This guide is for asset managers and revenue managers who need to price units individually rather than by unit type. At the end you will have a capped set of rules that adjust unit rates by floor, zone, orientation, or floor size. Most of the work is one-off per building, and the rules then apply on their own.
Before you begin
You need permission to manage rate modifiers for the building. Without it, Lavanda shows "You don't have permission to manage rate modifiers for this building".
The building already exists. Rate modifiers are stored per building, so each building is set up on its own. Read How to create buildings, unit types, and units.
The building has a currency, which a Flat amount adjustment requires.
The units carry the attribute you want to price on: a floor number, a floor size in square metres, a zone, or an orientation. Read How to edit the basic details of a building, unit, or unit type.
Decide which attributes drive rent in this building: floor, floor size, zone, or orientation.
You know the unit type rates the adjustments are applied to. Read How to use the Pricing calendar.
The steps at a glance
Record the zones and orientations your rules will match.
Set the caps that limit how far any rule can move a rate.
Create the rules that match your units and adjust their rates.
Check the rates the rules produce.
Adjust or retire a rule as the building changes.
Step 1: record the zones and orientations
A rule that matches on Zone or Orientation can only offer values already recorded on the building, so this step comes first.
Zones group units within one building, and orientations record which way units face. Both are recorded on the building, then assigned to each unit.
Floor and Floor size need no set-up here, because a unit carries its own floor number and floor size.
Read How to set up zones and orientations for a building for the steps.
Step 2: set the caps for the building
Caps come first, because a rule with a delta outside them is refused when it is saved. Agreeing the range before anyone creates a rule stops work having to be redone.
Three caps are stored per building: a smallest and a largest delta for any single rule, and a maximum for the combined effect of every rule matching one unit.
A building with no caps saved opens pre-filled with -50, 50, and 100. Those values are only stored once Save settings is selected.
Read How to set rate modifier caps for a building for the steps.
Step 3: create the rules that match your units
Each rule names one attribute, an operator, the values it matches, and the adjustment it applies. A rule belongs to one building.
Create the rules that raise rates and the rules that reduce them. A negative delta is how a road-facing or ground-floor unit is priced below its unit type default.
Name every rule after the reason for the adjustment rather than its size. Top floor premium survives a change of delta, and +10% does not.
Read How to create a rate modifier for the steps.
Step 4: check the rates the rules produce
A rule adjusts the rate of every unit it matches. It does not change the unit type's own rate, so the default stays as the baseline.
Check the rules list first. Each row gives the Attribute, the Rule, the Delta, and the Status, so a rule that reads wrongly is visible without opening it.
Then check the rates themselves. Read How to use the Pricing calendar to review what a unit type carries, and How to modify rates and minimum stay to change the default the adjustments are applied to.
Step 5: adjust or retire a rule
Buildings change. A wing is refurbished, a view is built out, or a premium stops holding.
Deactivate rather than delete a rule you may want again. A deactivated rule is kept but stops applying to pricing.
An attribute cannot be changed on a saved rule, so a rule that needs a different attribute is replaced rather than edited.
Read How to edit, deactivate or delete a rate modifier for the steps.
How rate modifiers change pricing
Percentage or flat amount
A Percentage adjustment moves the rate by a proportion, so it scales as the unit type default rises. A Flat amount adds or subtracts a fixed sum in the building's currency.
Percentage suits a premium that should hold its relative value. Flat amount suits something with a fixed worth, such as a parking space or a storage locker.
Several rules on one unit
More than one rule can match the same unit, and their adjustments combine. That is what the combined cap exists to limit.
The two per-rule caps are enforced when a rule is saved, and Lavanda refuses a rule outside them. The combined cap is a soft cap, so exceeding it records a warning and lets the rules apply.
A worked example
A building has one unit type of studios, each with a default rate of 1,000 a month. Three rules are in place.
Rule name | What it matches | Adjustment |
Top floor premium | Floor, at least 8 | Percentage, +8 |
Road-facing reduction | Orientation, any of North | Percentage, -5 |
Larger studios | Floor size, at least 30 | Flat amount, +40 |
A studio on floor 10, facing north, of 32 square metres matches all three rules, so all three adjustments apply to its rate.
A studio on floor 2, facing south, of 24 square metres matches none of them, so it carries the 1,000 default.
The two percentage rules pull in opposite directions, which is why the combined cap is worth agreeing before the rules are created. Check the rate the unit carries rather than adding the deltas by hand.
When would you use it
A student block where the highest floors let faster and hold a premium. One Floor rule, Greater than or equal to the first premium floor, with a positive percentage.
A build-to-rent scheme where units facing a main road let more slowly. One Orientation rule matching that orientation, with a negative percentage.
One unit type whose units vary in size by a third. One Floor size rule, Greater than or equal to the larger size, with a positive percentage or a flat amount.
A quieter wing that commands more than the courtyard side. One Zone rule matching the quiet zone, with a positive percentage.
A summer let where a seasonal premium should stop on a fixed date. Any rule, with Active during a specific date window set to the season.
A serviced apartment block where ground-floor units are discounted. One Floor rule, Equals the ground floor, with a negative percentage.
A refurbishment that lifts one zone above the rest of the building for a year. One Zone rule with a date window covering the year.
A portfolio review that needs the pricing rationale in Lavanda rather than in a spreadsheet. Named rules that record why each unit is priced as it is.
Things to note
Rate modifiers adjust unit rates. They do not change the unit type's own rate.
Rules are stored per building, so a portfolio-wide policy is repeated for every building it applies to.
Each rule matches one attribute, and the attribute cannot be changed once the rule is saved.
Only zones and orientations recorded on the building can be matched, so record them before creating rules that use them.
The order in which combined adjustments are applied is not shown on the rules list, so check the rate a unit carries after creating rules that overlap.
A per-rule cap refuses a rule outright. The combined cap records a warning and lets the rules apply.
Changing a building's caps can leave an existing delta impossible to re-save.
Deleting a rule is permanent, and deactivating it is not.
Lavanda uses the words rate modifier for a second, unrelated setting. Rate modifier (optional) on a derived product group applies a percentage to a parent product's rate. It is not part of the Rate modifiers screen.
Find out more
Article | What it covers |
Step 1. Recording the zones and orientations the rules match on. | |
Step 2. The three caps, and what each one limits. | |
Step 3. Adding a rule that adjusts unit pricing by floor, zone, orientation, or floor size. | |
Step 5. Editing a rule, deactivating or reactivating it, and deleting it. | |
Reviewing the unit type rates the adjustments are applied to. | |
Changing a unit type's rate and minimum stay. | |
Recording the floor, floor size, zone, and orientation the rules match on. |