Budget season is here again, and for many operators, this one feels heavier than most. Operating costs keep climbing, new supply is still coming online, and rent growth has stayed flat in a lot of markets, which makes every assumption a little harder to defend.
To help operators build 2027 budgets that hold up, WithMe hosted a Budget Season Briefing. Moderated by WithMe Brand Ambassador Tony Sousa, the session tackled rent growth, rising expenses, common budgeting mistakes, and how to handle tough conversations with ownership.
Here are seven key insights to keep in mind as you build, pressure-test and defend your 2027 budget.
Don't build your budget around a dramatic market rebound.
Multifamily economist Brad Dillman kicked off the webinar with a look at where the market stands today, how it got here and why some of the relief operators have been waiting for may take longer to arrive than expected.
He traced today's supply picture back to the pandemic, when rent spikes and low interest rates helped fuel years of new construction. And while the industry has been waiting for that wave to taper off, Brad cautioned against assuming the much-discussed supply cliff is right around the corner. In his words, multifamily has been waiting on it "like Linus waiting for the Great Pumpkin."
His outlook also changes considerably by region, reinforcing another important point for budget season. National trends can provide context, but your assumptions still need to reflect what's happening in your individual market.
Read Brad’s 2027 multifamily market outlook.Know your market, your residents and your numbers.
Operators are being asked to wear more hats than ever. Between reading resident sentiment, tracking the local market, keeping tabs on competitors, and knowing the financials behind every property, teams have to understand how all of those factors could ultimately affect performance.
As the panel put it, operators increasingly have to think like economists and psychologists at the same time. The better you understand what's happening both inside and outside your property, the better equipped you are to build assumptions you can defend.
Keep rent growth assumptions grounded in what your market can support.
More rent growth sounds great on paper, but pushing beyond what the market can support can tell a very different story in your occupancy numbers.
The panel encouraged operators to stay conservative with next year's assumptions and pay close attention to net effective rent, especially in markets where concessions remain common.
A 3% rent increase doesn't mean much if getting it requires four weeks free.
Look at the whole revenue picture before deciding how much growth belongs in the budget.
Use technology to give your teams more time for the work that needs a human.
Automation and artificial intelligence can take repetitive work like delinquency follow-up and reporting off teams' plates, freeing staff to spend more time with residents.
But adding technology isn't the finish line.
The panel discussed why successful rollouts require teams to understand the tools they're using, stay engaged with the data and continue evaluating whether the technology is improving the way the property operates.
The goal isn't simply to automate more. It's to give your people more time for the work where people matter most.
Pressure-test expenses instead of relying on last year's assumptions.
Some of the expenses putting pressure on budgets aren't always the most obvious ones. Payroll can climb quickly when turnover leads to staffing agencies, temporary help and outsourcing. Older properties can bring expensive repair surprises. Vendor costs and contract changes can create gaps between what was budgeted and what actually gets spent.
Rather than waiting until year-end to find those gaps, the panel discussed auditing vendors throughout the year and taking a harder look at whether historical averages still make sense.
In some cases, that means starting from zero and asking what the property actually needs rather than automatically carrying last year's number forward.
Check the details that can throw an entire budget off.
Some budgeting mistakes aren't complicated, they're just easy to miss. One example is assuming every contract follows the calendar year. Many don't, and missing a renewal date can leave months of increased pricing, fees, or other contract changes out of your forecast.
The panel surfaced several other common slip-ups, from confusing key rent figures to misclassifying maintenance costs. Before calling the budget finished, check the assumptions underneath the numbers, not just the numbers themselves.
Don't save the hard conversations for the final budget meeting.
If ownership is learning about a major performance gap for the first time during your budget presentation, the conversation is already harder than it needed to be. Regular communication throughout the year gives teams an opportunity to explain what changed, why it changed and what they're doing about it before those issues become surprises.
The panel emphasized understanding what matters to each owner and walking into the room knowing the numbers that matter most to them. A strong budget presentation isn't only about defending next year's projections. It's about being able to tell the story behind them.
Before you finalize your 2027 budget, check that you’ve:
Watch the full playback.
There are plenty more takeaways where these came from. The full recording includes Brad’s complete market outlook, plus even more advice on building realistic assumptions, managing expenses, and preparing for the conversations that come with budget season.
Confidence in your numbers starts here. Watch the Budget Season Briefing webinar →
