Editor’s Note: How to Rock Resident Retention

There’s no shortage of new (and tried and true) ideas for achieving resident retention success, but do you know how many of them your on-site teams are actually implementing? Since it never hurts to have a refresher, this month MHN takes a look at best practices for keeping multifamily residents happy (“Rocking Resident Retention,” page 33). One suggestion is to go straight to the source by surveying residents when they move in.

If you take the time to ask, they’ll likely tell you what it will take to keep them happy in the apartment community. This sounds easy enough, but the trick is to stay in touch on a consistent basis after that initial outreach. You definitely don’t want to have someone move in and not see them until their lease expires and they move out. “In this day and age it’s easy to get caught up in communicating via computers and tech devices, but that can’t be a replacement for leaving your office and walking the community during the day and at night,” Tracey Carboun, regional performance director for Alliance Residential Company, tells MHN. According to the experts interviewed for this month’s property management feature, performing unexpected acts of kindness can also earn a customer for a lifetime while creating a ripple effect through word-of-mouth marketing to other potential customers in their spheres of influence. Another strategy that can keep residents loyal to a particular apartment community is to offer assistance on the purchase of their first home. With the realization that a number of renters by choice will one day want to move to a house, FirstService Residential Realty has established a cross-promotional effort with local home builders that provides credits towards a home purchase based on the length of residency at FirstService apartment communities. At the other end of the spectrum, Baby Boomers are downsizing and opting for apartments. In this month’s Development & Design feature (“Retiring Boomers,” page 24), MHN Senior Editor Joshua Ayers delves into the features and technology that can help ensure resident retention at retirement communities such as The Overlook in Dallas designed by Perkins Eastman for developer C.C. Young. With a creative master plan, developers can attract clientele ready for retirement now as well as generations to come.

Diana Mosher, Editorial Director
[email protected]