies and social events for current and prospective residents
- Comply with federal, state, and company policies, procedures and regulations
- Contribute to cleanliness and curb appeal of the community on continuing basis
- Distribute company or community-issued notices to residents
- Represent the company in a professional manner at all the times
Required skills and experience
- 1+ years experience in multi-family residential property management
- Knowledge and expertise of the Fair Housing laws and guidelines. Experience applying local state laws relative to Fair Housing
- Strong organizational, written & verbal communication and time-management capabilities
- Experience using MS Excel and Outlook
- Experience using Yardi Voyager and/or Rent Café CRM preferred
- Experience with managing distressed properties preferred
Example 4
The Leasing Consultant is responsible for effectively implementing the leasing and marketing program, promoting the positive image of the apartment community and to assist management with resident programs and retention.
Benefits
- Help you achieve your goals by continuous professional development and regular career progression sessions
- Competitive pay for the market
- Medical, Dental & Vision benefits the 1 st of the month following 30 days of full-time employment
- 401(k) eligibility after 90 days
- Professional Certification & Tuition reimbursement
- Vacation, Sick and Personal Time off
What your day to day might look like
- Help future residents find their next home by touring the community, process lease applications, type up leases, and more
- Plan and attend exciting functions for our residents
- Collect and secure rental payments
- Campaign research, reporting and retention
- Maintains an acceptable closing ratio based on current property expectations
We’re looking for you if
- Interested in the above
- You dot your I’s and cross your T’s
- You have a “can-do” attitude
- You like to think outside the box
Some things we can’t live without
- Customer service or sales experience
- Valid driver’s license
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills
- High school diploma or equivalent to
Candidate Certifications to Look For
- Certified Sales Professional (CSP). It is essential that leasing consultants have a natural ability to sell to their clients. The CSP certification trains candidates to increase their sales by learning negotiation and communication skills and behaviors that will help them stand out against other sales professionals. Sales are everything, so it is important to demonstrate to a candidate’s employer that they’ve taken the necessary steps to become the best salesman they can be.
- Certified Apartment Leasing Professional (CALP). The National Apartment Association designed this course so candidates can signal to their employers that they are competent in their leasing professional career. The CALP will help leasing consultants take advantage of technology to generate new clients and sales, learn how to inspect potential property investments, create an effective marketing strategy, and help build meaningful relationships with potential tenants. Earning this certification will prepare any leasing consultant with the skills they need.
- Certified Leasing Professional (CLP). The Certified Leasing Professional certification was designed to showcase a candidate’s ability to lease different properties to potential employers and clients. Becoming a CLP will deepen their understanding of the property management industry by learning more about property merchandising, fair housing laws, different leasing techniques, and closing deals with clients.
Sample Interview Questions
- What makes you great at sales?
- Why is quality customer service essential for a leasing consultant to perform well?
- What kind of properties have you dealt with and maintained in the past?
- How do you manage to meet multiple deadlines for different projects?
- How do you keep up with the changes in real estate? Do you use certain resources?
- Have you ever dealt with a difficult tenant? What did you do?
- How do you handle a lease renewal?
- What would you do if a tenant wanted to move out, but you wanted to keep them as a long-term renter?
- How would you resolve a dispute between a property owner and their tenant?
- Tell me about a time you successfully planned a property closing.
- Describe the most difficult sale you made.
- How do you handle slow-paying or non-paying tenants?
- Have you had success at advertising properties? If so, how?
- What qualities do you look for in a tenant?
- How do you ensure confidentiality while handling a potential tenant’s information?