📋 Case Study · Real Job · Real Outcome

CSU Move-Out Week — Coordinating 47 Apartment Rekeys in 4 Days (May 2025)

How 970 Locksmith handled the May 2025 CSU move-out week — 47 apartment rekeys for 6 Fort Collins landlords in 4 days, with documented turnaround under 30 minutes per unit.

⚠ The Problem

Six Fort Collins property management companies and individual landlords with CSU off-campus rentals needed every apartment rekeyed between the May 9 student move-out and the May 23 summer-tenant move-in. Total: 47 units across 6 buildings around Aggie Village, Laurel, Plum, and Stuart streets. Without coordination, they'd have used 5-6 different locksmiths and 2 weeks of vacancies. They needed ONE point of contact, predictable timing, and consolidated invoicing.

🛠️ Tools & Equipment Used

📋 What We Actually Did — Step-by-Step

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Step 1 — Pre-Move-Out Coordination (April)

Met with all 6 landlords. Collected building access codes, unit lists, and current key types (Kwikset SmartKey vs. Schlage SC1). Pre-pinned 60 cylinders at our shop so dispatch is just a swap-and-test.

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Step 2 — Day 1 (May 9-10): Move-Out Inspection Window

Three techs deployed simultaneously to different buildings. Each tech: 4-5 rekeys per day with documented before/after key serial numbers.

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Step 3 — Mid-Week Status Reporting

Daily 5pm status email to each landlord: units completed, units pending, any issues found (e.g., damaged frames, missing latches). Two landlords requested same-day touch-up work on 3 units with frame damage.

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Step 4 — Final Push (May 13-14)

Last 14 units completed on May 13 — full day before the summer-tenant move-in deadline. Every rekey included: new cylinder pinned, 2 keys for landlord + 2 for incoming tenant, photo documentation of before/after, and a serial number log.

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Step 5 — Consolidated Invoicing (May 15)

One invoice per landlord, itemized by unit, net-30 terms. Average invoice $850-$2,200 depending on unit count. Two landlords switched to us full-time after the May coordination week — they'd never had this level of project management from a locksmith.

⏱ Duration
4 working days. 47 units. Average per-unit time: 27 minutes from arrival to handoff of new keys.
💰 Cost
$165 per unit flat rate × 47 units = $7,755 gross across 6 landlords. No emergency surcharges, no after-hours fees. All net-30 invoicing. ROI for landlords: their May vacancy days dropped from average 12 down to 2.
✓ Result
Zero re-do calls. Zero key complaints from incoming summer tenants. Two landlords gave us their full annual contract starting June 2025.

🎓 Why Our Expertise Matters

CSU move-out is the Super Bowl of student-housing locksmith work in Fort Collins. Every locksmith in town gets calls in mid-May. The difference between a good locksmith and a master locksmith is: do you do 5 rekeys at $85 each as one-off jobs, or do you coordinate 47 units as a 4-day project with documentation and net-30? Property managers value the second.

💡 The Lesson for You

If you manage 10+ CSU-adjacent rental units, you should book your May move-out rekey coordination in March — not in May. Last-minute calls get last-priority dispatch. Returning customers get the pre-pinning treatment and priority slots.

Got a Job Like This in Northern Colorado?

Owner Omer answers the phone — (970) 397-2002. Average response 22 minutes inside Fort Collins. Flat-rate pricing.

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