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Company Profile
Industry: Real Estate Development, Construction, Property Management, and Homebuilding
Headquarters: Greenbelt, Maryland
Year Founded: 1988
Setting the Scene
Bozzuto, a nationally recognized real estate company, is celebrated for its award-winning developments, construction, property management, and homebuilding. Their core values — concern, creativity, passion, perfection — guide everything they do. Named a “Top Property Management Company in the Nation” for several consecutive years, they focus on the needs of residents, clients, partners, and neighbors, and are committed to creating welcoming communities.
For the Bozzuto team, pre-leasing a multifamily property is not uncharted waters. With over 240 communities under management and more than 40 active lease-ups at any given time, they have become experts in pre-leasing. And a key part of that success has been their ability to stay at the forefront of innovation in leasing and resident engagement.
However, as Bozzuto embarked on several new projects — The Sinclair in Chicago and 7SEVENTY7 in Milwaukee — they encountered pre-leasing challenges that required a unique and innovative solution for each to be successful. And it was at this juncture, in 2017, that they heard about Realync.
“There are so many different options out there for video — [for] connecting with prospects digitally — but what's great about Realync is that it's technologically sophisticated with getting data…so we get that ROI. Realync is a really great partner."
- Noel Carson, Vice President of Marketing and Creative Director
The Challenge
As Bozzuto began pre-leasing The Sinclair and 7SEVENTY7, both were under construction. Additionally, both communities had aggressive lease-up goals where traditional touring methods weren’t an option.
Fifield Development Company chose Bozzuto to manage The Sinclair, a 390-unit luxury Class-A community in Chicago’s Gold Coast. However, the project presented a unique challenge: an offsite leasing office with no option for in-person or hard-hat tours during the construction phase.
While an offsite leasing office is not entirely uncommon, not being able to conduct hard hat tours or in-person showings until launch posed a new challenge yet to be faced by the Bozzuto team. However, because the Fifield team understood the complexity of what they were asking, they brought Realync’s Virtual Leasing and Video Tools solution to Bozzuto’s attention.
Meanwhile, in Milwaukee, Bozzuto faced a similar hurdle in managing a bold new build being delivered by Northwestern Mutual. When Northwestern opened its state-of-the-art office tower on Wisconsin Avenue in 2017, they expanded their hometown commitment by developing this sophisticated, “game-changing” property — 7SEVENTY7 — in the heart of downtown in 2018.
7SEVENTY7 was a new concept, and Bozzuto had to find a creative solution to bring it to life for pre-leasing before prospects could see units in person. As Jenna Miller, Vice President of Customer Experience, shared, “For Bozzuto, when it comes to touring, it’s all about building trust with the customer.”
And with that in mind, Bozzuto’s management team collectively believed that Realync’s video leasing platform was the solution that would empower them to showcase each space amid construction, build relationships and buy-in with prospective residents, and, ultimately, sign leases.
The Solution
To overcome the pre-leasing challenges of buildings still under construction, Bozzuto turned to Realync’s Virtual Leasing and Video Tools. Realync’s efficient and easy-to-use training allowed onsite teams to begin filming and sharing videos the same day they launched, creating a personalized and accessible experience for prospects.
At The Sinclair, the leasing team took advantage of Realync to replace hard-hat tours with a more engaging virtual alternative. They built a robust online library of pre-recorded videos that ranged from unit-specific tours showcasing the views or layouts to construction updates highlighting the amenities or kitchen finishes as they were completed. These videos then became essential tools for outbound email campaigns, allowing them to send prospects a preview of the space.
Live video tours added another layer of personalization, allowing leasing agents to virtually walk prospects through units, answer questions in real time, and replicate the in-person experience.
“We had lofty goals for pre-leasing The Sinclair and knew that not being able to provide tours of the building would present a challenge. Finding Realync’s video leasing platform gave us the tool to go into this project knowing we had the means and technology to begin pre-leasing. We simply couldn’t have provided the same leasing results for The Sinclair without Realync's video leasing technology."
- Pei Pei Mirabella, Senior Vice President of Operations
With success at The Sinclair under their belts, Bozzuto’s implementation process at 7SEVENTY7 was also quick and seamless. Realync’s hands-on training equipped the onsite team to begin creating and sharing videos. From best practices for video and understanding video creation to how to host live video tours, the onsite team learned everything they needed to know in under 40 minutes and were ready to start accomplishing their video leasing goals.
Armed with impactful training and their newly minted video skills, they began sending links to prospects and scheduling live sessions and tours.
“Within a few hours, the team knew how to use the Realync app,” said Lydia Koenig, 7SEVENTY7’s Sales and Marketing Associate. “We knew how to take videos. And we were already uploading and sending them to prospects that very same day. It was a great training experience.”
With a mix of live and pre-recorded video tours, prospects could see floor plans, finishes, and amenities — even while units were under construction. More importantly, potential residents appreciated the effort to provide quality video footage in combination with live tours, sharing their positive feedback on the experience.
As Assistant Property Manager Kyle Kunz explained, “Realync really helped us go into these homes that were under construction and show our prospective residents what these future homes might look like.”
However, across both communities, video quickly became more than just a temporary solution; it became vital to Bozzuto’s resident journey leasing strategy — from building trust during early prospect conversations to maintaining engagement throughout the leasing process.
“A lot of the success that Bozzuto has had with Realync has been finding ways to pull video across the entire customer journey, not just for that initial touring experience,” said Jenna. “Where we’ve had the most success has been using [Realync] as part of the entire lead nurturing process, having these libraries of videos that our teams can leverage.”
By embedding Realync into its leasing strategy, Bozzuto transformed its approach to pre-leasing, prospect engagement, and resident communications.
“Realync has been invaluable to us, especially with our active new developments where we’ve connected with residents with buildings that haven’t been delivered yet."
- Noel Carson, Vice President of Marketing and Creative Director
The Outcome
The results of Bozzuto’s partnership with Realync are undeniable. What began as a solution to overcome construction-related touring challenges quickly evolved into a cornerstone of Bozzuto’s leasing and resident engagement strategy.
At The Sinclair, Realync’s video platform eliminated the need for in-person or hard-hat tours while driving strong pre-leasing performance. As a result, the leasing team was able to:
- Achieve 25% pre-leased with zero in-person tours — an unprecedented milestone for an offsite leasing office.
- Build prospect confidence with authentic video content and accelerate leasing velocity.
At 7SEVENTY7, Realync helped Bozzuto hit and exceed aggressive leasing goals. Within just three months of launching the pre-leasing process, the team:
- Pre-leased 155 homes, 50% of their units.
- Increased lead-to-lease conversion rates by about four percentage points.
- Gave prospects the confidence to sign leases sight-unseen, thanks to high-quality video tours and live sessions.
Following the success at The Sinclair and 7SEVENTY7, Bozzuto expanded Realync across its portfolio. Today, the solution is active in 191 Bozzuto communities, continuing to provide residents and prospects with authentic, personalized, and convenient experiences.
Bozzuto’s experience demonstrates how the right technology can transform even the toughest pre-leasing challenges into opportunities for growth. By leveraging Realync’s Virtual Leasing and Video Tools, Bozzuto not only met ambitious lease-up goals but also established a scalable, portfolio-wide strategy for building trust, driving conversions, and enhancing the entire resident journey.
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