Short answer: A lease-up lives or dies on two numbers: how many tours turn into leases, and how many of those residents renew a year later. Convivial Concierge helps both. On tours, prospects see the people, groups and events they would have at the building, which gives them a reason to sign beyond concessions. After move-in, a free resident app gives strangers a place to meet from day one, so the first renewal cycle holds.
The lease-up problem
Lease-up is expensive. Concessions bring people in, but the building has no history and no social fabric. Twelve months later the first group of leases comes up for renewal, often with the concession burning off at the same time. If those residents never met anyone, there is little to keep them.
Every tour in a lease-up is competing with other new buildings offering the same finishes and the same free month. The building that wins is the one a prospect can picture a life in. The goal is to sell that life on the tour, then deliver it before the first renewal notice goes out.
How Convivial Concierge helps during lease-up
- Day-one community. Each new resident joins the building's community in the app and can see neighbors, events and the building chat right away.
- Neighbor matching. Introductions based on shared interests and activities, so the first residents find each other instead of waiting for chance encounters in the elevator.
- Events that fill. Move-in socials, rooftop nights and fitness meetups with RSVPs and reminders, run from the property portal.
- A public property page. Every property gets a page with floor plans, rent ranges, amenities and photos, built to be found in search and by AI assistants, with tour scheduling and messages going straight to the leasing team.
- Leads in one place. Tour requests and questions from the property page land in the property portal.
What Convivial Concierge is
Convivial Concierge is a community concierge app for apartment communities. Residents get a free app where they meet neighbors, join building and group chats, RSVP to events, answer a daily Question of the Day, borrow and lend items, and find places and events nearby. The property team gets a portal to run events, publish a public property page, capture tour and leasing leads, and see engagement and renewal risk. Owners get an owner portal with every property, manager and resident-activity trend in one place.
It is not a property management system. It runs alongside the PMS you already use and does not touch rent collection or accounting.
How it helps more prospects sign
Retention keeps residents. The same community also helps sign new ones, because a prospect choosing between similar buildings is really choosing where they will have a life. Convivial Concierge puts that life in front of them:
- "Meet your people" on the tour. In the leasing agent portal, the agent turns the screen toward the prospect, who taps what they are into. The prospect then sees the groups, activities, events, amenities and shared items at this property that match, and can leave with a printed plan for their first month. Recommendations come only from interests the prospect chooses, in line with fair housing.
- A property page that sells the community. Floor plans, rents, amenities, photos, a 3D virtual tour and the leasing team with photos and hours, with tour booking and messages going straight to the team. It is built to be found on Google and by AI assistants.
- Leads land in your CRM. Every prospect Convivial Concierge sends arrives in the property's CRM as a guest card, so nothing is lost between systems.
- No missed walk-ins. Front-door signage lets a prospect who finds the door locked book a tour, apply or ask a question on the spot.
Timing
Launch before the first residents move in. Put the QR code in the move-in packet and in the leasing office, and plan the first event for the month the building reaches meaningful occupancy. By the time the first renewals arrive, residents have months of shared history.
The math an owner cares about
Two numbers drive an apartment building's income: how many prospects sign, and how many residents renew. Turnover is the largest controllable cost. Each move-out costs roughly $3,000 to $5,000 once vacancy, make-ready, marketing and concessions are counted. Here is an illustrative example, not a promise:
- 250 units, 40% annual turnover: about 100 move-outs a year.
- If 10 of those households renew instead (turnover from 40% to 36%), at $4,000 per avoided turn the property keeps about $40,000 a year in NOI.
- Capitalized at a 5.5% cap rate, $40,000 of NOI is roughly $727,000 of property value.
The leasing side adds to that. If the property gives 300 tours a year and 25% of them sign, that is 75 leases. If 28% sign instead, that is 9 more leases a year, each one a unit that fills sooner and needs a smaller concession.
Run your own numbers in the ROI calculator. Results depend on the property, the market and how actively the on-site team uses the platform.
See the family office overview for how this fits a broader portfolio, or try the demo branded for a property.
Frequently asked questions
How do you increase tour-to-lease conversion in a lease-up?
Give prospects a reason to choose your building that a competitor cannot match with a concession. Showing a prospect the people, groups and events that fit their interests during the tour makes the community concrete. Convivial Concierge does this with its Community Concierge tour tool, alongside a property page with a virtual tour and tour booking.
How do you build community in a new apartment building?
Start before move-in, give residents one place to find each other, and host a first event early. A community app helps by introducing neighbors with shared interests, running a building chat and handling event RSVPs, so connection does not depend on residents meeting by chance.
What should a lease-up team focus on besides occupancy?
The first renewal cycle. Concessions fill the building, but renewals keep it full. Teams that build a resident community during lease-up give residents a reason to stay when the concession ends.
Can Convivial Concierge help lease a new building?
Yes. Every property gets a public property page with floor plans, rents, amenities and photos that is built to be found in search, with tour scheduling and messages going to the leasing team through the property portal.
When should a new development launch a resident app?
Before the first move-in, so the QR code can go in move-in packets and early residents become the founding members of the community.
See it for one of your properties
A 20-minute call: we walk through the resident app and the owner portal using one of your communities.