A Monthly NOI Leak Check for Small Portfolios

ROI does not move because someone posted a list of “five strategies.” It moves when you find this month’s leak and assign an owner.

Block one hour on the same calendar day each month. Bring last month’s ledger, the leasing pipeline, and open work orders. Do not open a remodel Pinterest board until the table below is filled.

The one-page leak table

Fill every cell. Blank means you do not have a system of record yet—that is the first leak.

15 minutes: rent and vacancy

Look at vacant and on-notice units only.

• Is the list price current, or copied from last year?
• How many hours to first response on the last five inquiries?
• Is the unit actually show-ready (paint, lights, odors, photos that match)?

A cheaper listing that sits empty loses more than a slightly lower rent that leases this week. Tighten the leasing funnel before you fund a kitchen.

15 minutes: maintenance that eats NOI

Pull tickets closed last month. Count how many came back for the same symptom.

Cheap invoices that reopen are not cheap. Track:

• Rework within 30 days by vendor
• After-hours share of tickets
• The three units that generated the most spend

Triage and a written scope usually beat another 3% vendor discount.

15 minutes: collections and renewals

Aging is a process, not a personality problem:

• Who is on autopay vs one-off payments?
• Which balances have a written payment plan?
• Which renewals start in the next 90 days, and do those units have open repeats?

Keeping a good resident at a modest increase often beats a turn (make-ready + vacant days + leasing labor). Write the math on the unit before you “hold out for more.”

15 minutes: only then talk renovations

For each proposed upgrade, write three numbers:

1. Expected monthly rent change
2. Expected vacant days avoided (or not)
3. Expected ticket reduction (for example, fewer plumbing calls)

If you cannot fill those, it is not an ROI project. Durability upgrades that cut repeats (shutoff valves, GFCI, decent exhaust) often beat cosmetic work.

Screening belongs here too: published criteria, applied the same way, documented. Inconsistent “gut” decisions are both a loss risk and a fair-housing risk (HUD).

After the hour

Assign one leak an owner and a date. Do not assign five. Recheck that cell next month.

Unitz can put occupancy, aging, and maintenance rework on the same financials workspace so this review is a filter, not an export scavenger hunt. To set the first monthly review up on your books, contact us.