Leasing Faster at Scale: How Asset Living Outperformed in Five Competitive Metros

Leveraging the Apartment List Platform to Improve Leasing Speed & Efficiency

In the wake of the post-COVID supply boom, Asset Living faced intense new competition in Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Houston, and Phoenix, making it harder to maintain occupancy and drive consistent renter traffic. By partnering with Apartment List, Asset Living expanded from 180 properties in January 2024 to 300 properties today across these five metros—while improving leasing efficiency, sustaining strong occupancy performance, and sharpening marketing ROI through smarter spend and higher-quality leads.

About Asset Living

Asset Living is one of the largest and most trusted third-party property management companies in the United States, overseeing 450,000+ units nationwide. With 13,000 employees across 40+ states, Asset Living combines national scale with local market expertise. With 40 years of industry experience, Asset Living brings operational excellence and data-driven insights to conventional and affordable housing portfolios. The company is recognized as No. 2 on the NMHC Top 50 Managers list and No. 5 on the NAHMA Affordable 100 list, reflecting a long-standing commitment to service, performance, and innovation.

The Challenge

Following the post-COVID construction surge, new inventory flooded key Sun Belt markets—creating more competition for renter attention and putting pressure on occupancy. Asset Living needed to:

• Drive more qualified renter traffic in supply-heavy markets
• Lease units faster to reduce time on market
• Protect occupancy amid heightened competition
• Use marketing dollars strategically, optimizing for efficiency and ROI
• Improve performance reporting for ownership groups with clear, reliable insights

Why Apartment List

Asset Living chose Apartment List to help attract high-intent renters, accelerate leasing velocity, and maximize return on marketing investment. The platform enabled Asset Living to scale performance across metros while staying disciplined on spend—and to support onsite teams with better lead prioritization and cleaner reporting.

Growth on the platform:

• 180 properties across five metros (January 2024)
• 300 properties across the same five metros YTD

The Results

Spotlight #1: Metro-Level Wins

Asset Living achieved repeatable, above-the-market performance across key metros, driven by higher renter intent and improved funnel efficiency through Apartment List’s A-List Market, which uses machine learning to match ready-to-rent renters with communities and move them quickly toward a signed lease.

Across both Houston and Phoenix, Asset Living consistently generated more leases per property than the surrounding market.

Asset Living consistently captured higher renter interest rates than the broader market in both Denver and Phoenix.

Stronger renter interest converted into higher volumes of tours requested and booked across Denver and Phoenix.

Spotlight #2: ROI and Marketing Efficiency

With competitive pressure rising, Asset Living focused on maximizing performance per dollar by prioritizing efficiency, lead quality, and operational throughput. Using Apartment List’s pay-per-lease pricing model, Asset Living achieved an average 25× ROI in 2025 across Atlanta, Dallas, Denver, Houston, and Phoenix.

In addition, LIFT—Apartment List’s premium placement solution—added a critical layer of consistency and control. LIFT strategically increased visibility for high-priority communities, ensuring they remained competitive in crowded markets and consistently surfaced to high-intent renters.

This combination of outcome-based pricing and premium placement delivered reliable performance at scale. For Asset Living, LIFT became an essential tool for sustaining visibility, stabilizing lead flow, and reinforcing a repeatable ROI-focused leasing strategy.

What’s Next ?

As Asset Living continues to navigate an increasingly competitive multifamily landscape, its partnership with Apartment List plays a central role in driving efficiency and performance at scale. Together, the teams are focused on optimizing advertising spend through Apartment List’s platform, using LIFT strategically, and leveraging AI-powered solutions to ensure onsite teams engage only the highest-intent renter leads.

With enhanced performance reporting delivering clearer visibility for ownership groups, the partnership is helping Asset Living build a repeatable, scalable playbook for smarter leasing decisions across markets and portfolios.

"With Apartment List as a strategic partner, we’re scaling what works—tightening spend, prioritizing the best leads, and delivering clean, trusted reporting for owners." — Saad Arij, SVP of Marketing, Asset Living

See how Apartment List delivers higher-quality leads, smarter spend, and faster leasing in competitive markets. Schedule a demo today.