18 Market Surveys & Lead Tracking Practice Questions & Answers

1. 1. Three leasing consultants worked the same month. Consultant A signed 9 leases from 20 qualified prospects, Consultant B signed 3 from 30, and Consultant C signed 12 from 25. Using whole percentages, what was the property-wide closing ratio for the month?

   • A.32 percent, dividing the 24 total leases by the 75 total prospects.✓ Answer
   • B.45 percent, the middle value among the three individual ratios.
   • C.48 percent, the ratio posted by the strongest single consultant.
   • D.34 percent, averaging the three consultants' individual closing ratios.

   A property-wide closing ratio is total leases divided by total traffic for the period: 24 leases over 75 prospects is 32 percent. Averaging the three individual percentages (45, 10 and 48) gives 34 percent and is wrong because it weights a consultant who saw 20 prospects the same as one who saw 30.

   Source: NAAEI CALP Exam Blueprint, Marketing domain (measure property performance using marketing formulas); CALP Quick Guide to Terms and Formulas, closing ratio.Report a problem with this question

2. 2. Last quarter's marketing report shows four sources. A listing site cost $2,400 and produced 240 leads and 12 leases. An employer outreach program cost $1,200 and produced 30 leads and 10 leases. A sign package cost $600 and produced 60 leads and 3 leases. A resident referral program cost $900 and produced 45 leads and 9 leases. On a cost-per-lease basis, which source earns more budget?

   • A.The sign package, at $600 in total spend, because it is the cheapest to run.
   • B.The employer program, at 30 leads, because it wasted the fewest inquiries.
   • C.The referral program, at $100 per lease, the lowest cost per signed lease.✓ Answer
   • D.The listing site, at $10 per lead, because cost per lead is the budget measure.

   Cost per lease is total source cost divided by leases from that source: $200, $120, $200 and $100 respectively, so referrals are cheapest per signed lease. Cost per lead uses a different denominator and is misleading here, because the listing site's $10 leads convert at only 5 percent.

   Source: NAAEI CALP Exam Blueprint, Marketing domain (cost per lease and cost per traffic by source); CALP Quick Guide to Terms and Formulas.Report a problem with this question

3. 3. A 480-unit community recorded 216 move-ins and 192 move-outs during the past 12 months. Using whole percentages, what was the annual turnover rate?

   • A.43 percent, averaging the move-in rate and the move-out rate.
   • B.40 percent, dividing the 192 move-outs by the 480 total units.✓ Answer
   • C.85 percent, adding move-ins and move-outs before dividing.
   • D.45 percent, dividing the 216 move-ins by the 480 total units.

   Turnover measures units vacated, so the formula is move-outs in the period divided by total units: 192 divided by 480 is 40 percent. Move-ins measure absorption of vacancy, not turnover, and including them double-counts the same units.

   Source: NAAEI CALP Exam Blueprint, Leasing Essentials domain (occupancy and turnover metrics); CALP Quick Guide to Terms and Formulas, turnover.Report a problem with this question

4. 4. A 300-unit community has 285 occupied units. Fourteen of those residents have given notice to vacate, and 5 of those homes already have signed leases with incoming residents. Six units that are vacant today are leased for future move-in. Using whole percentages, what is the leased percentage?

   • A.95 percent, dividing the 285 occupied units by the 300 total units.
   • B.92 percent, subtracting notices and adding back the preleased notices.
   • C.90 percent, subtracting all 14 notices and adding none of them back.
   • D.94 percent, subtracting notices and adding back both sets of preleases.✓ Answer

   Leased percentage counts homes that are spoken for: occupied units, less notices to vacate, plus notices already preleased, plus vacant units leased for future occupancy, over total units. That is 285 minus 14 plus 5 plus 6, or 282 of 300, which is 94 percent; physical occupancy of 95 percent hides the coming exposure.

   Source: NAAEI CALP Exam Blueprint, Leasing Essentials domain (occupancy metrics); CALP Quick Guide to Terms and Formulas, leased percentage and physical occupancy.Report a problem with this question

5. 5. For one month a community's gross potential rent was $500,000. Concessions were $30,000, vacancy loss was $40,000 and bad debt was $5,000. Total rent revenue is gross potential rent less those three deductions. Using whole percentages, what was economic occupancy for the month?

   • A.85 percent, deducting concessions, vacancy loss and bad debt from potential rent.✓ Answer
   • B.91 percent, deducting vacancy loss and bad debt but leaving concessions in.
   • C.92 percent, deducting only the vacancy loss from gross potential rent.
   • D.94 percent, deducting only the concessions from gross potential rent.

