The Organization: Rachuba
Rachuba is a property management and real estate investment firm based in Eldersburg, Maryland, and operates in the Mid-Atlantic region. The multi-generational family-owned company owns two communities and manages approximately 750 apartment homes.
The Challenge: Deriving meaningful data from resident surveys
Rachuba has been conducting resident surveys for almost two decades. Still, the industry trend toward solicited and incentivized reviews and unreliable survey practices established a feedback loop that couldn’t be trusted. Fake reviews and slanted survey questions not only made ratings unrealistic but also undermined the company’s ability to gather authentic sentiment that would help to identify strengths and weaknesses.
“As much as we love five-star reviews, we recognize that things aren’t always perfect for residents,” said Tracey Schmidt, Regional Property Manager with Rachuba. “When all the feedback is positive, that’s not real. I don’t mind negative reviews or surveys because then we know we’re getting real feedback that we can follow up on and make any changes that need to happen. We can then use that to improve the customer experience and asset performance.”
Rachuba required a survey platform that not only engages residents at key touch points in the lease lifecycle but also identifies performance trends and delivers accurate and actionable feedback.
The Solution: SatisFacts surveys revealed gaps in operations
Rachuba vetted several survey companies before selecting SatisFacts in 2014 based on its survey customization, consistency, and customer service. Features like ongoing industry rankings also provided the company with a better perspective on its performance compared to multifamily peers.
To better gauge resident sentiment at critical junctures, Rachuba deployed SatisFacts surveys at the time of move-in, work order completion, pre-renewal, and move-out. After 12 years with SatisFacts, Schmidt said her company keeps receiving fresh survey insights.
“I feel like they’re always improving the questions they ask, based on previous survey results,” Schmidt said. “We really like it because it’s touching base with our residents at key touch points like pre-renewal, which gives us an indication of whether a resident will renew. It’s similar to work order surveys. If work orders aren’t completed promptly or the work isn’t done right, we may not get a renewal. These things all tie together. SatisFacts gives us a better overall picture of resident satisfaction and helps us make sure we are delivering the product we strive to deliver.”
The Result: Survey insights help to optimize operations
Discrepancies between the intended service level and the resident experience were among the first issues revealed through SatisFacts.
At one community, Rachuba decided to retrofit its homes with water-saving low-flow shower heads for increased environmental responsibility and reduced water bills. The company thought it was doing a good thing and conducted the project without resident input, only to discover through post-install surveys that it wasn’t well received. Residents complained that it took them longer to shower. Others said they couldn’t get the soap out of their hair. By approaching the project solely from a high-level vantage, user-level issues were overlooked.
“Initially, there were some areas where we thought we knew what we were doing, but we discovered we didn’t,” Schmidt said. “SatisFacts gives us consistent reporting on where the gaps are in the work that we do. Those gaps are opportunities to optimize the resident experience. We’re listening to the feedback we’re getting, listening to the data, and putting together action plans.”
While Rachuba has learned the value of authentic resident feedback, it still aims for property ratings above 4.5 stars, with 4.8 considered its sweet spot. Even with highly rated communities, the organization uses SatisFacts survey data to identify any minor tweaks that can be made to take ratings even higher. For example, work order surveys are used to streamline workflow and processes for maintenance teams, empowering quicker responses and more efficient repairs.
In the first quarter of 2026, a resident survey regarding maintenance service returned a 4.1 rating, which was below expectations. However, using the detailed feedback provided in the survey, Rachuba was able to make some necessary changes and improve its service rating to 4.85 by Q2. The company gauges data on work orders, move-ins, pre-renewals, move-outs, and unclosed traffic, and also pits itself against industry standards provided through SatisFacts.
Rachuba also uses SatisFacts reviews and survey reports to assess team member performance and ties the data to its bonus structure.
“We can see where our maintenance technicians rank, and on ApartmentRatings.com, we can see whose work is being spotlighted,” Schmidt said. “Our technicians love the recognition that they get, and it creates that little bit of competition internally that pushes them to deliver a higher level of service.”
SatisFacts also provides a glimpse into the performance trends of other multifamily operators, ranking property management companies on an epIQ (Experience and Performance Intelligence Quotient) Index, based on resident satisfaction.
“We love that, because Rachuba is a smaller management company and the bigger companies would normally take all the awards,” said Schmidt, who reported Rachuba’s epIQ scores keep climbing. “Through SatisFacts, we’re competing with the big companies, and we’ve ranked as high as No. 5 among the top companies for resident satisfaction. It motivates our teams. They get excited about it, and they’re like, ‘This time we’re No. 5, but next time we’re going to get to No. 1.’”
Rachuba, which deployed SatisFacts’ full LEO suite last year, is also excited about a new survey feature that polls unclosed traffic. When a prospective resident requests information or tours a Rachuba property but a lease isn’t converted, SatisFacts sends a survey to learn why the prospect decided to look or lease elsewhere.
“In markets like Frederick, Maryland, where it’s very saturated and very competitive, we’re going to be able to see why they didn’t rent with us,” Schmidt said. “We might see some trends that can improve our processes on the leasing end. Those are the types of things that come through in these survey results, and SatisFacts keeps finding new ways to provide us with different information. We pride ourselves on the customer service we offer, that feeling of home, and authentic resident data only amplifies those efforts.”
