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Resident satisfaction has been trending down coming out of the pandemic. In fact, residents complained 14% more often in 2023 than they did in 2020. As a regular reader of these blogs, you probably know that a lot of the drivers of the increased dissatisfaction are the basics of multifamily like Security, General Cleanliness, and maintenance.
This has been a topic that we have sought to further understand because it has an incredibly high effect on operators’ bottom lines, especially with renters having more options than ever to choose from. But it also begs the question: are renters more satisfied in 2024? And if so, what are we doing differently to better meet renter expectations?
To answer that question, I wrote an article for Multifamily Executive comparing 2024 data to recent years. For a detailed look at the findings, please reference the article we published at Multifamily Executive here. You can also see a summary of the key takeaways below:
- Resident satisfaction has trended up in 2024, but we can’t make any definitive claims until we have a full year’s worth of data.
- The positive trend has been primarily driven by better performance in Customer Service, Communication, and Maintenance as a whole.
- Customer Service is continuing to be talked about more and more often. Frequency went up in 2024 in comparison to both 2022 and 2023.
- Customer Service, Communication, and Maintenance Service are bigger drivers of positive reviews in 2024 than they were in 2023. The Condition & Availability of the Amenities/Common Areas and Condition of the Unit are not moving the needle as much.
- Communication continues to be a critical resident interaction. In both 2023 and 2024, it has been complained about in over 40% of 1- and 2-star reviews. This is substantially up from the lifetime (2003-2024) number of 32.9%.
- Residents still don’t feel safe. Residents in 2024 are complaining about Security in 26.81% of 1- and 2-star reviews. This was the top driver of increased dissatisfaction post-COVID.
- Amenities could be less of a driver for satisfaction. Across all reviews, compliments within 4- and 5-star reviews, and complaints within 1- and 2-star reviews, the Condition & Availability of the Amenities/Common Areas is being mentioned substantially less often. This suggests that a greater percentage of residents don’t think of amenities as being critical in determining their overall satisfaction at their community.
The insights in this blog came from utilizing J Turner Research’s text categorization tool, a proprietary AI software that will objectively show you your operational strengths and weaknesses based on anything anyone has ever said about you online in reviews. What is being said is incredibly valuable because it is essentially the "why" behind your scores. Reviews are unprompted descriptions of why a resident is satisfied (left a high star rating) or dissatisfied (left a low star rating). This means that what is being complimented and complained about can be seen by owners and operators as drivers of satisfaction/dissatisfaction.