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Cost Per Lease
Cost Per Lease is marketing spend divided by signed leases, used to evaluate leasing and marketing efficiency in multifamily operations.
Definition
Cost Per Lease is the total marketing spend divided by the number of signed leases in a defined period. Teams may also calculate it for a specific campaign or lead source by dividing that source’s cost by the leases it generated. It is different from cost per lead because it measures completed leasing outcomes, not just new inquiries.
Example
Example: A 250-unit community spends $8,000 on apartment marketing in April and signs 20 leases attributed to that spend. Its Cost Per Lease is $400: $8,000 ÷ 20.
Why it matters
Cost Per Lease helps operations leaders see whether marketing dollars are turning into leases, not just traffic or leads. Tracking it by property, source, and time period can guide budget allocation and reveal issues with lead quality, follow-up, or conversion.