Property Management Industry Report 2022

2 0 2 2 STAT E O F T H E
Property
Management
Industry
RE PORT
2 Introduction
Introduction Property managers know better than anyone that the months since March
2020 have been tough for a lot of people. Regulations enacted to keep
renters in their homes at the beginning of the pandemic have created
incredible hardships for small-business rental owners and property managers
downstream. At times, animosity simmered between renters and landlords,
though their plights had far more in common than they had differences.
Rental assistance, once available, was too difficult for many renters and rental
owners to access, requiring property managers to devote time to filling out
scores of paperwork.
As always, though property managers have the clearest view of the

challenges that our industry faces, they’ve set their gaze on the opportunities
they foresee rather than fearing what’s on the horizon.
More property managers plan to grow their portfolios

in the next two years than we’ve seen since 2016; more
rental investors plan to acquire new properties than
we’ve seen since 2017; and more property managers
expect their revenue to increase than we've seen since
2018, with dramatic increases since the early months of
the pandemic.
Above all else, property managers remain confident in the value that their
services provide for their customers—and this value has never been more
clear to renters and rental owners than it is now. In the face of incredible
uncertainty, property managers’ customers have continually turned to them
for guidance. And property managers have turned to technology to bring
their capabilities online, making their services more convenient for customers
The 2022 State of the Property Management Industry Report

Introduction 3
to access and their operations more efficient.

P R OP ERT Y M A NAG E R S ’
This has allowed them to focus their efforts on P ER SP ECT IV E:
what they do best: delivering the on-the-ground
support, local market expertise, and empathy- How Their Role Has Changed
driven customer service that have kept the rental Over the Last 18 Months
market up and running throughout the pandemic.
 I do feel that our role has changed
In this year’s State of the Property Management for our clients and residents this past
Industry Report, we’ll outline the successes year due to the pandemic—we've
and challenges that property managers have had to become more innovative
experienced over the last year, as well as the with how we run our business and
opportunities and difficulties that they foresee empathetic with the situation at
for the industry in the years to come. We’ll share hand. (Brunswick, GA)
the opinions and stories of property managers,
rental owners, and renters across the country  We have become much more
to bring their voices to the forefront. And we’ll closely involved in the goals of our
reveal the strategies that property managers are landlords where their properties
using to run and grow their businesses in the are concerned. We have also been
current environment. placed in the middle of much turmoil
and trauma. We have helped tenants
apply for rent funds and worked with
others to stay current with their rent.
In short: There are both challenges
(Tampa, FL)
and opportunities ahead for the
industry; but property managers  We played a very different role
have the know-how and the [during the pandemic]. We had to sit
determination to adapt and grow back and watch certain things unfold
before our eyes. We cannot wait to
in the constantly shifting conditions
be able to get back into our on-site
that are now a matter of course. role 100% in order to provide for our
clients and tenants to the best of our
abilities. (Buffalo, NY)

4
TA B L E OF
Contents
2022
1 Introduction º Update on Renters’ Financial Health
2 A Snapshot of Property Management º Update on Renters’ Moving

Behavior
Companies in 2021
• How Rental Demand & Demographics
3 Property Managers’ Growth Plans Are Evolving
• Property Managers’ Burgeoning Plans º Why Residents Rent Their Homes
to Expand in 2021
• Property Managers’ Improved Outlook º Issues to Watch: Housing Demand
on Revenue Growth & Affordability
º Household Composition
4 Property Managers’ Relationships
º Demand for Single-Family &
with Owner Clients Suburban Rentals
• The Value of Property Managers’ º Renters’ Changing Amenity
Services During the Pandemic Preferences
• Why Rental Owners Hire Property • Opportunities for Property Managers
Managers to Satisfy Renters’ Needs
• Owners’ Outlook on the Current
Rental Market 6 Property Managers’ Use of Technology
º Property Managers’ Shifting • The Tools Property Managers Have
Client Base
Found Most Useful in 2021
º Rental Owners’ Stressors & • The Interplay Between Technology
Demand for Services
& Customer Service
• Rental Owners’ Technology Preferences
5 Property Managers’ Relationships
• Residents’ Technology Preferences
with Residents
• A Shift in How Property Managers

7 Takeaways from the 2022 Industry
& Renters Relate
Report
• The Ongoing Impact of COVID-19
8 Appendix

A Snapshot of Property Management Companies in 2021 5
S E C T I O N TWO
A Snapshot of Property
Management Companies
in 2021
Our Respondents’ Portfolios
The Property Types in Their Portfolios
Single-family rental homes 79%
Multifamily rental homes 69%
Apartment buildings: <11 units 46%
Apartment buildings: 11-50 units 37%
Apartment buildings: >50 units 18%
Mobile homes/other types 14%
Whose Properties They Manage
The Number of Units in Their own Other

investment investors’
Their Portfolios properties properties
27%
38%
1-20 11% 401-600 8%
21-40 10% 601-1000 7% 35%

41-100 21% 1001-2500 6%
101-400 31% >2500 6% Their own & other

investors’ properties

6 A Snapshot of Property Management Companies in 2021
The Top 15 Metros Where Their

Companies Operate
1 Los Angeles, CA
2 Chicago, IL
3 Phoenix, AZ
4 Tampa, FL
5 Boston, MA
6 Atlanta, GA
7 Houston, TX
8 New York, NY
9 Dallas, TX
10 San Francisco, CA
11 Denver, CO
12 Miami, FL
13 Detroit, MI
14 Seattle, WA
15 Minneapolis, MN

A Snapshot of Property Management Companies in 2021 7
More About Our Respondents
Their Top 10 Priorities for the Year How Large Their Teams Are
(Including Themselves)
1 Residents
2 Growth 1 17%
3 Efficiency 2-5 45%

4 Clients
6-10 17%
5 Profitability
11-25 12%
6 Organization
26-50 5%
7 Balance
>50 5%
8 Vendors
9 Staff
10 Technology
The Services Our Respondents Currently Offer
Rent/fee collection 85% Property sales/brokering/

50%
purchasing
Maintenance/repairs 83%
Construction/renovation 49%
Leasing properties/marketing
79%
vacancies Financial reporting/
47%
benchmarking
Property inspections 72%
Financial/investment advice 22%
Evictions 65%
Cleaning 60% Insurance services 14%
Accounting/bookkeeping/tax Interior design/staging 13%

56%
preparation
Legal advice 10%
Outdoor services 50%

8 Property Managers' Growth Plans
SE C T I O N TH REE
Property Managers’
Growth Plans
Property Managers’ Burgeoning Plans to Expand
More property managers plan to grow their portfolios in the

next two years than we’ve seen since 2016; and more property
managers reported portfolio growth over the last two years than
we’ve seen since 2017.
4 Portfolio Growth Trends in 2021
1. Portfolio growth is a top priority for property managers in 2021, with 41% of property
managers reporting that it’s one of their three main areas of focus for the year.
2. The vast majority of the property managers we surveyed plan to expand their portfolios
over the next two years. 86% say they plan to add new properties to their portfolios in the
near future—the highest growth expectations that we’ve seen since 2016. This includes a
sudden, unprecedented jump in growth expectations of nine percentage points between
August 2020 and July 2021.

Property Managers' Growth Plans 9
3. Most property managers we surveyed have added new properties to their portfolios
over the last two years. This is the highest rate of portfolio growth we’ve seen in our
population since 2017, with 73% of property managers reporting that they’ve recently
acquired new properties.
4. Property managers are seeing the benefit of diversifying their portfolios. The pandemic
revealed how a single event can cause dramatic shifts in demand. As a result, property
managers who have previously focused their business model on a particular type of
housing or population are considering branching out to provide greater stability.
PROPE RT Y MANAG ERS’ PERSP ECT IV E:
The Importance of Portfolio Diversification
 [The pandemic] has forced us to broaden our client base and

not focus too heavily on one group, [such as] students.
 Until the market settles down and prices stabilize, I feel that
we will still see a volatile market for retaining properties to
manage. We are looking to manage more associations and/or
commercial sites to create a more solid base. (Boston, MA)

Property Managers' Portfolio

See charts in appendix for
Growth Plans for the Next 2 Years
more detail:
11%  Property Managers' Reported

Plan to stay
Portfolio Growth, 2016 to 2021
the same
3%
39% Plan to shrink
 Property Managers' Expected
Plan to expand Portfolio Growth, 2016 to 2021
a little
 Rental Owners’ Expected Portfolio
47% Growth, 2018 to 2021
Plan to expand
significantly
Property Managers' Portfolio

Growth in the Last 2 Years
18%
Stayed the same
9%
Shrank
35%
37%
Expanded
Expanded significantly
a little

How Property Managers Plan to Expand Their

Portfolios in the Next 2 Years
1. Through Their Client Base
♦ 72% of third-party property managers (those who manage other investors’

properties) plan to grow by actively recruiting new clients, making this the
most common tactic they expect to use for portfolio expansion.
♦ 44% of third-party property managers plan to grow by encouraging clients to

purchase additional properties, making this the third-most common tactic for
portfolio expansion.
Note: In this year’s survey, more rental owners report that they plan to
acquire new properties over the next two years than in the previous four
years of surveys we’ve run.
♦ 27% of third-party property managers plan to cut out resource-intensive or

unsuccessful clients as they grow over the next two years.
2. Through Referrals
♦ 53% of third-party property managers plan to encourage current clients to

provide referrals to help them attract new business, making this the second-
most common tactic for portfolio expansion.
Note: 47% of rental owners say that word-of-mouth reputation is a top

consideration when hiring a property manager.
♦ 28% of third-party property managers plan to grow by partnering with

members of their networks in adjacent professions to receive referrals—for
example, real estate lawyers and brokers.

12
3. Through Property Acquisitions
♦ 38% of property managers plan to grow by purchasing new properties for

their portfolios.
Note: This includes 53% of property managers who already manage

properties they own, and 31% who manage other investors’ properties.
♦ 24% of property managers plan to grow by acquiring other property

management companies or investors’ portfolios.
♦ 17% of property managers who manage properties they own plan to sell off
resource-intensive or unprofitable properties as they grow over the next
two years.
4. By Broadening Their Portfolios
♦ 26% of property managers plan to grow by expanding the types of

properties they manage.
♦ 22% of property managers plan to grow by expanding their services to a

new geographic area.
Note: 51% of property managers currently manage properties in

multiple metro areas.

