Migrate from Realpage to Mailchimp

RealPage contacts (residents and prospects with email addresses) migrate as Mailchimp subscribers. Primary property association migrates as a Mailchimp segment keyed by property name. Lease status migrates as a tag on the subscriber record. Contact source information and original create dates are preserved as merge fields for reporting continuity. The migration maps each contact's primary property to a pre-created Mailchimp segment and applies the lease-status tag to enable targeted campaigns.

RealPage lease status values (Active, Expired, Month-to-Month, Pending Renewal, Move-Out) map to Mailchimp tags: LEASE_ACTIVE, LEASE_EXPIRED, LEASE_MTM, LEASE_PENDING_RENEWAL, MOVE_OUT. Tags drive segmentation for renewal campaigns and move-out follow-ups. Each subscriber receives a single primary status tag reflecting the most recent lease state at migration time. Historical lease stages are recorded in a supplementary export file for compliance and audit purposes.

RealPage's primary property assignment has no native Mailchimp equivalent. We create a PROPERTY_NAME merge field on each subscriber and build a Mailchimp segment per unique property name so campaigns can target residents by property. Property type (Multifamily, Commercial, Student) is captured as a secondary PROPERTY_TYPE tag for segment filtering across portfolios.

RealPage prospects who have not yet signed a lease split into Mailchimp as subscribers with PROSPECT tags. Those who declined or were rejected migrate to a cleaned-contact list per Mailchimp's compliance import requirements to avoid accidental re-solicitation. This separation ensures marketing communications respect prospect pipeline status and prevent outreach to ineligible contacts.

Guarantors stored in RealPage have no standard place in a Mailchimp marketing audience. We migrate guarantor contacts to a separate Mailchimp audience or suppression list rather than the resident audience, preserving name and email for compliance reference. This approach prevents guarantor contact details from receiving resident-targeted campaigns and maintains a clear audit trail for lease guarantee documentation.

RealPage properties become Mailchimp segments. Each unique property name in RealPage generates a corresponding Mailchimp segment; contacts are tagged into their property segment via the PROPERTY_NAME merge field. Property type (Multifamily, Commercial, Student) maps to a secondary PROPERTY_TYPE tag. Segments are created before migration so contacts land in the correct groups on import.

Lease data (start date, end date, rent amount, unit number) merges into multiple Mailchimp merge fields on the subscriber: LEASE_START, LEASE_END, RENT_AMOUNT, UNIT_NUMBER. Lease term (12-month, 6-month) becomes a LEASE_TERM tag. Historical leases are not tracked per contact. Current lease information drives renewal timing and rent communications in Mailchimp automations.

RealPage custom fields (referral source, parking spot assignment, renewalEligibility) that have no Mailchimp standard field equivalent migrate as Mailchimp merge fields created during the migration setup phase. Field data types map to Mailchimp-supported types: date fields become DATE merge fields, pick-lists become dropdown merge fields.

RealPage internal notes on contact records have no structural equivalent in Mailchimp's subscriber model. We export these as a supplementary CSV file (CONTACT_ID, NOTE_DATE, NOTE_TEXT) for import into a separate tool or for manual reference. Mailchimp's subscriber notes field is reserved for marketing-facing annotations.

RealPage communication history tied to leasing activities does not migrate into Mailchimp's activity feed. Exported as a supplementary file (CONTACT_ID, ACTIVITY_DATE, ACTIVITY_TYPE, DESCRIPTION) for audit and compliance reference separate from the live Mailchimp audience. These records remain available for internal reporting and compliance audits but do not appear in the Mailchimp subscriber audience.

RealPage owner and staff records associated with contacts have no Mailchimp equivalent since Mailchimp is a resident/prospect audience tool. Owner assignments are noted in the supplementary export file for internal records and are not applied as subscriber tags. These records remain available for internal reporting and compliance audits but do not appear in the Mailchimp subscriber audience.