In my last blog, I promised to talk a little more about longstanding vacant, so here we go. I am not an advocate of automatically reducing rents just because a unit has been vacant a while; and as discussed in a prior blog, I don’t recommend putting leasing bonuses on longstanding vacants.
Here’s what I do recommend:
Lastly, mini-model the unit. Let your team have some fun spending $50-100 at Pier One, Crate and Barrel, or whatever floats their boat. I’ve often been amazed at how quickly that “impossible to lease” unit moves as soon as there’s a bit of framing and excitement from a mini-model. And instead of lowering the rent further, how about just giving away the mini-model merchandise to whoever leases the unit? That’s a whole lot cheaper than a rent reduction!