When is the best time to increase rents? Winter, spring, summer?

[Marcus Auerbach]

At the RPA meeting last night I spoke with several owners who already have their 2026 rent increases sent out. Between 3% and 6%. It seemed to me most of them were triggered by increased property taxes bills they just got in the mail. We have typically been waiting until April to announce annual increases and implement them effective June 1st, so about 45 days later.  

My rational has always been that with the winter in Milwaukee we wanted wanted to delay any possible turnover to the most active months in spring to rent out homes. Not sure if that even makes sense, because we have already so much demand in January. Worth mentioning that our policy is MTM after the first full year, so we are free to chose the month we want to raise.

But the questions remains: what is stratgically the best month to raise rents in markets where you have an actual winter. And what about the sun-belt? Thoughts?

[Melanie Thomas]

From a strategy standpoint, I’m a big believer that rents should be reviewed and adjusted every single year, regardless of market or climate. Owner costs go up every year taxes insurance maintenance labor utilities compliance so skipping increases just compounds the problem.

What’s honestly more alarming to me as a professional PM is how many owners come to us who haven’t raised rent in years and haven’t done routine inspections. That’s usually where deferred maintenance, sticker shock, and sudden large increases come from.

In practice, we’ve found that small predictable annual increases are far less disruptive than skipping years and then trying to catch up. It’s not cheap for tenants to move, and most would rather renew with a reasonable increase than incur moving costs, application fees, deposits, and uncertainty.

As far as timing, winter markets do require more thought around turnover risk, but with strong demand even in January, the fear of winter vacancy is often overstated. MTM after year one gives you flexibility, but consistency and expectation-setting matter more than the exact month.

Bottom line: steady annual increases + proactive communication beats trying to time the “perfect” month in any market.