Property Managers’ Improved Outlook on Revenue Growth
More property managers expect their revenue to increase over the next
two years than we’ve seen since 2018, a significant improvement since
the early months of the pandemic.
3 Revenue Growth Trends in 2021
1. 91% of property managers we surveyed rising costs throughout the pandemic.

expect their revenue to increase over However, 78% of property managers still
the next two years, of whom a little more report that their revenue has increased
than half anticipate slight growth rather over the last two years, though this
than significant growth. Their revenue represents a decline of five percentage
growth expectations are higher than points since 2018.
we’ve seen in any of our surveys since
2018, and they’re significantly higher than 3. Profitability has fallen to position #5
we recorded during the early months of on property managers’ list of priorities
COVID-19: Just 77% anticipated revenue for the year in light of the financial
growth in May 2020. difficulties that rental operators
have faced. The number of property
2. In this year’s survey, fewer property managers who said that they’re
managers reported that their revenue focused on increasing their profitability
has increased in the preceding two and finding new sources of revenue
years than in the previous five years dropped by ten percentage points over
of surveys we’ve run. This is at least in the last year to 20%.
part due to the effects of missing rent
payments, diminished rent growth, and

Property Managers' Revenue Growth

Expectations for the Next 2 Years
43%
Expect it to increase significantly
48%
Expect it to increase a little
7%
Expect it to stay the same
2%
Expect it to decrease
Property Managers' Revenue

Growth in the Last 2 Years
47%
Increased a little
31%
Increased significantly
13%
Stayed the same See charts in appendix for more detail:
9%  Property Managers' Expected Revenue Growth: 2017 to 2021

Decreased
 Property Managers' Reported Revenue Growth: 2017 to 2021
 Property Managers' Top Priorities for the Year: 2017 to 2021

How Property Managers Plan to Increase Their Revenue in the

Next 2 Years
1. By Raising Rents
♦ 55% of property managers plan to raise rents on new leases, making this the
most popular tactic for generating additional revenue over the next two years.
♦ 48% of property managers plan to raise rents upon lease renewal, making this
the second most popular revenue generation tactic.
U PDAT E ON RENT G ROWT H
Rents are on the rise again in many markets, particularly for new leases in single-
family rental communities; rentals that are affordable to low- and middle-income
renters; and popular metros in the South and West. One motivation behind rising
rents, besides the reality that rental demand continues to outpace the available
supply, is the need to balance out the rent payments that property managers and
owners didn’t receive over the last year.
WHAT PRO PERT Y M A N AGER S A R E DOING:
 Rents are increasing to cover the added cost of no/slow payers, [and] I've
got owners who want shorter leases to avoid potential eviction issues if the
CDC issues more moratoriums. (Fort Wayne, IN)

2. By Raising Fees
♦ 36% of third-party property managers plan to raise rates/fees for new clients—the third
most popular tactic for revenue generation that property managers plan to use over the
next two years.
♦ 30% of third-party property managers plan to raise rates/fees for existing clients.
3. By Updating Properties
♦ 33% of property managers plan to make value-add updates to the properties they manage,
particularly those who manage multifamily rentals.
Note: This includes 38% of property managers who manage properties they own,
and 31% of third-party property managers.
WHAT PROPERT Y MAN AGER S A R E DOING:
 I'm working with my current owners to improve/address maintenance issues for

existing properties to justify an increase in rents. (Billings, MT)
 We're engaging in flips of unwanted properties to either resell or add to our portfolio.
(Dayton, OH)
 We have added new amenities to our complex in order to increase rental rates and
have more to work with for repairs and improvements. (Logan, UT)

4. By Managing Higher-Rent Properties 5. By Expanding Amenities
♦ 28% of property managers plan ♦ 24% of property managers plan to

to manage or acquire properties expand the amenities and services
in higher-rent communities to they provide to residents to
increase their revenue. generate additional revenue.
W HAT PRO PERT Y MANAGER S A R E DOING:
 We have recently created a tenant insurance packet to boost the credit score of
our tenants and our revenue stream. (Reno, NV)
 We added a resident benefit package and updated our pet fees and policies.
(Wausau, WI)

6. By Expanding Their Services
♦ 27% of third-party property managers plan to expand the services they provide to
clients through their in-house staff, while 23% will expand their services with the help
of external vendors.
WH AT P R OP ERT Y M A NAGER S A R E D O I N G :
 We started offering real estate brokerage

services because so many clients wanted to
sell. We turned a negative into profit.
(San Francisco, CA)
 Cost-effective, routine maintenance services

such as pest control and A/C checks.
(Pittsburgh, PA)
 Handyman services for non-managed

properties. (Buffalo, NY)
 Offering [a] general contracting-type service—

repair/rehab coordination. (Lancaster, PA)
 A self-funded tenant performance guarantee.

(Williamsport, PA)
Return to Table of Contents

Property Managers’ Relationships with Owner Clients 19
S E C T I O N FOU R
Relationships with
Owner Clients
The Value of Property Managers’ Services During the Pandemic
Satisfying their current clients and finding the right owners to

work with is a top focus for property managers in 2021, second
only to expanding their portfolios and attracting and retaining
great residents.
27% of third-party property managers selected ‘clients’ as one of their top three priorities
for the coming year. This reflects the energy that property managers are exerting to fulfill
their clients’ expectations around responsiveness and personalization of services during the
pandemic, and as clients have required additional support with their properties’ finances.
Property managers have never had more responsibilities than they have during the
pandemic; but between the spread of the virus, the uncertainty of rent payments, and the
increase in regulations on the rental market, many feel like they’ve never had less control
over the environment they’re operating in.

20 Property Managers’ Relationships with Owner Clients
Many property managers have reported the pandemic, even as owners have had to
feeling like there’s nothing they can do to become more cost-conscious. In particular,
completely satisfy their clients’ expectations, rental owners have been grateful for property
motivating them to work harder than ever managers’ expertise on regulatory changes,
to prove their value. We saw this dynamic property finances, and local market conditions;
play out in this year’s survey responses: 3 as well as their ability to manage maintenance
in 5 property managers believed that they and residents—especially for the 57% of
provided more value to their clients than owners who hired a property manager because
ever before during the pandemic, while 3 in 5 they don’t live near their rental properties.
rental owners felt that their property managers’
value stayed the same. (Notably, just 5% of Ultimately, after the financial instability and
rental owners felt that their property managers’ increase in regulations that their clients have
services had decreased in value.) experienced since March 2020, property
managers feel confident that the owners who
Despite this difference in perception, both remain in the rental market going forward
property managers and rental owners agree will be far less likely to try to manage their
that the value of property management properties without the support of a professional.
services has come into clear focus during
PR OPE RTY MANAG ERS’ PERSPECT IV E:
Their Customers’ Expectations During the Pandemic
 Even when the pandemic is over, I think our client base will not be willing to switch back
to 'normal.' They will expect us to continue to provide the same online and convenient
services. (Eugene, OR)
 Given that all of our tenants are in stressful situations, we were expected to handle or
excuse more lease breaks, complaints, etc. at our expense.

How Valued Property Managers Felt by Their Clients

During COVID-19
More valued than in the past 34% 57%

No more or less valued 40%
Less valued than in the past 3%
How Valuable Property Managers' Clients Found Their

Services During COVID-19
More valuable than in the past 34%
No more or less valuable 58%

Less valuable than in the past 7%
RE NTAL OWNERS’ PERSPEC TIV E:
The Value of Property Management During the Pandemic
 We do not live in the same country as our rental property. Our property managers have been
invaluable. Tenants left and property managers marketed the property, showed it, found good
tenants, handled leasing, cleaning, and renovations—everything! (Newark, NJ)
 I feel that [the value of my property manager’s services] stayed consistent and steady.
Nothing up or down or out of the ordinary, which says a lot considering what the world and
economy has gone through. (Logan, UT)

Why Rental Owners Hire Property

Managers
5 Trends in the Hiring of Property

Managers in 2021
1. 61% of the rental owners we surveyed currently

work with a property manager to run their
properties—slightly lower than the 63 to 64%
reached during previous peaks of the pandemic,
but significantly higher than the 55 to 56% that
we saw in prior years.
How Many Rental Owners Work

with a Property Manager in 2021
Currently have a property manager 61%
Don't have a property manager 39%
2. Accidental Landlords are more likely than

investors to hire a property manager. 66% of
Accidental Landlords currently have a property
manager, in comparison with 60% of Unintentional
Investors and 58% of Intentional Investors.

3. Distance is the most common reason why Why Rental Owners Work with
rental owners hire property managers, but a Property Manager in 2021
less so than in the past. In 2021, 57% of rental
owners have a property manager primarily
Don't live near their property 57%
because they don’t live near their properties;
but this represents a decrease of ten Need help managing their
48%
residents
percentage points since January, potentially
indicating that rental owners who don’t live Need help managing
47%
maintenance
near their rentals (who tend to be Accidental
Landlords) were more likely to sell their Need help with regulatory
25%
compliance
properties over the past year.
Need help with property
21%
accounting
4. Resident management is an increasingly
Need help increasing their
popular reason why rental owners hire 19%
profitability
property managers. 48% of rental owners
reported this as a primary reason why they Want to be able to focus on
6%
growth
work with a property manager in 2021—up
from 42% in 2020—as the need for hands-on
problem-solving and on-the-ground support of
resident-related issues has increased due to See charts in appendix for
the pandemic. more detail:
 How Many Rental Owners Work

5. Expertise on regulations, accounting, and with a Property Manager, 2018
profitability remain less common but stable to 2021
reasons why rental owners reach out to a
 Why Rental Owners Work with a
property manager for help.
Property Manager, 2020 & 2021

RENTAL OWN ER S’ P ER SP ECT IV E:
Why They Hire Property Managers

& What They Look For
 I want a property manager who is professional, who

knows the regulations and is active in maintaining the
value of my property, makes an effort to find the best
tenant possible, and makes good recommendations
about when and how to handle the upkeep for my
property. (Washington, DC)
 I expect my property manager to handle all

communication with the tenant, to know a good
tenant from a bad one, [and] to know how to keep a
good tenant in place for years. (Denver, CO)
 We work with a management company who creates

quarterly presentations about the region we own
property in. This has been super helpful to provide
insight into areas to purchase rentals in.

Owners’ Outlook on the Current Rental Market
Property managers worry that small-business rental owners are

becoming increasingly reluctant to rent out their properties due
to the legal and financial challenges they’ve weathered during
the pandemic. But the rental owners who plan to hold onto their
properties continue to see residential rentals as a smart investment,
and many plan to acquire new properties in the near future.