   Economic occupancy is total rent revenue divided by gross potential rent, and here total rent revenue is $500,000 less $30,000, $40,000 and $5,000, or $425,000, which is 85 percent. Concessions reduce economic occupancy directly, which is why a community can be nearly full physically and still collect well under its potential rent.

   Source: NAAEI CALP Exam Blueprint, Leasing Essentials domain (occupancy metrics); CALP Quick Guide to Terms and Formulas, economic occupancy.Report a problem with this question

6. 6. A marketing plan targets 30 net move-ins this quarter. Two weeks into a new campaign, the leasing consultant wants the earliest reliable read on whether the new message is reaching renters. Which indicator gives that read soonest?

   • A.Physical occupancy this month, which counts the homes the campaign has filled.
   • B.Weekly qualified traffic by source, which moves as soon as the message lands.✓ Answer
   • C.Economic occupancy this month, which shows the rent the campaign brought in.
   • D.Trailing twelve-month turnover, which shows how many homes must be filled.

   Traffic and leads are leading indicators: they respond within days of a message being published, so they show whether the campaign is reaching an audience. Occupancy figures are lagging results that only change after prospects tour, apply, are approved and move in, which is far too late to correct a message mid-quarter.

   Source: NAAEI CALP Exam Blueprint, Marketing domain (measure performance of the property against the marketing plan); CALP Quick Guide to Terms and Formulas.Report a problem with this question

7. 7. A quarter's marketing plan called for 400 qualified leads and a 25 percent closing ratio. The team recorded 240 qualified leads and closed 25 percent of them. What does this gap most likely indicate, and what should the consultant do next?

   • A.The homes are mispriced; ask the manager to cut street rents on the affected plans.
   • B.Exposure fell short; review which sources under-delivered and where the message ran.✓ Answer
   • C.The goal was unrealistic; raise the closing ratio target so the two numbers reconcile.
   • D.Selling skill fell short; set up extra shopping reports and closing practice for the team.

   The conversion half of the plan performed exactly as forecast, so the shortfall sits entirely upstream in lead volume, which is a channel and message question rather than a sales-skill or pricing question. The next step is to compare planned against actual leads source by source and check where and how the message was placed.

   Source: NAAEI CALP Exam Blueprint, Marketing domain (measure performance against the marketing plan and revise the action plan).Report a problem with this question

8. 8. While choosing survey properties, a consultant lists a mid-rise two miles away with structured parking. It is styled nothing like the subject's garden buildings, but it quotes similar rents and draws prospects from the same employers. How should the consultant treat it?

   • A.Include it as a competitive property, since it pursues the same prospects and rents.✓ Answer
   • B.Exclude it, and mention it in the neighborhood notes, since building types differ.
   • C.Include it as a comparable property, since anything within two miles is a comparable.
   • D.Exclude it, because a survey compares only buildings of the same style and era.

   A comparable property is styled and built like the subject, while a competitive property may look completely different yet competes for the same prospects at the same price point. Leaving competitive properties out of the survey understates who the community is actually losing decisions to.

   Source: NAAEI CALP Exam Blueprint, Leasing Essentials and Marketing domains (external competitive assessment; prepare market survey).Report a problem with this question

9. 9. A consultant is asked what the completed market survey can answer. Which question does the survey answer directly?

   • A.How the competing communities pay and bonus their own leasing teams.
   • B.How reported crime nearby compares with the rest of the metropolitan area.
   • C.Whether the community's asking rents line up with what competitors charge.✓ Answer
   • D.Whether current residents would recommend the community to a coworker.

   The market survey is an organized comparison of competing communities on rents, fees, concessions, amenities and terms, so pricing position is exactly what it establishes. Resident loyalty is measured by a resident satisfaction survey instead, and competitor payroll and crime statistics are neither collected nor verifiable through shopping.

   Source: NAAEI CALP Exam Blueprint, Marketing domain (prepare market survey, including components and analysis).Report a problem with this question

10. 10. Comparable X advertises a one-bedroom at $1,344 per month on a 12-month lease with one month free. Comparable Y advertises the same floor plan at $1,296 on a 12-month lease with two weeks free; treat two weeks as half a month. Spreading each concession across the lease term, which quote is lower per month and by how much?

