I’ve had the same conversation at least twenty times.
Me: “How’s your pricing approach working?”
BTR Operator: “Really well, actually. We’re hitting our occupancy targets, we benchmark against the market, and our team is pretty on top of it.”
Me: “Interesting. How often do you update your rents?”
Operator: “Weekly. Well, fortnightly. Actually… probably monthly on average.”
Me: “And how do you calculate the premium for corner apartments versus internal ones?”
Operator: “We add about 10% for corners.”
Me: “Across all bedroom types?”
Operator: [Pause] “…Yes?”
This is when I know they’re leaving serious money on the table.
The Confidence Gap
Here’s what I’ve learned after working with BTR operators across Australia and the UK: most operators think they’re doing a decent job on pricing. Some even think they’re doing a great job.
They’re wrong.
And I can prove it.
The problem isn’t incompetence. The people running these buildings are smart, experienced professionals. The problem is that pricing feels simpler than it actually is. You look at your occupancy rate (90%!), you check a few competitor listings (we’re competitive!), you adjust rents occasionally (we’re active!) – and you conclude everything’s fine.
But “fine” isn’t good enough when your investors expect maximum returns and every pricing mistake directly impacts your bottom line.
The Fourteen Questions You’re Probably Getting Wrong
Professional revenue management isn’t about one or two things done well. It’s about getting fourteen critical factors right, simultaneously, every single month.
Can you accurately calculate tenant demand elasticity? Not just for new tenants, but for renewals based on tenure, market movements, and lease duration?
Do you know your true tenant lifetime value, calculated from actual historical data rather than industry approximations?
Have you mapped seasonal demand patterns for your specific building and updated them as your tenant mix evolves?
When was the last time you recalculated attribute relativities across multiple dimensions? (And no, “we charge 10% more for corners” doesn’t count as sophisticated multi-dimensional analysis.)
These aren’t trick questions. They’re the basics of professional pricing. And if you can’t answer them with confidence, you’re almost certainly under-performing.
The Reality Check You Need
I’ve created a self-assessment tool that tests your pricing sophistication across these fourteen critical factors. It takes about 3-4 minutes to complete. Each question has three possible answers, ranging from basic approaches that most operators use, to the sophisticated methods that actually drive results.
Some questions will make you uncomfortable. Good. That discomfort is the gap between where you are and where you should be.
The scoring is simple:
- 14-20 points: You’re operating at an amateur level. You’re probably leaving 5-8% of potential revenue on the table
- 21-28 points: You’re better than most, but still have significant gaps. Expect 3-5% revenue leakage.
- 29-35 points: You’re approaching professional standards. There’s still room for improvement.
- 36-42 points: You’re operating at an elite level. You’re probably already working with specialists oror have built sophisticated internal capabilities
Why This Matters Now
Every month you operate with suboptimal pricing compounds the problem. Tenants lock in below-market rents for 12-month leases. Vacant apartments sit empty because they’re priced 5% too high. Renewal opportunities get bunched into the wrong months because you haven’t optimized lease term pricing.
The good news? Fixing pricing has a higher ROI than any other initiative available to you. It requires no capital expenditure, no construction, no lengthy approvals. Just better decision-making based on better analysis.
But first, you need to know where you actually stand.
Take the Assessment
Stop guessing. Stop assuming. Stop fooling yourself.
Take the assessment. Be brutally honest with your answers – the only person you’re fooling with inflated responses is yourself.
You might discover you’re further behind than you thought. Or perhaps you’ll confirm you’re already operating at an elite level.
Either way, you’ll know for certain.
Take the Free Pricing Assessment here.
Because in revenue management, confidence without data is just expensive delusion.
