No Updegraff Management occupancy percentage is published yet
The affiliated management system contains useful operational records, but its raw vacancy count and marketed-unit list do not currently describe the same population. Sold or offboarded properties, inactive units, future leases, renovation holds, commercial spaces, duplicates, and leases attached to the wrong unit can all distort the dashboard.
Until the active property-and-unit roster is reconciled unit by unit, RochesterInvestment.com will not turn that dashboard into a portfolio occupancy, vacancy, owner-count, or units-managed claim. This is a data-control decision—not an implication that every system-labeled vacancy is physically empty or market-ready.
| Required release control | Publication status | What must agree |
|---|---|---|
| Active property and unit denominator | Withheld | Management agreements, ownership, property status, and unit roster |
| Physical occupancy | Withheld | Possession, keys, current lease, resident ledger, and unit status |
| Marketed vacancy | Withheld | Ready status, approved rent, live listing, and inquiry routing |
| Economic vacancy | Withheld | Scheduled rent, concessions, loss dates, offline treatment, and accounting period |
| 36-month trend | Not released | Frozen monthly populations, consistent definitions, corrections, and exclusions |
“Vacant” is a fact, not a complete operating status
A property-management system can mark a unit vacant whenever no current lease is attached. That does not tell an owner whether the prior resident has surrendered possession, the unit is under renovation, a future lease is signed, the record is stale, or the unit is ready and inexplicably not being marketed.
A high raw vacant count does not prove that an equal number of rentable units are sitting empty. It does prove that the roster needs reconciliation. Every non-occupied unit should have one current stage, one accountable owner, one dated next action, and evidence supporting the stage.
| Measure | Definition | What it answers |
|---|---|---|
| Physical vacancy | Units without a resident in possession as of a stated date | How many units are physically empty? |
| Economic vacancy | Scheduled rent not earned or collected because a unit is not producing rent, under a disclosed method | What income is vacancy costing? |
| Market-ready vacancy | Empty units that have passed the defined release standard and can be shown and occupied | What can leasing act on now? |
| Advertised inventory | Units actively published to approved marketing channels as of a stated date | What can prospects actually find? |
Use a unit-level state model
One generic vacant flag should never be the operating queue. The unit roster should use mutually exclusive stages with objective entry evidence and an explicit exit condition. Local names can differ; the control logic should not.
| Stage | Entry evidence | Exit condition |
|---|---|---|
| Notice received | Dated resident or owner notice; occupancy continues | Possession is returned or legal status changes |
| Possession pending | Lease ended or notice date passed, but keys or lawful possession are not confirmed | Documented surrender, keys, or court-authorized possession |
| Possession received | Keys and control returned; dated condition record opened | Initial inspection completed |
| Scope and pricing | Condition documented; work not yet released | Scope, responsibility, budget, and schedule approved |
| Make-ready in progress | Work order or project released | All work and required inspections complete |
| Blocked or compliance hold | Legal, utility, insurance, permit, lead, safety, access, or owner decision prevents release | Named blocker cleared and documented |
| Ready—not listed | Release checklist passed; no active advertisement | Listing is published or approved hold is recorded |
| Listed and showing | Accurate listing is live and unit remains available | Application approved, listing paused, or status changes |
| Approved or lease pending | Applicant approved or documents/deposit pending | Lease executed or unit returned to market |
| Leased—future move-in | Executed lease with future commencement | Possession delivered and resident ledger active |
| Owner-held or capital project | Written non-leasing decision with reason and review date | Owner releases unit or project returns to make-ready |
| Offboarding, sold, or duplicate | Unit should not be part of active managed inventory | Record closed, merged, or archived with audit trail |
Reconcile the roster before judging performance
The property and unit roster is the denominator for every occupancy claim. If sold properties, ended management agreements, commercial spaces, duplicate units, test records, or missing leases remain in active inventory, the occupancy rate and vacancy queue become unreliable.
Run a unit-by-unit reconciliation between the management system, active management agreements, lease files, resident ledger, keys, listing channels, work orders, and accounting records. Preserve an audit trail when records are merged or deactivated rather than silently deleting history.
