Did you know that aside from rent costs, the biggest factor influencing resident retention is the maintenance experience? A staggering 46% of residents cite maintenance as a key reason for renewing their lease. That’s nearly half of your resident base, giving you the opportunity to either impress—or disappoint. If you’re not taking control of the maintenance process, you’re leaving resident renewals to chance.

Our data shows that 31% of residents who leave a property do so because of poor maintenance experiences, just behind rent prices. For property managers overseeing a 1,000-door portfolio, that’s 300 unnecessary turnovers to manage due to maintenance alone—not including other factors that cause residents to move.

The True Cost of Poor Resident Retention

Resident retention isn’t just about avoiding lost rent and reducing vacancy rates. The turnover process involves much more, including:

• Move-Out Inspections: While some are painless, others uncover hidden problems like hoarding, bedbugs, or damaged walls, which delay new tenants from moving in and lead to costly repairs.
• Legal/Deposit Disputes: Security deposits can become a point of contention when residents move out, potentially leading to legal battles, attorney fees, and piles of paperwork to resolve disputes.
• Repairs and Rehab: Even when residents leave the property in decent condition, normal wear and tear will require attention. This can include replacing carpets, upgrading appliances, and applying fresh paint.
• Re-listing and Marketing: Finding new residents takes effort. You’ll need to re-list the property with updated photos and listings, which can consume both time and resources.
• Showings and Renter Approvals: Showing the property to potential renters and conducting screenings is necessary but time-consuming, especially if you’re juggling multiple vacancies.
• Move-In Inspections: You’ll need to conduct a thorough inspection with the incoming resident to document the property’s condition and set expectations for future maintenance and upkeep.

Each of these tasks adds up to significant time and costs, making property maintenance a crucial lever you can pull to reduce vacancies. In fact, managing maintenance well could help you retain the 46% of residents who might otherwise move due to maintenance frustrations.

How Communication Affects Maintenance and Resident Retention

The key to a seamless maintenance experience—and by extension, resident retention—is communication. When communication breaks down, it increases the chances that something will go wrong. What steps are you taking to ensure clear, consistent communication for every maintenance request? If your process isn’t reliable across the board, you’re missing a critical factor that directly impacts resident satisfaction and their decision to renew their lease.

Improve Maintenance, Improve Retention

Property maintenance is one of the few aspects of property management you can control, and when done right, it has a huge influence on resident retention. By streamlining the process, ensuring open communication, and addressing maintenance issues promptly, you can mitigate the number of residents considering a move because of maintenance concerns.

Ready to take control of your maintenance process and improve your resident retention rates? Schedule a demo with one of our maintenance experts to see how our property maintenance software can make a difference.