Between January and May 2021, we saw a slight decrease in the number of rental owners who
planned to acquire new properties over the next two years. Even so, 46% of investors and 36%
of rental owners overall plan to expand their portfolios—more than we’ve seen since 2017, and
far more than during the initial months of the pandemic. As we expected, in areas where the
overheated housing market has inflated prices, some investors are delaying their acquisition
plans. However, it’s promising to see that most investors who don’t plan to grow in the next
two years do plan on holding onto their properties.
Rental Owners' Plans to Sell At Least Rental Owners' Portfolio Growth

One Property in the Next 2 Years Plans for the Next 2 Years
7%
17%
50%
19%
47%
29%
19%
12%
Likely to sell Plan to expand significantly

Slightly likely to sell Plan to expand a little
Slightly unlikely to sell Plan to stay the same
Unlikely to sell Plan to shrink
For actionable advice and additional

See chart in appendix for
research on this topic, check out the
more detail:
2021 Rental Owners’
Report: Vol. 1  Rental Owners' Expected
Portfolio Growth, 2018 to 2021
Visit bit.ly/OwnersReport1

PROPERT Y M A NAGER S’ P ER SP ECT IV E:
Owner Clients’ Shifting Outlook on the Rental Market
 I feel that the rental freezes essentially scared the type of first-time
investors that didn't really understand the risks involved in investment
property ownership. By that, I mean the type of buyer that stretched
themselves too thin in order to purchase, but never understood that a
property could sit vacant for periods of time, or need substantial repairs, or
a pandemic may come and freeze that revenue flow. This isn't necessarily
a bad thing, as these owners were always the last to spend money on
repairs, upgrades, or preventative maintenance. So this led to an uptick in
properties being snatched up in the area by seasoned investors who do
pour money into upgrades in order to keep their properties competitive
against others on the market, as well as get the highest and best use in
terms of what they make in rent. (New Orleans, LA)
 Some clients intend to hold onto their investment for life, no matter what
the changing market holds for them. For them, we are valuable and will
never lose our worth. For other clients, we feel that our role has changed
and we are only helping transition their properties from a mediocre rental
to a sellable house. They intend to sell as soon as the time is right. More
and more, we believe that more clients are switching over to the second
scenario. (Eugene, OR)

R ENTA L OWNER S’ P ER SP EC TI V E :
Their Plans for Their Portfolios

THE 3 TYPES OF INVESTORS IN
 Home prices are high at the moment, but
Property Managers’ Client Base
demand for rental property can be as high or
higher. I am looking for properties that can retain
their inflated market value. (Beaumont, TX)
 Inflation of property values has made it

convenient and profitable to downsize my
1. Intentional Investors purchased rental holdings. (Wichita, KS)
property as an investment from the start.
 It comes down to the numbers and whether

you can cover your expenses. The increased
risk is nonpayment with eviction moratoriums.
(Baltimore, MD)
2. Accidental Landlords came to own

rental property for circumstantial reasons
and don’t consider themselves investors. The Types of Investors in Property
Managers' Client Base in 2021
22%
29%
3. Unintentional Investors came to own 49%
rental property for circumstantial reasons,
but now consider themselves investors.
Intentional Investors
Accidental Investors
Unintentional Investors

Property Managers’ Shifting Client Base Rental Owners' Reasons for

Owning Rental Property in 2021
The exodus of Accidental Landlords from the
rental market didn’t begin with the pandemic. Passive stream of income 67%
These rental owners have been steadily selling
Active stream of income 15%
off their rentals for the last few years as the
To move into eventually 13%
market gradually shifted in sellers’ favor. They’ve
continued to do so in 2020 and 2021 as increased Waiting for a good time to sell 11%
regulations have complicated rental ownership, To make available to family/friends 9%

costs have increased, and profitability has become
Sentimental reasons 9%
more difficult to achieve. We’ve seen evidence of
this in the population of rental owners we survey
each year, where the number of investors has risen
from 67% to 71% since 2018. See charts in appendix for
more detail:
This increase in investment-focused owners
 The Types of Investors in Property
within property managers’ client base has
Managers' Client Base, 2018 to 2021
resulted in greater demand for a broad range of
services and expertise, far above and beyond the  Rental Owners' Reasons for Owning
traditional duties of repairs and rent collection. Property, 2018 to 2021
Today, property managers’ clients are seeking
a professional partner who can supplement the
expertise they may already have with knowledge
of the local market and changing regulations.
Especially during the pandemic, property research on this topic, check out the
managers have reported an increased need for
2021 Rental Owners’
round-the-clock information, communication, Report: Vol. 2
resources, and support, with many using the
Visit bit.ly/OwnersReport2
phrase ‘trusted advisor’ to describe the role that
they now play for their clients.

Rental Owners’ Stressors & Demand for Services
for property managers’ services hit a high point,

and property managers stepped up to the plate
During the pandemic, we by offering more services to their clients.
noticed a clear relationship
By May 2021, rental owners’ stress levels had
between rental owners’ stress
essentially returned to normal, and the number
levels and their interest in of rental owners requesting property managers’
property managers’ services. services fell slightly. The number of property
managers providing any given service also
saw a small decrease, suggesting that property
managers may have taken on new services
Understandably, the number of concerns that during the pandemic that they now realize they
rental owners express has mirrored the ebb and can’t or don’t want to continue to offer.
flow of the crisis. In January 2021, rental owners
reported having a wider range of stressors However, more rental owners are interested in
than in prior years, from filling vacancies to working with a property manager today than
accounting and bookkeeping; and we also saw they were before the pandemic, particularly
a significant surge in anxiety about property investors; and property managers are providing
maintenance and repairs. As a result, demand far more services than a few years ago.
PROP ERT Y M A N AGER S’ P ER SP ECT IV E:

Their Increasing Role as a Trusted Advisor
 [The pandemic has] highlighted the need for knowledge around current and
legislative events in their local markets. Landlords and tenants need to know
their current rights, and there are so many that don't. (Denver, CO)

 We have moved from rent collector to advisor on rentals. In California, with eviction
moratoriums, we were often the bearer of bad news, but the only source of info for both
owners and renters. (Riverside, CA)
 We deal more in information. [Our role as a] trusted advisor has increased. (Nashville, TN)
The Services Rental Owners Want vs. Those That

Property Managers Provide in 2021
What Rental What Property

Owners Want Managers Provide
Rent/fee collection 83% 85%

Maintenance/repairs 75% 83%
Evictions 73% 65%
Leasing properties/marketing vacancies 70% 79%
Property inspections 66% 72%
Resident management/communications 63% No data
Accounting/bookkeeping/taxes 44% 56%
Cleaning 42% 60%
Property analytics 25% No data
Financial reporting/benchmarking 25% 47%
Legal advice 25% 10%
Outdoor services 23% 50%
Construction/renovation 23% 49%
Purchasing/selling/brokering property sales 14% 50%
Interior design/staging 7% 13%
Financial/investment advice 6% 22%
Insurance services 6% 14%

Maintenance & Repairs During the Pandemic Rental Owners' Top 10 Sources
of Stress in 2021
Across the board, there’s one area where rental
owners remain more stressed than they were
Maintenance 55%
prior to the pandemic: Maintenance and repairs.
This remains a top source of stress for 55% Filling vacancies 24%
of rental owners as of May 2021—down from Managing residents 22%

63% in January 2021, but up from 45% in 2019.
Accounting/bookkeeping/taxes 19%
Accidental Landlords have been feeling especially
overburdened by maintenance-related concerns. Finding/working with property
18%
manager
As residents have spent more time at home, their Legal issues/regulatory

17%
expectations for responsiveness have risen, changes
requiring rental owners and property managers Finding/working with vendors 16%
to spend more time communicating with them,
Renovations 15%
coordinating maintenance work, and addressing
issues on-site. In addition, supply chain issues Rent collection 14%
and a shortage of vendors are resulting in delays
Portfolio/business growth 11%
that they worry will cause dissatisfaction among
their residents.
But what’s really made maintenance a pain point

during the pandemic are the revenue shortfalls that
small-portfolio rental owners have experienced,
making it hard for them to afford big-ticket repairs.
As a result, though owners who run their rentals
with the help of a property manager are usually
significantly less likely than DIY Landlords to select
'maintenance' as a top source of stress, the gap had
narrowed to less than four percentage points by
May 2021.

33
Maintenance Challenges During the Pandemic
 Increased prices of tools and materials have made it harder

to complete maintenance projects on time. Availability of
vendors has decreased due to a high volume of work that
was not completed during COVID that is being scheduled for
now. (Indianapolis, IN)
 The cost of repairs and materials has increased

dramatically. Vendors can't find helpers to stay caught
up on repairs/jobs. We are faced with extensive time
frames in which supplies for repairs are being delivered,
at times causing property managers and investors to
be in violation of landlord/tenant laws. If you can't get a
pump or tank for a well for one to two weeks, you still
have to provide water to those tenants. It has been very
frustrating. (Gainesville, FL)

3 Areas of Opportunity in Property Managers’ Offerings
There are three main areas where property managers have an opportunity to supplement their
current offerings with the right technology and expertise.
1. Reporting: The number of rental owners who expect their property manager to offer
financial reporting capabilities—for each of their individual properties, as well as for
their overall portfolios—is rising as owners increasingly utilize their rentals as a passive
source of income. 1 in 2 rental owners agree that reporting and transparency are a top
consideration in choosing a property manager, particularly for investors; and that financial
reporting is a process that they want their property manager to offer to them using digital
tools or software.
RENTAL OWNERS’ PE R SP ECT IV E
 [I want my property manager to provide] simple monthly reporting on assets/

debits—I shouldn't need to be a CPA to understand. (San Francisco, CA)
2. Legal advice is the only service where the level of interest from rental owners exceeds the
number of property managers who provide it: 25% of rental owners want their property
manager to offer legal advice, but just 10% of property managers currently provide
it. Property managers can consider partnering with legal experts in their networks to
exchange referrals for clients interested in legal advice and property management.
3. Investment advice: A small but consistent number of investors want their property
managers to provide investment advice for rentals they’re considering purchasing—for
example, conducting walk-throughs of a property to point out potential issues and
opportunities. 22% of property managers currently offer investment advice to their clients.
PROPERT Y MANAG ER S’ P ER SP ECT IV E
 My clients, as well as potential clients referred by other realtors, have increasingly

turned to me for advice prior to purchasing a property to determine its viability as
an investment property. (Provo, UT)

The Factors That Influence Rental Owners' Choice of a Property Manager
Local market expertise 65% Regulatory expertise 44%
Reporting & transparency 51% Technology 34%
Referrals & word-of-mouth reputation 47% Financial expertise 22%
Online presence & reputation 44% Investment expertise 15%
See charts in appendix for

more detail:
 The Services Rental Owners Want

Property Managers to Provide,
2019 to 2021
 The Services Property Managers

Provide, 2019 to 2021
 Rental Owners' Primary Sources of

Stress, 2018 to 2021

36 Property Managers’ Relationships with Residents
S E C T I O N FIVE
Relationships with Residents
A Shift in How Property Managers & Renters Relate
On property managers’ list of priorities, ‘attracting and retaining

great residents’ rose from position #9 in 2019 to position #1 in
2021. 46% of property managers now agree that residents are their
primary focus—an unprecedented increase of 30 percentage points
since the pandemic began.
Since March 2020, property managers Some property managers feel that these
have devoted significant energy to resident pandemic-driven changes have brought
management as they took on a more active them closer to their residents by requiring
role in the collections process than ever them to communicate regularly about
before, including hammering out payment their personal and financial situations and
plans with struggling residents and helping prioritize empathy in their interactions.
them fill out cumbersome applications Several of our respondents told us that they
for rental assistance. In addition, due to see a direct connection between the trust
moratoria on evictions, the need for rigorous they’ve fostered with their residents and the
tenant screening and the retention of great loyalty they’ve received in return, with some
residents has become crystal-clear, making noticing fewer residents moving out than in a
this a key component of property managers’ normal year.
value to rental owners in 2021.

