Resident Retention: What Renters Want and How to Keep Them

Resident retention is the share of residents who renew their leases instead of moving out. You build it all year, not in the 90 days before a lease ends: fast repairs, clear communication, a good first month and a renewal offer that arrives early and makes sense. To see what a lost resident costs your property, run your own numbers in the free Turnover Cost Calculator while you read.

This guide covers what renters say they want, the habits that turn it into renewals, how to run the renewal timeline and how to measure whether it is working.

What Do Renters Say They Want?

Renters say they want a home that works, a community that treats them with respect and communication on their terms. The best public source is the Renter Preferences Survey Report from the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) and Grace Hill. The 2024 edition, released in November 2023, drew 172,703 renter responses from 4,220 communities, according to Grace Hill's release.

What stands out in it:

• People like where they live. 85% agree or strongly agree that they enjoy living in their community, and 75% feel their well-being matters to community management.

• Respect drives community. Neighbors respecting community rules, feeling welcomed by staff and access to well-being services were the top three contributors to a positive sense of community.

• Email wins for everyday requests. NMHC's Sarah Yaussi wrote in Multifamily Dive that email was overwhelmingly preferred, including for non-emergency maintenance requests.

• The basics are not optional. 86% rate high-speed internet very important or absolutely essential.

The survey ran in mid-2023, so treat these numbers as a snapshot, not a trend line. They match what most site teams already see: residents do not need a lot, but they need it to work, and they need you to treat them like people.

Does Better Service Really Lead to Renewals?

Yes, and the strongest link is maintenance. In AppFolio's 2026 Renter Preferences Report, a survey of 3,002 U.S. renters run in early 2026, residents happy with repairs were 81% more likely to plan to renew and three times more likely to recommend their property manager. Residents satisfied with their move-in were 31% more likely to plan to renew.

Two cautions before you quote it. AppFolio commissioned the survey, and it measures plans, not actual renewals. The release also does not state the baseline for each percentage. Use it as a direction, not a forecast: the habits that residents rate well are the habits worth building.

The Resident Retention Habits That Pay Off

Start With the Move-In Experience

The first 30 days set the tone for the whole lease. Walk the unit before the keys change hands, fix every item on the move-in condition list before move-in day, and call or message the resident in the first week to ask what is not working. A resident who lives with a problem for two months before telling anyone is already drafting a review.

Fix It Fast and Follow Up

Repairs are where residents grade you most. Speed matters, but so does closing the loop:

• Reply to every work order on the day it comes in, with a time to expect the tech, even when the repair has to wait for parts.

• Give a real timeline, and message again if it slips.

• Follow up after the work is done to confirm it is fixed.

• Track average days to complete a work order, and look at the slowest ten every week.

Be clear about what you can control, too. Normal wear and tear is the owner's cost, and a resident who gets charged unfairly at move-out tells everyone.

Communicate Before They Have to Ask

Silence reads as indifference. Tell residents about planned work, amenity closures, new fees and policy changes before they hit. Use email as your default, since that is what the NMHC survey says renters prefer, and add text for urgent notices. Keep the message short: what is happening, when, what they need to do and who to call.

Handle Complaints as the Retention Moment They Are

A complaint is a resident telling you what it would take to stay. Listen first, repeat the issue back, agree on a fix and a date, and then do what you said. Document it. Escalate anything involving safety or fair housing to your supervisor and your written policies immediately. Our multifamily policies and procedures training helps you build the playbooks so your whole team answers the same way.

Build Community Without a Big Budget

Residents who know their neighbors and the staff have more reasons to stay. You do not need a calendar full of parties. Our guide to resident event ideas covers events by season and budget, plus how to check whether they helped.

When to Start the Renewal Conversation and How to Price It

Start early, price with data and keep it personal. A common practice is to begin renewal outreach about 90 to 120 days before the lease ends, but your lease terms, your state's notice rules and your owner's policy set the real dates. Check state and local law on required notice for rent increases and nonrenewals, since the rules differ widely. This is general information, not legal advice.

A simple timeline to adapt:

On price, do not apply a flat percentage to everyone. Compare the offer to current market rent, to what a new resident would pay and to the cost of turning the unit. A renewal slightly below market is often cheaper than a vacant unit, because you skip the make ready, the vacant days and the marketing. If you are weighing a concession to keep a resident, our concession calculator shows what it really costs.

Offer choices: a 12-month term at one price, a longer or shorter term at another. Residents who can pick feel in control, and you can steer toward the lease expirations you want.

What Does One Turnover Actually Cost?

One turnover costs you the make ready work, the vacant days, the marketing and the leasing time, and the total is usually far more than a renewal incentive. The exact figure depends on your property, which is why the math belongs in your own numbers, not a national average.

Add up your own:

• Cleaning, paint, repairs and carpet or flooring work

• Rent lost while the unit is vacant

• Marketing and listing costs

• Leasing and admin time

• Concessions to fill the unit

Then multiply by your yearly move-outs. The Turnover Cost Calculator does it in three steps: the cost of one turnover, the yearly cost at your turnover rate and what better retention would save. That number is also an NOI story: every avoided turnover protects net operating income, which is how owners judge the property.

How to Know If Your Resident Retention Is Working

Track a few numbers monthly and look at the trend:

• Renewal rate: renewed leases divided by leases that came up for renewal.

• Average days to complete a work order, and the percent still open after your target.

• Move-out reasons: ask every departing resident and record the answer in a short list you can count.

• Resident survey scores, from a short check-in after move-in and after a major work order.

• Online review themes, read monthly for repeated complaints.

Do not chase a single number. If renewals rise and complaints about repairs fall, your habits are working. If renewals rise only because you discounted heavily, check what that did to NOI.

Your Next Steps

Pick one habit this week. Many teams start with repairs, because it is measurable and residents notice it. Set the target, track it for 30 days and talk about the slowest orders in your next team meeting. Then price out your current turnover cost in the Turnover Cost Calculator so you have a number to bring to your next owner call.