PM Trends Report 2026: Owner Upsells, AI Lead Gen & Boomer Exit with Jordan Muela

About this episode

Get the full PM Trends 2026 Report free at https://pmtrends.com/ (no email gate).

Are you leaving money on the table with your current owner clients? Probably. And are you investing enough in AI discoverability? Probably not.

Jordan Muela is back, this time to talk about the 2026 PM Trends Report - based on data from a Harris Poll survey of 500+ landlords covering everything from why they hire (and fire) property managers to what services they'd actually pay extra for.

We discuss:

• (00:01:06) - Welcoming Jordan back to the show
• (00:02:12) - The PM Trends report
• (00:07:18) - How owners can upsell
• (00:15:20) - Sponsor - Haven AI

• (00:16:49) - The Boomer shift of ownership to Millennials and Gen X
• (00:23:32) - Response time expectations
• (00:31:59) - Stress reduction in marketing
• (00:33:46) - Sponsor - Enterprise Bank & Trust

• (00:35:10) - Cash flow as the primary reason to hire a PM
• (00:39:24) - Discounted monthly rents in exchange for on-time payments
• (00:46:40) - Sacrificing cash flow for a better renting experience for tenants
• (00:51:00) - Educating owners and landlords
• (00:55:20) - Finding a PM in the age of AI
• (01:01:46) - Takeaways from running the PM Trends report

We dig into the owner benefit package opportunity: seven services (asset management, tenant damage protection, instant rent payments, lost rent protection, and more) that 41–51% of owners said they'd pay above their base management fee to get. The software constraints are real, the billing paradigm is frustrating, but the demand is clearly there.

We also get into the generational shift happening right now (millennials are 44 percentage points more likely to use professional PM than boomers), what landlords actually expect in terms of response time (spoiler: within 30 minutes, most channels), and how to position PM around stress reduction and cash flow - the two factors that drive hiring decisions by a 2-to-1 margin over time and risk.

Plus: 75% of owners plan to use ChatGPT or similar tools to find their next property manager. Jordan makes the case for what you actually do about that.

--Resources for Property Managers & Real Estate Entrepreneurs• Crane – Private PM Owner Community → Join a private network of property management owners and operators: https://joincrane.co/• Free Weekly Newsletter → Property management insights, strategies, and industry updates direct to your inbox: https://peter.beehiiv.com/subscribe• RL Property Management → Learn more about Peter’s company and services in Columbus, Ohio: https://rlpmg.com/__Disclaimer: The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. I may have consulting agreements with, or financial interests in, companies mentioned in this podcast (more info here: https://www.peterlohmann.com/financial-interest-disclosure ). Additionally, some of the links included may be affiliate links, meaning I may earn a commission if you purchase through these links. Always perform your own due diligence before making any financial or business decisions.