Talented apartment owners and managers are always looking for ways to improve their clients living experience.

Small details can significantly improve resident satisfaction and help your building stand out from the competition.

Adding small details can be quick and inexpensive. Over the long term small details can significantly increase building reputation and appeal.

A short list of small details:

  • Friendly and Responsive Staff

    • Staff are the face of the buildings management. Residents will interact with staff through email, phone conversations, and in person. Improving staff interactions is one of the most important investments to improving resident satisfaction.

  • Holiday decorations

    • It's not necessary to decorate for every holiday, that can be overwhelming for residents. Tasteful decorations for major holidays, like Christmas in the United States, are a nice touch many residents appreciate.

  • Gifts

    • The important part about gifts is residents coming away with the positive impression that you thought about them and appreciate them.
    • The simplest gift is a nice card, with a positive message. Wishing residents the best and thanking them for continuing to choose your apartment building is a good start.
    • Gifts are hard to get right. Gifts should feel premium and not cheap. It's also important to not overdo gift, so each gift feels special. A good gift needs to take into account the personal preferences of each resident.
    • A nice bottle of red wine at New Years is a gift many can appreciate. Keep in mind, not all residents drink, either for personal or religious reasons (red wine can also be used in cooking). Accompanying a gift with a note wishing them a Happy New Year is critical to the gifts reception. If you know your residents well you can offer an alternative, for example a bottle of fancy water for residents you know don't drink.
    • I recommend a gift to welcome new residents, a gift for New Years, and a gift for residents moving out.

  • Art

    • Decorating empty halls with tasteful art can make an apartment building seem more homey. Art is a one time expense. The trick is finding art that is neutral, non offensive, and arranging it in a pleasing manner. You can encourage residents to submit their own art, saving money and allowing residents to feel more ownership over the building.
    • Sponsoring local artists and displaying the art with a note that is was created by a local artist, is a good way to support the local community and show you support the local community.

  • Delivering packages to residents doorsteps

    • Visible packages in the lobby encourages break-ins to the building, potentially damaging the building. Missing packages upsets residents. A simple way to avoid this is to move packages in the lobby to outside of residents apartment unit. Residents typically appreciate not having to move their own packages. Having moving packages as part of an Apartment Managers tasks helps them have an excuse to move around the apartment building to check things out, and allows them to bump into residents to get to know them better. Moving around also helps Apartment Managers avoid sitting all day which isn't good for their health.

  • Delivering the message of rent increases in a positive way

    • Your clients will not like rent increases. How can you deliver the message in a positive way? The important part is to not come off as greedy. It's best to blame external factors such as: tax increases (that residents likely voted for and saying you are happy they are supporting the community), increased building expenses (show that you are maintaining the building and their quality of life), increased wages for building staff (you are doing that, right? It's hard for your residents to complain to the staff that they don't want them to paid more, since then they are the greedy ones) etc... It's very important you (as the building owner), do not come off as greedy. The more transparent and honest you can be with your residents, for example if you can show them the actual building expenses, the better off you will be. Ultimately as a building owner your goal is a steady return on your investment, you don't need to make more, since this easily has residents conclude you are taking advantage of them (which you probably are). If you consistently raise rent by the same small amount each year, most residents won't object too much. Make sure to give residents multiple months of notice before raising rent (preferably six months, and make sure to remind them again the month before the increased rent is due).
    • Make sure to include: the month the rent increase starts in, the last day to give notice before the rent increase.

  • Parties

    • A summer party can be a nice touch for residents. Parties can take some amount of work to organize and staff, make sure your Building Manager and residents are enthusiastic about the idea.

  • Reoccurring Activities

    • If your apartment manager has a personal neutral hobby they want to share or teach to residents (Yoga, Crafts, Board Games, etc..), allow them to set up a consistent time that's available to residents. This helps your Apartment Manager to potentially have more fun on the job and allows residents to connect and build a consistent relationship with your apartment manager. Providing space for positive contact between residents is a good way to build friendship between residents. Having friends in the building makes it less likely people will move out (greatly simplifying operation of the building and maintaining a consistent revenue stream).

  • Quiet Hours

    • Sleep deprived residents are grumpy residents. Make sure quite hours are posted, enforced, and address noise complaints promptly. Neighbors that know each other are more likely to resolve noise complaints on their own without having to involve your apartment manager. I recommend placing quiet hours on a visible sign on each floor, just when residents exit the elevator, or when they exit the stairs, with an appeal to respect their fellow neighbors.
    • Make sure when you have a resident sign their first lease they review the quiet hour policy and agree to uphold it.

  • Tatami Mats

    • In buildings with poor noise insulation between floors, it can be beneficial to provide floor coverings (like Tatami Mats) over heavily walked areas in units. Floor covering help keep the noise down. It can also be beneficial to recommend residents talk to their upstairs neighbors and swap phone numbers to help resolve noise complaints without involving apartment staff.

  • Handle Community Issues Gracefully

    • There are circumstances when a building community has issues: Fire, Police Action, Water Outage, Power Outage, Major Maintenance, etc.. In these circumstances it's important to communicate to reassure residents and let them know the actions you are taking to correct the issue, when it will be fixed, and the actions you are taking to prevent future issues.
    • In the case of major inconvenience to residents where the issue can be blamed on the building design or the building management team, it's important to apologize and make up for the inconvenience to residents. An effective apology will help residents feel better about the community they live in and can help replace a negative memory with a positive one.