What is a lease-up apartment?
A lease-up apartment is a unit in a new building that’s still filling. The stretch runs from the first move-ins after the Certificate of Occupancy to stabilized occupancy, when the building is mostly full. If you’re moving within 30 days, lease-ups are usually where the open units and the deepest specials are among new apartments in Fort Worth.
Lease-up is also when prices move most. Many new buildings use revenue software, often tied to RealPage-style occupancy data, that adjusts rents and specials daily based on how fast units lease. A quote from last week can be gone by Monday. That’s why we pull prices every morning and label each one pulled or confirmed. Our guide on what lease-up means covers the stages in more detail.
What’s on each lease-up card?
Each card shows the building’s stage, its fill curve, the confirmed special, and the whole price: base, net effective, true monthly, and year two. It also lists what’s finished and what isn’t, from the pool and gym to the parking garage and the next phase. Saved buildings get price history and, with your consent, at most one alert a day if something changes.
For context, 3,208 units were delivered in Fort Worth–Arlington in the first half of 2026, and about 7,000 more were under construction (Cushman & Wakefield Q2 2026). Stabilized vacancy was 9.8%, and DFW Class A rents were up 2.2% year over year (Northmarq Q2 2026). Those numbers explain why specials stay common.
When are lease-up deals deepest?
Specials tend to track how fast a building fills and the season you’re moving in. Some buildings push hardest early to build momentum. Others deepen specials late to close out the last floors. Our guide on when lease-up deals tend to be deepest walks through the patterns, and the board’s Leverage Score shows where a building sits.
Timing is a tradeoff, not a deadline. We’d rather show you the fill curve and the year-two price than push you to sign before a special changes.
What should you check before signing at a lease-up?
First-generation units are new, and new doesn’t mean finished. We check a few things at every lease-up before you apply:
- The actual unit, not the model. Models often have upgrades and better views.
- Sound between units. The 2021 IBC sets STC and IIC 50 between dwelling units, and we ask where a unit sits next to elevators and trash chutes.
- Heat and HVAC sizing. West-facing and top-floor units run hotter, and Tarrant County’s design temperature is 101°F.
- Construction next door. We ask for work hours and the plan for the next phase.
What happens after move-in?
You’ll get a move-in condition form, usually due within 48 hours. We help you fill it with photos. Then we send a written punch list at day 7 and day 30, because some issues only show after a few weeks of use. We also check your ledger to make sure the special was applied.
Send us your move date and all-in budget. We’ll text you within minutes during our hours, then send a same-day shortlist of lease-ups with the whole price for each.
