I've always loved the allowance idea; we do pre-renewal inspections of all apartments, that is a great time to discuss.... "if we offered you $200 of updates/upgrades, what would you choose?" (and be ready with some pre-approved options, since you don't want every apartment looking completely different....) - but smaller fixtures, accent walls, kitchen tile, bathroom tile, new mirror, etc., anything small but impactful would be good. Does take some org and follow-through. Good luck!