31% of On-the-Fence Renters Would Stay for Better Maintenance

Nearly a third of the residents who are unsure about renewing say the same thing: fix maintenance, and they'd stay. Not lower the rent. Not add a gym. Just answer the ticket and close it out. In a year where every renewal counts, that is the cheapest retention lever on the board — and most operators are letting it slip.

The data

According to AppFolio's 2026 Renter Preferences Report, 31% of residents who are on the fence about renewing would stay if maintenance service improved. That's not the whole rent roll — it's the swing vote, the residents who could go either way. And maintenance is what tips them.

The backdrop makes it sting more. Average resident retention has fallen to 57% in 2026, down from 60% in 2024 (Zego), while the share of renters planning to move has climbed to 39% from 35% a year earlier. Satisfaction is the divider: 44% of satisfied residents plan to move, versus 69% of unsatisfied ones. And every non-renewal you don't prevent costs roughly $3,872 to $4,000 per unit in vacancy loss, make-ready, advertising, and leasing commission.

The problem

Here's what 'improve maintenance' actually means to a resident: report it once, get acknowledged fast, and see it fixed without chasing anyone. What actually happens in most portfolios is the opposite. The request goes to a voicemail after 5 p.m. It gets written on a sticky note, or lost in an inbox. Nobody can say whether a vendor was dispatched. The resident calls back twice, gets no status, and quietly decides they're done at renewal. The repair may even get fixed — but the experience already cost you the lease.

“That gap isn't a labor problem you can hire your way out of, especially with skilled-trade rates up 18–25% since 2023. It's a tracking and response problem.”

The fix, by name

This is exactly what FYN's Ticket board is built for: every repair tracked from report to resolved in one glance, so nothing slips between a resident's call and a closed job. Pair it with FYN's Tenant intake — residents report by calling or texting a hotline, no app, no portal, no login — and FYN's AI Voice Agent, which answers the maintenance line on the first ring and writes the ticket on the spot, even after hours. The 5 p.m. voicemail black hole that costs you renewals simply stops existing.

What it looks like in practice

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The residents who would stay for better maintenance won't tell you twice — they'll just not renew. FYN's Ticket board, Tenant intake, and AI Voice Agent turn 'maintenance' from your top non-renewal reason into a retention advantage, and replace the legacy stack that's letting tickets slip today.