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3. The Joys of Technology Integration

5. The Post-Dated Notice to Vacate

6. Fed Chair Says a Mouthful to Property Owners and Managers

8. Put it in Writing

9. Help, My Time’s Been Hijacked

10. Rents Up 2.5% for Pierce,Kitsap, Thurston in 2nd Quarter

14. Budget and Financial Management

15. Campus-Style WiFi Systems: The Amenity for Today

16. Get Yelp for Your Property Management Business

17. How Property Managers Can Increase Their Earnings in Today’s Economy

18. The Coach – C23 Property Management Tips for Mastering E-mail

19. 19. Dear Maintenance Men:

22. It’s Tough To Afford To Be A Renter These Days

24. Washington Working Families Can’t Afford Rent Control

26. The Anatomy of Your Business and How to Reinvigorate It

Straw, Sticks, or Bricks… What is Your House Made Of?

After the economy crashed in December 2007, nascent online peer-to-peer lend-

ing platforms quickly grew. They’ve since evolved into an increasingly popular investment alternative to Wall Street and other traditional op-tions.

Peer-to-peer lending isn’t new and it’s no passing fad, says P2P pioneer Brendan Ross, president of Direct Lending Investments LLC, (www.dirlend.com), which runs a short-term, high-yield small busi-ness loan fund.

“It’s a rebirth of the simplest and oldest way of making money: one individual loaning money to another and getting paid back with interest,” Ross says.

What makes this new incarnation different is accessibility.

“Online lenders like IOU-Central and Prosper.com make it easy for prospective lenders to find and fund borrowers through a website,” Ross says. “These platforms have auto-mated the underwriting process, in-cluding checking credit and looking at applicants’ bank accounts, so they can vet borrowers based on reliable information.”

Each online lending platform op-erates differently, but all vet appli-cants. The lender posts qualifying requests on its website, and private investors decide which to fund, ei-ther in their entirety or in part. At Lending Club, for instance, investors

You have insurance on your home, your car, your health. How about your retirement

plan?“People have homeowners in-

surance to protect against fires and

floods,” notes independent financial planner Stephen Ng, founder and president of Stephen Ng Financial Group, (www.stephenngfg.com). “They buy insurance to replace their car if it gets wrecked and they buy

health insurance to protect them-selves from medical costs.

“But for many people, their big-gest material asset is their retirement portfolio. When I look at a new cli-ent’s portfolio and ask, ‘Where’s

When the big bad wolf, bet-ter known as online re-views, comes knocking at

your door, how solid is your commu-nity’s reputation? Think back to the children’s bedtime story, The Three Little Pigs. Each pig decided to leave home and seek their fortunes. Be-fore leaving, their mother told them, “Whatever you do, do it the best that you can because that is the way to get along in the world.”

The first pig decided to build its house of straw, because it was the easiest, leaving him more time to play. Is your community built of straw? Are you doing just enough to get by? Residents living at a straw community may feel as though all they are to you is an apartment num-ber and a monthly check. Walking into your office, they may be second in priority to prospects, a ringing telephone, or even a conversation among co-workers. Straw commu-

Do You Have Insurance on Your Retirement Plan?

Financial Planner Shares Tips for Protecting Your Savings

3 Tips for Low, Middle & High

Net Worth Peer-to-Peer Investors

Continued on page 8 Continued on page 7

Continued on page 7

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By Mary Girsch-Bock

Once upon a time there was a woman we’ll call Jill. Jill worked in a fairly large

property management company that handled both commercial and resi-dential property management, so Jill was kept busy.

When Jill became a property man-ager, she was trained on the com-pany’s property management soft-ware. The software was adequate, but didn’t perform many of the tasks

that Jill had to utilize in order to run her property smoothly. So Jill used the primary software product exclu-sively for move-ins and move-outs. But the software was unable to run the reports that her management team at headquarters wanted, so they purchased reporting software for her to use. Without proper train-ing, Jill was unable to run reports on the new system, so she simply started using Excel. Her primary software didn’t support her mainte-nance department staff, so Jill began

to use yet another software product to track maintenance requests and equipment warranties. Jill was also unable to track leasing agent activ-ity using her current software, so she simply wrote the leasing detail down on a piece of paper every time one of her agents leased a unit and sent it to headquarters, so they could pay the commission. And while Jill used one of the most popular customer resource management database pro-grams to manage applicants, the program truly didn’t fit the property management industry well; forcing Jill to enter applicant data several times in order for it to show up in all the necessary places.

