Short answer: you go live in days, not months. Most property-management software rollouts take 60–90 days. AI leasing is the opposite — you sync your properties from your PMS, assign your lockboxes, and take one onboarding call. Most operators are taking inquiries within a week of signing, and the fastest were live the same day.
The fear isn't the new tool
When property managers hesitate to switch leasing tools, the anxiety is rarely about the new software. It's about the last time they touched their tech stack — the settings that changed without notice, the support tickets that took a week to hear back on, the workaround that became a permanent fixture.
The honest truth from conversations with hundreds of property managers: going live on AI leasing is the easy part. The hard part was tolerating the old tool long enough to finally look for something better.
How long does it actually take to set up AI leasing software?
Live within a week. That means your PMS synced, your lockboxes assigned, your AI voice line provisioned, and inquiries coming in. Across the operators we've onboarded, the window from first call to live is typically one to four weeks — and some signed and went live the same day.
For context: property-management software vendors themselves cite 60–90 days as a standard implementation timeline. That's the number you'd expect from a system that's becoming your system of record — the kind of project that requires data migration, IT coordination, and staff retraining before you can go live.
AI leasing isn't that kind of project. As the onboarding team puts it: you go live after a quick call. That's the outcome, not a marketing line — and it reflects a structural difference in what switching actually involves.
Why is switching a leasing tool faster than you'd expect?
Switching your property-management software — your PMS — is a genuine migration project. You're moving years of accounting data, lease history, owner statements, and maintenance records into a new system: dual-system bookkeeping, data mapping, cutover risk. That's where 60–90 days comes from, and it's a fair number for that kind of lift.
Switching a leasing and showing tool is a different motion. The leasing tool doesn't become your system of record. It syncs properties and availability from your PMS, then runs leasing in its own system — taking inquiries, scheduling showings, verifying IDs, and handing you qualified prospects. You're not migrating your books or replacing your accounting layer.
The simplest way to frame it: you're not migrating your business — you're pointing LetHub at it. There's nothing to lift and shift, and the PMS stays exactly where it is.
[[cta]]What does switching actually require? The real checklist
Property managers who've gone through this ask three questions consistently: How quick can you onboard? What does the transition look like? Can I reuse my lockboxes? Here's the honest answer to all three, structured as a switching checklist.
| What switching takes | What you do NOT have to do |
|---|---|
| 1. One onboarding call | No months-long implementation project |
| 2. PMS sync — your properties and availability pull in | No lifting-and-shifting your accounting or ledger data |
| 3. Lockboxes assigned to your properties — keep the hardware you have | No buying all-new lock hardware to get started |
| 4. An AI voice line provisioned | No rebuilding your whole setup from scratch |
| 5. Live and taking inquiries — typically within a week | No 60–90-day rollout |
That's the real list. No parallel IT project. No migration weekend. No data-scrubbing sprint before go-live.
Can I reuse the lockboxes I already bought?
Yes. This is one of the most common questions mid-evaluation, and it's a fair one — hardware costs add up, and shelving working code boxes to buy new ones would be a real switching friction point. You don't have to.
If you're already running igloo or codebox hardware on your doors, you bring it with you — it transfers in and gets assigned to your properties during onboarding. And if you have offline, "dumb" locks instead of smart hardware, that works too: the waterfalls feature sends a static access code, so a smart lock isn't required to run self-showings. Either way, you're not rebuying hardware to switch.
Will there be a leasing gap during the switch?
No hard cutover is required. Because this is a sync-in rather than a rip-and-replace, your properties pull into the leasing system while everything else keeps running. You don't have to shut off your old tool on a Monday and scramble to get the new one live by Friday.
The motion is additive — LetHub starts taking inquiries as soon as it's configured, independently of what else is running. There's no system-of-record cutover forcing a hard stop, which is exactly why switching doesn't mean going dark on leasing.
What about the AI voice line?
The AI voice agent runs on pay-as-you-go minutes via Utter — you pay only for what you use, with no surprise overages. Provisioning the line at onboarding is straightforward; it starts answering inquiries in about 30 seconds, around the clock, from day one.
How fast is the fastest real switch?
Based on the deal anatomy across onboarded operators: a property manager coming off a legacy showing tool was live and taking inquiries within a week of signing. The typical call-to-live timeline runs one to four weeks; the fastest on record was same-day.
"Within a week, sometimes faster" is the honest public claim — backed by actual onboarding data, not a marketing target. If your situation is straightforward (a clean PMS, a single portfolio, properties in one market), expect the faster end of that range.
[[cta2]]Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to set up AI leasing software?
Typically within a week. Your PMS syncs, your lockboxes get assigned, the AI voice line is provisioned, and you're taking inquiries. The timeline is days, not the 60–90-day rollout associated with property-management software.
Do I have to migrate all my data to switch?
No. It's a sync-in, not a migration. Your properties and availability pull in from your PMS; you're not moving your accounting data, lease history, or owner records.
What does the transition off my old showing tool look like?
One onboarding call, a PMS sync, lockboxes assigned to your properties, and an AI voice line set up. After that, you're live. The onboarding team walks you through each step on the call.
Can I reuse my existing lockboxes?
Yes. If you're on igloo or codebox hardware, it transfers in and gets assigned to your properties during onboarding. And if you only have offline "dumb" locks, the waterfalls feature sends a static access code, so you can run self-showings without buying smart hardware.
Will my leasing go down during the switch?
No hard cutover is required. Because LetHub syncs in your properties rather than replacing your system of record, it starts taking inquiries as soon as it's configured — you don't have to take anything else down to flip it on.
Does LetHub sync with my PMS?
Yes — it syncs with all major PMSs, including AppFolio, RentVine, Buildium, DoorLoop, Propertyware, TenantCloud, and others, pulling your listings and availability in so your properties are live from day one.
Is the AI voice line a separate cost?
It's pay-as-you-go via Utter — you pay only for the minutes used, no surprise overages. It starts answering inquiries in about 30 seconds, 24/7, from the day you're onboarded.
What's the fastest anyone has gone live?
Same-day. The typical window is one to four weeks from first call to live; within a week is the standard expectation once you've signed. Simpler portfolios and clean PMS setups tend to land at the faster end.
The switch is the easy part
Going live on AI leasing takes days, not months. The work was never the switch — it was deciding to stop tolerating a tool that wasn't working.
Leasing Automation Report
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