Innovative Strategies for Creating Exceptional Resident Experiences While Driving Portfolio Growth
- Scale By SEO
- 6 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Creating an exceptional resident experience and growing a real estate portfolio aren’t competing goals. In practice, they’re deeply connected. The strongest portfolios tend to belong to teams that treat residents as long-term partners, not short-term transactions.
We asked industry leaders what innovative strategies real estate investment and property management teams can use to elevate resident experience while driving sustainable, long-term growth. Their answers consistently point to one theme: retention comes from trust, communication, and thoughtful design more than flashy amenities.
Here’s what they had to say.
Smart Engagement Builds Loyalty and Organic Growth
Grace Chisom emphasizes that resident experience and portfolio growth are inseparable when teams focus on engagement rather than surface-level upgrades.
“Taking a tenant-focused approach can be a game-changer for many investment portfolios, because the truth is that from a business standpoint, ensuring that your tenants are happy is the easiest way to maintain sustainable growth.”
She points out that satisfied tenants become your strongest marketing channel. Properties that prioritize experience attract higher-quality residents who stay longer, refer others, and treat the space as home.
“Quality tenants are always drawn not just to properties that are well maintained, but also those that prioritize their experience, where they can feel more at home.”
Chisom also highlights feedback loops as an overlooked growth driver.
“Tenants want to be involved in shaping their experience, because they want a personalized package and not just a one-size-fits-all approach.”
Grace Chisom, Real Estate Expert, Designer and Stager
Design for Durability, Not Just Amenities
Mark Lumpkin reframes resident experience as an operational and durability issue, not an amenities race.
“The best solutions treat resident experience as a durability issue that is in fact also a communication problem, not an amenities problem.”
He recommends focusing on high-touch surfaces that residents interact with daily, such as hardware, paint edges, and fixtures, since these small details strongly influence how cared-for a home feels.
“These are low-cost items to refresh, but they have a powerful sway in shaping whether a home feels loved and cared for.”
Standardizing materials and finishes also plays a role in scaling portfolios without friction.
“The smarter move is to minimize surprises for maintenance, allow vendors to work faster and make the property feel consistent.”
Preventive inspections, when framed as a service, further reduce churn.
“Design for quiet reliability… This is the sort of upgrade residents don’t necessarily thank you for, but they experience it and it changes how they talk about the community.”
Mark Lumpkin, Sales Director in Renovation & Design
Homes That Support Modern Workstyles Retain Longer
Sebastian Jania stresses that resident experience varies by lifestyle, especially as remote work becomes the norm.
“Exceptional residential experience means different things to different demographics.”
He explains that tech readiness and sound management are no longer optional for many renters.
“It would really be a delightful experience for their homes to be one of those places where they can do their work seamlessly without being frustrated by slow internet, or disturbance from neighbors.”
Soundproofing and flexible layouts benefit both residents who need quiet and those whose work produces noise.
“What makes this strategy effective, is the fact that it takes the needs of the tenant and the goal of the business into consideration.”
Sebastian Jania, Owner, Real Estate Professional, Investor, Stager, Designer,
Happy Renters Are the Real Growth Strategy
Natalia Bassova puts it simply: people drive property value.
“Happy renters are the best business plan. They stay longer. They pay their rent on time. They tell their friends to move in.”
She outlines four focus areas: smart technology, community building, diversified revenue, and sustainability.
“Technology should make life easy for everybody… They can find a small leak before it becomes a big flood.”
Bassova also highlights health-focused design and flexible lease options as practical retention tools.
“The small fees add up fast. They also make your property more valuable.”
Natalia Bassova, Business Owner
Listen, Fix Fast, and Follow Through
Joshua Eberly points to systems that improve response time without losing the human touch.
“We started asking residents what they actually thought, and suddenly fewer people moved out.”
Creating structured repair workflows freed up time for real connection.
“The trick is creating systems to handle the common stuff so you still have time for personal contact.”
Joshua Eberly, Chief Marketing Officer
Alignment and Speed Drive Retention
Arsen Misakyan explains that expectations and responsiveness matter more than amenities.
“Managing residents’ expectations is more important than amenities.”
Predictive maintenance and fast resolution lead to measurable retention gains.
“Properties that solve problems within a 24-hour time span experience peak retention, renewal, and the lowest escalations.”
Alignment across teams multiplies that impact.
“Happy residents will pay their lease on time, and they will bring in their friends to create a sustainable cash flow.”
Arsen Misakyan, CEO and Founder
Final Takeaway
Across every perspective, one message stands out. Exceptional resident experience doesn’t come from chasing trends. It comes from listening closely, fixing problems early, designing for real life, and building trust at scale. When residents feel heard and supported, retention follows. And when retention improves, long-term portfolio growth becomes a natural outcome rather than a constant struggle.
Comments