Our teams also researched and shared additional resources such as fitness apps with free subscriptions when gyms shut down , food and wine delivery services for when going out felt too stressful or restaurants were closed , and fun at-home games and crafts for quarantined families .
They leveraged social media and current resident communication platforms to stay in touch and relevant . Virtual meetings were also offered to maintain the opportunity for face-to-face communication with our residents , a practice that will outlast the pandemic .
Events
Our industry has always bragged about our catchy Wine Down Wednesdays and Third Saturday Brunches , or whatever fun resident events were trending at the time . But when the pandemic brought in-person events to a screeching halt , our teams went back to the drawing board and came up with creative and fun ways to keep our communities engaged .
New and current events surfaced with a fresh word in front of them - " virtual " - and our teams knocked these events out of the park .
Virtual cooking classes brought neighbors together for dinner and virtual Yappy Hours engaged not just the traditional dog owners , but cat ( and maybe even some fish and bird ) owners as well . Communities continued the creativity by hiring artists ( or maybe even their talented employees ) to host virtual Sip and Paint classes or create caricature drawings of residents in a socially distanced setting .
While many people are excited to get back to in-person events as well , virtual events offered an opportunity to more and more residents to participate in things they may not have in the past . It also created a social space during a time when the world felt more secluded .
Appreciation
Not only did the events become more creative , but teams devised new ways to show our residents how much we appreciate them . Our communities did amazing things , like partner with local burrito shops or bakeries , to not only support businesses during tough times , but bring individually wrapped joy to residents ' doors . Golf carts were transformed into ice cream carts and driven through communities . Grab-and-go treats and food trucks brought residents out of their homes and created a physically distanced sense of community .
The timing and delivery of our appreciation efforts changed to accommodate for COVID , but this also allowed for more residents to be involved .
During a time when our homes were also our places of work , vacation , exercise , dinner dates , school and so much more , our industry ’ s involvement in people ’ s lives became more crucial than ever . Our teams created and fostered relationships , communities and happiness , which had a direct and beneficial impact on resident retention .
Since Resident Renewal Peak last April , Renewals Now Lag Past Norm
Excerpt from Aprtment Resident Retention Gets Messy by Greg Willett ( www . realpage . com / analytics / apartment-resident-retention-gets-messy )
Looking back to the pre-pandemic time frame of 2019 and the first couple months of 2020 , about 53 % of renters opted to stay in place when their initial apartment leases
expired . That retention rate stood at an all-time high , having built gradually from a level that was hovering near 49 % a decade earlier .
Once the first wave of COVID-19 hit , many households quickly hunkered down . Resident retention at lease expiration quickly soared to unprecedented levels , peaking at 58.5 % in April 2020 . While some committed to another year at their current apartments , quite a few others just pushed their decisions a little further into the future and opted for short-term leases covering three to six months .
By the time we got to the last few months of 2020 , then , the number of expiring leases had climbed to an unusually big volume for a time period when most property managers try to limit their lease expiration exposure . More households felt comfortable moving around at that point , even if COVID cases were still on the rise . The resident retention rate dropped , falling to a low of 51 % in December for the U . S . as a whole .
Source : Realpage
Kelsey Lawless is senior property analyst and trainer at POWER Apartment Leasing & Marketing , Inc ., in Greenwood Village . www . aamdhq . org APRIL 2021 TRENDS | 23