Property Managers’ Relationships with Residents 37
PROPE RTY MANAG ERS’ PERSPEC T IV E:
How the Pandemic Changed Their

Relationships with Residents
 We developed more personal

relationships with tenants, which has
been very positive. We had significantly
less turnover. (Olympia, WA)
 [We've been] creating new avenues

to retain residents and to help guide
them on the road to recovering from
the COVID-19 shutdown and get access
to the relief funds that are available.
(Nashville, TN)
 I think there is more accountability and

loyalty with tenants [now]. If you treat
them well, they will stay. (Atlanta, GA)

The Ongoing Impact of COVID-19
Update on Renters’ Financial Health
Renters living in small rental properties owned by small-business rental owners were hit
particularly hard by the pandemic. As of May, 10% of the renters we surveyed remained
worried about their ability to afford their rent—down from 18% the previous August—but
this remains an area of concern, particularly with many renters having depleted their
emergency resources to stay on track with rent payments during the pandemic, and rent
growth on the rise once again.
Update on Renters’ Moving Behavior
Between June 2021 and June 2022, renters in our survey

plan to move at a rate that resembles the years prior to
the pandemic. Of those who plan to move in the next
year, slightly more than half plan to move to another rental
property, while slightly less than half hope to buy a home of
their own, though the hot housing market has undoubtedly
delayed some renters in their transition to homeownership.
During the early months of COVID-19, twice the normal

number of renters chose not to move, with lease renewals
hitting record highs in April 2020. But moving rates
increased throughout 2020, with renters (particularly higher-
income workers in urban neighborhoods) either searching
for good deals and higher quality in the city, or moving to
spacious houses or rentals in the suburbs.1 In our survey,
some property managers still report lower move-out rates,
resulting in tight inventory for rental applicants.
1
"The State of the Nation's Housing 2021," Joint Center for Housing Studies, https://
www.jchs.harvard.edu/state-nations-housing-2021, (June 16, 2021)

Renters' Plans to Move Between June 2021 & June 2022
41%
Plan to remain in current rental
On the fence about whether or not to move 20%

Plan to move to another rental 15%
Plan to buy a home 14%
Concerned about their ability to afford to stay 10%
See chart in appendix for more detail: Renters' Reported Plans to Move, 2018 to 2021
R EN T ER S’ P ER SP ECT IV E :
 I will only move if I find a unit that

is affordable, has more amenities,
and is in my neighborhood. The
cost and hassle of moving isn't
worth it if the benefits aren't high
enough. (Chicago, IL)

How Rental Demand & Demographics Are Evolving
Why Residents Rent Their Homes in 2021
When asked why they rent their homes, for many renters, the answer is simple:
They rent because their finances don’t allow them to own a home. But the
number of renters who rent primarily for this reason has been falling since 2019.
As a result, the number of renters who rent for other reasons—for example,
because they like the flexibility that renting gives them, or don’t want the
responsibility of owning a home—has been on the rise.
Why Renters Rent Their Homes in 2021
Finances prevent them from buying a home 34%
Current rental meets their needs/don't want to move 21%
Don't want the responsibility of homeownership 13%
Like the flexibility that renting provides 13%
Allows them to live in a centrally located neighborhood 12%
Like the amenities/community it gives them access to 8%
See charts in appendix for more detail:

 Why Respondents Rent Their Homes, 2019 to 2021

R E NTE RS’ PERSPEC T IVE:

Why They Rent Their Homes
 I am glad I'm renting an apartment right

now even though I've considered buying a
home or townhome recently. I don't want the
responsibility of owning a home and all of its
maintenance issues, taxes, insurance, and
upkeep. [It’s] much easier and more convenient
to just contact our property manager for repairs.
(Grand Rapids, MI)
 I like my current rental. The rent is affordable, I

have good neighbors, and I'm close to shopping
and other amenities. It would be nice to own, but
not so nice that I'd be willing to go through the
aggravation of moving and give up things that I
value here. (Columbus, OH)

Issues to Watch: Housing Demand & Affordability
Rising Home Prices
Home prices have risen further out of many renters’ reach over the last year as a confluence
of factors have increased the demand for homes, including low interest rates; evolving needs
for living spaces; the rise of remote work; an uptick in household formation; and rising savings
among higher-income workers.
However, the demand for homes is constrained by the available supply, resulting in a severe
shortage of houses that the average renter can afford. In addition, with rent growth outpacing
wage growth and the burden of student loan debt, many renters struggle to save enough to
make a sizable down payment—increasing the likelihood that those who are able to buy a
home will have higher monthly payments due to private mortgage insurance.
Renters who were able to purchase homes in the early months of the pandemic tended to
have higher household incomes, and paid more for their homes than buyers did in the months
preceding the pandemic2—evidence of how homeownership has become even less attainable
for low- and middle-income renters in recent months.
2
"The State of the Nation's Housing 2021," Joint Center for Housing Studies, https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/state-nations-
housing-2021, (June 16, 2021)

RE NT ERS’ PERSPEC T IVE:

The High Cost of Homeownership
 Homeownership seems less attainable now because

it's a seller's market. Even with 20% down, sellers
in my area want additional cash and waived
contingencies. Houses are going for $50k or more
over asking price. We want to own, but we'll have to
wait. (Los Angeles, CA)
 Renting is beneficial because I know what I will pay

in rent each month and do not need to worry about
unexpected large expenses. However, I want the
stability and financial gains that owning a home
brings. I am completely frustrated that at a combined
income of over $100k a year, my family cannot afford
to buy and upkeep a home. The options for owning a
home are in areas that are more rural and we would
be isolated from our support system. (Boston, MA)

Rental Demand & Affordability
With buying a home remaining outside the realm of possibility for many renters, and with renters
(particularly young adults) forming new households at an increased pace, property managers are
experiencing an increase in rental demand.
However, just as in the housing market,

because there’s a shortage of rentals that
P R OPE RTY MANAG ERS’ low-and middle-income renters can afford,
P E RS PE CTI VE: strong demand is putting upward pressure on
rent prices. Worsening the pressure on the
Rising Demand for Rentals
existing supply of affordable rental housing
is the reality that most new construction over
 [The pandemic] has created a larger
the last decade has targeted higher-income
demand for rentals because of the
renters by choice, rather than the majority of
increased prices of properties for
the renting population that rents their homes
sale and the lack of availability of
out of necessity.
purchasing without overpaying.
(Cape Coral, FL) In this year’s survey, property managers
expressed escalating concerns about how
 I think we will see an influx of new difficult it’s become for people to find housing
renters who had resided with their that they qualify for based on their income. In
families in the past now venturing the future, the shortage of affordable housing
out into the rental market. could impact rental demand, since workers
(Rochester, MN) whose incomes aren’t keeping pace with
housing costs are unable to form their own
 I've found more customers are households. In addition, elevated housing
renting instead of buying as they costs can harm rental occupancy by lowering
are uncertain about job security. the number of qualified rental applicants and
(Tucson, AZ) increasing current renters’ risk of eviction.

Another facet of this issue is the P R OP ERT Y M A N AGER S' P ER SP ECT I V E :

growing impact of mom-and-pop The Housing Affordability Crisis
landlords selling off their properties.
This has the potential to contribute  We are seeing the shortage of affordable
to the shortage of housing that housing in our area. Investors [are] coming
low- and middle-income workers in and buying properties at prices that are
can afford by transferring naturally higher than what individuals can pay and
affordable, individually owned then turning around and renting them out for
rental properties to investment exorbitant rents. (Tampa, FL)
firms that have every incentive to
raise rents to market rate.  Supply has been concentrated at the upper
end of the market. Meanwhile, rising demand
and constricted supply have reduced the
stock of low- and moderate-cost rental units,
leaving modest-income Americans caught in
the middle. (Dallas, TX)
R E N T E RS ' PE RSPEC T IVE: The Housing Affordability Crisis
 Housing costs in the area have skyrocketed, which means that buying a house is out of
the question for now. Renting costs are also on the rise, making it doubly hard to find an
affordable rental. So when our current lease ends, we are in a quandary as to what to do next.
If our landlord raises the rent too much, we will have to move out of the area. (Austin, TX)
 I’ve been trying to buy. Can’t afford it. And rent is so high that I can barely start saving for a
down payment. It’s a vicious cycle. (Provo, UT)

Household Composition
The Americans living in renter households are a more diverse group than ever before,
increasingly including children, older adults, and multigenerational families. To ride the wave
of demographic shifts over time, property managers should consider how they can adjust their
offerings to not just suit the needs of the average renter, but of the specific household types that
are likely to live in small rental properties, both now and in the future.
The 4 Most Common Types of Renter Households in 2021
Couples Without Kids, who One-Person Households,

represent 32% of renters overall, who represent 29% of renters
and 35% of renters in single-family overall, and 19% of renters in
properties. Most are young adults single-family properties.
1 who don’t yet have kids, or older 2 A majority are older adults.
adults whose kids have moved out.
Multigenerational Households, Couples with Kids, who
who represent 23% of renters represent 14% of renters overall,
overall, and 30% of renters in and 19% of renters in single-
single-family properties. Most family properties. Most are
often, they’re young adults living young and middle-aged adults,

3 4 since they’re more likely to
in their parents’ household, or
middle-aged adults with an older have kids under the age of 18.
relative living in their household.

Who Lives in Renters' Households

Spouse/domestic partner 30% research on this topic, check out the
Just them 27%
Minor children 21% 2021 Renters’ Report
Significant other 17%
Visit bit.ly/RentersReport
Adult children 13%
Roommates/friends 12%
Parents 9%
Other relatives 6%
See chart in appendix for more detail:
♦ Which Types of Renter Households Are

Common in Each Property Type?

2 Demographic Issues to Watch Demand for Single-Family &

Suburban Rentals
1. The Aging of the Population
The number of households headed by

Americans ages 75 and older will double In recent months, renter household
from 14 million to 28 million over the growth has shifted to single-family
next two decades. As of the most recent rentals and suburban neighborhoods,
American Housing Survey, only 3.5% of
which enable renters to access larger
the U.S. housing stock had the three
most critical accessibility features (no- units at more affordable prices. The
step entry, single-floor living, and extra- pandemic accelerated this trend by
wide halls and doorways).3 giving some workers the ability to
work remotely, creating a need for
2. Slowing Population Growth
additional space in their homes, and
Population growth has hit its lowest level motivating some to move away from
in a century as birth rates and immigration
central business districts.
have fallen, while mortality rates have
increased. Though household formation
is currently on the rise, in the long-term,
slowing population growth will impact As renters spend more time at home, property
the demand for housing, especially in managers have noticed that they’re expressing
places where lower-income families can’t a need for more space, both indoors and
afford to strike out on their own. Slowing outdoors. Renters are finding this in suburban
immigration rates in recent years have neighborhoods within primary and thriving
implications for local economies in both secondary markets, as well as in in single-family
major cities (where it’s a key driver of rental properties, which provide renter households
growth) and rural areas (where it helps to with many of the benefits of homeownership
keep the population stable over time).3 without needing to qualify for a mortgage—a
huge plus in a hot housing market. This trend
is expected to continue as high housing prices
3
"The State of the Nation's Housing 2021," Joint Center cause couples and families who would otherwise
for Housing Studies, https://www.jchs.harvard.edu/state-
nations-housing-2021, (June 16, 2021) purchase homes to continue renting.

