Retaining The Best Renters

I recently read an interesting article from Brandon Turner about retaining renters. Brandon included the graphs and explanations you see below depicting the results from a 4,600 person survey where renters were asked about the incentives that they would like to see that would encourage them to renew their lease.

You can see the rest of the article at : http://goo.gl/C9QHdE

Monetary Discount or Special Upgrade?

To encourage tenants to renew their lease, is it better to offer some sort of “monetary” benefit… or something less tangible (like new appliances, upgraded, unit, etc?)

Overwhelmingly, tenants chose a monetary benefit:

What Kind of Monetary Benefit?

So, 52% of tenants would prefer a “monetary benefit” – which is not too surprising. We all like money, right?

But… what exactly are we talking about? Handing a wad of cash over? Discounting rent?

According to the tenant’s surveyed…

What About Unit Improvements?

Okay, maybe you are not able to offer discounts on rent or cash.. but perhaps you could improve the unit some. After all, according to the first graph I showed you, 27% of tenants would prefer a unit upgrade.

The great part about improvements as retention tools is that certain upgrades can actually increase the value of your property – so it’s often a win-win.  So, what could you improve, as an incentive, to retain the best tenants?

This is where it gets even more interesting.  According to the study, it’s a close three-way tie between “new carpet,” a “washer/dryer upgrade,” and “kitchen appliances.”

Other Incentives

Finally, perhaps the most surprising part of this study. What if you wanted to get creative and offer another perk… something “off site?”  What would the tenant prefer?

According to the study – survey says… a Gym Membership!