After years of uncertainty and constant movement, renters are finally settling down and this shift is fundamentally changing how landlords should approach tenant screening.
Renter behavior has fundamentally changed. According to Zillow's latest Renters Housing Trends Report, 64% of renters now plan to stay in their current home for two or more years, up from 59% just two years ago. This shift directly impacts your bottom line in ways you might not expect.
This isn't just a statistical blip. It represents a major behavioral change driven by powerful economic and lifestyle factors that aren't going away anytime soon.
Moving has become prohibitively expensive. Between higher rents, increased security deposits, moving costs, and application fees, the financial barrier to relocating has never been higher. When 75% of renters cite affordability as their biggest housing challenge, staying in place becomes the most practical financial decision.
Work arrangements have stabilized. The remote work experiment is over not because it failed, but because it succeeded and became normalized. Renters who spent 2020-2022 chasing lower costs or better locations have now settled into hybrid routines and chosen their preferred markets. The constant reassessment of "where should I live?" has given way to "this works for me."
Market fatigue is real. Years of volatility, competitive bidding wars, and rental application rejections have exhausted prospective movers. Renters are choosing the known quantity of their current home over the stress and uncertainty of entering a still-competitive rental market.
Life stages matter. Millennials, now in their late 20s to early 40s, are increasingly prioritizing stability for family formation, children's schooling, and community connections. The lifestyle that valued mobility above all else is evolving into one that values roots.
When a tenant stays two years instead of one, you're not just avoiding turnover costs, you're fundamentally improving your investment returns.
The turnover cost calculation: Every vacancy period costs you $3,000-$5,000 in lost rent, marketing expenses, cleaning, repairs, and your own time. If you typically turn over a property once a year, cutting that to once every two years immediately saves you thousands annually per property.
Long-term tenants are better tenants. They treat properties with more care because it's truly their home, not a temporary stop. They report maintenance issues sooner because they're invested in the property's condition. They're more likely to handle minor repairs themselves. The relationship shifts from transactional to partnership.
Predictable income is invaluable. In a landscape of rising interest rates and tighter margins, knowing your rental income is stable for 24+ months instead of 12 allows for better financial planning, easier refinancing conversations, and lower stress.
Here's the flip side of renter stability: if 64% of renters are staying put for 2+ years, that means significantly fewer quality applicants are circulating in the rental market at any given time.
Competition among landlords is intensifying. Real estate investor confidence reached 58.1 in Q4 2025, its highest point in over a year. More landlords are actively seeking tenants while fewer renters are actively searching. When good applicants do appear, you're competing with multiple other properties.
Speed matters, but not at the expense of quality. You need to move quickly when quality applicants express interest, but you absolutely cannot sacrifice thoroughness in your screening process. The traditional approach of slowly calling employers, manually reviewing documents, and waiting days for responses puts you at a competitive disadvantage.
When you approve someone who will live in your property for two years instead of one, a bad screening decision has twice the impact.
The math is stark: Factor in potential eviction costs ($3,500-$10,000+), property damage, lost rent during eviction proceedings, legal fees, and the opportunity cost of a vacant property, and one wrong approval can wipe out an entire year of rental profits or more.
Traditional screening methods are failing. Calling employers during business hours only to be told they can't share employee information. Reviewing pay stubs and bank statements that could be AI-generated forgeries. Waiting three to five days for background check results while your top applicant accepts another property. These methods are both too slow AND too vulnerable to fraud.
Today's rental market demands a screening process that delivers both speed and security - not one or the other.
Comprehensive verification that works in hours, not weeks includes direct employment verification through secure payroll connections, multi-layer income validation that catches AI-generated fake documents, identity verification with biometric matching, and real-time background checks that don't leave you waiting.
Transparency attracts quality applicants. Modern renters expect clear communication about requirements and evaluation criteria upfront. When your screening process is both thorough and transparent, you attract exactly the type of tenant you want: someone planning to stay long-term, someone who can genuinely afford the rent, and someone who values professionalism and clear expectations.
Standardization protects you legally. A consistent, compliant screening process for every applicant protects you from Fair Housing violations while ensuring you're evaluating everyone by the same objective criteria.
The rental market has fundamentally shifted. Renters are staying longer, which means the pool of available quality applicants is smaller, competition among landlords is higher, and the cost of a bad screening decision has doubled.
Your screening strategy needs to evolve to match this new reality. Speed, thoroughness, and transparency aren't optional anymore—they're the minimum standard for successfully competing for quality long-term tenants.
In a landscape where good tenants stay put and move less frequently, getting your approval decision right the first time isn't just important. It's everything.
Ready to modernize your screening process? [Learn how Clara helps landlords find and approve quality long-term tenants →]
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