3 Trends in Demand for Single-Family & Suburban Rentals
1. Within our sample, the number of renters living in single-family rentals has been on the
rise for the last several years, and now stands at 37%. This represents an increase of five
percentage points since 2018, mirrored by a slight decrease in the number of renters living
in multifamily homes and apartment buildings.
2. Much of the demand for single-family rentals is coming from young and middle-aged
renters who can’t afford to buy homes of their own, but who need room for the children,
relatives, and pets who live in their households, as well as for remote work and learning.
Though older adults are more likely to live by themselves in apartment units, a significant
minority of retirees are interested in aging in place in a rental that feels like a home, driving
interest in single-family rentals among older adults as well.
3. Renters in our sample increasingly live in the suburbs rather than in downtown
neighborhoods, and we’ve seen growth in the number living in rural areas, too. In 2018,
the same number of renters lived in urban and suburban neighborhoods; and now, there’s
a 10-point gap between them. The number of residents who rent in order to live in a
central neighborhood has decreased as renters increasingly favor the affordability and
space that suburban rentals can offer.
Which Type of Neighborhood See charts in appendix for more detail:

Renters Live In
 Which Type of Neighborhood Renters Live In, 2018
Urban 37% to 2021
Suburban 47%  Which Property Types Renters Live In, 2018 to 2021
Rural 16%  Which Property Types Renters Live In, by Age Group

REN T ER S’ P ER SP ECT IV E:
Families’ Interest in Single-Family & Suburban Rentals
 I want a yard for my children,  Before the pandemic, we were

and a true space to call our own. already looking to buy, but I was
(Nashville, TN) hesitant to leave my neighborhood
for a less central one because of
 We are planning to have children price. Now, I am more willing to leave
in the near future and would like to because I can work from home and
have more space and move to a good my current neighborhood is not as
school district. (San Jose, CA) appealing anymore. (Los Angeles, CA)
PRO PERT Y M A N AGER S’ P ER SP ECT IV E:
The Impact of Remote Work on Renters’ Preferences
 One aspect [of the pandemic’s effect on the rental market] is the 'work at home'
movement, with more residents in the apartment building than before. Another is
less desirability for apartment living vs. the suburbs, although I do think that the next
generation of young people will come back to the cities for economic opportunity and
social activities. (San Francisco, CA)
 People will permanently be home more often, so bigger and nicer places are in
higher demand. [We're] doubling down on making homes nicer—upgrading to nice
appliances, etc. (Los Angeles, CA)

The Influx of Institutional Investment
During the pandemic, the popularity of single-family rentals has surged among renters, investors,
developers, and builders alike. As of mid-2021, the size of the single-family asset class ($3.4 trillion)
has nearly caught up to the multifamily sector ($3.5 trillion), according to real estate lender Walker
& Dunlop3—one sign of the massive sea change that has occurred within the sector in recent years.
As a result, property managers are seeing increased competition within the sector from larger firms
and institutional investors—both those who buy up and manage existing properties, and those who
develop and run new rental communities. Because larger firms can generally offer economies of
scale that smaller businesses can't, it can be hard for property management companies to compete
on price. But they're determined to remain competitive in the industry by providing the kind of
personalized customer service that large firms can't.
It's estimated that 1 in 10 single-family homes are currently being built within build-to-rent
communities3, showing the enormous promise that institutional investors see in this space.
However, it's important to note that small-portfolio landlords still own the vast majority of
single-family rentals in the U.S. This is a population that will continue to seek the assistance of
knowledgeable, personable property management experts in their communities.
3
"Financing Your Build to Rent Vision," Walker & Dunlop, https://explore.walkerdunlop.com/financing-your-build-
for-rent-vision, (July 20, 2021)
PRO PERT Y MANAGER S’ P ER SP ECT IV E:
Competition from Larger Firms & Institutional Investors
 Industry giants developing SFRs for leasing will have a long-term effect on our
business. (Las Vegas, NV)
 [The pandemic] increased the number of properties held by a small group of large
players. (Sacramento, CA)
 More properties will be rented by online brokerages. Local, small property

management has shrunk and will continue to. (Hagerstown, MD)
52
Renters’ Changing Amenity Preferences
When deciding where to live, renters increasingly prioritize the comfort, safety, and
affordability of their units over the amenities that might be available in their rental
community or building. The popularity of shared spaces and amenities has increased since
the height of the pandemic, but is still below where it was before. This trend may also be
influenced by renters’ increasing interest in single-family rentals over apartment buildings.
Renters' Top 10 Most-Wanted See charts in appendix for

Amenities in 2021 more detail:
 Renters' Interest in Unit Amenities

1 Air conditioning
2 Safe neighborhood  Renters' Interest in Community/

Building Amenities
3 In-unit washer/dryer
4 Close to stores/restaurants  Renters' Interest in Neighborhood

Characteristics
5 High-speed internet
6 Quiet neighborhood  Renters' Interest in Rental

Modifications & Policies
7 Ability to have a pet
8 Family-friendly neighborhood
9 Private outdoor space
10 Dishwasher

53
8 Opportunities for Property Managers to Satisfy Residents’ Needs
We asked renters what advice they would offer to help their property manager meet their
needs. Their feedback centered around eight main themes:
1. Respond to emails, phone calls, and maintenance requests right away—even if you
don’t have a solution just yet. With many processes being automated with technology,
it’s important to provide memorable customer service at every single touchpoint. Prompt
responses, even just to say you’ve received the message, are much appreciated by renters.
2. Give renters options to pay and communicate in the way that’s convenient for them. A
majority of renters appreciate the convenience of online payment and communication
options, but others value having the opportunity to interact with you in person or over the
phone. Find out your renters’ preferences, and make sure that your staff can support them.
In addition, the pandemic has opened up lines of communication between renters and
property managers regarding payments; so consider how alternative payment schedules—
for example, allowing renters to pay their rent by a different deadline, or in multiple
installments throughout the month—can help you to ensure on-time payments.
RE NTERS’ PERSPEC T IVE
 Focus on your digital efforts. Due to your number of renters, it is unlikely we will
ever get to know each other personally, but we could develop a professional
relationship; and the best way is for you to focus on improving how to interact
with you, particularly surrounding communications and payments. (Seattle, WA)

3. Make sure your rentals can 5. Maintain an open line of

accommodate a diverse range of communication with residents so you
occupants, including families with can resolve any issues before their
kids, pet owners, older residents, and lease is up for renewal. Ask how their
residents with disabilities. High home experience has been so far, if there
prices are motivating demographics are any minor maintenance issues
who would normally buy homes to rent that need attention, and if the unit still
instead. Together with the aging of the fits their needs. This serves the dual
population, this means that a wider purposes of holding onto great renters
range of households will be living and making sure the unit stays in good
in your properties; so it’s important shape.
(and smart) to ensure that they’ll be
comfortable in your units. 6. Stay on top of issues between
residents and within your community.
4. Be as upfront as possible with Now that residents are spending more
rental applicants to ensure that time at home, they’re noticing things
their expectations match reality. The like inconsiderate neighbors and
renters that we surveyed appreciate neglected common areas. Most don’t
rental listings that offer detailed expect you to work miracles; simply
information about the unit, the cost, and making sure they know that their
the requirements to move in. A resident concerns have been heard and you’re
who’s fully bought in on the place taking action to address them can go a
where they live will be much more long way in diffusing tension.
likely to stick around in the long-term,
averting more vacancies down the line.
RE NTE RS’ PERSPEC T IVE
 Do a walk-through to fix minor issues in between each lease renewal—all the little
things we put up with and don’t need immediate attention. I feel bothersome when
I ask my landlord to drive out and fix something so minor. Having those things fixed
before signing a new lease would be beneficial. (Boston, MA)

7. Get a sense of how often your residents want to hear from you. Some want to get to
know you, while others prefer to remain relatively anonymous in the place where they live.
Some want to know everything that’s going on in the community, while others only want to
be notified of issues that affect them directly. The residents that we surveyed suggested
getting a sense of each renter’s preferences during the lease signing process.
8. Make sure that your residents know that you care about their experience. Ask how
things are going, respond to requests quickly and empathetically, and care for the property
with the understanding that they consider it their home.
RE NTERS’ PERSPEC T IVE
 Ask tenants what would make them treat the rental as if it were their own home.
(Reading, PA)

56 Property Managers’ Use of Technology
SE C T I O N S IX
Property Managers’ Use of

Technology
During the pandemic, property managers

adopted a broad range of technologies to
digitize the interactions with their customers
that they’re used to conducting face-to-face.
They’re keeping the tools that have increased
their teams’ productivity and their customers’
satisfaction, with 30% of property managers
saying that using technology to drive
efficiency is a key aspect of their revenue
generation strategy this year.

Property Managers’ Use of Technology 57
PROP ERT Y M A NAGER S’ P ER SP ECT IV E:
The Rise of Technology During the Pandemic
 The pandemic opened us up to using virtual technology

tools we likely would not have implemented. These tools
have created a lot of efficiencies and enabled us to hire
virtual team members to perform tasks that previously
could only be performed in person. (Washington, DC)
 The pandemic forced many that were on the fence

about technology to dive in head-first. I have seen a
major increase in the use of self-showing tools, online
applications, and online payment options, even from the
smaller operators. Larger operators have been using these
tools for years, and I foresee this becoming the standard
for everyone going forward. (Atlanta, GA)
 From a digital point of view, [the pandemic] has increased

our clients' and tenants' ability and willingness to utilize
digital options that we have been urging them to use for
quite awhile. And the software that we already have in
place has been making great improvements to make all of
this easier for everyone. (Denver, CO)

58
The Tools Property Managers Have Found Most Useful in 2021
♦ Online payments, email and text Technologies Used by More

communications, electronic rental Than Half of Property Managers
applications and lease signing, and
online maintenance requests are now Property management
1
widely considered the industry standard. software
2 Electronic payments
♦ Utility management & billing, virtual
3 Tenant screening
showings, property inspection tools,
4 Online property listings
self-service showings coordination,
amenity booking tools, CRM software, 5 Resident portal
and HOA voting tools have all gained 6 Professional website
popularity this year. Document signing/sharing/
7
storage
♦ Property managers, renters, and rental 8 Client portal
owners are all relying more on renter
9 Electronic rental applications
and owner portals to complete tasks.
10 Property accounting software
♦ Tenant screening has become absolutely
11 Digital communications
critical during the pandemic to verify
12 Online maintenance ticketing
rental applicants’ income stability.
13 Electronic leasing

The Tools They Rely on Most
 Many of my tenants relocated from outside of the state,

and we did everything virtually—video showings, online
applications, screening, and lease signing. They never saw
the house in person until they moved in. (Durham, NC)
 Electronic payments and receipts have been invaluable given

the postal service's backlog during the pandemic. We also
charge a convenience fee that helps us make a little off of
each incoming payment. (Washington, DC)
 We have begun to integrate online maintenance work

orders with our vendors, which is helping to streamline our
processes, especially during our busiest time of year.
(Denver, CO)
 I love the transparency and accountability that electronic

payments, screening, and lease applications provide between
owner and tenant. (Atlanta, GA)
 Communication and rent payment and distribution from

anywhere—I don't have to go to an office to carry out these
duties. (Los Angeles, CA)

