Insight #7: Focus on Renewals—They’ll Be Harder to Secure

By: Jay Parsons, Nikki Jorski, David Polewchak and Andrew Bowen In 2020, apartment resident retention was … well … easy, at least outside of harder-hit urban markets. Retention rates soared to record highs nationally as residents couldn’t or wouldn’t move during the pandemic. But what’s in store for 2021? Simply put, 2021 will remind us that a strong renewal program takes smart strategy and execution. RealPage economists expect overall retention to decline moderately in most markets, while remaining relatively high compared to long-term norms. Retention will get more competitive, particularly for assets competing against the plentiful number of new lease-ups. As an added challenge, many operators are looking to throttle up renewal pricing to more normal levels – following an intentional pullback in 2020. How do you push retention while not giving up too much on price? Here are 8 strategies adopted by leading apartment operators in 2021 to drive renewal success. Double Down on Virtual Engagement Tools That Worked. When lockdowns hit, property managers got very creative in trying many ways to engage residents virtually. Some worked well, some did not. Evaluate what worked for you, and double down on those tools. Many operators found little value in offering virtual “commodities” that residents could get elsewhere – such as online workout programs or cooking demonstrations. The best tools do one of two things: One, they drive real engagement and interactions among your residents – with one another and also with your on-site teams. And two, they provide a real benefit or perk to the resident. Ideally, you want strategies that accomplish both goals. Community rewards has been a very hot growth area. You’re bringing residents together through virtual activities and contests and events – where residents are engaging with each other but also accumulating points they can use to redeem for virtu...