Portrait of Today’s American Landlord: Over Half of Rental Landlords Are Short-Term Investors—And New to the Market.

A few months before their wedding, Hilary Reiter Azzaretti and his ex at the time lived together and inadvertently landed a lucrative job as property owners in Utah’s most popular ski town.

“We live in Park City, and the condo she lived in is in an amazing location, walking distance to the ski slopes,” Reiter Azzaretti, president of Redhead Marketing & PR, told Realtor.com®. “It didn’t make sense to sell it as we can rent it out every year at an income-generating rate.”

First-time homeowners briefly considered converting their condo to a short-term rental property but ultimately concluded that the potential problems, such as wear and tear on the property, outweighed the economic benefits.

“It’s hard to find housing in Park City because of the increase in overnight rentals, so we like to think that we’re giving back to the community a little bit by giving someone a place to stay where pets are allowed,” said Reiter Azzaretti.

The Utah couple is part of a new wave of homeowners who share some key characteristics: They are primarily independent, financially sound, and have entered the market within the past five years.

Reiter Azzaretti and her husband’s situation is unusual as homeowners. One in 4 (25.1%) are in business with a family member such as a parent, sibling, or life partner and just 11% may own or manage properties with partners, according to new research from the Avail online landlord platform, part of the Realtor.com network.

To better understand the private landlord market, researchers conducted a five-question Appcues survey over three days in late December 2025, targeting more than 1,000 property owners.

Another important finding that will emerge from the survey is that the rental market is dominated by young people like Reiter Azzaretti and her husband, Marco, with more than half of respondents (53%) having become homeowners in 2021 or later.

Notably, 2025 was the most common entry year, representing nearly 17% of all participating homeowners.

About 3 out of 10 respondents said they first entered the rental market between 2010 and 2020.

Intentional vs. homeowners in error

Homeowners generally fall into two camps: intentional and accidental.

According to the survey, the majority of respondents (57.9%) became homeowners by purchasing a property with the clear goal of generating rental income.

However, nearly a third (30.1%) reported entering the market by keeping and renting their previous home.

About 12% of the remaining participants took other forms of rent, from owning the property or holding it in someone else’s name, to getting it through marriage, as was the case with the Utah newlyweds.

Realtor.com’s chief economist Joel Berner says the rise in homeownership coincides with recent housing data.

“We had two years of low sales and prices dropped significantly in 2025, which led to the delisting,” he said. “Many people who would have sold their homes were not satisfied with the price they could ask for and started renting out their homes. This represents an increase in rental property, which will help keep rents down nationally.”

Why become a landlord?

People become homeowners for a variety of reasons, but just over 41% of survey respondents cited building long-term wealth as their top motivation.

Reiter Azzaretti says this forward-thinking approach is what led her and her husband to rent her ritzy Park City condo three years ago rather than sell it.

“The Winter Olympics are coming back here in 2034, so it’s worth holding on to this place as it’s the distance to several competitions and it’s likely to continue to grow in value,” he said.

At the same time, nearly one-third of respondents said they were motivated to generate income, while nearly 12% cited retirement planning as the main reason for renting their property.

In terms of the breadth of their portfolios, most landlords who participated in the Avail survey (72%) reported managing between one and four rental units, indicating a strong presence of informal, mom-and-pop investors.

The remaining 28% say they own five or more properties—including 13% of which include more than 10 rentals.

Looking to the future, Reiter Azzaretti is not holding back from reshaping its real estate portfolio with overseas investments.

“We will probably buy a house in Italy before selling the Park City condo,” he explained. “If so, we’ll host it on Airbnb while we’re away since my brother-in-law in Rome can handle that.”

Reiter Azzaretti admits that being a landlord can be hard work and often stressful, but he says his positive experience as a long-term tenant under the care of a careful landlord in Park City has shaped his approach.

“He was always quick to fix and fix any problems,” she recalls. “I hope we are as simple and responsive landlords as he is.”