- Confirm legal property, building, and unit identifiers
- Separate residential, commercial, owner-occupied, and non-rentable spaces
- Deactivate sold and fully offboarded properties only after accounting and deposit handoff is complete
- Merge or archive duplicates after preserving source history
- Attach every active lease to the correct unit and investigate every apparent occupied-without-lease record
- Assign every non-occupied unit a stage, stage date, blocker, responsible person, and next-action date
Start the turn clock when possession is actually controlled
Notice date, lease expiration, move-out date, and possession date are different events. A maintenance crew should not be dispatched as though a unit is surrendered merely because a lease ended. The possession-to-ready clock begins when lawful possession and access are documented.
Record the earlier dates too. Notice-to-possession reveals holdover and scheduling friction; possession-to-inspection and possession-to-scope show internal response time; work and compliance stages show production time. One blended “days vacant” number cannot diagnose the delay.
- Record notice received, contractual end, expected move-out, keys received, and possession confirmed separately
- Create a timestamped move-out condition record as soon as access is lawful
- Secure the unit, change access credentials as appropriate, and document keys
- Transfer utilities and winter protections without a gap
- Open the security-deposit and damage-accounting workflow immediately
Plan before possession without assuming possession
A good turn starts before move-out: confirm the expected date, assemble the prior inspection record, review known maintenance, reserve vendors, identify long-lead materials, and prepare the likely scope. Any occupied-unit entry must follow the lease and current law; expected turnover is not blanket permission to enter.
The outgoing-resident process and the construction process should meet at a documented handoff. New York guidance for non-regulated units describes a resident-requested pre-move inspection opportunity and a 14-day deadline after move-out for returning the deposit and providing an itemized statement when deductions are taken. Treat those legal deadlines as their own workflow, not an afterthought to the construction schedule.
Classify the work before assigning a deadline
A universal turn-time target encourages teams to misclassify work. Set a service target for each class, measure delay against the approved scope, and require a documented change when new conditions alter the class.
| Turn class | Typical content | Management treatment |
|---|---|---|
| Standard make-ready | Cleaning, touch-up, minor repair, testing, locks, routine consumables | Preset scope, short target, exception approval |
| Repair-heavy turn | Multiple failed components or significant damage beyond a standard turn | Itemized scope, responsibility review, vendor schedule, owner approval |
| Capital renovation | Planned replacement, layout or system work, improvement program | Separate project budget, permits, capital ledger, milestone schedule |
| Compliance or safety hold | C of O, lead, permit, utility, fire/life-safety, insurance, or legal blocker | Do not advertise as ready; assign the blocker and release evidence |
A finished-looking unit may not be legally ready
For City of Rochester rentals, confirm the property’s C of O status and any open violations before release. The City’s renewable C of O program uses recurring inspections for residential rental structures. Its 2026 lead changes can also affect pre-1980 rental properties in the Lead Paint High-Risk Area, including more frequent inspections and lead dust-wipe testing.
Repairs and renovations can require building or trade permits. The City lists permits for structural work, changes of use, new wiring, significant plumbing, non-like-kind HVAC, many roof projects, and other alterations. Define the permit and inspection path before work begins and retain the final approval.
- Correct legal use and unit count
- Active C of O or documented municipal path
- Open violations cleared or formally resolved
- Required permits and inspections closed
- Applicable lead inspection, safe-work, and clearance records complete
- Heat, hot water, electrical, plumbing, egress, detectors, locks, lighting, and utilities function-tested
Release to leasing against one written standard
“Maintenance complete” and “ready to market” should mean the same defined result to maintenance, property management, leasing, and the owner. The release inspection should be performed from the prospective resident’s path: approach, entry, every room and fixture, common areas, utilities, safety equipment, keys, cleanliness, odor, exterior condition, and listing evidence.
A ready unit should not wait invisibly. If it is intentionally held, record who approved the hold, why, its estimated economic cost, and the review date. Otherwise publish the listing promptly and verify that it appears correctly on each approved channel.
- Final scope and punch list accepted with dated photos
- Required approvals and test results attached
- Clean, dry, secure, odor-free, and free of abandoned property
- All appliances, fixtures, windows, doors, locks, heat, hot water, and detectors tested
- Rent, deposit, utilities, availability date, pet policy, accessibility facts, and showing instructions approved
- Accurate current photos, unit description, floor plan or measurements, and disclosures ready
- Listing published, channel links checked, inquiry routing tested, and showing access confirmed
Market and screen consistently
Availability, advertising, showings, qualification standards, and applicant communications should follow written, consistently applied rules. New York’s Human Rights Law protects applicants and tenants across a broad set of characteristics, including lawful source of income; the State specifically identifies statements such as “No vouchers accepted” as potentially unlawful.
