Are My Rents At Market?

If you own a rental property in San Diego and haven’t had a professional do a rent survey recently, it may be time to ask yourself a simple question: Are my rents where they should be?

After doing a rent survey of over 3,400 listings on HotPads within a 10 mile radius of downtown (other variables were used, please see bottom of the page for inclusion list) San Diego, we found that 15% of units were at least 10% below market rent, and the majority of those were 20–40% under market. Even more concerning, some landlords were asking 40–50% less than what the market would support today. The largest difference in percentage between market rent and listed units were in A Class locations showing potential disconnect between when they purchased the property and modern day rents. Most landlords take pride in their ability to price a unit but ACI Apartments takes a multifaceted approach which encompasses current online data and software that evaluates the previous 6 months of rented units to make the most accurate assessment of the rental rate. 

How Long Does it Take To Catch Up to The Market You’re Under Rent?

If your rent is: (+ assuming 8.6% annual rent increases).

• 10% below market = About 1 year
• 20% below = 2.5 years
• 30% below = 4.1 years
• 40% below = 6.3 years
• 50% below = 8.9 years

Note: This is under the optimistic assumption that rent control laws don’t change — and that rent doesn’t continue to increase in San Diego, which is unlikely.

The Impact of AB 1157

California’s proposed legislation, AB 1157, would limit rent increases for landlords even further. Although it didn’t pass in 2025, it’s widely expected to resurface in 2026 — and if passed, could make it virtually impossible for drastically under-rented units to catch up in value.

Real-Life Example: North Park Unit

We recently evaluated our 2-bedroom unit in North Park, east of the 805 in the corridor. Over three years, the market rent has changed by 13% — if we did not re-evaluated rents yearly, we would have left $3600 on the table this year as we recently had a unit turnover. This is why having a professional rent survey done before turnover or during lease renewals is critical.

How Does Rent Affect My Property Value?

With tighter tenant protections, fewer investors are relying on the assumption that they’ll be able to bring units up to market rent post-purchase. In San Diego, doing so often requires: Substantial renovations (with red tape and high costs), or Cash-for-keys offers, which aren’t guaranteed. As a result, buyer pricing is shifting. Most multifamily brokers today are no longer using pro forma rents as the basis for property valuation. Instead, they focus on:

• Down payment feasibility by asset class (A, B, or C)
• Current in-place income
• Risk associated with tenant repositioning

The Bottom Line

Your rent roll is your most powerful asset — and liability. If your rents are 20–50% under market, you could be locking in long-term losses or reducing your property’s exit value by hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Let us help. We offer free property valuations and San Diego rent surveys so you can:

• Understand if you’re under market
• Position your building for sale or refinance
• Maximize NOI without overstepping legal bound

Request a free rent analysis today.

Let us show you what your property is really worth — and how much you’re leaving on the table.

Research Variables on Hotpads: 

• Multifamily only 
• Studios, 1/2/3 bedroom units
• Removal of bedroom rentals
• Removal of mid term rental and STR run properties
• Removal of outliers (high and low)