Case Study
~250 units | Occupancy struggles, deferred maintenance, staffing concerns
Consolidated Real Estate Strategies (CRES) inherited an asset bleeding revenue to vacancy, leaning on concessions for traffic, and carrying offline amenities with an unstable site team. We ran the full operating playbook. The recovery is documented below, asset by asset, figure by figure.
Current portfolio: 50+ properties, 10,000+ units, 20+ active markets.
The firm
End to end asset management for the full capital stack.
CRES manages multifamily and REO assets from due diligence through disposition, partnering with sponsors, equity partners, and senior and mezzanine or preferred lenders. When an asset is in distress or simply underperforming its potential, we step in as operators, not administrators.
Every engagement starts with an honest read of where the asset stands and what the capital partners need. From there, CRES runs one of three business plan tracks, matched to the situation rather than forced onto it.
“`Stabilize operations quickly, clean up financials and reporting, and position the asset for an orderly sale when exit is the right outcome.
Steady occupancy, expenses, and the on-site team so the asset holds its basis and performs to plan through the hold.
Execute the full value-add playbook across product, revenue, marketing, and people to drive NOI and rebuild value.
What we inherited
A property losing on every lever at once.
- Occupancy. 81.5% physical occupancy, with vacancy loss the single largest revenue drag.
- Concession dependence. Reliance on discounting to generate traffic, leaking material revenue.
- Bloated contracts. Insurance premiums and G&A running heavy versus comparable assets.
- Unit turnover. Make-ready costs and timelines inflated by inefficient vendor selection.
- Marketing. Drive-by, ILS, and PPC infrastructure not converting at submarket benchmarks.
- Unusable amenities. Pool, volleyball courts, grill stations, and pet yards offline.
- Delinquency. Lack of policy enforcement and inconsistent screening.
- Site team. Inconsistent conversion execution. The Regional and Property Manager were replaced within the first two months.
The CRES operating lens
How we fixed it: the four P’s.
Underperformance almost always lives in one of four places. CRES diagnosed and resolved Fort Lauderdale across all four at once, because they compound on each other.
“`Took control of make-ready by engaging turn vendors, securing competitive bids, and batching units to accelerate delivery. Construction partner SD-Cap ran the major components and brought every amenity back online.
Retention-focused renewals with minimal increases and AIRM for new lease optimization, with rate pushed only once physical occupancy cleared 90%. Concessions were restructured to retention-focused renewals, materially reducing leakage while still hitting velocity targets. Insurance was renegotiated for a material premium reduction, and SIB was brought in to renegotiate G&A vendors.
Revamped PPC and SEO through CRES Impactful Marketing, a preferred employer program, and a positive review bonus campaign for staff. CRES also added creative directional signage during an eight month public works project running out front of the property.
Sourced a new Regional from outside the organization who promoted a former assistant manager back into the team. FLAIR with an auto-dialer now calls prospects within seconds of inquiry, driving major gains in traffic-to-tour conversion. Stricter, consistent screening and the most stringent enforcement policy the municipality allows addressed delinquency.
Economic impact
The recovery in dollars.
Assumption: value created is modeled at a 5.5% cap rate. Figures are annualized as documented for this single asset and are not a projection of future performance.
“`| Metric | Start point | Completion point | Variance |
|---|---|---|---|
| Physical occupancy | 81.5% | 91.6% | +10.1% |
| Economic occupancy | 75.0% | 84.8% | +9.7% |
| Annualized revenue | $966,936 | $1,124,148 | +$157,212 (+16.3%) |
| Annualized expenses | $621,348 | $513,636 | ($107,712), 17.3% lower |
| Annualized NOI | $345,588 | $610,512 | +$264,924 (+76.7%) |
| Value created (5.5% cap) | $4,816,800 |
Bring us the asset that is not performing.
Whether the plan is triage, stabilization, or a full reposition, CRES runs your asset the way we run our own portfolio. Let’s talk about basis, recovery, and the path to value.
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