Reno investment property, explained for owners who live somewhere else.

According to ALN Apartment Data (September 2026), the average effective rent for conventional Reno properties was $1,800, up 5.1% year over year, occupancy was 94.1% and about 16% of properties were offering concessions.

According to ALN Apartment Data (September 2026), 1,064 units were absorbed in the Reno market over the year, and conventional properties were 94.1% occupied. The Reno apartment market data page has the trend.

The average hides a wide range. According to ALN Apartment Data (September 2026), Reno was 94.1% occupied, yet the North Valleys sat at 85.1% while West Reno was at 96.1%, so where and how you lease matters. Before you trust a citywide figure for one building, compare it with its own submarket on our Reno apartment submarkets pages.

It depends on the building, the price and how it will be run, and anyone who answers that question without seeing a rent roll is selling something. What we can tell you is what owners from outside Nevada usually ask about, and where to look for each answer.

• Taxes: Nevada does not impose a state income tax on individuals, according to the Nevada Department of Taxation. Property tax and the federal tax on a sale still apply.
• Rules: Nevada's landlord and resident law is NRS Chapter 118A, and evictions run through the courts under NRS Chapter 40. Whether that makes Nevada landlord friendly depends on what you compare it with.
• Supply: concessions and absorption tell you whether new buildings are competing for the same residents. Both are on our market data pages, by month.
• Distance: Reno is a long drive or a short flight from most out-of-area owners, so the manager you choose does most of the work an on-site owner would.

If you are weighing Nevada's rules, our guide to whether Nevada is landlord friendly walks through them for owners from other states.

These are the rules owners from other states ask us about most. They are general information, not legal advice; have your attorney confirm anything you plan to act on.

• Security deposits: the deposit plus any surety bond, including last month's rent, cannot exceed three months' rent, and the balance goes back with an itemized accounting within 30 days of move-out (NRS 118A.242).
• Rent increases: written notice 60 days before the first higher payment, or 30 days for rentals shorter than a month (NRS 118A.300).
• Entry: at least 24 hours' notice except in an emergency (NRS 118A.330).
• Unpaid rent: a written notice to pay or surrender before the close of business on the seventh judicial day after service (NRS 40.253), then the court process. Lockouts and utility shutoffs are unlawful (NRS 118A.390).
• Managers: anyone who manages property for others in Nevada needs a real estate license and a property management permit from the Nevada Real Estate Division, and resident money goes in a trust account at a Nevada bank or credit union (NRS 645.310).

The full eviction sequence is in our guide to the eviction process Nevada courts use, and the Nevada landlord compliance guide keeps the rules in one working document.

Nevada assesses property at 35 percent of its taxable value (NRS 361.225), and a partial abatement limits how fast the bill can rise: a general cap with an 8 percent ceiling, or 3 percent for a residential rental whose rents stay at or below HUD's fair market rent for the county (NRS 361.4722 and 361.4724). The Washoe County Treasurer lists the combined rate by tax district; ask for the rate on the parcel you are buying, not a citywide figure.

Nevada charges a real property transfer tax when a deed is recorded (NRS Chapter 375), so ask your title company what it will be on your purchase. If you are selling a building elsewhere to buy in Reno, a 1031 exchange can defer federal tax on the gain, inside a 45 day identification window and a 180 day closing window, with a qualified intermediary holding the money. Plan it with your CPA before you list.

Distance makes it easy to buy a pro forma instead of a building. A few habits keep you on the right side of that line:

• Get the rent roll, the T12 and the leases early, and read them against each other before you trust the offering memorandum.
• Compare in-place rents with the submarket on our market data pages, using the same month, not last year's survey.
• Rebuild the expense side for what the building will cost to run after you buy it, including property tax at your purchase price and the manager you will actually hire.
• Have someone walk the property and someone audit the documents. Most real estate due diligence companies cover the first; very few cover the second.

Our free multifamily deal review gives you an operator's read on rents, expenses and assumptions before you commit. Once you are under contract, our work beside other real estate due diligence companies audits the rent roll, every lease and the T12.

The manager is the most important decision an out-of-area owner makes. Ask how they report, how often you will hear from them, who holds the trust account and what they do on the day a resident stops paying. See a real report before you sign: our sample owner report shows what ours look like.

We offer property management in Reno, Sparks, Carson City and the Carson Valley for apartment owners, wherever they live. If your building is outside Northern Nevada, or you already have a manager you want to keep, our multifamily asset management service reads the reports for you and follows up on what they show.