Why do renters move out? It’s a great question that many housing providers forget to ask.
In 2022 the top move out reasons we received were:
- Owner sold
- Bought home
- Bought the property we rented them
- Military orders
- Moved out of state
Anyone paying attention from 2020-2022 knows exactly why the top reason is home sale. The interest rates were at an all time low and the demand was outrageous. Owners had to strike while the iron was hot.
Residents buying a home is literally the ultimate goal. We are big proponents of renting when that works for you, but home ownership in California is incredible. Whichever works for you should be the goal. Renting and buying are both choices you have to make for yourself when the time is right.
Reason number three is a little more rare, but makes sense during the last two years. Renters who love their home, love an opportunity to buy it. When an owner tells us they are thinking about selling our first comment is always, let’s offer it to the resident. A deal cannot always be made, but when it can its a beautiful thing for both the new and old owner.
Military orders come in waves. Anyone in the military knows the schedule of deployment or relocation. So, we have a pretty good idea when we will see an influx in renters moving in or out.
Last reason is moving out of California. Again, anyone paying attention to the political climate knows that California saw one of the highest mass exodus of residents. In 2021, about 360,000 people relocated from California to another state–or, in some cases, country. That’s up from about 275,000 the year before, and both of those numbers represent a significant increase from pre-pandemic departure rates. Housing shortages, high taxes, lack of solution for the homeless issue, the list goes on.
So why do we care?
Well move out reasons paint a picture for a small business like ours. It really tells us how we are doing. Did we deliver on customer service? Were they happy with our maintenance response? Frankly, did we do a good job? Issues with management, or rent increases would be top reasons for moving if we were missing the mark. This result tells our team we are doing something right. Most housing providers should be asking why residents are moving to measure their management.
One comment
Neil and Cheery Fjellestad
February 18, 2023 at 8:48 pm
We can assume that we as owners know why our residents move and we will be right most of the time but we will not know something about that move and I always want to know 1. That we ask because we care about their answers and we care about them. We greet like they’re important when they come into our professional life and I think it’s important that we treat each other like they matter to us when they leave like a guest in our home.