Engaging and retaining residents can be challenging, especially when faced with increasing competition for your prospects attention. But no matter what market you're in, there are a few best practices in common. 

We recently sat down with Ruthie Woodard, Director of Leasing at University Partners who shared a few of her easy expert tips to help you kickstart your engagement and retention efforts!  

1) Start building your community before your resident moves in  👭

By creating opportunities for prospects and your current residents to interact and communicate, you are helping to set the foundation for a more positive and connected experience for your future residents.”  

2) Foster a sense of belonging 💙  

Are you thinking about amenity upgrades, but you're not sure where to start?  

Who better to ask than your residents! Creating opportunities for residents to get involved in these decisions provides them with a platform to voice their opinions, helps show that their opinion matters and gives them a sense of ownership within their community. 

3) Provide value 🎉

Offer amenities, services or programs that add value to your residents' lives and make their community a better place to live. By providing value, you give your residents a reason to invest in their community and make it a better place to live. In turn, this helps retain residents and attracts new ones who see the value of your community. 

By engaging renters early, fostering a sense of belonging, and providing value to your residents, you can create a positive and connected community that prospective renters will want to be a part of, and residents won’t want to stop talking about.