How to Retain Renters: 4 Easy Tips You Have to Try
It’s one thing to draw renters in, but it’s a whole different ball game trying to keep your renters. While many managers focus on apartment marketing to gain residents, our apartment experts at LeasingKC want you to think a little differently.
Focusing on how to retain renters rather than only building your resident base can help you save a lot of money in the long run. Instead of spending thousands on marketing efforts, cleaning apartments, and paying vacancy fees, you could continue receiving rent from your current residents.
We understand some things are easier said than done, but with a little patience, effort, and following our quick tips, you can definitely achieve your goals!
Read our full guide on renter retention for property owners. →
1. Build a community through social media
Social media is a great marketing tool to get to know your audience while your audience can get to know you. When your brand feels more like a friend than a business, people may be more likely to rent at your apartments. Plus, they can actively engage with you and give instant feedback to make their experience even better.
2. Get to know your residents
Your residents are the reason you’re in business in the first place. They’re literally living with you, so in a sense, it’s a pretty intimate relationship (in a non-weird way).
The Importance of Building a Landlord-Renter Relationship →
Something as simple as monthly check-ins allows you to ask them how they’re doing and how the apartment is. You can even ask what their dream amenities would be. You don’t want someone to pop up around the corner with something your residents are willing to leave for.
P.S. Don’t go crazy adding amenities you can’t afford. If it’s something reasonable, go for it. If it’s not at the moment, plan ahead for the future.
3. Stay up to date with maintenance requests
If someone has maintenance issues, don’t just throw the request in a pile and say, “oh, I’ll get to it later.” Get to it now… or at least ASAP. When your residents know you fix issues in a timely manner, they’ll be more likely to renew their lease.
4. Be careful with rental increases
It’s common knowledge that rent inevitably increases, so your residents are probably already prepared. What they expect, though, is that the rent doesn’t increase to some astronomical amount because you want to see how much you can make. It may be tempting to spike rent, thinking even if your current resident leaves, a new one will pay the higher rate.
0/10, don’t recommend.
Consider this in terms of renter retention: If the resident leaves because the rent became too high, the unit is going to be vacant, and when a unit is vacant, you’re not making any money from it. For most apartments, a unit remains empty for 4 to 8 weeks. So that’s 1 to 2 months of rent you could’ve gotten from the current resident if you had focused more on renter retention. Also keep in mind that you’ll have to keep up with utilities, maintenance, cleaning, etc., so those are extra expenses you have to factor in.
At the same time, that doesn’t mean you should charge below market rent just to keep your residents. In the long run, that could seriously become detrimental to your overall success. In fact, an economic vacancy could hurt you just as much as a physical vacancy. So instead, make sure you stay within market value while avoiding crazy spikes that could deter your current residents.
Learn how to retain renters from LeasingKC
If you’re in the Kansas City area, let LeasingKC be your bridge between you and your future residents. LeasingKC is a rental listing site run by local experts to help people find Kansas City apartments, rental homes, condos, and lofts.
We also provide a variety of cost-effective marketing plans that allow property managers and landlords to maximize their investments.
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