The Four Agreements That Drive Full Occupancy

In one of my all-time favorite reads, The Four Agreements, Don Miguel Ruiz lays out four fundamental principles for a better life. They are...

- Be Impeccable With Your Word.
- Don’t Take Anything Personally.
- Don’t Make Assumptions.
- Always Do Your Best.

And I couldn't help but wonder, in a people-first business like multifamily, are there "four agreements" to creating full-of-life communities, too? So this week, I'm breaking down The Four Agreements to Full Occupancy.

- Get Your Operations Right
- Respect the Market, Play It To Your Strengths
- Create Demand That Lasts
- Deliver A Resident Experience Worth Staying For

Let’s get into it.

Agreement #1: Get Your Operations Right

A building without a strong leasing structure is like a sports car with a golf-cart battery. It looks good, but it’s not going anywhere.

Turn times should be lightning-fast. Notice periods should be used strategically. And pre-leasing... I could write a whole 'other argument on that, and I have here. 

Too many properties lose money because of inefficiencies they could have fixed yesterday. If a resident moves out and that unit isn’t rent-ready within days, you’re leaving cash on the table. If you’re waiting for a unit to be empty before showing it, you’re costing yourself weeks of rent. The best properties run like a high-performance machine—seamless turnover, zero downtime, and a leasing team that moves like they’re closing a million-dollar deal every single time.

The rule? Get your operations in check. Urgency is the golden rule in leasing. Fast units = fast leases = full occupancy.

Agreement #2: Respect the Market—But Play It to Your Strengths

The market is what it is. You can’t change interest rates. You can’t change job growth. You can’t change the fact that a new luxury tower just opened down the street. But what you can change is how you position yourself.

Multifamily is never just about supply and demand—it’s how well you understand it. If your pricing is off, if your amenities don’t match what renters in your area actually want, if you’re not adjusting to shifts in competition, you’re losing the race to someone who is.

I hear people say all the time, “The market is slow.” Maybe. You’re just not playing it right.

The rule: Know your market. Adapt. And always stay ahead of the competition.

Agreement #3: Create Demand—Don’t Just Sit Back and Wait

Too many property teams think demand is something that just happens. Like, renters magically find their way to your website from an ILS and beg to sign a lease. That’s not how it works. But wouldn't it be easy if it was? 

The best properties have a brand. They market like their life depends on it—they create desire. That sought-afterness in the market that this property is THE property. When someone sees their building, they don’t think, “This one's smaller than the last one I saw", they're thinking about how it will feel to entertain there, to wake up on a Saturday morning and hit the gym, to drink an iced coffee in the coworking space while they meet their cool neighbors.  

Good marketing accelerates the vision of the prospect already living in your community by the time they arrive for the tour. 

But here’s the thing—marketing gets them in the door, but the leasing process closes the deal. If you’re slow to respond, if your team isn’t sharp, if you don’t make the leasing process insanely easy, potential renters will move on.

The rule? Demand isn’t given, it’s created. Build a brand, market relentlessly, and make it ridiculously easy for people to sign a lease.

Agreement #4: Deliver an Experience Worth Staying For

Listen—your building can have the best branding, the slickest marketing, and the most efficient leasing process in the world. But if the actual resident experience sucks, none of it matters.

If your service is slow, if maintenance requests take forever, if the property starts to feel neglected, people will leave. And once you get a reputation for bad service, you’ll spend all your time playing catch-up.

The best properties retain their residents because they don’t just lease apartments—they create a lifestyle. They build communities. They make residents feel valued. And because of that, people don’t just stay—they renew without even thinking about it.

The rule? Fix your product first. A great resident experience makes occupancy effortless.

The Final Word

This is our version of the four agreements for high occupancy, based on what we've learned from operating Authentic, the best multifamily marketing, creative and leasing agency in the whole wide world (In my opinion) and CHARLESGATE, the only company I would trust with a multimillion-dollar property if I wanted to maximize my returns faster than all my developer friends (in my opinion). Get your structure right. Know the market. Create demand. Deliver a resident experience that keeps people renewing.

Break one or all of these agreements, and you may find yourself chasing occupancy.