Tenant Satisfaction Survey: Top Questions You Should Ask

It'll also give you suggestions for improvement and data you can use to boost resident retention over time. Learn more about why these surveys are important for your success and what to do after you receive feedback.

Why Conduct a Tenant Satisfaction Survey?

What is the purpose of a tenant survey? Perhaps you're on good terms with most of your tenants, and you're wondering what the purpose of a tenant survey is in your situation. Periodic surveys can help you manage your property by doing the following:

• Alerting you to time-sensitive issues and safety concerns
• Fostering a community of trust where tenants' honest feedback matters
• Increasing long-term retention
• Improving manager-tenant communication and overall customer service
• Gathering ideas for property improvements

Key Areas to Cover in a Tenant Satisfaction Survey

What is tenant satisfaction, and how do you adequately assess it? A good property management tenant satisfaction survey should highlight the pros and cons of your property itself, the amenities you offer, and your management style. Start by covering the following issues.

Property Condition and Maintenance

Your tenants (and all potential tenants) need to feel comfortable in their homes. Your survey should cover questions regarding how well the property is kept — such as the condition of your units' appliances, flooring, and paint — as well as the cleanliness of the overall property.

This category can also include questions about maintenance issues, as well as how quickly your staff responds to urgent calls. Consider your tenants' answers as valuable insights here: They're the ones who live in the property, so they will likely spot issues far before you do.

Communication With Property Management

You may feel as though you're putting yourself under the microscope here, but reviewing the pros and cons of your management style is essential to the health of your relationship with your tenants. Don't be afraid to ask for honest opinions to find areas where you can improve.

For example, if many tenants respond that they can't reach you in an urgent situation, or that you give unclear answers when it comes to rent payments, this is something to take into account. On the other hand, if several tenants agree that your management team's communication style is one of the many perks of living at your property, consider yourself lucky!

Safety and Security

You can never take your tenants' safety too seriously. Include a section that specifically talks about safety in the units and on the property as a whole. There may be other areas, such as a pool or outdoor lounge, that you want to pay special attention to in this part of the survey.

Remember that perceived security problems are often a make-or-break issue for tenants: If they're unsatisfied with the current level of security, this could deter them from renewing a lease with you.

Community and Amenities

While there's only so much you can do about how your tenants feel about their neighbors, you should consider yourself the leader of this community. What's the environment you're fostering? Is it one of communication, friendliness, and acceptance? Or is there an absence of culture altogether?

Consider including a section that speaks to the overall feeling of the property, which amenities your tenants consider the most valuable, and whether there's anything they could do without. This could potentially help you funnel your budget toward what your tenants use and consider beneficial.

Rent Value for Money

Too-high rent, like security issues, can be a dealbreaker for tenants. Some tenants may not pay much attention as long as the rent does not drastically increase every lease term, but others might like to bring up this specific topic. An anonymous tenant satisfaction survey can be just the place for your tenants to talk about these sensitive concerns.

Top Questions to Ask in a Tenant Satisfaction Survey

Deciding to write your own survey is easy, but coming up with questions can be a challenging task. Here are a few sample questions to help guide you when writing your tenant satisfaction survey.

General Satisfaction

Try to gauge your tenants' overall satisfaction with these questions. Often, it may seem from a survey that your tenants dislike a lot about living at your property — but there's a big difference between minor complaints and an overall feeling of dissatisfaction. Try these to start:

• Overall, has your time at this property been a positive experience or a negative one?
• On a scale of 1-5, how much do you enjoy living at this property?

Open-Ended Questions

Open-ended questions are similar to short-answer or essay questions on a test. Your tenants can feel free to respond in their own words rather than choosing a number on a scale or picking from a set of multiple-choice answers. Consider asking:

• If there's one thing you could change about living at this property, what would it be?
• Do you have any ideas for community events or classes you'd like to try, and if so, what are they?

Specific Improvement Suggestions

If there's a known issue on your property or a frequent complaint you hear from tenants, there's no use in beating around the bush — just include it in the survey. For example, you might say something like:

• How would you rate your last maintenance visit?
• How well have we responded to your concerns during your latest lease term?

Analyzing and Acting on Tenant Feedback

What does a satisfaction survey do? It accomplishes several tasks at once: Positive feedback can make you feel great about your choices as a property manager, but negative feedback can provide you with the opportunity to take a hard look at what needs to be changed.

It's best to resist the urge to ignore the parts of the feedback you don't like. With careful analysis and methodically implemented changes based on tenant input, you could be well on your way to creating the thriving community you've always imagined.

Identifying Common Themes in Responses

Have your tenants alerted you to a glaring safety problem like a broken lock on the front door of the complex? Or, is the issue more subtle? Maybe you get the general sense that your tenants think the complex is okay, but the amenities are subpar.

Carefully read each tenant's response and look for trends. You can certainly take action based on one response, but the most actionable items will be those that many of your tenants have pointed out.

Implementing Changes Based on Feedback

Now it's time to make a plan. This plan should involve specific details about the problem, how you're going to fix it, and the time frame in which to do it.

It's important to note that some changes may not be realistic — you might not be able to offer free utilities or lower the rent payments, for example. However, there are some changes you're going to find that you need to make for your tenants' wellness, safety, and overall satisfaction.

For example, that broken lock is something that should be fixed immediately for the safety of your tenants. Do you have a timeframe for replacing the carpet in six units on the first floor? Perhaps you don't have the room in your budget to schedule multiple events or fitness classes every week, as some tenants wish. However, you could sign up for a virtual fitness platform that allows your tenants to experience the fitness classes they enjoy.

Communicating Changes to Tenants

Perhaps the most important thing you can do, once you've analyzed feedback and decided which changes to implement, is communicate these action items to your tenants. Your tenants will be grateful for the clear, prompt communication about issues that are important to them, and they will also feel heard — something that's invaluable in the relationship between tenants and property managers.

Too often, tenants' opinions go overlooked and their customer experience is downplayed. By finding a way to let them know of the upcoming changes you're planning, you'll be letting them know that their concerns — and ultimately, the part of their lives they spend in your building — matter to you.

Improve Your Tenant Satisfaction With Fitness On Demand

Tenant satisfaction can lead to increased retention rates. Make sure your tenants feel at home in a safe place with a sense of community, activity, and great communication. Consider adding high-quality amenities such as Fitness On Demand, a virtual library of fitness courses that can be personalized to meet every tenant's expectations, to the options you already offer.

Sometimes, it's these unexpected perks that can lead to a tenant moving onto the next apartment — or signing a lease for another year at your property. Contact us to request your demo today and learn more about what we offer, how it can benefit tenants in a multifamily housing unit, and how you can use out platform to increase tenant satisfaction and grow your community.