Vacancy is a design decision made two years before the tenant ever shows up.
Someone asked me a question in a Facebook group a few weeks back.
“How’s rental demand in Edmonton?”
I gave him the honest answer: softer than it was two years ago. No spin. The market has cooled.
Then I gave him the answer that made him stop typing.
We’ve been running 100% occupancy for the better part of two years. Through the softening. Not one of our units sitting empty, waiting for the market to save it.
He assumed I was going to tell him our secret marketing trick. Better photos. Better ads. Better property manager.
Nope.
The secret was locked in two years before any tenant ever saw a listing.
The Staircase That Taught Me
Confession time.
Two of our garage suites, ones we designed very early on, we drew a touch on the small side. And we gave them exterior stairs.
On the design plan? Exterior stairs are fantastic. They look great. They help your lot utilization percentages. Every line on that drawing said yes.
Then real tenants showed up.
And that one little bit of friction… climbing outside stairs in an Edmonton January, hauling groceries up in the rain… meant those two suites consistently take longer to rent than everything else we own.
Not un-rentable. Just slower. Every. Single. Turnover.
Nobody warned us in the design meeting. The drawing didn’t know. The tenant knew.
Here’s the pattern I see everywhere now, because I lived it: an investor has a vacancy problem, and the first suspect is always the market.
“Edmonton’s soft right now.”
“Rents are down.”
“Too much supply.”
Maybe. But here’s the question almost nobody asks…
Why are some buildings full while yours is bleeding?
Same city. Same market. Same “too much supply.”
Different product.
Vacancy Is a Design Decision
Here’s the reframe, and it’s going to sting a little.
Your vacancy rate was largely decided the day you approved the floor plan. Two years before the first tenant showed up. The market didn’t do it to you. The design did.
Our sweet spot, the mix that’s kept us full through a softening market:
- A large anchor unit. I love our 3 and 4 bedroom side-by-side duplexes. This attracts the tenant everybody wants… stable, family-oriented, planning to stay.
- Two-bedroom lower suites. Not cramped one-bed afterthoughts. Real suites real people want to live in.
- Garage suites, built around the tenant, not the lot math. After those early ones, this became almost non-negotiable for us: interior stairs, not exterior. A double door garage, not a single. And every garage suite gets its own parking stall inside the garage. Each one of those choices costs something on the drawing. Each one pays it back at every turnover.
- Parking. Lots of it. Up to 10 stalls per 6 units. Unsexy. Massive. Ask any property manager what kills a family tenancy, and parking is on the list every time.
None of that is luck. Every piece of that mix was chosen against four levers:
Tenant type. Length of stay. Construction cost. Cash flow.
Score high on all four and the market’s mood matters a lot less. Score low, and no amount of marketing saves you. You built vacancy into the foundation.
I’ve completed 4 of these projects start to finish and consulted on 47 more, from 6 units up to a 98-unit building I’m advising on right now. The pattern holds at every scale. The buildings designed around a tenant stay full. The buildings designed around a pro forma don’t.
Do This Before You Pour Concrete (Or Tonight, If You Already Did)
Pull out your current unit mix, or the one you’re planning. Score every unit, 1 to 10, against the four levers:
- Tenant type. Who does this unit actually attract? Would you want them for five years?
- Length of stay. Is this a unit someone settles into, or a stopover?
- Construction cost. Does the extra bedroom, suite, or stall pay for itself in the rent and the stay?
- Cash flow. Does the whole mix carry the building, or is one unit dragging three?
Then find your exterior staircase. Every plan has one… the feature that looks great on the drawing and creates friction for the human who has to live there. Lot utilization is a drawing number. Length of stay is a life number. When they fight, the life number wins.
If you’re scoring your planned build and the numbers are ugly… congratulations. You just found the problem while it’s still erasable. Cheapest fix you’ll ever make.
If you’re scoring a building you already own, you’re not stuck. Suites get reconfigured. Parking gets added. Anchors get renovated for the tenant you actually want. Harder than fixing a drawing, yes. Still cheaper than years of turnover.
Stop blaming the market. Start interrogating the mix.
The market decides your rent. Your design decides your vacancy.
I believe in you. Now go score your building.
Want a Second Set of Eyes on Your Mix?
If you’re planning an infill project, or sitting on one that’s renting slower than it should, this is exactly the conversation I have with the investors and developers I consult with. Bring your unit mix, and I’ll tell you where the friction is hiding.
Book a free consultation here. No pitch, just perspective.
In your corner,
Russell Westcott
#Inspire #Encourage #Love
