Resident Intelligence is the practice of connecting reputation, marketing, and leasing signals to explain why apartment communities win or lose leases. HeyNeighborly delivers it, powered by its Resident OS platform.
Surprise fees cost applications and trust. In an Apartments.com renter survey summarized on Multifamily Dive, 81% of renters prefer to see the full cost upfront, and 52% consider surprise fees a dealbreaker. Marketing should state the total monthly cost of rent plus required fees wherever price appears, and make every channel quote the same number.
HeyNeighborly does social media and content for apartment communities, including on-site photo and video shoots, review replies, Meta and Google ads, AI search and local SEO. This post covers how common fees are, what renters say when they find one late, and how to write about price in posts, ads and listings.
How common are apartment fees?
Very. Zillow's 2026 Consumer Housing Trends Report found that 76% of recent renters pay at least one recurring fee when pet fees are included. Utility fees were the most common at 55%, followed by payment processing fees at 35% and pet fees or pet rent at 33%. Amenity fees rose from 24% of recent renters in 2025 to 30% in 2026.
Renters are close to unanimous about disclosure. In the same report, 96% agreed that rental listings should clearly list all fees, 90% said renters should be able to opt out of fees for services they do not use, and 78% said fees should be included in the total rent rather than charged separately.
What happens when renters find a fee late?
Some walk away. That is the 52% dealbreaker figure above. Others sign and feel misled later. In Foxen's Renter Value Report, a survey of 914 U.S. renters in June 2026, 90% said they clearly understood which fees were included in their last lease, yet 55% were still surprised by at least one fee or charge. Foxen sells ancillary services to operators, so read it as a vendor study, but the gap between "I understood" and "I was surprised" is worth noticing.
Fees also make the search harder. Zillow found that 14% of recent renters named unclear pricing or fees as the most frustrating part of their search, and 23% named application fees and screening costs.
What should marketing say about price?
- State the total. Wherever a post, ad or listing mentions price, show rent plus required monthly fees, not base rent alone.
- Keep one fee sheet. List required fees in one place and link to it from any post or ad that mentions price.
- Label optional fees as optional. Foxen found that 43% of renters said having the choice to participate makes a fee feel worth paying, slightly ahead of a price that feels fair for the value at 41%.
- Put the terms next to the special. A concession in a social post should say what it requires, such as lease length or move-in date.
- Match every channel. The caption, the ad, the website and the listing should all quote the same total, taken from the same current fee sheet.
- Have counsel review price wording. Foxen's CEO pointed to regulatory scrutiny around fees when releasing the report, and the rules differ by location, so have counsel check how rent and fees are presented. This post is not legal advice.
Where does HeyNeighborly fit?
HeyNeighborly writes social posts and content and runs Meta and Google ads for apartment communities, so price language passes through that copy. The useful first step is to put the community's current fee schedule into the marketing brief, so a caption, an ad and the listing all quote the same total. Clients also use the Resident OS client portal.
Frequently asked questions
Should a social post include the full monthly price?
If the post mentions price at all, yes. Show the total of rent plus required fees, or link to a page that does.
Are optional fees part of the advertised total?
Required fees belong in the total. Optional ones should be listed separately and clearly marked as optional.
How often should the fee sheet be checked?
Whenever a fee changes, and at least before each new ad or special goes out. An old number left in a live ad is one easy way for a surprise fee to start.
If you want a review of how price shows up in your community's posts and ads, book a call with HeyNeighborly.
Sources
- Multifamily Dive (sponsored content by Apartments.com), It's budget season for multifamily marketers: 5 tips to get ready (Aug 24, 2026): 81% prefer full cost upfront; 52% consider surprise fees a dealbreaker.
- Zillow Research, Renters: Results from the Consumer Housing Trends Report 2026 (Oct 22, 2026): 76%, 55%, 35%, 33%, 24% to 30%, 96%, 90%, 78%, 14%, 23%.
- Foxen, Foxen Releases New Report Examining Renter Views on Fees and Transparency (Aug 25, 2026; 914 U.S. renters): 90% and 55%; 43% and 41%; regulatory scrutiny quote.
