Getting Started with Affordable LeasingAI

LeasingAI for Affordable Housing offers flexible configurations for managing your building's leasing process. 

By customizing conversation flows, prequalification methods, and post-qualifications goals, you can efficiently match prospects with suitable units, whether they are affordable or market rate. 

See the Getting Started with LeasingAI article for information on our conventional leasing product.

🔌 Integrations

Affordable LeasingAI can integrate with the following CRM and PMS systems.

See the EliseAI Supported Integrations Per Product article for more details on integrations.

CRM Software

PMS Software

PMS & CRM Software

🚀 Onboarding

See the Getting Started with EliseAI article for details on the EliseAI onboarding process. 

Generally, onboarding with Affordable LeasingAI involves:

1. Selecting Communities to launch
2. Creating a Launch Plan with the EliseAI team
3. Marking communities as Affordable or Conventional
   • You can change this setting at any time in Affordable Settings
4. Integration Setup
   • See the Help Center Onboarding Section for instructions on your specific integration.
5. Submitting your EIN (Employer Identification Number) to EliseAI. This is a required step to enable AI outreach to prospects.
   • See the EIN FAQ article for more information.
6. Calendar and Knowledge Setup 
7. Inviting and Training Your Team
8. Allowlist Testing and Submitting Test Leads
   • See the LeasingAI Product Testing article for more information.
9. Announcing the Launch to your team

💡 Training Resources

EliseAI hosts Live Training Webinar on Affordable Leasing. Please visit our Learning Center Page for more information.

📞 Conversation Flow

With the Affordable conversation flow, your AI will prequalify leads against the building's units by asking for the household size, income, and other flexible qualifications your team can set. Based on these two data points, the AI evaluates which units the prospect qualifies for and pushes them to tour, apply, or join the waitlist for those units.

You can customize your conversation flow by deciding whether you'd like your AI to offer affordable units at the start of the conversation, or only if the prospect inquires about affordable units.

Start with Affordable Units

If all or most of the units in your community are affordable, we recommend configuring your AI to open conversations offering affordable units. If a prospect does not qualify for an affordable unit, but they do qualify for a market rate unit, your AI may offer market rate options instead. If no market rate units are available, your AI will not suggest them.

Start with Market Rate Units

For communities with mixed or mostly market-rate units, we recommend configuring your AI to open conversations offering market-rate units. If a prospect asks for affordable or cheaper units, your AI will switch to offering affordable units. The AI will also suggest affordable units if no more market-rate units are available.

How to Configure Conversation Flows

Follow these steps to set up one of these configurations: 

1. Locate the community's entry on the page.
2. Locate the community's Start Conversations in Pre-Qualification Flow switch
   • To start conversations as affordable, ENABLE the switch. 
   • To start conversations as market rate, DISABLE the switch.
3. Fill in the remaining prequalification settings on vouchers, minimum income, and age requirements. See Affordable Settings Overview & Instructions for more information.

🔍 Prequalification & Post-Qualification Behavior

Your AffordableAI uses post-qualification goals to determine how it should proceed after evaluating a prospect against your building’s requirements. Once a prospect is identified as qualified, over-income, under-income, or disqualified for other reasons, the AI follows the actions you’ve configured for that status.

For each qualification outcome, you can control whether the AI:

• Proactively offers tours, allows tours only if asked, or does not offer tours
• Proactively shares an application, allows sharing only if asked, or does not share
• (For mixed communities) offers or does not offer market-rate units to unqualified affordable leads

Use these settings to guide prospects based on their status and tailor the conversation flow to your preferences.

To learn more about configuring these options, see the Post-Qualification Goals section in Affordable Settings Overview & Instructions.

📊 Affordable Reporting

Your Affordable Reporting Dashboard includes:

• A complete breakdown of all affordable prospects and where they fall within the pre-qualification funnel
• Building-level and marketing source metrics
• Detailed data on each affordable prospect that links directly to their corresponding conversation

See the Affordable Reporting Dashboard: Overview article for more information. 

📖 Frequently Asked Questions

Does EliseAI observe state-level regulations?

Yes, we do. 

• EliseAI has an affordable compliance team that keeps up with state requirements. 

• We observe state rules on Total Monthly Leasing Price (TMLP). We require buildings in the following states to input fee information so the AI can quote TMLP to prospects: 
  • Massachusetts
  • Connecticut
  • Nevada
  • Colorado
• Affordable Settings allow your team to make granular adjustments based on state rules and regulations. This includes: 
  • Eligibility rules, including AMI percentages, minimum income requirements, and age requirements.
  • Household and occupancy compliance, including housing voucher acceptance and approved unit sizes.
  • Qualification outcomes, including required documentation, application fees, and compliant rejection messaging.
  • Terminology and phrasing, allowing language adjustments (for instance, “income-based” instead of the default “income-restricted.”)

Do you offer support for senior housing?

Yes, we do. 

• Affordable Settings allow your team to set a minimum age requirement for qualifying leads. 
• VoiceAI offers a natural communication interface for seniors who may struggle with email and SMS conversations. 
  • VoiceAI comes bundled with ResidentAI products (Renewals, Maintenance, and Delinquency). We offer VoiceAI as a separate add-on for LeasingAI.
  • See Getting Started with VoiceAI for more information.

Can I set up AI-Guided Tours for affordable properties?

Currently, AI-Guided Tours are not available for affordable properties or units. EliseAI is actively building this feature. Stay tuned for updates!

Does EliseAI support recertification notices and applications?

We are actively building these features and will launch them in the near future. Stay tuned for updates!

Can my AI Assistant cross-sell affordable properties?

Yes. For more information about affordable cross-selling, see the Cross-Selling with Affordable Leasing AI article.

Does EliseAI sync affordable data from my external PMS / CRM?

As of now, EliseAI can only pull a unit's property type (affordable or conventional) from your external PMS/CRM. Your team must input all other affordable data directly into your Affordable Settings page and Unit Editor.

Can I change the frequency and content of the AI’s outreach messages?

Please submit a ticket to customize the content of your AI's outreach messages. For more information, see Best Practices for Customizing Proactive Message Scripting.

For message frequency, EliseAI strongly recommends using the default timing cadence. This cadence is the standard configuration supported by EliseAI, and it is designed to balance timely follow-up with prospect engagement.

Why are my leads reaching the wrong communities? 

Leads may reach the wrong communities due to incorrect AI email settings or inactive communities.

See the Why Leads May Reach the Wrong Communities article for more information.

Does EliseAI merge duplicate guest cards?

EliseAI merges duplicate guest cards in certain scenarios. See the following articles for more information:

• How EliseAI Handles Duplicate Guest Cards
• Duplicate Guest Cards: Flagging and Merging

How does EliseAI collect and share fee information?

 EliseAI can use fees from the following sources: 

• Yardi and Entrata, if your organization uses either PMS.
• Engrain
• EliseAI Fees Page

Your AI Assistant can share fee information with prospects. This includes Total Monthly Leasing Price (TMLP) in U.S. States where this is required.

See the Fee Transparency Suite article for more information.