Craig Curelop and Miller McSwain sit down for a solo episode of The Co-Living Show to unpack how they took a struggling co-living portfolio from around 50% occupancy to 90% occupancy in just a few months.

This was not a simple “post better listings and fill the rooms” story.

Before the turnaround, the portfolio had major operational issues. Owners were frustrated, residents were unhappy, vendors had concerns, systems were inconsistent, houses were set up differently, and occupancy was far below where it needed to be.

Craig brought the acquisition and growth side. Miller brought the operational systems, leasing process, marketing structure, and resident experience. Together, they walked through the hard process of cleaning up the portfolio, standardizing the houses, communicating with owners and residents, fixing the leasing funnel, and rebuilding trust.

In this episode, Craig and Miller talk about the real lessons from the turnaround, including why top-of-funnel marketing, conversion, pricing, tours, retention, resident experience, and change management all had to work together.

You’ll hear how they approached:

• Taking over 20+ co-living houses
• Standardizing property systems
• Improving resident communication
• Handling messy transitions
• Rebuilding listings across Zillow, Roomies, Facebook Marketplace, and Apartments.com
• Using better photos, videos, pricing, and automation
• Testing different follow-up and conversion strategies
• Moving from resident-led tours to self-guided tours
• Adding welcome baskets, calls, community events, and referral opportunities

This episode is especially useful for co-living investors and operators who want to scale without creating operational chaos.

Connect with Craig and Miller:

Miller McSwain
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/millermcswain

Craig Curelop
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/craigcurelop

Join The Co-Living Community:
www.millermcswain.com/community

EP 22 - How We Took a Co-Living Portfolio From 50% to 90% Occupancy

The Co-Living Show

EP 22 - How We Took a Co-Living Portfolio From 50% to 90% Occupancy