Tenant retention ideas

[Dave Vona]

Hi, I wanted to hear what other people are doing to keep their tenants happy and renewing their leases. I don't have any rental properties yet but I'm always interested in hearing what can be done to increase the time a tenant stays at a property, in other words, reducing the churn. I understand that providing a clean, safe, and affordable property is going to go a long way, but what other creative approaches can be used. A friend of mine recently talked to the owner of company that manages 5,000 units in Texas. They have programs that offer ESL (English as a Second Language) classes, medical services, and after school programs for the kids. In addition, the managers at each property develop very close relationships with the tenants so they know and their family on a first name basis, and their histories. Providing this level of customer service has allowed this owner to reduce his churn to about 35%, when I believe the national average is over 50%. Smaller complexes and landlords of SFH's may not be able to provide these types of services but I'm sure there are other ways that these owners can approach customer service.