The Interplay Between

Technology & Customer Service
P R OP ERT Y M A NAG E R S ’
Virtually all of the property managers we P ER SP ECT IV E :
surveyed are excited that their renters,
 [COVID-19] changed the way
owners, employees, and vendors are
that we communicate with our
increasingly relying on the technologies
residents. Not being able to
they provide. Most property managers
meet in person, [they noticed]
feel that automating rental processes has
that many things can be
freed up their time to be able to focus on
resolved remotely, which helped
the duties that truly require their attention,
our company in a huge way in
including building personal connections
not trying to change people's
with their customers. But a few raised
mindsets. (South Bend, IN)
concerns that automation has removed
opportunities to infuse humanity into their
 [Things are] more remote, less
customer service, which they see as a
in person. But that causes a
major component of their value.
loss in personal connection and
creates a commodity mentality.
(Indianapolis, IN)
 [The pandemic] has harmed

our greatest amenity, which is
customer interaction/service.
(Wichita, KS)

Rental Owners’ Technology

Preferences
4 Trends in 2021 The Top 10 Technologies

Rental Owners Want in 2021
1. 1 in 3 rental owners say that property managers’
1 Payments
use of technology is a primary consideration for
them when hiring a property manager. This is 2 Lease signing/storage
true for all three investor types. Maintenance requests/
3
tracking
2. More than half of rental owners want their
4 Rental applications
property manager to handle these eight
5 Tenant screening
processes through digital tools or software,
particularly investors: Payments, lease signing/ 6 Rental listings
storage, maintenance requests/tracking, rental 7 Communications
applications, tenant screening, rental listings,
8 Financial reporting
communications, and financial reporting.
9 Property accounting
3. On average, about half of the rental owners we
surveyed were interested in each of the rental 10 Document storage/sharing
technologies we asked about, with investors

showing slightly more interest than Accidental
Landlords.
See chart in appendix for
more detail:
4. Rental owners’ interest in digital solutions  The Processes That Rental
spiked in 2020 due to the pandemic, but
Owners Want Property Managers
remains elevated in 2021 for these six tools in
to Provide Through Technology,
comparison with past years: Analytics, tenant
by Investor Type
screening, rental listings, rental applications,
maintenance requests/tracking, and tax
preparation.

Residents’ Technology Preferences The Top 10 Technologies

Renters Want
4 Trends in 2021
1 Online payments
1. Online payments, email/text communications, and 2 Digital communications
online maintenance requests are broadly popular 3 Online maintenance requests

among all age groups.
4 Utility setup & billing
2. Renters of all ages prefer to be contacted by email, 5 Online rental listings

with text messages and phone calls jockeying for 6 Electronic leasing
second place.
7 Smart home technology
3. Renters of all ages primarily use national listing 8 Amenities portal

sites to search for rentals; but property managers’
9 Self-guided showings
websites, For Rent signs, and tips from friends are
also widely used. 10 Virtual showings
4. There’s a gap between the payment methods

Popular among renters of
that renters want to use, and the methods that all ages
are currently available to them. Use of electronic
More popular among young
payment methods (including credit and debit cards) and middle-aged renters
would be 23 percentage points higher if renters More popular among
were able to pay the way they want to. younger renters
The Top 5 Ways Renters The Top 5 Ways Renters Search for a
Want to be Contacted Place to Live
1 Email 1 National rental listing sites
2 Text message 2 Websites of local PMs & rental communities
3 Phone call 3 For Rent signs
4 In-person visit 4 Tips from friends
5 Resident portal 5 Local newspaper & bulletin boards

How Renters Currently Pay Rent vs. How They'd Prefer to Pay
Current Method Preferred Method
EBT/ACH 21% 25%

Debit card 11% 19%
Check 28% 15%
Electronic payment
7% 14%
Includes Venmo, PayPal & Zelle
Cash 18% 12%
Credit card 6% 11%
Money order/cashier’s check 9% 4%
How to Support Adoption of Online Payments
We asked renters about their preferences, annoyances, and concerns when it comes
to paying their rent electronically. Based on their responses, here are the nine
recommendations that we have for encouraging your renters to start paying online:
1. Confirm when you’ve received their payment (or use a system that provides them
with time-stamped proof of payment), and reach out before charging a late fee if the
payment wasn’t received. Explain that paying online creates a full digital transaction
history, which provides much better documentation than easy-to-lose paper receipts.
2. Make clear that automatic/recurring payments are optional. Renters’ responses

revealed that a significant number conflate online payments with auto-payments.
While many renters love having the ability to schedule recurring payments, others
fear that their account will be overdrafted if they’re not careful; so be sure to explain
that they can manually pay online each month if they prefer.
3. Emphasize the convenience of being able to pay from anywhere, at any time.
Many renters work non-standard business hours, live far away from their bank, or
would simply prefer not to pay in person. A majority of respondents told us it’s been a
game-changer for them to be able to pay from the comfort of their home at any time.

4. Reassure them of the security of online payments in comparison with cash, checks,
and other physical payment methods. Older renters expressed a significant number of
anxieties and misconceptions about the security of making payments online. Be sure to
detail the ways that their payment information is kept safe and private.
5. Consider enabling credit card payments to allow renters to earn points by paying their
rent each month; and consider services that report on-time payments to credit bureaus
to help them build their credit.
6. Think about allowing residents to pay in installments throughout the month, or to pay
by a different due date, to accommodate alternative pay schedules.
7. Make clear how easy it is to get set up and start making online payments; and
provide them with self-serve resources in case they run into trouble.
8. Put some thought into the convenience fees you charge. Renters expressed
confusion about why they’re charged a fee if they’re being encouraged to pay online.
Setting fees at the right level requires balancing the revenue you generate with the
disincentive fees create. It might require some experimentation to find a fee that’s low
enough to not dissuade most renters from paying online, but that still provides you with
an additional revenue stream.
9. Give renters options. Some renters who have been paying via cash or check for
decades just don’t see the benefit in switching to a new method. Offering electronic
payments as one of several options can be a smart approach if you have renters who
are older, get paid in cash, or seem to appreciate the face-time with your staff.

7 Takeaways from the 2022 Industry Report 65
S E C T I O N S EVEN
7 Takeaways from the 2022

Industry Report
1. After an unpredictable, stressful year, become a key component of their value to
property managers are determined rental owners in the months since March
to grow in 2022 and beyond, with 2020.
more significant plans for portfolio and
revenue growth than we’ve seen in 5. With more families renting their homes,
several years. and affordability challenges and remote

work pushing renters farther away from
2. Though financial and legal concerns city centers, single-family rentals and
have motivated some rental owners to suburban rentals are thriving.
exit the market, most investors still see
tremendous potential for residential 6. The popularity of single-family rentals puts
rentals and (like property managers) plan smaller property management companies
to grow at far higher rates than in the in direct competition with institutional
recent past. investors and large firms; but their ability to

provide personalized customer service is
3. Property managers’ clients still heavily their key differentiator.
rely on them to manage their residents
and property maintenance; but in 7. Technology has become a standard part of
addition, they increasingly value their doing business in property management
expertise on topics like local market companies’ operations, resulting in
conditions, regulatory changes, and real increased efficiency for staff and vendors,
estate investing. and increased convenience for renters

and owners. But property managers are
4. Property managers are putting more also focused on finding opportunities to
energy than ever into attracting and make the human connections that they
retaining great residents, and this has consider a key part of their value.

66 Appendix
A P P E ND IX
Property Managers
About the 2021 Industry Survey
Our survey of property managers was conducted in June and July of 2021. Our 2,178
responses were drawn from Buildium, NARPM, Propertyware, and All Property Management’s
databases of property managers.
O U R PROPERT Y M ANAG E R R E S POND E NTS
The Residential Property Categories They Manage
Luxury housing 36%

Subsidized housing 28%
Community associations 24%
Student housing 17%
Senior housing 9%
Military housing 5%
Non-specialized 45%
rental housing
The Commercial Offices 29% Storage units 8%

Property Categories
Retail properties 22% Parking lots/garages 8%
They Manage
Industrial properties 9% Residential only 56%
Restaurants 9%

Appendix 67
The Number of Metros Where The Number of Offices Their

Their Companies Operate Companies Have
4% 2%
5%
7% 15%
1 0
14%
13% 2 8% 1
3 2
17%
49% 4 68% 3
5+ 4
5+
The Top 10 Job Titles How Old Are How Many Years
They Identify With Property Managers? They've Worked in
Property Management
More common
1 Property manager 18-29 12%
2 Company owner/CEO 30-39 22% 1-2 17%
3 Broker 40-49 25% 3-5 22%
4 Leasing manager 50-59 24% 6-10 19%
5 Property accountant 60-69 14% 11-15 14%
6 Principal 70-79 3% 16-20 9%
7 Maintenance manager 80 or older 1% >20 18%
8 Real estate investor

Less common
9 Asset manager
10 Real estate manager

68 Appendix
The Property Management 2%

Software They Use 1%
19%
Buildium 57% 20%

Another software brand 20%
Propertyware 19% 57%

None 2%
Custom-built software 1%
Rates of NARPM Membership Among Our Respondents
National, state, or local NARPM member 31%
Not a NARPM member 69%
PR OPE RTY MANAG ERS’ PERSPE CT IV E:
The Value of Their NARPM Membership
 Being a NARPM member has helped me grow both my business and myself as a property
manager. A serious professional should have a sense of obligation to be a part of an
organization that is dedicated to the betterment of your profession and yourself.
 NARPM helps tremendously in bettering business operations and growing the business.
 Worth its weight in gold. It wasn’t until I joined NARPM that my business really took off and
I had the tools, help, and technology to understand how to make my business grow.