    • A.Comparable Y, by $44 per month, counting its two free weeks as a full free month.
    • B.Comparable X, by $64 per month, against Comparable Y's advertised $1,296.
    • C.Comparable X, by $10 per month, at $1,232 against Comparable Y's $1,242.✓ Answer
    • D.Comparable Y, by $48 per month, comparing the two advertised rents as quoted.

    Net effective rent spreads the concession over the lease term: X is $1,344 times 11 of 12 months, or $1,232, and Y is $1,296 times 11.5 of 12 months, or $1,242, a $10 monthly advantage for X. Comparing advertised rents reverses the ranking, which is why a survey that records quoted rents alone misreads the market.

    Source: NAAEI CALP Exam Blueprint, Marketing domain (market survey analysis); CALP Quick Guide to Terms and Formulas, effective or net rent.Report a problem with this question

11. 11. A community has 80 one-bedrooms of 700 square feet at $1,050 per month and 20 two-bedrooms of 1,050 square feet at $1,365 per month. To the nearest cent, what is the community's average market rent per square foot?

    • A.$1.30, the two-bedroom figure, which sets the top of the rent range.
    • B.$1.50, the one-bedroom figure, since those homes are most of the units.
    • C.$1.40, averaging the two floor plans' rents per square foot together.
    • D.$1.45, dividing total monthly rent of $111,300 by the 77,000 square feet.✓ Answer

    A community-level rent per square foot must be weighted by unit counts: total rent of $111,300 divided by total area of 77,000 square feet is $1.45. Averaging the plan-level figures of $1.50 and $1.30 gives $1.40 and treats 20 two-bedrooms as though they carried the same weight as 80 one-bedrooms.

    Source: NAAEI CALP Exam Blueprint, Leasing Essentials and Marketing domains (rent components and calculations; market survey analysis).Report a problem with this question

12. 12. A survey records four comparables' published average rents per square foot: $1.62, $1.48, $1.55 and $1.51. None of the four published unit counts or unit mixes. To the nearest cent, what should the consultant report as the comparable-set average?

    • A.$1.53, a figure weighted by each community's unit count and unit mix.
    • B.$1.54, the simple average of the four published per-square-foot figures.✓ Answer
    • C.$1.55, the figure nearest the middle, as the fairest single number to report.
    • D.$1.62, the top of the range, since the survey should compare with the strongest.

    With only four published per-square-foot figures and no unit counts, the simple average of $1.62, $1.48, $1.55 and $1.51 is $1.54 and is the only defensible summary. Weighting requires unit counts the survey does not have, so a weighted figure here would be invented rather than measured.

    Source: NAAEI CALP Exam Blueprint, Marketing domain (prepare market survey, including components and analysis).Report a problem with this question

13. 13. Two comparables quote the same advertised rent for a similar floor plan; one is offering six weeks free on a 12-month lease and the other is offering nothing. Why does the survey record a net effective rent for both?

    • A.Because advertised rents are confidential and competitors withhold them from shoppers.
    • B.Because effective rent is the figure used to set gross potential rent for the year.
    • C.Because the concession changes what the resident actually pays over the term.✓ Answer
    • D.Because a concession must be amortized before any rate may be advertised publicly.

    Two identical advertised rents are not the same offer once one carries six weeks free, so only net effective rent puts the two on the same footing for comparison. Recording advertised rents alone makes the discounting competitor look equally priced and leads the community to hold a rate the market is no longer paying.

    Source: NAAEI CALP Exam Blueprint, Marketing domain (market survey components and analysis); CALP Quick Guide to Terms and Formulas, effective or net rent.Report a problem with this question

14. 14. A consultant needs this month's pricing, fees and concessions from four competing communities for the survey. Which approach fits the survey and stays inside professional boundaries?

    • A.Identify yourself to the competitor's staff and trade current pricing and concessions.✓ Answer
    • B.Copy rents from a listing page posted a year ago instead of shopping this month.
    • C.Book three tour appointments you will not keep, to occupy the competitor's staff.
    • D.Submit an application there using invented income to see the full fee schedule.

    Relationship-building contact, where the consultant identifies themselves and exchanges leasing information, is a recognized way to collect survey data and keeps the exchange honest on both sides. Falsifying an application or booking appointments in bad faith extracts data under false pretenses, and year-old listing data fails the survey's basic requirement that the figures be current.

    Source: NAAEI CALP Exam Blueprint, Marketing domain (prepare market survey: shopping the competition and ethical competitive intelligence).Report a problem with this question

15. 15. What does a properly completed guest card record about a prospect, and what makes that record useful in the monthly marketing report?

