How To Attract And Maintain Millennial Renters

Millennial renters stay until they’re ready to put down roots and save up for a house. They’re equally likely to move out as they are to renew their lease from year to year.

How can you attract them to your rentals, then prevent them from moving out?

Here are some ideas from Buildium and the National Association of Residential Property Managers’ State of the Property Management Industry Report, the fourth annual survey of residential property managers across the country.

No. 1 – Invest in digital marketing

We recommend listing rentals on Zillow as well as your own site; connecting with renters on social media; and encouraging happy residents to review your business online.

No. 2 -Adopt proven technologies

Enable renters to pay rent, sign leases, and submit maintenance tickets online; and communicate by email and text message.

No. 3 – Make your amenities as competitive as possible

Aim to stay one step ahead of your competition at all times, and make property updates or offer concessions if necessary to fill vacancies.

No. 4 – Consider how your rentals can adapt

As residents hit various milestones make changes to keep them happy. For example, make your units pet- and child friendly, plus create spaces for residents to gather or store their belongings outside of their units. H help them find a different unit if theirs no longer fits their needs.

No. 5 – Provide personalized customer service

Understand that their apartment is their home, and solicit renters’ feedback on how you can keep them.

Get the 2018 State of the Property Management Industry Report

No matter their age here are things than can help retain your tenants

Know which concessions are likely to motivate renters to move in and stick around. These 3 incentives from the Buildium.com renters report would win over a large portion of renters who are thinking of moving out:

• Free utilities for a year – selected by 45% of renters considering moving out
• A recurring deal on rent, such as $50 off each month for a year – 38%
• Keeping the rent at the same rate for another year – 32%

When offering concessions keep this in mind

• Consider how you can provide incentives for lease renewals to keep current residents in place, rather than solely focusing on getting new renters in the door.
• Distribute concessions across the length of the lease to keep renters in place longer.
• Screen residents to ensure that they can afford to pay full-price once the concessions have ended.

The fourth annual survey done by Buildium and NARPM said, “This year, rather than simply boiling property managers’ responses down into data points, we wanted to try something different. We asked our respondents to share their thoughts on a number of pressing topics, in as much detail as they wanted, including:”

• What are the top challenges that you face in your business, and how have they changed

over the last year?

• Are you adapting your approach to attracting and retaining renters?

You can get the full report on the state of the property management industry at the link below.