A new national survey of 500 landlords reveals how priorities, expectations, and comfort with technology are shifting — and what it means for your rental property.
Each year we like to share research that helps our landlord clients understand the broader market they're operating in. The 2026 PM Trends Report — a nationally representative survey of 500 small landlords conducted by Harris Poll — offers some of the most detailed data available on what today's rental property owners think, want, and expect. Here's what stood out.
Who Are America's Landlords Today?
The small landlord population has changed significantly over the past decade. The survey found that Millennials now make up 38% of all landlords — 1.7 times their share of the general adult population — while Baby Boomers have dropped to just 18%. The shift matters because each generation approaches property ownership, technology, and professional management very differently.
The survey also introduced a useful framework for thinking about landlord behavior: Expanders (buying, not selling), Holders (maintaining their portfolio), Repositioners (actively buying and selling), and Exiters (winding down). Expanders represent 32% of landlords and Holders 36%, suggesting the majority of small landlords are committed to staying in the market.
If you're a Holder — owning and maintaining without plans to grow or sell — you represent the stable core of the landlord market. Understanding your trajectory helps set realistic expectations around investment and management decisions.
Tenant Experience Has Become a Priority
Perhaps the most striking finding in the entire report: 92% of landlords say they would sacrifice some cashflow to ensure a better renting experience for their tenants. The report's authors called this result genuinely unexpected.
"Landlords are thinking like operators, not just investors. They see tenant care as an investment that pays back through retention, fewer turnovers, and better property care."
This aligns with a broader shift in how landlords view the PM relationship. The survey found landlords increasingly see professional management not as a cost center, but as a tool for delivering a better product — both for their tenants and for their own peace of mind.
Stress Relief Is Just as Important as Returns
When landlords were asked why they hire a property manager, the results were split almost evenly between two motivations:
The generational breakdown here is fascinating. Boomers are primarily motivated by stress relief (69%), while Millennials skew toward maximizing cashflow (41%). If you're a younger landlord treating your rental more like a business, the expectation for clear financial reporting and performance data is higher — and that's something to discuss openly with your property manager.
Landlords Want Fast, Reliable Communication
Responsiveness expectations are high across the board. The survey found that 98% of landlords expect some level of after-hours access to their property manager — not necessarily 24/7 live support, but at minimum a reliable acknowledgment that their message has been received.
For phone calls during business hours, 70% of landlords expect a response within 30 minutes. For text messages, that number is 66%. Email buys a little more time, but nearly half still expect a reply within 30 minutes.
If communication speed matters to you — and the data says it does — make sure your property manager has a clear process for after-hours acknowledgment, even if it's automated. An unanswered call at 6pm creates more anxiety than the actual issue.
Repair Thresholds: The $500 Standard
One practical and immediately useful finding: the median repair approval threshold — the dollar amount above which landlords want to be consulted before work proceeds — is $500. Fully 80% of landlords set their threshold at $1,000 or below.
Knowing this helps set clear expectations. If you've never explicitly discussed your approval threshold with your property manager, this is a conversation worth having. A mismatch here is a common source of friction: landlords who want to be consulted on $300 repairs feel overlooked when they aren't, while those comfortable with higher thresholds can feel unnecessarily interrupted.
The AI Shift Is Already Here
The survey data on technology adoption may be the most forward-looking section of the report. 54% of landlords have already used an AI tool like ChatGPT to research or evaluate a property manager, and 75% plan to do so in the future.
This means landlords are increasingly arriving at conversations with information gathered from AI searches — sometimes accurate, sometimes not. It's a good reason to ask your property manager how they handle their online presence and reviews, since that's what AI tools are increasingly drawing from.
On the operational side, 74% of landlords are comfortable with AI assisting in property management tasks — including answering leasing questions, drafting lease terms, setting rent prices, and triaging maintenance. The one area of notable resistance: AI making phone calls to owners directly, where comfort drops to 63%.
The Financial Picture: Rising Costs, Steady Landlords
The report documents some significant cost pressures that are worth understanding:
Insurance has risen 35% since 2019, driven by climate risk, reinsurance costs, and legal system factors. This is not expected to reverse in the near term.
Maintenance labor costs have increased 42% since 2019, though data from Property Meld's platform — tracking over 8.6 million work orders — shows that per-unit spending is beginning to decline as operators use better triage and in-house technicians more effectively.
Despite these pressures, the market shows resilience. Net buy intent among landlords is +21 percentage points (53% plan to buy vs. 32% plan to sell in the next 12 months), suggesting the small landlord market is expanding even as costs rise.
The survey asked when an unexpected repair would push a landlord toward selling. For 31% of landlords, a repair bill under $15,000 could trigger serious consideration of selling. For those earning over $200K annually, that threshold rises sharply — only 20% would consider selling at the same level. Financial cushion is the clearest predictor of staying power.
Satisfaction With Property Management Is Solid
The report calculated an industry-wide Net Promoter Score (NPS) for property management of +43 — putting it above B2B SaaS (+41) and healthcare (+37), and on par with financial services. When controlling for portfolio size to make a fair year-over-year comparison, landlord satisfaction has remained essentially flat at +35, indicating a stable and reasonably healthy relationship between landlords and their property managers.
Millennials show the highest satisfaction (NPS +46) and the highest adoption of professional management (73%). Boomers are the most resistant segment, with just 29% currently using a PM and 37% saying they would never consider it.
A Few Things Worth Discussing With Your Property Manager
Based on the data, here are three conversations this report suggests are worth having:
1. Your repair approval threshold
If you haven't set an explicit number, the industry median is $500. Make sure your manager knows where you stand — and whether you want to be texted, called, or emailed when that threshold is reached.
2. Your communication preferences
Are you more stressed by slow responses, or by too many check-ins? The data shows these preferences vary widely by landlord type. A quick conversation about your preferred channel and expected response time can prevent a lot of friction.
3. What "success" looks like for you
Are you managing for cashflow, stress reduction, long-term wealth, or some combination? The survey makes clear that different landlords want different things — and a property manager who understands your actual goal can serve you much better than one operating on assumptions.
The landlord landscape in 2026 is one of rising costs, rising technology adoption, and — perhaps surprisingly — rising commitment to tenant experience. The small landlords who are thriving are treating their properties more like businesses, leaning into professional partnerships, and being clear about what they expect. We hope this data helps inform those conversations.
As always, we're here to talk through any of this in the context of your specific portfolio.
