Understanding the real costs of owning rental property isn’t always straightforward. That’s exactly what a recent BMG study set out to explore. It was conducted in late 2025, with a goal of understanding and getting a clearer picture of landlord expenses and what they are actually dealing with day to day when it comes to financial pressures.
An Overview of the BMG Study
The survey asked over 5,000 landlords across five states, including Texas, Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. One of the core topics was about the landlord expenses that impact their bottom line the most. It looked at things like ongoing costs, unexpected expenses, and how those factors are changing over time.
A big part of the study also focused on how they manage costs when it comes to landlord expenses. Questions were designed to better understand how landlords prepare for repairs, how they handle turnover, and what kind of financial buffers they keep in place.
There was also an emphasis on timing and trends. The study explored how long it takes to re-rent properties, whether landlords are adjusting rents in response to rising costs, and how overall expenses have shifted in recent years. Taken together, the survey aimed to build a more complete picture of what it really looks like to operate and maintain rental properties today.
A List of Landlord Expenses: What Landlords Really Spend
In this study, some interesting trends were found when it comes to landlord expenses. Maintenance clearly takes up a large share of attention and spending for a majority of landlords. Property taxes and tenant turnover also play a noticeable role. At the same time, insurance increases are present, even if they don’t carry the same weight as other categories in the day-to-day expenses of a landlord.
Another clear pattern with landlord expenses is the size of individual parts of it. Many landlords are dealing with repair costs that fall on the higher end, and turnover expenses often reach similar levels. These aren’t small, routine costs. They tend to come in larger chunks, which adds to the overall financial picture. It paints a picture of costs that are both frequent and, at times, significant.
Overall, most landlords agree that the cost of operating rental properties has increased in recent years and that maintenance costs are a major factor in those increases, reinforcing the idea that expenses are trending upward across the board.
Here are a few key takeaways from the study:
- Maintenance was the largest reported impact on landlords’ bottom lines.
- Over half of landlords reported a repair costing more than $2,000 in the past year.
- Average maintenance spending made up over a third of total expenses.
- Nearly 60% of landlords said turnover costs exceeded $2,000.
- The average handyman rate reported was around $65 per hour.
- Over a quarter of landlords reported having no maintenance reserve fund.
- Just over half of landlords raised rents in response to rising costs.
- A large majority agreed that landlord costs have increased over the past five years.
An Analysis of What We Can Learn from the Data
Once you look past the raw numbers of landlord expenses, the study starts to paint a clear picture of what it really takes to operate a rental property today.
One of the biggest takeaways is just how dominant maintenance is in the overall cost structure. With 46% of landlords pointing to maintenance as the biggest impact on their bottom line and 35% of total expenses going toward repairs, this isn’t a secondary concern. Maintenance is the core financial driver.
Add in the fact that the average handyman rate sits around $65 per hour, and it becomes clear that even routine fixes can add up quickly. When diving into what impacts landlord expenses, it highlights how important it is to stay ahead of issues rather than reacting to them after the fact.
With 46% of landlords pointing to maintenance as the biggest impact on their bottom line and 35% of total expenses going toward repairs, this isn’t a secondary concern. Maintenance is the core financial driver.
There’s also a clear gap between the size of expenses and how prepared landlords are for them. More than 54% reported a repair over $2,000, and nearly 60% said turnover costs also exceeded $2,000. Yet 26% have no maintenance reserve fund at all, and another 32% only keep $500–$1,000 set aside. That mismatch stands out, while it doesn’t leave room for maintenance emergencies or many possible contingencies. It suggests that while large expenses are common, many landlords may not be fully positioned to absorb them without disruption.
Finally, the data shows how these pressures are stacking over time. Nearly 80% of landlords agree that costs have risen over the past five years. The fact that only 52% of landlords have raised rents in that time suggest that not everyone is able to offset those increases in a meaningful way.
For property managers and landlords, the takeaway is that rising costs aren’t tied to just one category, but that maintenance concerns is a main driver for many. They’re a burden that often are not being accounted for properly in the everyday financials of rental property, and they’re shaping the overall economics of rental ownership.