What Role Do Community Events Play in Resident Retention?
Resident retention can be challenging for many property owners. In the current competitive market, you need to provide value beyond the property itself to encourage people to rent from your building over another. With high resident retention, you also have a stable and predictable rental income, reduced turnover costs, and the opportunity to build up a strong reputation in your community.
Introducing community events can be a great strategic tool for creating a sense of community, increasing overall satisfaction, loyalty, and quality of life. Our blog will explain the importance of community events and their success, both for the residents and the property owners alike.
What Are Community Events?
Community events can be anything that gets residents interacting with each other. These could be trivia nights, cooking classes, workout groups, and more. You can even create a physical or online suggestion box for ideas to gauge your residents' interests. Every person has unique hobbies and pastimes, so asking for suggestions may reveal ideas that never occurred to you.
Understanding the Impact of Community Events
With more and more people working from home, the importance of community engagement cannot be overstated. While social spheres in the past used to be populated by coworkers, it’s becoming more common to get to know your neighbours as the people nearest to you. Community events can also foster a sense of belonging and encourage involvement outside of those events, leading to improved quality of life for all residents.
The Importance of Variety
Your community will be filled with a range of different interests, so including a diverse lineup of events can help everyone feel included. Following up a cooking class with a movie night, for example, can get new groups of people involved in community life. You can also hold different levels of classes, such as beginner to intermediate crafting groups, to give people an opportunity to join in on new activities while also speaking to their experience level.
Measuring the Success
As a property manager, it can be challenging to determine whether your efforts for community events have worked and whether residents are actually enjoying them.
Try sending out a survey to those who attended your event and have them provide feedback and suggest improvements. It’s important to listen to the information you receive and incorporate it thoughtfully, especially if your aim is to increase resident retention.
Building a Resident Retention Strategy
Community events are just one part of an effective overall retention strategy. Monthly classes cannot replace good property management, communication, and prompt maintenance services. They are complementary - they can be as important and effective as other amenities and services. A proactive and resident-first approach encourages people to continue living in the same community longer.
At CLV Group, we understand the importance of building a resident retention strategy through good property management, and community events are just a part of that strategy. Property management is not just a combination of optional ‘extra’ services but is part of a comprehensive strategy that centers your tenant's needs. Connect with us today to learn more about CLV Group’s property management services.