August 2025
Market Minute
Budgeting for 2026: Tips, Tricks & Best Practices
As we head into budget season, thoughtful planning is more important than ever. Whether you’re involved with a lease-up or a stabilized asset, a strong budget is the foundation for meeting NOI goals, controlling expenses, and preparing for economic shifts. Reply to this email and we will send you a free 2026 Budgeting Checklist!
Here are our top 5 key strategies to keep in mind as you build your 2026 property budgets:
🔍 1. Start with Historical Data—but Adjust for Reality
Look back at your trailing 12 months, but don’t just copy and paste. Adjust for current trends like inflation, insurance increases, or changes in occupancy. Use actuals to guide your assumptions but stay nimble in your projections.
💸 2. Forecast Revenue with Precision
Factor in anticipated rent growth, lease trade-outs, and renewal rates. Don’t forget to analyze your loss-to-lease and account for concessions where needed. Market surveys and competitive benchmarking are key here.
⚙️ 3. Plan for Rising Operating Costs
Insurance, utilities, and payroll are expected to increase again in 2026. Build in realistic cost escalations and explore vendor contracts early to lock in pricing. Don’t overlook controllable expenses like turnover costs and marketing spend.
🛠 4. Budget for CapEx & Preventive Maintenance
Deferred maintenance can eat into NOI. Set aside funds for recurring capital items like HVAC, roofing, paint, or plumbing. Proactive planning reduces emergency repairs and protects asset value.
📈 5. Involve Your Onsite Teams
Your property managers and maintenance leads are on the front lines. Get their input on what’s working, what’s not, and what’s needed. Engagement leads to better accuracy and ownership of the budget.
A well-crafted budget doesn’t just set financial expectations—it creates a roadmap for operational excellence. Let’s plan ahead, execute with precision, and make 2026 our strongest year yet.
‘Nxt Level’
Budget Retreat
This month, we hosted our annual Budget Retreat—a key milestone that brings together our property managers, regional leaders, and corporate team to align on strategy and begin building our budgets for the year ahead. This year our theme was: Camping! 🔥🏕️
This year’s retreat focused on more than just numbers. Through interactive training sessions, collaborative workshops, and hands-on tools which included an improved budgeting template and added functionality to the Nxt Dashboard (our proprietary Business Intelligence tool). Our team sharpened their skills in forecasting, expense management, and performance-driven planning. We also reviewed lessons from 2025, shared best practices across communities, and introduced new resources to help each manager make data-informed decisions.
By investing time now to plan thoughtfully and train intentionally, we’re ensuring every property we manage is positioned for success in 2026—from NOI targets to resident satisfaction. Our managers left energized, aligned, and ready to lead their teams into the next budget cycle with confidence and clarity.
Value of the Month
August’s Value of the Month is: Mind the Store. We act like owners and hold ourselves accountable. We own our culture, profitability, and success.
Ask the Editor
Recently, we crossed the 1 year mark of this newsletter. We want to thank everyone who has followed along with us and read our newsletter over the last 12 months.
We also wanted to take opportunity to remind everyone that the idea for this newsletter was born out of a desire to provide value and speak to topics that readers would find useful and interesting. We always welcome feedback! You can reply directly to this email to suggest any topics for future newsletters and/or provide feedback.
As always, feel free to send any questions about the apartment world to sales@nxtmgt.com and we would love to feature and answer the question in next month’s newsletter.
Until next time,
