Creating a Merged Property
What is a merged property?
Sometimes, it may be necessary to combine properties in Lisa's memory. This may be the result of new construction, or because of the proximity of existing properties.
The #1 thing to keep in mind when considering whether you want to merge a property is whether you want Lisa to think of multiple properties as a single one.
Once properties are merged, they stop existing as distinct entities for the AI. The merged property contains the combination of unit details of each of its parts, and inherit the policy details of one of them.
Guest cards for new leads get created for one of these properties, the 'parent' property. Any property involved in the merge can be designated as the parent.
Case Study: Man O' War Manor & Jellyfish Acres
Imagine two properties that serve the same market: Man O' War Manor and Jellyfish Acres. The properties share a team who will cross the street to give tours, so it might make sense to merge them.
- Man O' War Manor has 50 1BR Units, and 50 2BR, while Jellyfish Acres has 50 each of 1, 2 and 3BRs. When these two properties are merged, Lisa will see one property that has 100 1BR, 100 2BR and 50 3BR units.
- When prospects ask Lisa about availability dates, she'll look over this complete list. She will also look over every unit at both properties when quoting rent.
- As part of the merge, the owners decide to rename the merged property "Man O' War Acres". They also make adjustments to Lisa's language to represent the options available to prospects.
- Meanwhile, the owners decide to make Jellyfish Acres the 'parent' property. This means Lisa traffic to the merged property gets logged as a 'Jellyfish Acres' lead in their Property Management software.
Touring at Merged Properties
Since Lisa generates tours by unit type, merged properties will usually want to designate a specific meeting spot for tours. This tends to be at one property's leasing office in the case of an On-Site property, or a building address for Off-Site.
One thing to keep in mind is that Lisa won't factor in travel time between properties while scheduling tours for a merged property. Because they appear to Lisa as a single building, Lisa isn't able to predict how much time agents need between tours.
For this reason, it's common to add a few extra minutes to the showing duration at merged properties where travel time may a factor.
Marketing Tracking at Merged Properties
It is possible to keep marketing numbers for each distinct property active even after a merge. However, all leads from the same source will be logged identically in your Property Management software.
Imagine Man O' War Manor and Jellyfish Acres maintain distinct apartments.com ads. A prospect who calls into Man O'War and another who calls into Jellyfish will both have guest cards with the same source: 'apartments.com'.
Lisa Reporting for Merged Properties
Unsurprisingly, Lisa's reports and API docs will report on the combination of properties after they have been merged.
What are the benefits of merging properties? The drawbacks?
Benefits
- Merging properties can simplify things for leasing team members. They don't need to worry as much about which building to show, since everything is streamlined. Lisa brings traffic to them, and they set up tours at the building that best meets the prospect's needs.
- This can also simplify messaging for prospects. They don't need Lisa to create new conversations with them about several properties. One conversation and one tour, and they get access to the combined availability of all merged properties.
- It's also helpful to join entities in your PM Software after construction or renovation. Merging might signify the end of a lengthy construction process.
Drawbacks
- Marketing data may be less transparent, especially if the properties are marketed independently. This is because all leads have their guest cards created at the 'parent' property.
- If tours at the merged properties involve travel challenges, the 'single meeting site' feature of a merged property may be a drawback. Consider whether agents want to meet with prospects at a centralized location, or at several. If the answer is several, then merging properties may not be the right move.
How quickly can a property be merged (or unmerged)?
Currently, it's fairly rare for properties to be merged after the onboarding process. As a result, the process requires a little bit more hands-on attention than some other processes. We'd recommend planning on the process taking a 2-3 weeks.
Un-merging a merged property is even rarer, and may require a longer time to complete depending on the circumstances.
How do I get started?
If you'd like to get started merging a task, please contact your support rep or Account Manager. They should be able to provide you with more details, as well as a timeline.