2025 Landlord Trend Report: Fewer Purchases, Bigger Investments in Existing Rentals

New data from RentRedi and BiggerPockets reveals a significant shift in landlord behavior for 2025. Compared to late 2024, the number of landlords planning to buy new properties dropped 14 points—from 67% to 53%—with more choosing to hold steady or invest in their current rentals instead. This trend is especially pronounced in the West, where 53% of landlords now say they have no plans to adjust their portfolios. Larger landlords remain more active in buying and selling, but smaller landlords are taking a more conservative approach, with nearly half making no changes. Across the board, fewer than 1 in 25 landlords intend to sell a property this year.

At the same time, spending on property improvements is on the rise. In June, 35% of landlords reported plans to invest over $20,000 in upgrades—up from 27% in November—led by landlords with larger portfolios. While half of the respondents reported pausing some renovations, most still anticipate spending more than $5,000 this year. The top reasons landlords cited for pulling back on acquisitions include high home prices, interest rates, and time constraints. Despite these challenges, landlords remain focused on growing income and saving time, with tools like RentRedi helping them manage and optimize operations more efficiently.

Survey Results

Survey Methodology

RentRedi landlords were surveyed between June 3-26, 2025. There were 1,623 respondents in total. Landlords were classified into U.S. regions by their primary business location as follows: Northeast (CT, MA, ME, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI); Midwest (IA, IL, IN, KS, MI, MN, MO, ND, NE, OH, SD, WI, VT); South (AL, AR, DC, DE, FL, GA, KY, LA, MD, MS, NC, OK, SC, TN, TX, VA, WV); and West (AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NM, NV, OR, UT, WA, WY). Landlords were also classified by real estate portfolio size as follows: small landlords (1-4 rental units); medium landlords (5-19 rental units); and large landlords (20+ rental units). Percentages have been rounded to the nearest whole number, and therefore the values in each barchart may not equal 100%. Separately, BiggerPockets conducted its own surveys via YouTube in June and July 2025.