The $3,000 Question: Is It Cheaper to Keep a Good Tenant or Find a New One?

The Math Most Landlords Never Do 

A reliable tenant asks for something — a new dishwasher, a rent freeze, permission to paint the living room. Your instinct might be to say no. Upgrades cost money. Rent freezes reduce income. And painted walls might need to be repainted at move-out. 

But before you say no, run the numbers on what happens if this tenant leaves. 

Turnover costs for a single unit typically range from $2,000 to $5,000 when you account for everything: vacancy period (the national average is three to four weeks, which costs one month's rent), cleaning and repairs, marketing and showing the unit, screening new applicants, potential property management placement fee, and the risk premium of an unknown tenant replacing a known good one. 

If your reliable tenant of three years asks for a $500 dishwasher replacement, and the alternative is losing them and spending $3,000+ to find and place a new tenant, the dishwasher isn't an expense. It's an investment with a 6x return. 

What "Good Tenant" Actually Means in Dollar Terms 

Not all tenants have equal value. A good tenant — one who pays on time, maintains the property, communicates issues early, and stays long-term — is worth quantifiably more than an average one. 

On-time payment reliability. A tenant who pays on the 1st every month without reminders saves you the administrative cost of follow-up (estimated at $25-$50 per late payment in time and system costs) and eliminates late payment risk entirely. Over a year, that reliability is worth $300-$600 in avoided costs. 

Property care. A tenant who treats the property well reduces your maintenance and turnover costs. The difference in move-out repair costs between a careful tenant and a careless one can easily be $1,000-$3,000 per tenancy. 

Long tenure. Every year a tenant renews is a year you avoid turnover costs. A tenant who stays five years instead of two saves you $6,000-$15,000 in avoided turnover over that period. 

Early issue reporting. A tenant who reports a small leak immediately saves you the $3,000 mold remediation that happens when a careless tenant ignores it for three months. 

When you add it up, a truly good tenant is worth $2,000-$5,000 per year more than an average one, purely in cost avoidance. 

Retention Strategies That Work 

• ‍Respond fast to maintenance. This is the number one driver of tenant satisfaction and the number one reason good tenants leave. A tenant who waits a week for a response to a maintenance request is already browsing apartments. A tenant who gets a same-day acknowledgment and a 48-hour repair feels valued. 
• ‍Offer reasonable upgrades. When a tenant requests something that improves the property — new appliances, updated fixtures, fresh paint — evaluate it as a capital improvement, not just a cost. A $2,000 kitchen update that keeps a good tenant for another three years and allows a modest rent increase is one of the best investments in your portfolio. 
• ‍Be transparent about rent increases. Give maximum notice. Explain the reasoning. Keep increases modest and aligned with market rates. A tenant who understands why rent is going up is far more likely to accept it than one who receives a number without context. 
• ‍Acknowledge good behavior. A brief message at lease renewal — "I appreciate you taking such good care of the property and being a reliable tenant" — costs nothing and reinforces the behavior you want to see continue. 
• ‍Fix things right the first time. Nothing erodes tenant trust faster than repeated visits for the same issue. If a repair needs to be done, do it properly. A $50 savings on a cheaper fix that fails in three months will cost you the tenant's confidence and eventually their tenancy. 

When to Let a Tenant Go 

Retention isn't always the right strategy. Some tenants cost more to keep than to replace, even after accounting for turnover expenses. 

Chronically late payers who consume hours of your time every month in follow-up. Tenants whose property damage exceeds normal wear and tear at every inspection. Tenants who generate repeated complaints from neighbors. Tenants who resist reasonable lease terms or create adversarial dynamics. 

The decision framework is straightforward: if the total cost of the tenant (administrative time, property damage, opportunity cost, stress) exceeds the cost of turnover plus the risk of a worse replacement, non renewal is the right business decision. 

But for the tenants who pay on time, maintain the property, and communicate respectfully — and that's the majority of tenants — retention should be your default strategy. The landlords who build stable, profitable portfolios aren't the ones who squeeze every dollar out of every lease. They're the ones who recognize that a good tenant is an asset worth investing in.