    • A.Contact details, the source of the inquiry, stated needs and the follow-up performed.✓ Answer
    • B.Contact details, credit score, income verification and the screening decision reached.
    • C.Contact details, the household's ethnicity and family size for demographic reporting.
    • D.Contact details, the floor plan toured and the prospect's rating of the tour itself.

    The guest card is the lead record: who inquired, how they found the community, what they said they needed and what contact has been made since. Source and follow-up are what make cost per lead, cost per lease and the lead-to-lease ratios computable, while screening data belongs to the application file and protected characteristics have no place in a lead record at all.

    Source: NAAEI CALP Exam Blueprint, Marketing domain (interpret lead tracking and lead ratios); Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. 3604.Report a problem with this question

16. 16. The lead report shows one advertising channel producing 70 percent of leads. The consultant notices that walk-ins from an employer flyer drop are entered under that channel by default, and that anyone who cannot name a source is coded to it as well. What is the effect, and what should the consultant do?

    • A.Only the lead count moves; the totals still balance, so the budget split can proceed.
    • B.Cost per lease by source is distorted; ask each prospect for the source and record it.✓ Answer
    • C.Closing ratio is distorted; recalculate it by source before the manager sets the budget.
    • D.Nothing is distorted; a default source is standard when a prospect cannot recall one.

    Every source-level measure divides that source's cost by the traffic or leases attributed to it, so misattributed walk-ins inflate one channel's volume and understate the outreach that actually produced them. Asking each prospect how they heard of the community and recording the answer is what keeps cost per lead and cost per lease honest enough to steer spending.

    Source: NAAEI CALP Exam Blueprint, Marketing domain (interpret lead tracking and lead ratios; cost per traffic by source).Report a problem with this question

17. 17. A consultant is deciding how much follow-up effort each of the day's leads should receive. On what basis may that decision be made?

    • A.On the prospect's apparent national origin, which the consultant reads as length of stay.
    • B.On whether the prospect mentioned children, which the consultant reads as a slow decision.
    • C.On the neighborhood the prospect lives in now, which the consultant reads as ability to pay.
    • D.On the lead's source, stated budget and stated needs, applied the same way to everyone.✓ Answer

    Leads may be prioritized on neutral leasing facts such as where the inquiry came from, the budget the prospect stated and the home they said they need, provided the same rule is applied to every inquiry. Sorting by national origin or familial status is disparate treatment, and using current neighborhood as a stand-in for those characteristics is a proxy that can produce a discriminatory effect even without intent.

    Source: Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. 3604(a)-(b) and 3604(c); HUD fair housing guidance on discriminatory effects; NAAEI CALP Exam Blueprint, Marketing domain (lead tracking).Report a problem with this question

18. 18. A consultant is setting up a paid social campaign for the community and can restrict who is shown the ad. Which setup is consistent with the Fair Housing Act?

    • A.Restrict delivery to viewers whose listed interests include one faith community's page.
    • B.Target the ad to households the platform classifies as adults with no children at home.
    • C.Buy the placement in one postal area chosen for the racial makeup of its residents.
    • D.Deliver the ad across the full metropolitan market, open to every viewer who sees it.✓ Answer

    Section 3604(c) reaches the notice, statement or advertisement itself and the selective use of media, so choosing an audience by religion, familial status or race, or by a data category that stands in for one of them, states a prohibited preference just as surely as the ad copy would. HUD guidance on housing advertising through digital platforms treats targeting options that act as proxies for protected characteristics the same way, so an open metropolitan buy is the defensible setup.

    Source: Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. 3604(c); 24 C.F.R. 100.75; HUD FHEO guidance on applying the Fair Housing Act to housing advertising on digital platforms.Report a problem with this question

Practice questions only — not real exam items, and not affiliated with or endorsed by the National Apartment Association or NAAEI. Questions are written to the domains and tasks of the published CALP Exam Blueprint. This bank covers the leasing consultant's own work; the property-manager credential and the maintenance technician credential are separate banks on this site. Landlord-tenant law — notice periods, deposit limits and return deadlines, entry rules, fees and eviction procedure — is set by each state and often by each city, and is deliberately out of scope here; fair housing is covered at the federal level, and your state or city may protect additional classes. Exam format, eligibility, and scoring are set by NAAEI and change from time to time; confirm the current requirements before you register. Official CALP exam blueprint →