The spring lease expiration season is fast approaching, and that means you have a prime opportunity to maximize your lease renewals. It's time to invest a little time, love and tenderness (Sorry, sometimes Michael Bolton lyrics say it best).

According to the newly released 2010 SatisFacts Insite Pre-Renewal Index, 27% of residents whose leases are expiring in the next 90-120 days indicate they have a maintenance problem that still exists. That means more than 1 in 4 residents has a maintenance problem that you have not solved.

Some of those issues may be capital expenditures that are not budgeted (like replacing drafty windows), and can't be resolved in the way the resident would like. But some issues may be due to a repair that didn't fully take care of the problem, or a new, related problem that just occurred. And some may be issues that you don't even know about. Yet. 

Pick up that phone. Call your residents. Ask them how everything is in their home. Whether you call it a warm call, a resident wellness call, or some other title  - it doesn't matter. Just call! "But asking them about what's wrong in their home will open a can of worms," you may say. It may, indeed. However, I would much rather ask my maintenance team to address the half dozen little issues in Mrs. Smith's home this week rather than have to ask my maintenance team to incure thousands of dollars in time and materials in turning the apartment because she was tired of waiting for the little issues to be resolved.

In many of the case studies we have reviewed on what difference resident retention makes on net operating income, we've learned that saving even one additional lease renewal per month can translate into well over $100,000 in increased NOI and over $1 million in increased asset value. And that is just at one property!

Pick up the phone. Show your residents some love. Ready. Set. RENEW!