Maintaining a High Renewal Rate
Different properties tend to have typical rental cycles, depending on their residents. For example, properties in cities with a lot of students tend to turn over apartments either at the beginning or end of the summer. Of course, when students graduate, there isn’t much property owners can do to entice them to stick around. New jobs in new cities or the low rent available in childhood homes are difficult to compete with. However, if your tenants are not students or if you want to keep students in their apartments until the end of their college careers, there are a few things you can do to keep your lease renewals high.
The top three factors people cite when discussing their decisions to renew are maintenance services, safety and security, and customer service. If you deliver these on these factors all the time, you can be certain to keep your renewal rate high.
When tenants call with a maintenance issue or show up in the leasing office asking for help, send someone over quickly with the tools they’ll likely need to fix the problem. Doing so keeps tenants happy and makes the management team look efficient.
People should always feel safe in their homes, whether they’re behind a locked door or crossing the parking lot. Make sure your property is well-lit and that burned out bulbs in fixtures are replaced quickly. If incidents like theft or vandalism take place on the property, inform tenants quickly so that they can take extra precautions, and work with law enforcement to resolve the issue quickly.
Finally, keep customer service top of mind all the time. Make sure that you and your employees always greet tenants with a smile. Put them at ease when they express a concern. And most importantly, make sure you have a team in place that genuinely cares about your tenants and their homes.
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