Leasing Consultant

Leasing Consultants at garden-style and mid-rise communities carry more weight than the title suggests. They're the first number in the traffic-to-lease ratio, the reason a prospect calls back, and often the difference between a community hitting 95% occupancy or sitting at 91% with mounting concessions. At Hawthorne Residential Partners, one of the top 50 multifamily management companies in the country, that role carries a specific identity: Leasing and Live It Specialist.

What the Role Actually Looks Like

Meridian Fairfield Park in Wilmington, NC is the stage. Your job is to move prospects from inquiry to signed lease, and to keep current residents connected enough to renew. That means handling inbound traffic across phone, email, and web promptly, conducting tours that sell the lifestyle not just the square footage, and following up with enough consistency to actually convert. You'll also own new move-in paperwork accuracy, contribute to renewal goals, and help coordinate resident events that keep the community feeling like one worth staying in.

Marketing support is part of the job too. Hawthorne expects leasing staff to monitor competitor properties, stay current on local market trends, and contribute to social media and outreach efforts. In a market like Wilmington, where coastal demand and seasonal population shifts can move occupancy quickly, knowing what the property down the street is offering in concessions matters.

What Strong Candidates Bring

• At least one year of customer-facing experience in sales, hospitality, retail, or apartment leasing
• Confidence communicating in person, by phone, and in writing
• A genuine ability to handle objections without coming across as pushy
• Attention to detail on leasing applications and move-in documentation (errors here create downstream problems for the management team)
• A valid driver's license; a CALP credential is a plus but not required

The schedule runs Monday through Friday, 9 AM to 6 PM, and Saturdays 10 AM to 4 PM, with one weekday off to keep the week at 40 hours. Evening availability for resident events is occasionally part of the job.

Growth and Compensation

Hawthorne pays an hourly base plus monthly leasing and renewal commissions, and leasing incentive programs layer on top of that. The commission structure means your personal close rate directly affects your paycheck, which is the right kind of accountability for someone who wants to build a career in multifamily. Hawthorne's internal Career Path Program points Leasing Consultants toward Assistant Community Manager roles, and that track is a real one. Most strong ACMs started exactly here, learning traffic patterns, lease terms, and resident dynamics before stepping into operational oversight.

Benefits include medical, dental, and vision coverage, a 401k match, paid time off (including your birthday), paid parental and adoption leave, pet insurance, telehealth access, and company-paid life insurance.