SUCCESS STORY
The Revenue of “Yes”: Conlin Properties' 3.62% Occupancy Gain With OneApp
How a Midwest affordable housing operator partnered with OneApp to accelerate leasing, increase efficiency, and strengthen property performance.
- Results
Total Successful Leases
Impact To Occupancy
In All-Time Revenue Added
Properties Onboarded
- Company Snapshot
Conlin Properties is a locally owned and managed real estate company headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, with more than 50 years of experience in property management and development. The company manages more than 6,500 units across Central Iowa and has extensive experience in developing and managing affordable housing.
- Challenge
Conlin needed a way to help more qualified renters secure housing and increase occupancy without adding complexity to its lean property operations.
- Solution
Conlin Properties partnered with OneApp to give applicants another path to approval, streamlining the leasing process while giving onsite teams more time to focus on renters and property operations.
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For Conlin Properties, Inc., maintaining strong property performance and creating opportunities for renters are key priorities. As a Midwest company specializing in affordable housing communities and smaller conventional properties, its teams wear many hats, making efficiency and practical solutions especially important.
April White, Director of Property Operations, focuses on empowering onsite teams with tools that accelerate leasing and maximize occupancy.
At Conlin, the ability to offer applicants an alternative path to approval is particularly valuable when a prospective resident falls short of traditional screening criteria yet may still be a strong candidate for success.
“Whether it’s people who are struggling with homelessness, credit issues, or other setbacks, we’ve always looked for ways to help people be more successful,” said April. “And one of the key things for people to be successful is having a home, a landing spot, where they can regroup and feel safe.”
For Conlin, the combination of mission and performance has made OneApp Partnership an increasingly important resource for creating more housing opportunities while supporting occupancy and financial growth.
The Challenge: Managing Risk Without Delaying Move-Ins
Conlin Properties’ review process considers a range of factors before reaching a decision on an applicant. For denials or conditional approvals, confirming whether something in an applicant’s history posed too much risk often meant time-consuming, manual work. Conlin’s team had to dig into individual cases one by one to figure out how to move forward.
The traditional alternative was a cosigner or guarantor. Conlin’s team had to screen and verify each guarantor manually, adding another layer to the leasing process on top of the paperwork guarantors had to assemble. For Conlin’s lean property teams, that work often added days and significant operational cost to the approval process, even when a unit was ready for move-in.
The impact also extended to prospective renters who didn’t have access to a traditional cosigner. Without another option, some applicants had no clear path forward, even when they were otherwise capable of becoming successful renters.
Conlin needed an alternative that could make sound approval decisions faster, give more qualified applicants a path to housing, and eliminate the friction of traditional guarantors for both its teams and prospects.
“OneApp has allowed us to approve applications sooner rather than later because if we have a unit ready, and a prospect follows through and applies via OneApp, then they can potentially be moving in by the end of the week.”
The Decision Point: Choosing a Better Path to Approval
OneApp fit into Conlin’s existing screening process without requiring the team to loosen its screening criteria or ask property teams to make individual judgment calls. Instead, applicants could be offered a consistent lease support option.
“OneApp stood out to us as a way to get people into homes and help our occupancy numbers. And now OneApp is all we use for second-chance screening. If they don't meet the normal credit criteria, we now offer them the ability to apply through OneApp."
This has represented a meaningful shift in Conlin Properties’ approach. Instead of treating a denial as the end of the leasing process or beginning the time-consuming process of qualifying a guarantor, OneApp Partnership became the standard next step for applicants.
What OneApp Partnership offers — another path to approval, less administrative work, and the potential to move applicants into available homes faster — gives Conlin a more consistent way to stabilize operations.
The Solution: A Seamless Alternative for Applicants and Property Teams
The OneApp rollout was supported by onboarding webinars, data-driven dashboards, and training resources, giving both corporate and property teams the tools needed to establish a consistent process.
Adoption followed quickly. Within approximately 90 days, April said Conlin was seeing roughly six to ten applicants a week with OneApp. OneApp Partnership allowed Conlin to maintain its existing screening standards while creating a consistent, efficient path forward for applicants to be backed by lease support.
The Results: Increased Occupancy, Faster Approvals, and More Housing Opportunities
After just one year with OneApp Partnership, Conlin Properties has seen measurable improvements in occupancy and operational efficiency. The results include:
- 64+ Total Successful Leases
- +3.62% Impact To Occupancy
- $788,458+ In All-Time Revenue Added
- 15 Properties Onboarded
More Leases. Less Waiting.
OneApp has helped Conlin shorten the path from denial to potential approval, giving qualified applicants a faster route to move-in and property teams a more efficient way to keep the leasing process moving.
Growing Occupancy Impact
For a company focused on expanding access to housing, the most visible result has been occupancy.
During its first year with OneApp Partnership, Conlin saw a 3.62% increase in occupancy, helping the company fill available units faster and reduce vacancies. The program’s performance has reinforced the value of offering applicants another path forward.
Progress for Teams, Possibility for Renters
The impact of OneApp has extended beyond occupancy and revenue. Before OneApp, property teams could spend hours answering calls and emails, tours, and working through applications only to ultimately tell a prospect they didn’t qualify. For small teams, that can be especially discouraging when all that work comes to an end without a lease.
With OneApp Partnership in place, a denial isn’t the end of the conversation.
“Having another option with OneApp has provided a morale boost for both onsite teams and prospects. It’s a way to continue helping a prospect rather than simply turning them away.”
That sense of possibility aligns with Conlin’s broader operating philosophy.
April explains, “We encourage our property managers to think like owners, so we really challenge them to feel invested in the financial success of the property. It’s not just about collecting money or filling units; it’s about the all-encompassing performance of the property, helping provide good homes to people and celebrating good financial success.”
Confidence Without Compromising Risk
The results have also given Conlin greater confidence that creating another path to housing does not require sacrificing risk or changing screening. With 64+ successful leases, OneApp has given Conlin a practical way to expand approval opportunities while continuing to manage risk.
As April reflects, the result is ultimately a win for both sides: Applicants have another opportunity to secure housing, while owners and operators gain additional revenue that can support the continued success of their communities.
“OneApp isn’t for just one type of market. It crosses the masses. It could work in California just as easily as it works in small-town Iowa. It works in the affordable space as well as in the conventional space.
To owner operators, at very least it's worth your time to take a look and see what they are offering you. And I can say that what OneApp is offering in their sales pitch, is what they actually give you. And it does help mitigate that loss to liability of lost rents and damages. If you're not taking a serious consideration of OneApp, you're missing out.”
For Conlin Properties, OneApp Partnership has become a practical tool for supporting renters and teams, strengthening occupancy, and generating stabilized property performance.