— By Alex LaFlam —
Budget season, whenever it occurs in your organization, can bring out the red pens. Faced with rising operational costs and pressure to meet aggressive financial goals, multifamily operators often begin the budgeting process by scanning for line items to trim. Unfortunately, that impulse frequently puts resident-facing services — especially amenities — on the chopping block.
It’s easy to see why: Amenities are sometimes seen as “nice-to-haves,” expendable in the face of economic pressure. But that mindset can carry long-term costs. In competitive or stabilized markets, amenities play a critical role in retention, resident satisfaction and even brand differentiation. Cutting them without a strategic lens may offer short-term savings, but the ripple effect could include higher turnover, increased vacancies and diminished lease conversion.
There’s a smarter path forward: Instead of asking where to cut, operators can reframe the conversation around where to spend more efficiently. By focusing on data, feedback and flexibility, budget season can become an opportunity to create leaner, more impactful amenity programs that serve both residents and the bottom line.
Another way operators can avoid cutting amenity costs is by finding creative ways to generate revenue from these spaces. Monetizing amenity areas — such as renting them out for private events, meetings or through short-term rental platforms — can help offset budget constraints.
Allowing residents or even outside users to reserve communal spaces creates an income stream that can be reinvested into maintaining the space and enhancing it with top-tier amenity upgrades, such as coffee service, to make the spaces more desirable. This approach not only supports financial sustainability but also ensures the space remains a vibrant, well-kept asset for the community.
Rethink the Definition of “High-Impact” Amenities
Not all amenities carry the same weight when it comes to resident satisfaction or financial return. A rooftop movie theater might impress on a tour but see little use after move-in. Meanwhile, amenities that meet daily needs — like reliable Wi-Fi, coffee stations or community printers — can quietly but consistently contribute to convenience, comfort and retention.
The most effective approach is to look beyond aesthetics and evaluate an amenity’s real-world utility. According to NMHC and Grace Hill’s 2024 Renter Preferences Survey, top-ranked amenities often focus on functionality. High-speed internet, secure package delivery, in-unit laundry and shared workspaces routinely outperform flashier alternatives in resident surveys. Operators can benefit from identifying low-cost, high-impact solutions that align with these preferences.
Tech-enabled amenities like on-demand printing or app-based fitness content often deliver high value without the significant capital expenditures required for physical buildouts. They’re scalable, easy to maintain and can be adapted across property types — from modern student housing to suburban garden-style communities to sleek urban high-rises.
Lifestyle-enhancing amenities like coworking spaces and smart home technology also offer significant value to residents while requiring relatively low investment from property owners. Coworking spaces, in particular, have become a “must-have” feature in today’s rental market. They can be created with minimal cost yet are highly utilized, aligning well with the evolving needs of modern renters — especially those working remotely or in hybrid roles.
When operators prioritize everyday usefulness over eye-catching extravagance, they position their communities to win on both resident satisfaction and operational efficiency.
Audit, Then Allocate
Any amenity budgeting conversation should begin with a simple but powerful exercise: a utilization and return-on-investment audit. The goal is to understand which amenities are used regularly, which generate the most positive feedback and which strain staff resources or require disproportionate maintenance costs.
Gathering this data doesn’t have to be complicated. Property staff already have valuable insight into what’s working and what’s not. Simple reporting from on-site teams — combined with smart usage-tracking tools — can provide a full picture. Platforms that offer data on resident engagement with amenities can be particularly helpful in identifying trends and forecasting future needs.
Armed with this information, operators can reallocate funds away from underperforming amenities and into more impactful experiences. Even modest shifts — like reducing clubhouse hours while expanding access to co-working areas — can lead to better alignment between resident expectations and budget realities.
Property teams are continually evaluating which amenities are most utilized and how they compare to or exceed competitor offerings to drive resident satisfaction and retention. When an amenity is underutilized, on-site teams can recommend repurposing the space to better serve the community’s needs. For example, a low-traffic yoga room could be transformed into a smart package center or coworking space — features that offer greater value and align more closely with current resident preferences.
Include Residents in the Decision-Making Process
What’s one of the most overlooked budget tools? The residents themselves.
Surveys, town halls and focus groups offer valuable insight into what current (and prospective) residents actually want. Better still, they help build a sense of transparency and trust. When residents feel heard, they’re more likely to accept changes — and more inclined to renew their leases.
Resident feedback can reveal surprising disconnects between operator assumptions and real preferences. For example, a building might maintain a juice bar few people use while residents clamor for expanded quiet zones or secure bike storage.
Of course, not every piece of feedback needs to result in a new line item. But gathering resident input and closing the loop with communication shows responsiveness, which supports both satisfaction and loyalty.
Lean Into Technology for Efficiency
Another area ripe for optimization is the amenity-management process itself. Many of the pain points associated with amenities — scheduling conflicts, maintenance issues or lack of staff capacity — can be addressed through modern tools and thoughtful outsourcing.
Platforms that automate amenity reservations, control access or streamline maintenance requests reduce the manual workload on site teams. This allows staff members to redirect their focus toward community engagement and service — areas where human touch matters most.
Operators can also consolidate amenities across portfolios or regions. By standardizing vendor relationships and centralizing services like printing or package delivery, teams benefit from economies of scale and more predictable cost structures. This approach is particularly useful for operators managing multiple mid-sized properties where shared amenities can serve several buildings without duplicating costs.
Think Beyond This Budget Season
Budget season shouldn’t just be about surviving the next fiscal year. It’s also an opportunity to think strategically about long-term amenity planning.
One of the most common pitfalls in multifamily amenity strategy is investing in static solutions that can’t evolve as needs change. Instead of committing to rigid, high-CAPEX amenities that may become obsolete, operators should prioritize flexible, modular offerings that can scale up or down over time.
Amenities should also be evaluated on their lifecycle: What’s the maintenance burden? How will this need to be refreshed in three to five years? Can it be adapted for changing resident demographics or market conditions?
Future-proofing amenity planning doesn’t require expensive upgrades. It requires foresight, adaptability and an understanding that resident expectations are constantly evolving. The most resilient communities are those that can adapt — without overextending.
Smarter Spending, Stronger Communities
Budget season doesn’t have to be a slash-and-burn operation. It can be a catalyst for smarter, more sustainable amenity strategies.
By focusing on data-backed decisions, gathering feedback from residents and staff, embracing technology and choosing flexible, functional amenities, multifamily operators can create community experiences that not only fit within a budget — but help justify it.
In doing so, they shift the conversation from “what can we cut” to “how can we create more value.” And in today’s market, that’s the kind of thinking that leads to stronger retention, satisfied residents and healthier NOI.
Alex LaFlam is a national account executive at WithMe Inc.