Appendix 69
Property Managers' Expected Portfolio Growth, 2016 to 2021
H2- H1-
2021 2019 2018 2017 2016
2020 2020
Plan to expand significantly

47% 35% 32% 41% 40% 45% 51%
over the next 2 years
Plan to expand a little over the

39% 42% 44% 43% 44% 38% 38%
next 2 years
Plan to stay the same over the

11% 20% 19% 14% 14% 15% 9%
next 2 years
Plan to shrink over the next

3% 4% 5% 2% 2% 2% 2%
2 years
Property Managers' Reported Portfolio Growth, 2016 to 2021
2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016
Expanded significantly over

35% 31% 33% 33% 36% 38%
the last 2 years
Expanded a little over the last

37% 40% 37% 38% 39% 39%
2 years
Stayed the same over the last

18% 21% 20% 21% 20% 15%
2 years
Shrank over the last 2 years 9% 8% 10% 8% 5% 8%

70 Appendix
Property Managers' Expected Revenue Growth, 2017 to 2021
2021 H2-2020 H1-2020 2019 2018 2017
Expect it to increase significantly over

43% 35% 28% 38% 44% 46%
the next 2 years
Expect it to increase a little over the

48% 44% 49% 50% 47% 44%
next 2 years
Expect it to stay the same over the

7% 15% 16% 11% 7% 8%
next 2 years
Expect it to decrease over the next

2% 6% 7% 2% 1% 2%
2 years
Property Managers' Reported Revenue Growth, 2017 to 2021
2021 2020 2019 2018 2017
Increased significantly over the last 2 years 31% 32% 34% 36% 34%
Increased a little over the last 2 years 47% 48% 47% 47% 47%
Stayed the same over the last 2 years 13% 13% 13% 13% 14%
Decreased over the last 2 years 9% 7% 5% 4% 4%

Appendix 71
Property Managers' Top Priorities for the Year, 2017 to 2021
2021 2020 2019 2018 2017
Residents 46% 45% 16% 24% 19%
Growth 41% 47% 48% 43% 39%
Efficiency 25% 34% 45% 39% 49%
Clients 21% 24% 23% 20% 15%
Profitability 20% 30% 31% 35% No data
Organization 18% 17% 19% 23% 21%
Balance 17% 20% 20% 13% 21%
Vendors 16% 12% 11% 12% 14%
Staff 16% 12% 12% 16% 12%
Technology 16% 12% 11% 15% 10%
Communication 14% 18% 23% 17% 21%
Marketing 12% 15% 19% 17% 13%
Property
10% 11% 13% 16% 17%
improvements

72 Appendix
The Services Property Managers Provide, 2019 to 2021
2021 2020 2019
Rent/fee collection 85% 82% 80%
Maintenance/repairs 83% 84% 80%
Leasing properties/marketing vacancies 79% 77% 77%
Property inspections 72% 76% 74%
Evictions 65% 72% 68%
Cleaning 60% 70% 62%
Accounting/bookkeeping/tax preparation 56% 55% 57%
Outdoor services 50% 58% 52%
Property sales/brokering/purchasing 50% 54% 53%
Construction/renovation 49% 56% 48%
Financial reporting/benchmarking 48% 47% 55%
Financial/investment advice 22% 25% 22%
Insurance services 14% 21% 15%
Interior design/staging 13% 15% 13%
Legal advice 10% 17% 13%
Note: Additional data on our respondents’ portfolios, teams, services, and priorities can be
found in Section 2.

Appendix 73
A P P E ND I X
Rental Owners
About the 2021 Owners’ Surveys
Our 2021 surveys of rental owners were conducted in January and May. Our 1,051 responses
between the two surveys were drawn from All Property Management’s database of rental owners.
O U R REN TAL OW NE R R E S POND E NTS
5%
2% The Number of Units in 1 49%
9% Rental Owners' Portfolios 2-5 34%
6-10 9%
34%
11-20 5%
49% 21-40 2%
41-150 1%
>150 1%
The Property Types in Rental Owners' Portfolios


74 Appendix
What Rental Owners Do for Work The Number of Metros Where Rental
Owners Own Property
Full-time job unrelated to
46%
their properties
Retired 34% 74% 1

15% 2
Full-time landlord 28%
8% 3
Full-time real estate investor 10% 1% 4
Unemployed 2% 3% 5+
74%
Stay-at-home parent 2%
Full-time student <1%
The Top 15 Metro Areas Where Rental

Owners' Properties Are Located
1 Los Angeles, CA
2 Phoenix, AZ
3 Chicago, IL
4 Seattle, WA
5 San Francisco, CA
6 Denver, CO
7 Dallas, TX
8 Riverside, CA
9 San Diego, CA
10 Washington, DC
11 New York, NY
12 Houston, TX
13 Arlington, VA
14 Atlanta, GA
15 Baltimore, MD

Appendix 75
The Types of Residential Rentals in Rental Owners' Portfolios

7% — Student housing
6% — Luxury housing
5% — Subsidized housing 49%

3% — Senior housing Non-specialized
rental housing
2% — Military housing
The Types of Commercial Properties in Rental Owners' Portfolios
3% — Retail properties
2% — Offices
1% — Industrial properties
1% — Parking lots/garages
1% — Storage units
92%
Residential only
1% — Restaurants

76 Appendix
How Old Are Rental Owners' Household Income in 2020

Rental Owners?
18-29 1%
20% 20%
30-39 7%
40-49 18%
50-59 25%
60-69 30%
70-79 17%
80 or older 3%
11%
11%
10%
9%
How Many Years
Rental Owners Have
7%
Owned Property
6%
1-2 12%
3-5 13%
3%
3%
6-10 19%
11-15 20%
16-20 13%
>20 24%
<$10,000
$10,000-24,999
$25,000-49,999
$50,000-74,999
$75,000-99,999
$100,000-124,999
$125,000-149,999
$150,000-174,999
$175,000-199,999
>$200,000

Appendix 77
A P P E ND I X
Additional Charts
Rental Owners' Expected
Portfolio Growth, 2020 & 2021 H2-2021 H1-2021 H2-2020
Expect to grow significantly over the next 2 years 7% 10% 8%
Expect to grow a little over the next 2 years 29% 29% 21%
Expect to stay the same size over the next 2 years 47% 49% 56%
Expect to downsize over the next 2 years 17% 13% 15%
Rental Owners'
Expected Portfolio H2- H1-
2020 2019 2018
Growth, 2018 to 2021 2021 2021
Plan to acquire new properties

36% 38% 30% 30% 32%
over the next 2 years
Plan to stay the same size or

64% 62% 70% 70% 68%
shrink over the next 2 years
The Types of Investors in Property Managers' Client Base,

2018 to 2021
H2-2021 H1-2021 2020 2018
Intentional Investors 49% 48% 49% 44%
Accidental Landlords 29% 28% 30% 32%
Unintentional Investors 22% 24% 21% 23%

78 Appendix
Rental Owners' Reasons

for Owning Property,
2018 to 2021
H2-2021 H1-2021 2020 2019 2018
Passive stream of income 66% 67% 48% 27% 30%
Active stream of income 15% 14% 39% 49% 47%
To move into eventually 13% 14% 15% 10% 10%
Waiting for a good time to sell 11% 12% 17% 15% 16%
Sentimental reasons 9% 9% 8% 15% 13%
To make available to family/friends 9% 8% 9% 5% 5%
How Many Rental Owners

Work with a Property
Manager, 2018 to 2021 H2-2021 H1-2021 2020 2019 2018
Currently have a property manager 61% 63% 64% 55% 56%
Don't have a property manager 39% 37% 36% 45% 44%
Why Rental Owners Work with a

Property Manager, 2020 & 2021
H2-2021 H1-2021 2020
Don't live near their property 57% 67% 67%
Need help managing their residents 48% 46% 42%
Need help managing maintenance 47% 44% 46%
Need help with regulatory compliance 25% 21% 24%
Need help with property accounting 21% 19% No data
Need help increasing their profitability 19% 15% 18%
Want to be able to focus on growth 6% 8% 8%

Appendix 79
The Services Rental Owners Want Property Managers to Provide, 2019 to 2021
H2-2021 H1-2021 2020 2019
Rent/fee collection 83% 82% 90% 78%
Maintenance/repairs 75% 72% 81% 76%
Evictions 73% 69% 77% 67%
Leasing properties/marketing vacancies 70% 71% 69% 69%
Property inspections 66% 64% 67% 55%
Resident management/communications 63% No data No data No data
Accounting/bookkeeping/taxes 44% 47% 45% 31%
Cleaning 42% 42% 55% 42%
Property analytics 25% No data No data No data
Financial reporting/benchmarking 25% 24% 37% 14%
Legal advice 25% 31% 31% 22%
Outdoor services 23% 26% 33% 25%
Construction/renovation 23% 25% 37% 23%
Purchasing/selling/brokering property sales 14% 12% 21% 8%
Interior design/staging 7% 9% 15% 5%
Financial/investment advice 6% 10% 17% 8%
Insurance services 6% 8% 12% 7%

80 Appendix
Rental Owners' Primary Sources of Stress, 2018 to 2021
H2-2021 H1-2021 2019 2018
Maintenance 55% 63% 45% 48%
Filling vacancies 24% 33% 30% 30%
Managing residents 22% 24% 28% 28%
Accounting/
19% 24% 18% 18%
bookkeeping/taxes
Finding/working with
18% 22% 31% 30%
property manager
Legal issues/regulatory
17% 21% 15% 13%
changes
Finding/working with
16% 18% 19% 19%
vendors
Renovations 15% 22% 17% 16%
Rent collection 14% 13% 13% 17%
Portfolio/business
11% 16% 10% 8%
growth
Finances 11% 14% 8% 11%
Work/life balance 10% 11% 8% 7%
Communication 8% 14% 7% 6%
Efficiency 4% 7% 4% 3%

Appendix 81
The Processes That Rental Owners Want Property Managers

to Provide Through Technology, by Investor Type
Intentional Accidental Unintentional Rental Owners

Investors Landlords Investors Overall
Analytics 38% 15% 25% 28%
Communications 57% 61% 49% 56%
Document storage/
42% 39% 49% 43%
sharing
Lease signing/
66% 62% 64% 64%
storage
Maintenance
69% 58% 55% 62%
requests/tracking
Payments 69% 72% 71% 71%
Property accounting 48% 43% 47% 46%
Property inspections 40% 38% 51% 42%
Rental applications 63% 58% 58% 60%
Rental listings 63% 51% 60% 58%
Tax preparation 23% 27% 36% 27%
Tenant screening 67% 51% 60% 60%
Virtual showings 34% 23% 36% 31%

82 Appendix
A P P E ND I X
Renters
About the 2021 Renters’ Surveys
Our 2021 surveys of renters were conducted in January and May. Our 3,974 responses between the
two surveys were recruited from SurveyMonkey’s database of U.S. adults who rent their homes.
OU R RE NT E R R E S POND E NTS
Which Rental Property Type Renters Live In

37%
How Old Our Renter Respondents Are
18-29 27%
30-39 16%
40-49 16%
50-59 16%
60-69 15%
70-79 8%
80 or older 2%

Appendix 83
Which Generations Our Renter Respondents Fall Into
Generation Z 14% Born in 1997 or later

Young adults
43% Millennials 29% Born between 1981 and 1996
Middle-aged adults — 26% Generation X 26% Born between 1965 and 1980
Baby Boomers 26% Born between 1946 and 1964

Older adults
31% Silent Generation 5% Born in 1945 or earlier
*Note: There are more middle-aged and older renters in our pool of respondents than in the U.S. population
overall to ensure that the generational differences we discover are statistically significant.
What Renters Do for Work How Many People Live

in Renters' Households
Retired 22%
Full-time salaried job 22% 1 30%
Full-time hourly job 20% 2 30%
Unemployed 11% 3 16%
Part-time/temporary job 11% 4 13%
5+ 11%
Freelancer/entrepreneur 6%
Full-time student 5%
Stay-at-home parent 4%

84 Appendix
Renters' Household Income in 2020
Under $10,000 11%

$10,000-24,999 23%
$25,000-49,999 28%
$50,000-74,999 17%
$75,000-99,999 9%
$100,000-124,999 6%
$125,000-149,999 2%
$150,000 or more 4%
The Top 20 Metros Where Our Renter Respondents Live
1 New York, NY 11 San Diego, CA
2 Los Angeles, CA 12 Houston, TX
3 Chicago, IL 13 Portland, OR
4 Boston, MA 14 Seattle, WA
5 Dallas, TX 15 Las Vegas, NV
6 Miami, FL 16 Newark, NJ
7 Atlanta, GA 17 Baltimore, MD
8 Phoenix, AZ 18 Columbus, OH
9 San Francisco, CA 19 Denver, CO
10 Tampa, FL 20 Cleveland, OH