Describe the unit and verifiable property features. Do not steer prospects with coded neighborhood descriptions, vary availability by who asks, or improvise qualification standards from one applicant to the next. Have current forms and practices reviewed by qualified fair-housing counsel.
Make the handoff visible
| Role | Owns | Required handoff evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Property management | Resident notices, possession, owner decisions, compliance coordination | Possession record, condition file, approved turn class and budget |
| Maintenance or project lead | Scope, schedule, vendors, quality, inspections, punch list | Completion evidence, costs, warranties, unresolved exceptions |
| Leasing | Pricing approval, advertisement, inquiries, showings, applicant workflow | Live links, activity log, application and lease milestones |
| Accounting | Deposit deadlines, coding, invoices, owner ledger, offboarding reconciliation | Itemization, payment record, repair/capital coding, final property closeout |
| Reviewer | Independent release check and stale-record exceptions | Signed release or documented return to the responsible role |
Measure the delay where it occurs
| Metric | Clock |
|---|---|
| Notice-to-possession days | Notice received to documented possession |
| Possession-to-inspection hours | Possession to completed initial condition record |
| Inspection-to-approved-scope hours | Inspection completion to approved class, scope, budget, and owner |
| Approved-scope-to-start days | Authorization to first productive work |
| Work duration | First productive work to maintenance completion, excluding separately labeled holds |
| Completion-to-ready hours | Maintenance completion to passed release inspection |
| Ready-to-listed hours | Release approval to verified publication |
| Days on market | First valid advertisement to approved applicant or executed lease—state which |
| Lease-to-move-in days | Execution to possession delivered |
| Total economic vacancy days | Last rent-producing date to next rent-producing date, using one documented convention |
| Lost rent | Scheduled rent not earned during economic vacancy; concessions reported separately |
| Turn cost | Repair, resident-chargeback, improvement, and capital amounts reported separately |
Run exception reports, not just totals
The daily view should answer which units require action today. The weekly owner view should explain inventory changes, delay, money, and data quality. Counts without the underlying exception list are not a management system.
- Possession received but not inspected within the target
- Inspected but no approved scope, budget, owner, or start date
- Work stalled, past target, or missing an updated forecast
- Compliance hold without a named resolver and next date
- Ready but not listed
- Listed with no inquiries, showings, applications, or pricing review within the target
- Approved applicant without completed lease or move-in plan
- Future lease attached but old listing still live
- Unit marked vacant with evidence of occupancy
- Sold, offboarded, commercial, duplicate, or stale records contaminating active residential inventory
Publish portfolio data only after reconciliation
RochesterInvestment.com will not convert a raw management-system dashboard into a public occupancy claim. A publishable report requires a reconciled unit population, clear property and geography scope, a stated as-of date, definitions for physical and economic vacancy, treatment of future leases and offline units, exclusions, and a reproducible calculation.
Public reports will be aggregated and will not disclose tenant names, contact information, balances, banking data, application details, or unit-level circumstances that could identify a household. Affiliated-company contributions will be labeled, and methodology will accompany the result.
The turnover release file
This guide is an operating and educational framework, not legal advice. Requirements and linked sources were reviewed September 9, 2026 and can change. Confirm the facts of the property and tenancy with the current lease, municipality, qualified counsel, and other responsible professionals.
- Possession and keys documented
- Move-out condition, deposit, damage, and abandoned-property workflow completed on its own deadline
- Turn class, scope, budget, responsibility, and schedule approved
- Repairs, capital work, permits, lead or other compliance work, and inspections documented
- Utilities and life-safety systems function-tested
- Final clean, photos, punch list, and independent release complete
- Approved rent, terms, disclosures, availability, and fair-housing-compliant marketing package complete
- Listings live and inquiry/showing routing verified
- Executed lease, funds, insurance or other required documents, move-in condition record, and key handoff complete
- Roster, ledger, work orders, listing channels, and owner report agree on final status