This article covers:
- New Lease Dashboard: Key metrics explained, including current rent, recommended rent, projected occupancy, and comp data
- How the Model Makes Recommendations: The 8 demand drivers (4 property + 4 competitor) that shape every pricing suggestion
- Net Effective Rent (NER): How concessions are factored into recommendations and why Daylight prices off NER, not gross rent
- Taking Rate Actions: How to accept, hold, or override a recommendation, and when to use each
- User Roles: Submitter vs. Admin permissions
- Loss Leaders: How to set unit-level price offsets and how they behave
- Auto-Acceptance Guardrails: Optional admin setting to auto-approve recs within daily and weekly limits
- Common Questions: Why the model may suggest a decrease at high occupancy, how average rent is calculated, and how often data refreshes
New Lease: Bed Group Dashboard at a Glance
Tip
Check the timestamp icon on each property before actioning. If a property hasn't been updated, this is your first diagnostic step.
Metric |
What It Means
|
|---|---|
Current Rent |
Average, fully amenitized price of all available units in the bed group. Not what units have leased for, what they're listed at now. |
Recommended Rent |
Today’s average rent recommendation for the bed group, including unit amenities, floor plan premiums and discounts. |
Base Recommended Price Change |
This is a recommended price change for the bed group, calculated based on your target occupancy, property drivers and local competitor data. |
Projected Occupancy % |
The projected percentage of units expected to be occupied in the bed group at the end of 84 days if no price change is taken. |
Projected Leases |
Total projected leases (84d) at current rent compared to the number of leases needed to hit the occupancy goal. Sub-metric displays past 7d and 28d leasing history. |
Target Leases (in the grey) |
Leases needed to stay on track for Target Occupancy. The gap between Expected and Target is the primary driver of pricing direction. |
Leased Rent |
Avg of the last 5 leases signed in the trailing 84 days, fully amenitized. Lease terms client dependent. |
Forecasted Trade-Out % |
Projected % gain or loss if all available units leased at today's rec price vs. prior leased rent. Available units only. |
Comp 28 Day Average |
Trailing 28 day average rent for available units in the comp set excluding the subject and the % change from the prior 28 days (all public data). |
Subject 28 Day Average |
Trailing 28 day average rent for available units in the subject property and the % change from the prior 28 days (integrated data). |
Timestamp Icon (coin checkmark next to new leases title) |
Time/date of last successful PMS sync prior to 7am EST. |
Market Position % (hover over) |
Where your avg rent sits vs. comp set avg. One of the four model drivers. Hover over current rent and/or recommended rent to access this metric. |
How the Model Decides — 8 Demand Drivers
Daylight bases every recommendation on eight demand drivers to ensure a balanced market view:
- Property Drivers (4): Derived from your integrated internal data.
- Competitor Drivers (4): Established using public market performance data.
Driver |
Type |
What It Measures |
Direction Logic
|
|---|---|---|---|
Recent Leasing Velocity |
Subject |
Trailing 12 weeks of leases adjusted for exposure. Applications are a leading indicator. |
Strong velocity → increase. Slowing → decrease. |
Seasonality |
Subject |
Same 12 week (84-day window) last year vs. this year, plus forward-looking seasonal signal. |
Strong same-period last year → increase. Weak → tempers rec. |
Asking vs Achieved |
Subject |
Compares asking to achieved NER PSF in the last 5 leases |
Comps above your rate → increase. Comps cutting → decrease. |
YoY Leasing Trend |
Subject |
Change in signed leases for the trailing 12 week or 84 day period this year compared to last year. |
Market growth YoY → supports increase. Decline → tempers rec. |
Market Position (Asking vs Achieved) |
Comp Driver |
Where your asking rents sit vs. comp set avg rents and leasing velocity. |
Comps above your rate → increase. Comps cutting → decrease. |
Seasonality |
Comp Driver |
References comp set leases signed during the upcoming 12 weeks last year |
Strong comp velocity → increase. Slowing comp velocity→ decrease. |
Recent Lease Velocity |
Comp Driver |
Comp set leasing velocity in the last 12 weeks (84 days), adjusted for exposure |
Strong velocity → increase. Slowing → decrease. |
YoY Leasing Trend |
Comp Driver |
Comp set change in leases signed (T12 weeks) this year vs. last year. |
Market growth YoY → supports increase. Decline → tempers rec. |
NER — Net Effective Rent (Baked into Recommended Rent)
Key: Daylight prices off NER — not gross rent. Concessions are baked in from day one.
Formula: (Gross Rent × Lease Term − Concession Value) ÷ Lease Term
Example: $2,000/mo · 12-month · 6 weeks free → Concession = $3,000 → NER = $1,750/mo — Daylight recommends off $1,750, not $2,000.
Taking Rate Actions
Navigate to New Leases. Each bed group shows a dropdown with three options:
Action |
What It Does |
When to Use
|
|---|---|---|
Take Recommendation |
Accepts the model's suggested base rent. No comment required. All unit rents update automatically. |
When you agree with the model. |
Hold Yesterday's Rent |
Locks current base rent — no push to PMS. Model recalculates tomorrow. |
Market pauses, evaluating before acting. |
Override |
Enter a specific dollar amount or ± change. Full manual control. |
When your market knowledge conflicts with the model. Document the rationale in the comment field. |
Please review the article Conducting a Rate Review in Daylight for more information on taking a rate action.
User Roles
- Submitter: Views recommendations, requests loss leaders, submits rate actions for review — cannot approve.
- Admin: Reviews submitted actions, modifies if needed, confirms. Can also take rate actions directly.
Establishing Loss Leaders: Unit-Level Overrides
Note: A loss leader is a fixed offset — not a standalone price. It moves with the bed group.
For example, if you decrease a unit by −$10 today, and the bed group increases $10 tomorrow, that unit drops an additional $10.
To establish a loss leader:
- Click the 4-dot icon next to a bed group.
- Find the unit and enter a fixed dollar offset (e.g., −$50).
- Add a comment. The Approver needs to understand your intent.
- Persists until unit leases. Does not reapply after re-vacancy.
Auto-Acceptance Guardrails (Optional Setting Configured by Admins)
The Daylight auto-acceptance feature can be enabled. This setting is enabled by an Admin user. This feature auto-approves recommendations within defined daily/weekly limits. Recs exceeding a guardrail are approved at the limit and flagged as partially accepted.
- Daily Decrease Max: Max rent decrease Daylight can auto-approve in one day (e.g., −2%)
- Daily Increase Max: Max rent increase Daylight can auto-approve in one day (e.g., +2%)
- Weekly Decrease Max: Cumulative max decrease over 7 days (e.g., −4%)
-
Weekly Increase Max: Cumulative max increase over 7 days (e.g., +4%)
Tip: Check the Price History tab
- Dotted line = recommendation
- Solid purple line = approved rate.
- Auto-acceptance events are labeled on the new lease dashboard and within the price history tab. Example shown below.
Common New Lease Questions
- Why is the system suggesting a decrease when my bed group has hit a high occupancy%? The model is forward-looking. The system will check Expected vs. Target Leases. If projected demand falls short over the next 84 days the model moves preemptively.
- Why does my Base + Amenity + Floor Plan Premium not add up to avg rent? Lease terms add another layer. Average rent = best-term price averaged across all available units. Refer to the rent matrix for more information.
- How often does data refresh in Daylight? Daily. Your PMS pulls after 6 PM ET, and posts to Daylight before 7 AM ET.
Have additional questions? Please review the Daylight: FAQ , or Contact the ApartmentIQ Support Team.