Tenant satisfaction survey questions for landlords

When to send it

Two moments work well. The first is about six months into a lease, when there is time to fix what you learn. The second is three to four months before the lease ends, as part of the renewal conversation. A move-in survey after the first month can also catch setup problems.

Do not send a survey in the same message as a rent increase or a notice. Keep it separate so it reads as a real question and not a formality.

Send it by email with a link or a reply-by line, and say how long it takes: "Five questions, about two minutes." Tell tenants what you will do with the answers. People answer when they believe someone reads them.

The questions

Use a simple scale, such as 1 to 5, for the first few, and leave room for words.

1. How satisfied are you with the unit overall?
2. When you reported a problem, how quickly did we respond?
3. When we made a repair, was the problem solved?
4. How easy is it to reach us when you need something?
5. Do you feel the rent is fair for what you get?
6. Is there anything we could fix or improve in the unit or the building?
7. Would you like to renew your lease when it ends? (Yes, No, Not sure)
8. Is there anything else you would like us to know?

Questions 2 to 4 tell you about your own service. Question 5 tells you about price. Question 7 is a quiet early warning about renewals, so you can act before the notice deadline rather than after it.

What not to ask

Fair housing rules bar discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status and disability, and many states add more. A survey that asks about a tenant's family plans, religion, health, age or origin invites trouble and tells you nothing about the unit. See the Fair Housing Act overview from HUD.

• Do not ask about household members, plans for children or visitors.
• Do not ask about income or employment in a satisfaction survey.
• Do not ask leading questions, such as "Aren't we the best landlord?"
• Do not ask for anything you will not read.

Using the answers

• Reply to every response within a few days, even with a one-line thank you.
• Fix one thing that is easy and visible, and say you did it.
• Look for patterns: the same unit, the same vendor or the same complaint.
• If a tenant says they may not renew, start the renewal conversation early and listen before you offer anything.
• Apply any offer by the same rule to every tenant with the same situation.

A survey with no follow-up is worse than none, because it teaches tenants that their answers do not matter. If you cannot act, say why.

Keep it short and keep the record

A short email with a few questions and a reply-by date gets more answers than a long form. Save the replies with the tenant's record so you can see how satisfaction changed over time, and compare it with your repair history and renewal results.

How DoorKeeping handles it

DoorKeeping can draft the survey email for you and keep each reply with the tenant's record. Ask Claude or ChatGPT, for example: "Draft a short satisfaction email for tenants who have lived here six months." You review the draft and approve it before it is sent, and tenants can opt out of messages.

Sources

1. Fair Housing Act overview, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, read Oct 30, 2026

Questions

How many questions should a tenant survey have?

Five to eight is enough. Short surveys get more answers, and you can learn most of what you need from a handful of questions.

Should a tenant survey be anonymous?

Anonymous answers can be more honest, but you cannot fix a specific unit's problem without knowing who wrote it. Many small landlords ask for a name and say how the answers are used.

What is a good time to ask?

About six months into a lease, and again three to four months before it ends.