The Build-to-Rent Lease-Up Marketing Budget Guide
The Build-to-Rent Lease-Up Marketing Budget Guide
The Build-to-Rent Lease-Up Marketing Budget Guide
How to model a BTR or multifamily lease-up marketing budget from scheduled rents and absorption targets, with the published numbers to make the model concrete.
How to model a BTR or multifamily lease-up marketing budget from scheduled rents and absorption targets, with the published numbers to make the model concrete.
How do you budget marketing for a build-to-rent lease-up?
Model it from the asset, not from habit. Three inputs decide the budget: scheduled annual rents at stabilization, the absorption target in leases per week, and the delivery calendar. Marketing exists to compress the gap between delivery and stabilization; every month saved is a month of scheduled rents earned earlier, which is why underfunding lease-up marketing is usually the most expensive line item never spent.
The model, step by step
1. Anchor on stabilized revenue: compute scheduled annual rents at stabilization. This is the number the marketing budget protects.
2. Set the absorption target: leases per week to reach stabilization by your loan covenant or pro forma date. Work backwards from move-in capacity.
3. Model cost per signed lease, not cost per lead: divide the campaign budget by realistic funnel math: qualified tour rate from leads, and lease rate from tours. Ask any agency for their assumed rates in writing.
4. Front-load the brand window: the 60 to 90 days of pre-leasing decide the pace of everything after. Brand, film, and the website belong before first move-ins, not after.
5. Separate build costs from run costs: one-time assets (brand, film, website) versus monthly operation (campaigns, content, reporting), so the budget conversation stays honest.
Concrete numbers to model with
TERAMOK publishes its pricing, which makes it usable as a modeling baseline even if you never hire us: property brand from $12,000, cinema-grade film from $15,000, lease-up websites with floor-plan-level pages and tour booking from $18,000, and campaign management retainers from $8,000 to $25,000 per month with ad spend paid directly to platforms at 0% markup. Plug those into the model above, compare against any quote you receive, and demand the same transparency from whoever you shortlist.
Full practice details at build-to-rent marketing and multifamily marketing, or book a strategy call.
Written by Kirill Samarits, Founder and CEO of TERAMOK.
How do you budget marketing for a build-to-rent lease-up?
Model it from the asset, not from habit. Three inputs decide the budget: scheduled annual rents at stabilization, the absorption target in leases per week, and the delivery calendar. Marketing exists to compress the gap between delivery and stabilization; every month saved is a month of scheduled rents earned earlier, which is why underfunding lease-up marketing is usually the most expensive line item never spent.
The model, step by step
1. Anchor on stabilized revenue: compute scheduled annual rents at stabilization. This is the number the marketing budget protects.
2. Set the absorption target: leases per week to reach stabilization by your loan covenant or pro forma date. Work backwards from move-in capacity.
3. Model cost per signed lease, not cost per lead: divide the campaign budget by realistic funnel math: qualified tour rate from leads, and lease rate from tours. Ask any agency for their assumed rates in writing.
4. Front-load the brand window: the 60 to 90 days of pre-leasing decide the pace of everything after. Brand, film, and the website belong before first move-ins, not after.
5. Separate build costs from run costs: one-time assets (brand, film, website) versus monthly operation (campaigns, content, reporting), so the budget conversation stays honest.
Concrete numbers to model with
TERAMOK publishes its pricing, which makes it usable as a modeling baseline even if you never hire us: property brand from $12,000, cinema-grade film from $15,000, lease-up websites with floor-plan-level pages and tour booking from $18,000, and campaign management retainers from $8,000 to $25,000 per month with ad spend paid directly to platforms at 0% markup. Plug those into the model above, compare against any quote you receive, and demand the same transparency from whoever you shortlist.
Full practice details at build-to-rent marketing and multifamily marketing, or book a strategy call.
Written by Kirill Samarits, Founder and CEO of TERAMOK.
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Chicago's in-house production and marketing team for real estate.
Book a free 30-minute strategy call. Tell us about your project, your firm, or your launch — and we'll show you exactly how TERAMOK plugs into your operation with cinema-grade production, campaign strategy, and senior creative.
Get started
Chicago's in-house production and marketing team for real estate.
Book a free 30-minute strategy call. Tell us about your project, your firm, or your launch — and we'll show you exactly how TERAMOK plugs into your operation with cinema-grade production, campaign strategy, and senior creative.
Get started
Chicago's in-house production and marketing team for real estate.
Book a free 30-minute strategy call. Tell us about your project, your firm, or your launch — and we'll show you exactly how TERAMOK plugs into your operation with cinema-grade production, campaign strategy, and senior creative.