Apartment Renters Put Amenities Low On List of Wants
Renter surveys confirm that renters generally don't want a "fancier" apartment nearly as much as they want a building that is safe, clean, quiet, functional, fairly priced, and competently managed.
Apartments.com's 2025 renter research found that price, location, and safety/security were the three leading considerations. More importantly for an existing building, 62% said concerns about maintenance/property/unit condition would cause them to reject a rental, while 66% said the same about crime or safety.
Fannie Mae's renter research similarly found that 28% of renters experienced poor maintenance, building problems, or property-management problems. Among those renters, the leading physical problems included pests (31%), structural issues (28%), HVAC (22%), high utility costs (22%), and noise (20%).
And when researchers look specifically at resident complaints, the management side becomes especially clear: rental rates, grounds/common-area upkeep, disorganized staff or poor communication, maintenance-response quality, and overall management customer service occupy the top of the list.
Here is our list of the top 20 complaints of apartment renters and what management should monitor
Top 20 resident complaints/issues management should monitor
| Rank | Complaint / Issue to Monitor | What Management Should Measure |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maintenance requests not resolved quickly | Time to acknowledge, time to resolve, % resolved within SLA |
| 2 | Repeated maintenance problems | Repeat work orders, callbacks, unresolved issues after first visit |
| 3 | Rent increases / renewal pricing | Renewal increase %, non-renewal rate, complaints about price |
| 4 | Poor communication from management | Response time, unanswered contacts, resident satisfaction after interaction |
| 5 | Safety/security concerns | Security incidents, broken locks/lights, access-control failures, resident reports |
| 6 | Pests | Pest complaints by building/unit, recurrence, treatment response time |
| 7 | Heating/cooling problems | HVAC work orders, outage duration, seasonal complaint spikes |
| 8 | Water/plumbing problems | Leaks, clogged drains, hot-water outages, water damage, recurrence |
| 9 | Noise complaints | Complaints by building/unit, time of day, repeat offenders, resolution |
| 10 | Cleanliness of common areas | Inspection scores, complaints, cleaning frequency, trash accumulation |
| 11 | Trash/garbage problems | Overflow, missed pickups, odors, illegal dumping |
| 12 | Building deterioration / appearance | Exterior condition, hallways, elevators, flooring, paint, landscaping |
| 13 | Parking problems | Availability, unauthorized parking, resident complaints, enforcement |
| 14 | Package/mail problems | Lost/delayed packages, package-room issues, access problems |
| 15 | Elevator / building-system outages | Downtime, frequency, repair duration, resident complaints |
| 16 | Lease/fee surprises | Billing disputes, unexplained charges, fee-related complaints |
| 17 | Inconsistent or unfair rule enforcement | Complaints about pets, noise, parking, smoking, guests, etc. |
| 18 | Poor handling of resident complaints | Escalations, unresolved complaints, time to close, repeat contacts |
| 19 | Amenity problems | Pool/fitness/laundry/common-room availability, cleanliness and downtime |
| 20 | Move-in / move-out problems | Unit readiness, deposits, inspection disputes, delays and complaints |