5 Proven Ways to Increase Your Resident Retention
We spoke to property management experts to learn resident retention strategies that actually work!
Image Via: Greystar
The residents in your building right now offer more long-term value and a higher return on investment than any new residents you could acquire. In fact, some industry experts estimate that between marketing to acquire new residents and the revenue losses that come from vacant units it costs five times as much to replace a resident, than it does to keep them.
As a result, just about every property management business has developed (or is developing) a resident retention strategy. But it only take a Google search for “how to increase resident retention” to see that many haven’t found the strategies they’re looking for. To help, we reached out to two of our friends at Greystar to find out what tips and techniques actually drive the most resident retention.
Image Via: Propertyware
Resident Service Always Comes First
“People stay if we provide a nice place to live. It’s as simple as that,” explains Michelle Molinaro, a managing consultant for Greystar. “That means having a focus on fun and community but first and foremost it means friendly, dependable resident service.”
Lauren Baker, community manager at Greystar’s Sunnen Station property agrees. “We always strive to offer the very best customer service. In fact both my last property and many of Greystar’s have such a high level of customer service that they appear on J Turner’s 2017 Elite 1% List! When you have a reputation for that level of customer service people want to stay with you. They know they’re going to be taken care of.”
Image Via: Career Builder
Maintenance - Proactive, Prompt, and Professional
By and large, residents don’t move when things are going well. When something goes wrong, however, your response can make the difference between gaining an appreciative, long-term resident and ending up with a sudden vacancy and a bad review.
“At our property, maintenance requests are always responded to within 24 hours,” says Baker. “We actually view prompt maintenance as such a big part of resident retention that we split our commissions with our most utilized maintenance services to help build more loyalty from them. At the same time, it serves as a huge incentive for them to do their job well and get things resolved on time.”
In addition to quick responses to maintenance requests, leaders in the property management industry strongly encourage a proactive maintenance schedule to respond to issues before they even arise. Track your most frequent maintenance requests (appliance issues, water damage, HVAC problems, etc.) along with when they typically arise and plan responses ahead of time.
Image Via: RentPath
Care about Communication
“Managing a property can be overwhelming,” admits Molinaro. “You’re running a mini-city, essentially. Every resident is going to have their own wants and needs and it can feel like a juggling act to keep up. Communication is an absolute must as you’re responding to all these things if you’re going to keep the residents you have.”
Regardless of what news you have to share with your residents, Michelle stresses open and honest communication with residents whenever you interact. “Always do what you’re supposed to do for residents when you’re supposed to do it. If you do drop the ball or over-promise or anything, own it and be clear about how you’re going to make it right. Your residents will always appreciate it over unresponsive and uncommunicative staff.”
Image Via: NAA
More than Neighbors - Build a Community
Your residents are less likely to leave when they have friends around them. Fostering this sense of community through activities and events is a fantastic way to encourage friendships to spread through your property and increase resident retention.
“We’re big believers in resident activities, we do at least one every month,” says Baker about her new property in Missouri. “Our property is pretty new but for all the events we’ve planned we’ve seen almost 100% attendance from tenants! People are loving it here and at every location I’ve worked so far! In fact, at my last property people really stayed because of the close-knit community they were a part of.”
Perks Encourage Long-Term Tenancy
Everyone offers a selection of amenities for residents nowadays but most are an up-front incentive only. To encourage renewals, our experts reserve special perks for their long-term residents. “When it comes to a rent increase, for example, I’ll sometimes offer a backsplash or a ceiling fan or something like that,” Baker says.
Small perks like these are a simple way to improve your relationship with residents and let them know you appreciate them staying in the community. Anything from specially reserved parking to a fresh coat of paint can make a lasting impression with residents when it’s time for a new lease and are well with your investment if they lead to a long-term resident. Get to know your residents to tailor perks that can make the most impact on their decisions.
Bottom Line & Getting Started
Increasing resident retention should always be a goal of property managers, both to get the most value from your tenants and to foster a reputation for quality in the community that will make finding future tenants quicker and easier.
With these proven techniques, you’re better equipped to achieve both of these goals. Connect with your team and tenants and explore which of these techniques make the most sense for your community and see just how much of an impact they can have on your property's resident retention rate.
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