Fun Questions to Ask Residents
Twenty light questions for the people who live in your building, written for managers, resident committees and whoever ends up running the summer barbecue. They start with shared oddities and end with what people would actually turn up to.
The questions
Open any question for the note
What's the weirdest thing you found in your apartment when you moved in?
Why ask it
Every unit has a leftover: a key to nothing, a hook in a strange place, a note behind a radiator. The answers are short, safe and easy for someone to offer while waiting for a lift, which is why this works as a first question.
What's the funniest thing you've seen happen in the lobby or the elevator?
Why ask it
Shared space stories are the only history residents have in common, and telling one costs nobody anything. If several people name the same incident, you have found the building's folklore, which is useful in a newsletter.
Which shared space do you actually use, and which one do you just walk past?
Why ask it
The second half is the one that produces honest answers, because it gives people permission to admit the roof terrace does nothing for them. Managers usually learn more from the walked-past list than from any survey of amenities.
What's the best thing you've managed to cook in that kitchen?
Why ask it
Apartment kitchens are small and everyone knows it, so this becomes a comparison of workarounds rather than a cooking contest. It reliably turns up who would host a potluck and who has an air fryer opinion.
What's the one thing about this neighborhood you'd tell someone before they moved in?
Why ask it
Framed this way you get practical local knowledge instead of civic pride: bin days, the loud street, the one bus that runs late. New residents value this more than anything the leasing office prints.
Where do you send people when they ask for somewhere to eat nearby?
Why ask it
Asking what they recommend rather than what they like gets you the reliable places rather than the fashionable ones. Overlapping answers make an easy noticeboard list that people actually read.
What's the most useful thing you've borrowed from or lent to a neighbor?
Why ask it
A drill, a ladder, a phone charger: the answer measures how much informal trust already exists here. If nobody can think of anything, that is worth knowing before you plan anything ambitious.
How did you meet the first neighbor whose name you learned?
Why ask it
The story is almost always accidental: a parcel, a fire alarm, a dog. Collect a few and you learn which situations actually introduce people in this building, which beats guessing at events.
What's the smartest thing you've done with a small space?
Why ask it
This gets specific and practical fast, and people are genuinely proud of the answer. Expect at least one solution the rest of the building would want to steal.
What's your best guess at the history of this place?
Why ask it
Asking for a guess rather than the facts removes the pressure to be right, so long term residents share what they have pieced together and newer ones ask questions. It is the fastest way to make people feel attached to a building.
Is there a noise here you've never managed to identify?
Why ask it
Everyone has one, and it is usually funnier than it is worrying. It also occasionally surfaces something a manager genuinely needs to look at, which is a fair trade for a light question.
What finally made your apartment feel like home?
Why ask it
The turning point is rarely the furniture. People name a routine, a view, a neighbor saying hello, and those answers tell you what a new resident is actually waiting for.
What would you tell someone moving in next week that isn't in the lease?
Why ask it
This is the building's unwritten manual: which door sticks, when the water pressure drops, where deliveries really end up. Written down, it does more for a new arrival than a welcome pack.
If one thing could be added here, what would it be, and would you use it weekly?
Why ask it
The second clause is the whole question. Plenty of people want a gym in theory, and far fewer will say they would use it weekly, which is the difference between a wish list and a plan.
What's a small annoyance here you've just quietly accepted?
Why ask it
Small irritations rarely make it into a complaint because nobody thinks they are worth an email. Asked directly, they come out cheaply, and several of them are half hour fixes.
What kind of building get-together would you actually show up to?
Why ask it
The word actually does the work, because most people will politely approve of any event and attend none. Answers tend to split between short and casual versus organised, and the split tells you what to plan.
What day and time works for getting people together here?
Why ask it
Unglamorous and the most useful question on the list. Shift workers, parents and commuters answer very differently, and a good event on the wrong evening still gets four people.
If practicality were no obstacle, what pet would you keep here?
Why ask it
Light enough to ask anyone, and it sidesteps the actual pet policy, which is where this topic usually stalls. The answers make good small talk between people who otherwise only nod.
If this building had a newsletter, what would the first story be?
Why ask it
You find out what people think is going on here, which is often not what management thinks is going on. Anyone who answers with enthusiasm has volunteered without noticing.
Honestly, what's the best part of living this close to other people?
Why ask it
Adding honestly invites a real answer rather than a polite one, and some will say the quiet or the anonymity. Both replies are worth hearing before you decide how social this building wants to be.
Asking these without it becoming a survey
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Where and when to ask
- In person, one question at a time, while someone is already standing still: waiting for the lift, folding laundry, holding a parcel. Two minutes gets you a better answer than a form.
- At a resident meeting, use one question as the opener before the agenda. The elevator story or the weird find works because it needs no preparation and gets people talking before the difficult items.
- On a noticeboard or in a group chat, post one question a week rather than a list. Lists get ignored; a single question gets three replies, and three replies attract more.
- Avoid clipboards at doors in the evening. However friendly the question, a stranger with a form at 7pm reads as a sales call.
When it turns into complaints
Expect it, and do not shut it down
Ask residents anything and someone will raise the boiler, the parking or the bins. Cutting that off to stay upbeat is the fastest way to lose the room. Take the note, say where it goes, and return to the question.
Separate the two channels out loud
Say plainly that maintenance issues go through the usual reporting route and that this conversation is about the building as a place to live. People accept the distinction when it is stated rather than implied.
Report back on anything you fix
If a quiet annoyance gets solved after someone mentioned it, say so publicly. One visible follow through does more for the next round of questions than any amount of encouragement.
Things to be careful about
- Do not assume everyone owns, rents on the same terms, lives alone or plans to stay. Questions about renovations or long term plans land badly on a short lease.
- Some residents want to be left alone, and in a building that is a legitimate preference rather than a problem to solve. One polite ask, no follow up.
- Never repeat an answer with a unit number attached. Anonymised in a newsletter is fine; "the couple in 4B told me" is not.
- Keep the questions answerable by someone who moved in last week. Anything that relies on years of history quietly divides the building into insiders and everyone else.