And a lot of schools are requiring freshman to live on campus

When on corp board I found the biggest issues were that members had never shared a room before and weren't willing to start. Members wanted pets. Members would not adapt to limited closet space and sharing a bathroom. The pets thing was a HUGE issue.

I will admit that going away to a college as an only child was eye opening. I had never shared a bedroom or a bathroom with anyone, ever. The closet space was the deal breaker in all honesty. I only lasted three semesters living in the house because I didn't have enough storage space for my clothes, shoes or jewelry. This would be the biggest improvement most older chapter houses could make, larger closets and single or double sleep in rooms with a bathroom in between the rooms.

We have a beautiful house that is only a year old. The rooms are huge, we have free laundry, fast WIFI, lots of common area space...granite counters, ceramic tile and wood floors, etc., etc. The biggest issues we have are: older members want the freedom apartments provide and there are many new apartment complexes available.

The alcohol and boys rules kill it for a lot of girls too. Especially for older girls, girls with boyfriends.

Ohio State is starting a 2-year live on campus requirement with the freshmen this year. All sororities are getting approved to qualify for on-campus housing, which HOPEFULLY will fill every chapter house without a problem. Fraternities have this option too but don't want to give up the ability to have alcohol in their houses.

My daughter's school has a 2 year live on campus requirement, and Greek housing counts (it's owned by the university)...this makes for fierce competition to live in sophomore year, and each group has a system for determining who gets to live in (ADPi has a lottery, her Pi Phi chapter uses a merit points system, etc.). I wish we had that...they have no problems filling their houses.

^^^
At this school, the dorms are old. My daughter's freshman year room was a 7 x 13 3td floor walk-up with a teeny tiny closet. In contrast, the sorority houses were built only about 15 years ago with tons of storage. She lived there the rest of her undergrad time despite having doubles as she said she couldn't rent anything off campus that was nearly as nice.

At my son's school, there is a live-in requirement of moving into the house from the semester following iniitation until graduation. It's not a university requirement but one from the fraternities themselves. The girls don't have this issue as the sororities are unhoused.

The above is a perfect example of why if the house isn't great it's worth the investment to make it a place where the girls want to live. Alcohol rules aside, I'll never be able to live in a house as nice as my chapter house was, complete with cooks, maids and house boys. If you reduce room occupancy a smidge (quads to triples and add 1 or 2 singles) and improve the electrical load, while not exceeding what it costs to rent, then you might find improvement.

They've remodeled 3 of the dorms and torn down the 4th, over the past 2 years, and the seniors gush about how nice they are now compared to when they lived in. Wood's Creek upperclassmen apts. are still a dump, though (so I'm told...I've never been inside), so the Greek houses are definitely preferred by most sophomores. Also, the university passed a junior live on requirement that will take effect when the junior village is completed (now under construction).

Clemson has given us a floor of a dorm rather than a standalone sorority house but as a former Property Manager I figured I'd take a crack at answering these:

Do you have an occupancy plan? Do you enforce it with women who have signed and paid a lease elsewhere? (Knowing that they usually choose to resign rather than deal with the problem of subletting and move in.)
-It's made clear to all freshmen in the newest pledge class that they are expected to live on the hall sophomore year and that they are to look for a roommate within the pledge class rather than sign leases elsewhere. Sophomores haven't signed leases by Bid Day but the three years I've been a member we've always had enough freshmen to not have to require sophomores to live on.

Do you require exec to live in?
-We require Property Manager and the Finance Assistant Vice President to live on as those are usually positions filled by sophomores, and the Assistant FVP transitions to Finance VP at the start of spring semester which means one member of exec will live in. Clemson has just started 60-credit hour requirements for a few positions, including Property Manager, and I think that this will hurt interest because juniors typically do not live on campus or on the hall. I believe our bylaws say that if spaces cannot be filled exec can be forced to live on but we have never needed to do this.

How do you fill spaces for those who want a semester's housing only because they are student teaching second semester?
-Technically all our housing is handled through Clemson Housing because we are on-campus, but those girls would probably not receive first priority unless they could produce a sister who would take over the space for the next semester. Transfers to our chapter often want to move in at the earliest available time which also helps with last-second room additions.

Do you charge a move-out fee?
-Clemson charges if you break a housing lease to move off-campus unless you are an outgoing officer and the incoming officer is taking over your space.

For more context: our dorm floor holds 46 girls, which is standard for most sororities on campus, and we are required to maintain a 95% occupancy rate to be considered in good standing by the university. Girls can opt to pay double their room and board to buy out their space and not have a roommate, and considering this is the cheapest housing on campus some girls choose to do this.

In the chapters I have worked with, filling housing is an International requirement and clearly spelled out in the bylaws. If there are cacacies, all sisters pay a Parlor Fee to make up the missing rent.

Vacancies