Rising rents may be good news for our industry in terms of driving rental revenue and overall portfolio performance. But in terms of resident and customer service, this feels like cause for concern.

When residents are excessively cost-burdened, the everyday acts of caring for their needs become much harder for apartment community teams.  

Expect customers to be more demanding. When residents invest a huge percentage of their income in their housing, they expect a similarly huge return on their investment. That means expectations for both product and service are at an all-time high. Considering the rental housing industry is still struggling with an extreme labor shortage, living up to those high demands is challenging. This can lead to disconnects between customer expectation and service delivery, resulting in conflict. Sounds like a recipe for high stress and high turnover of on-site team members.

Prospects and residents are looking for value. Cost-burdened renters are especially concerned with getting their money's worth out of their rental home. On-site teams can expect to face more questions and scrutiny from prospective residents and current residents alike about how the community delivers savings and value to its residents, whether that is via energy efficiency, value-added amenities, or white glove service. On-site team members must be informed and proficient at convincing customers of the value found by renting in their community and may face the wrath of their customers when they miss the mark.

We may be in for high(er) resident turnover. Tens of thousands of newly constructed homes are expected to become available this year, many of them rental units. It is reasonable to expect cost-burdened renters to be looking for relief from high rents; it is possible they will find it in newly constructed homes or communities. Further complicating the rental housing industry's prospects for the new year: widespread layoffs are increasing across multiple industries. Renters and homeowners alike may be impacted. This could lead to further austerity measures for renters, such as downsizing or consolidation of households. Together, these economic factors suggest that resident turnover, which has always been a costly challenge for multifamily owners and operators, will continue to vex rental communities and teams. 

How can property management teams meet this moment?

• Invest in your teams with the development and support they need to deliver for their increasingly demanding and cash-strapped prospects and residents. New sales and service skills will be required in this changing and charged economic and customer service environment.
• Solicit year-round feedback from both employees and customers to identify gaps in service and satisfaction ASAP so you can address them. You cannot afford missteps in support to either internal or external customers; it is too easy for both groups to go elsewhere.
• Consider what changes your organization should make to your compensation, benefits, and policies, if any, to attract and retain highly qualified team members. You simply cannot deliver on your commitments to your customers without them. Whatever it takes to recruit and retain should be on the table.