Appendix 85
How Many Years They've Lived in Their Current Rental
<1 14%
1 13%
2 17%
3 12%
4 7%
5 6%
6-10 17%
11-15 6%
16-20 3%
>20 5%
The Categories of Rentals That

Renters Live In
Subsidized housing 11%
Senior housing 7%
Luxury housing 6%
Co-living 5%
Student housing 4%
Military housing 2%
None of the above 57%

86 Appendix
A P P E ND I X
Additional Charts
Renters' Reported Plans
to Move, 2018 to 2021 H2- H1-
2020 2019 2018
2021 2021
Plan to remain in current rental when

41% 49% 26% 40% 41%
their lease ends
On the fence about whether or not to

20% 19% 24% 33% 37%
move when their lease ends
Plan on moving when their lease ends 29% 21% 32% 27% 23%
Plan to move to another rental 15% 13% 17%
Plan to buy a home 14% 8% 15%
Don't want to move, but concerned

10% 11% 18%
about their ability to afford to stay
Why Respondents Rent Their Homes,

H2- H1-
2019 to 2021 2021 2021
2020 2019
Finances prevent them from buying a home 34% 32% 40% 45%
Current rental meets their needs/don't want to move 21% 18% 12% 13%
Don't want the responsibility of homeownership 13% 18% 14% 11%
Like the flexibility that renting provides 13% 20% 11% 8%
Like the amenities/community it gives them access to 8% 4% 6% 4%
Allows them to live in a centrally located neighborhood 12% 9% 17% 19%

Appendix 87
Which Types of Renter Households Are Common in Each Property Type?
How to read this chart: In the single-family rental properties that you manage, 21.1% of your residents are likely
to be One-Person Households, 23.9% are Couples Without Kids, and 25.3% are Multigenerational Households.
Multi-
Couples One-Person Couples Roommate Single-Parent
Generational
Without Kids Households with Kids Households Households
Households
Renters who live Renters who live Renters who live Renters who live Renters who live
with a significant Renters who live with their parents, with a significant with roommates with children
other and no kids by themselves adult children, or other and kids who they're not under age 18 and
under age 18 other relatives under age 18 related to no other adults
Single-family rental
35% 19% 30% 19% 14% 4%
homes
Multifamily rental
32% 24% 30% 15% 12% 2%
homes
Apartment buildings
29% 41% 15% 9% 10% 3%
(all sizes)
Apartment buildings:
28% 38% 18% 11% 10% 3%
<11 units
29% 44% 14% 7% 9% 3%
11-50 units
32% 40% 13% 10% 9% 4%
>50 units
Mobile homes/
32% 18% 29% 13% 16% 2%
other types
Renters Overall 32% 29% 24% 14% 12% 3%
Change Between
↑ 5 points ↓ 2 points ↑ 5 points ↑ 5 points ↓ 1 point ↓ 1 point
January & June 2021
*Note: These numbers don't add up to 100% because there's some overlap between household types (for example, Couples with Kids
may live in Multigenerational Households).

88 Appendix
Which Property
Types Renters Live
In, 2018 to 2021 H2- H1- H2- H1-
2019 2018
2021 2021 2020 2020
Single-family rental homes 37% 32% 38% 35% 32% 32%
Multifamily rental homes 18% 19% 17% 22% 19% 21%
14% 15% 13% 15% 15% 13%
<11 units
12% 15% 13% 11% 14% 13%
11-50 units
15% 16% 14% 14% 18% 19%
>50 units
Mobile homes/other types 4% 4% 5% 4% 3% 3%
Which Property
Types Renters Live
In, by Age Group Young Middle-Aged Older Renters
Adults Adults Adults Overall
Single-family rental homes 41% 40% 27% 37%
Multifamily rental homes 18% 18% 17% 18%
14% 14% 15% 14%
<11 units
10% 11% 17% 12%
11-50 units
14% 10% 21% 15%
>50 units
Mobile homes/other types 4% 6% 4% 4%

Appendix 89
Which Type of Neighborhood Renters Live In, 2018 to 2021
H2-2021 H1-2021 2020 2019 2018
Urban 37% 41% 30% 36% 44%
Suburban 47% 46% 52% 49% 44%
Rural 16% 14% 19% 15% 13%
THE AMEN I TI ES THAT I NF LUE NCE R E NT E R S ' CH OI CE OF

ON E RE NTAL OVE R ANOT H E R
Renters' Interest in Unit Amenities
Air conditioning 63% Security system 26%
In-unit washer/dryer 52% Remodeled kitchen 23%
Private outdoor space 41% Remodeled bathroom 23%
Dishwasher 41% Home office/extra space for

18%
remote work
Sound-proofed walls 33%
Touchless entry 11%
Walk-in closet 32%
Uninterested in unit amenities 4%
New appliances 31%
Hardwood floors 28%
Improved air quality/

28%
ventilation

90 Appendix
Renters' Interest in Community/Building Amenities
High-speed internet 49% Strong resident community 18%

Garbage pick-up 37% Doorman/security guard 17%
Delivery of packages/food to door 36% House-cleaning services 13%
Reserved parking spaces 36% In-person resident events 13%
Pool 33%
Bike racks/storage 13%
Fitness center 29%
Playground 12%
Laundry room 29%
Laundry services/dry-cleaning 11%
Energy-efficient property 26%
Outdoor shared spaces 10%
Storage units 26%
Pet services 10%
Emergency generator 22%
Coworking space/conference rooms 10%
Dog park 21%
Indoor shared spaces 9%
Frequent cleaning/sanitization 20%
Recycling/composting 19% Virtual resident events 6%
Package delivery lockers/area 18% Uninterested in community amenities 8%

Appendix 91
Renters' Interest in Neighborhood Renters' Interest in Rental

Characteristics Modifications & Policies
Safe neighborhood 62% Ability to have a pet 47%
Close to stores/restaurants 50% Ability to personalize rental 32%
Quiet neighborhood 49% Flexible lease terms 30%
Family-friendly neighborhood 43% Child-friendly rental 18%
Close to work/school/transit 31% ADA-accessible/

16%
senior-friendly rental
Fun/lively neighborhood 26%
Scenic neighborhood 24% Fully furnished rental 11%
Spacious/low-density
21%
neighborhood
Uninterested in neighborhood
5%
characteristics

| AB OU T B UILDIUM ®
Buildium (a RealPage company) provides an industry-leading, cloud-based property management platform

that enables managers of residential rental and association properties to take control of every aspect of their
business, whether in the office or fully remote. Backed by expert advice and relentless support, Buildium
enables you to outperform across all facets of your business with intuitive software that balances power,
simplicity, and ease of use. Buildium services customers in more than fifty countries, totaling over two million
residential units under management. In 2019, Buildium merged with RealPage, a leading global provider of
software and data analytics to the real estate industry. For more information, visit Buildium.com, and connect
with us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.
REQUEST A DEMO READ OUR BLOG VISIT OUR WEBSITE CONTACT US

buildium.com/contact-sales buildium.com/blog buildium.com sales@buildium.com
| AB OU T PROPE RT YWARE ®
Propertyware (a RealPage company) is a powerful, customizable, and open all-in-one software solution
designed to help single-family property management companies run their business their way. Propertyware
provides unmatched customization; an open API for two-way data exchange; portfolio-level accounting and
reporting; and the industry’s ideal solution for multi-regional expansion and growth, allowing managers to
easily monitor local operations and see holistic reporting with a single sign-on. For more information, visit
Propertyware.com, and connect with us on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.
| AB OU T N ARPM TM
Established in 1988, NARPM is the only national organization focused primarily on residential property
management. NARPM is committed to bringing the highest level of professionalism and ethics to the property
management profession. Education is a fundamental component of the organization, with a growing number of
classes and materials being developed for members. In addition to the many educational opportunities at local,
state, and national conferences, NARPM has developed a core of courses that are required to earn NARPM
designations. Learn more about joining the organization on their website: NARPM.org/join
©2021 Buildium, A RealPage Company® & Propertyware. A RealPage Company®. All rights reserved.

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2 0 2 2 STAT E O F T H E

As always, though property managers have the clearest view of the

More property managers plan to grow their portfolios

The 2022 State of the Property Management Industry Report

to access and their operations more efficient.

The 2022 State of the Property Management Industry Report

1 Introduction º Update on Renters’ Financial Health

2 A Snapshot of Property Management º Update on Renters’ Moving

• A Shift in How Property Managers

The 2022 State of the Property Management Industry Report

The Property Types in Their Portfolios

Single-family rental homes 79%

Multifamily rental homes 69%

Apartment buildings: <11 units 46%

Apartment buildings: 11-50 units 37%

Apartment buildings: >50 units 18%

Mobile homes/other types 14%

Whose Properties They Manage

The Number of Units in Their own Other

21-40 10% 601-1000 7% 35%

101-400 31% >2500 6% Their own & other

The 2022 State of the Property Management Industry Report

The Top 15 Metros Where Their

The 2022 State of the Property Management Industry Report

More About Our Respondents

3 Efficiency 2-5 45%

The Services Our Respondents Currently Offer

Rent/fee collection 85% Property sales/brokering/

Cleaning 60% Insurance services 14%

Accounting/bookkeeping/tax Interior design/staging 13%

The 2022 State of the Property Management Industry Report

More property managers plan to grow their portfolios in the

4 Portfolio Growth Trends in 2021

The 2022 State of the Property Management Industry Report

PROPE RT Y MANAG ERS’ PERSP ECT IV E:

The Importance of Portfolio Diversification

 [The pandemic] has forced us to broaden our client base and

The 2022 State of the Property Management Industry Report

Property Managers' Portfolio

11%  Property Managers' Reported

Property Managers' Portfolio

The 2022 State of the Property Management Industry Report

How Property Managers Plan to Expand Their

1. Through Their Client Base

♦ 72% of third-party property managers (those who manage other investors’

♦ 44% of third-party property managers plan to grow by encouraging clients to

♦ 27% of third-party property managers plan to cut out resource-intensive or

♦ 53% of third-party property managers plan to encourage current clients to

Note: 47% of rental owners say that word-of-mouth reputation is a top

♦ 28% of third-party property managers plan to grow by partnering with

The 2022 State of the Property Management Industry Report

3. Through Property Acquisitions

♦ 38% of property managers plan to grow by purchasing new properties for

Note: This includes 53% of property managers who already manage

♦ 24% of property managers plan to grow by acquiring other property

4. By Broadening Their Portfolios

♦ 26% of property managers plan to grow by expanding the types of

♦ 22% of property managers plan to grow by expanding their services to a

Note: 51% of property managers currently manage properties in

The 2022 State of the Property Management Industry Report

Property Managers’ Improved Outlook on Revenue Growth

3 Revenue Growth Trends in 2021

1. 91% of property managers we surveyed rising costs throughout the pandemic.

The 2022 State of the Property Management Industry Report