Being a landlord in 2026 means navigating a busy and ever-changing world. Learn about the top five landlord challenges of 2026 and how you can overcome them.
As a landlord, you are no stranger to overcoming challenges. Landlords are typically adaptable, with a skill set that necessitates the ability to find solutions to unpredictable problems quickly. These skills are highly valuable in your field, but that field can be significantly eased if you know what you are looking at in the near future.
Knowing what to expect in the coming year as a landlord is highly valuable. It allows you to prepare for changes and challenges and inform your business strategy for the year. Additionally, it helps you prepare for interacting with your tenants regarding these emerging and ongoing challenges. Learn about these top five challenges landlords face in 2026 and how you can overcome them.
Scammers and Fraud:
A study from the Better Business Bureau claims that 43% of people who shop online for rentals have encountered at least one fake listing, indicating that landlords must contend with scammers just to be visible, and renters are likely to be far less trusting. This article from the American Apartment Owners Association also claims that a tenant scamming landlords is extremely common, with banks reporting an 84% increase in check fraud from 2021 to 2022.
Scams and fraud are ever-present, pervasive issues, but they can be easily mitigated with some careful steps. Firstly, ensure that any systems and software you use are as secure as possible. Two-factor authentication, permissions, and secure passwords are important to keeping your accounts safe. Additionally, you can build trust with your tenants and stand out from the crowd with high-quality property advertisements on online listing sites and on your professional rental website. Use sites that are commonly trusted, ensure your listings are well-written and honest, and keep a friendly and professional tone when talking to prospective tenants.
“Too many times…I’ve seen property managers reuse the same username and password for every service, from personal email to online banking to our software platform. When they do this, they make themselves vulnerable to scammers and hackers,” says Nathan Miller, founder and CEO of Rentec Direct.
Learn more: New Feature | New Two-Factor Authenticator App for Added Security
To address check fraud concerns, institute policies that give you recourse if your tenants use fraudulent checks. Non-sufficient funds fees are one avenue of preventing check fraud. Additionally, balancing your checkbook and accounts regularly can help you catch problems quickly.
Learn more: Property Management Data Security | What is Phishing?
Unreliable Maintenance:
According to the National Center for Housing Management, hiring maintenance staff becomes increasingly challenging every year due to a decline in the number of skilled tradespeople in most areas. As such, finding reliable, skilled staff is also going to become more difficult.
Wait times for service dramatically increase as the number of available workers decreases. For landlords, waiting a week for a heater to get serviced in the winter could mean you are paying for your tenant to reside in a hotel, depending on your state’s habitability laws. In addition to this concern is the increased cost of maintenance services, with the anticipated costs rising by 5.8% for townhouses, 5.9% for single-family homes, and 3.8% for condominiums.
While paying for these services is a problem that cannot entirely be eliminated, reliability has a much more attainable workaround. While it may take time to find a good maintenance person, make sure you return to them. You can build a relationship with tradespeople, especially those who work either by themselves or work for local businesses. If you have positive relationships with hard-working people who care for your properties, you are more likely to find continuous, good work.
Generational Differences:
Shifting generations and demographics are unavoidable, and Gen Z is set to be the largest renter demographic by 2030, posing a change and challenge for a landlord. Young renters have different expectations for their homes compared to older renters. Smart tech and other modern conveniences are desirable to younger renters.
Additionally, according to Forbes, millennials are more likely to own pets than any other age group, with 33% of pet owners being millennials. Although Gen Z is currently at the lower end of pet ownership, with only 16% of pet owners from this generation, the number is likely to increase as more people in this demographic gain independence.
These newer renters will expect to have their pets accommodated and prioritize certain perks such as gyms and pools, safety, and proximity to the places they need or want to frequent. Over the last few years, these tenants have begun staying in rentals for shorter periods of time, with younger renters doing so at a significantly higher rate than older renters. This means that, as a landlord, you will need to handle frequent tenant turnover, which can be expensive and time-consuming.
A potential way to overcome this challenge is to prepare for and accommodate these changes. Change up the benefits you offer your renters, emphasize any new appliances and benefits of the location of your property, to encourage renters to stay longer. You may also consider making some changes to your leases and policies. Offering shorter lease terms may be another way to accommodate these renters’ wants, making your property more competitive in these younger markets.
Learn more: What Landlords Should Know About Lease Renewals
Inflation:
The past five years have seen above-average inflation rates, averaging a 4.25% rate since 2021. Although this has slowed significantly since 2022’s high of 8%, it can be assumed that inflation for 2026 will be on the higher end of average. This means that everyone, landlords and property owners included, will be dealing with increased expenses.
Insurance costs have been documented to be increasing from 2019 to 2024, which indicates that they will continue to rise, creating problems for landlords wanting to minimize expenses. We are also seeing property owners face challenges in obtaining insurance policies in high-risk areas like California or Florida, which are prone to hurricanes or wildfires. Without the right insurance, it will be risky for a landlord to maintain ownership of a rental property.
You can’t truly change inflation, but you can accommodate it. Keep your prices competitive within the bounds of what you can afford, and find ways to cut costs without sacrificing your tenants’ quality of life. Inflation affects everyone, so keep this fact in mind when considering your expenses.
Increased Housing Costs:
Another inflation-related concern is that the cost of purchasing property has skyrocketed in the past several years. The median value of an average home in the U.S. has increased by over $150,000 (adjusting for inflation) in the past 30 years, nearly doubling in price.
As housing prices increase, the profitability of a rental property becomes less attractive to a real estate investor. We can see that the cost of home prices impacts two areas of the rental market. Rents will increase so properties remain competitive and profitable. Or there will be less available rental inventory entering the market as real estate investors become priced out of the market.
Despite this, home buying is projected to increase significantly in 2026, meaning that fewer people will be renting, and many landlords will have their renters transitioning to owning properties. Exciting for the tenants, to be sure, but it means landlords will have to contend with a cooling rental market.
As with inflation, a single person can’t change the prices of home buying or the housing market. However, doing your best to be competitive in your market will benefit you greatly. Prioritize appealing to young renters, who will probably be renters for longer than older demographics, who are often looking to buy. Additionally, remember that finding a great real estate deal means you’re sure to have a solid investment that reliably appreciates over time, making real estate a reliable long-term investment, regardless of a cooling trend in the rental market.
Final Thoughts:
Ultimately, the best way to overcome these challenges is to be aware of them and ready to accommodate them. Keep an eye on your tenants, communicate with them regularly, and engage in the industry to help anticipate changes. Joining a landlord association can help you keep up with any challenges or helpful strategies specific to your local market. Landlord news and other similar sources are essential methods to predict and prepare for changes.