A founder’s account — told by Mark Pjeternikaj, who led the repositioning.
Before founding Vantage, I led the operational repositioning of a 338-unit garden apartment community in Toms River, New Jersey. The property had solid physical potential, but operations were not producing the return the asset should have generated. Vacancy was running at 7%, renovations and turns were taking too long, staffing was not aligned with the property’s needs, and contractor, material, utility, insurance, and legal costs were all unnecessarily high.
Maintenance, leasing, contractors, and purchasing operated independently rather than as one coordinated system — and every unnecessary day an apartment sat vacant was revenue that could never be recovered.
People
Proper staffing begins with what the property actually needs. Unit count alone does not determine the right structure.
I evaluated the property’s physical condition, maintenance backlog, renovation volume, service demands, and mechanical systems, and identified the work that could be completed in-house efficiently, cost-effectively, and to a consistently high standard. That assessment determined how many employees were required, what capabilities each position needed, and where specialized contractors were the better answer.
I then restructured the team around those requirements — replacing underperformers where necessary and hiring for capability rather than to fill positions. Responsibilities were clearly assigned, expectations became measurable, and each employee understood what they owned and when it was due.
Qualified maintenance employees handled appropriate work in-house, cutting unnecessary contractor costs while improving response times, renovation speed, and consistency of workmanship. Specialized assignments went to vetted contractors with long-standing relationships and a proven history of performance.
The objective was never simply to reduce payroll. It was to build a more capable, more productive team aligned with the actual needs of the property.
Process
Every vacant apartment was tracked from notice of move-out through the next resident’s move-in, with leasing, maintenance, contractors, and vendors working from one coordinated schedule. Work scopes were set and materials ordered before units went vacant, and apartments were marketed and pre-leased while renovations were still underway. The leasing staff was incentivized to pre-rent apartments before the existing resident moved out — aligning their compensation directly with minimizing vacancy days.
Turn timelines fell by roughly half, and vacancy declined from 7% to 2% — in line with the roughly 2% standard I have maintained across the properties I have managed.
Every recurring cost was reviewed through an owner’s lens. Established vendor relationships and purchasing history improved pricing and controlled material costs. Heating and water-and-sewer consumption were closely monitored and corrected. Natural gas was purchased through a third-party energy provider under a negotiated pricing structure. Insurance was repriced on more favorable terms. Nonpayment and landlord-tenant matters went to attorneys I had long worked with, under agreed pricing structures — consistent handling at lower cost.
Together, these changes reduced recurring operating expenses by ~25%.
Product
Strong operations were not enough if the property delivered the wrong product for its market.
Renovations were redesigned around what residents in that specific market valued and were willing to pay for — neither under-delivering nor over-improving with finishes that would not generate a return. Materials, finishes, and scopes were selected based on market demand, workmanship, durability, maintenance requirements, renovation speed, and expected return on investment.
Once the property consistently delivered the right product at a higher operating standard, average rents rose ~22% without sacrificing occupancy.
The Result
The improvement did not come from one aggressive rent increase or a single round of cost cutting.
It came from correcting the entire operating system.
Even with rents held flat, the vacancy and expense improvements alone would have increased annualized NOI by ~63%. Including stabilized rent growth, NOI increased ~132% and the NOI margin expanded from 34% to 61%. At a constant 6% capitalization rate, that NOI growth supports a corresponding increase in indicated property value — all in under one year.
The Lesson
A property does not have to look distressed to be underperforming. Value disappears quietly — through vacancy days, slow turns, mismatched staffing, uncontrolled costs, and renovations that miss the market.
The turnaround came from aligning three things: people capable of executing quality work, processes that created measurable accountability, and a product designed for the market and the owner’s return.
That is how stronger daily operations became higher NOI — and how higher NOI became greater property value. It is the same approach Vantage brings to other owners today.