Years ago, most of us were in Jill’s position. Many software programs were built to solve one of our prob-lems; two – if we were lucky. Today, with fully integrated software sys-tems, the days of four or five differ-ent software systems running in the same property management office should be over.

But they’re not. A surprising num-ber of offices continue to purchase products separately; with none of those products designed to integrate together. While very small offices may not suffer as much as larger op-erations; a company experiencing

rapid growth or the addition of an-other residential complex can sud-denly find themselves in the middle of a technology nightmare.

It’s easy to tell if your office has fallen victim to muddled technology. Have you experienced?

• Lost or ‘overlooked’ maintenance orders

• Tenants entered multiple times into your system with several vari-ations on their name

• Inaccurate reporting due to manu-al accounting manipulation

• Missed commissions because the manual form was never processed

• Two or more employees working on the same task because there’s no way to track what has and what has not been doneIf you’re currently going through

any of these issues, you may want to take a look at an integrated software system.

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The Joys of Technology Integration

Continued on page 11



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The Post-Dated Notice to VacateAccording to urban legend,

there are teachers who will address their students on the

first day by stating “As of today, you all have F’s. It is your job to work your way out of the cellar to the grade you truly deserve.” Urban leg-end or not, I had such a teacher – AP English…senior year of high school. For fear of a 25-year grade reversal, I won’t mention said teacher’s name. Let’s just call him/her, The Professor.

The Professor was a piece of work; hard, brash, and unyielding in ev-ery sense of the word. The Profes-sor treated everyone as if we were already in college. Students with ex-cuses were often ridiculed and those who outright lied were made to exit the class altogether. The Professor had extremely high standards and very little patience. Everyone dread-ed their daily encounter with The Professor and thought of graduation more like prison release day.

So, imagine the collective groan-ing when The Professor was tapped to represent the faculty and give a speech during the graduation cer-emony. The Professor, really? In the past, the faculty representative was always the “popular” teacher, the one who got the most screams and cheers from the graduating class. The year before, when my sis-ter graduated, the faculty speaker

quoted Run DMC. That’s what we wanted – not some long, drawn out soliloquy by The Professor.

The Professor began with, “I want to open by stating three important facts. Yes, I was tough. Yes, I de-manded a full effort from each and every one of you. And yes, you have become better human beings for it.” The Professor went on to explain the “work your way out of the cellar” philosophy tested a student’s moti-vation, tenacity and confidence. For a student’s grade go from an F to a B over the course of the year, purely based on effort, was more of a moti-vation than to tread water or to just get by with the minimum required to pass the course.

Years later, I still remember his closing, “Whether you’re swimming or treading water, your arms and legs are moving. The big difference is swimming gets you to the shore. Treading water gets you exhaus-tion.”

So how exactly does The Professor relate to our industry? Well, imagine a new resident arriving for move-in, happily looking forward to becom-ing a part of your community. Upon signing the final page of the lease, they turn in a post-dated notice to vacate. What they’re saying is, “I have every intention of leaving after one year unless you can convince me

otherwise.” If you knew a resident was on

their way out at day one, would you throw in the towel or prove them wrong? It’s the same as the out of the cellar philosophy. Motivation, tenac-ity and confidence mean everything to resident retention. Make the most of every resident interaction, have ready answers (not excuses) and

demonstrate there is no better com-munity for your resident through unparalleled service.

BY Lia Nichole Smith | VP – Edu-cation and Consulting | SatisFacts

Research and ApartmentRatings.com

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On Tuesday July 15 Fed Chair Janet Yellen said more than Congress and most managers were

anticipating. Her carefully prepared comments are a big insight into how those who control America’s mon-etary policies are thinking.

According to a report by USA Today Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen told Congress the economy is improving but still needs the central bank’s support, refusing to provide a specific timetable for raising short-term interest rates.

“There’s no formula or mechanical answer I can give you,” Yellen said when pressed by Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, ranking member of the Sen-ate Banking Committee. She added, “The economic outlook is very un-certain.”

That is a plain spoken way of say-ing that the Fed needs to continue its accommodating monetary policies. This includes keeping interest rates low.

The benchmark 10-year Treasury bond yield fell to 2.54% which will lower mortgage rates in the weeks ahead. Now’s an auspicious times

for property managers to remind their clients to refinance loans while rates are down and lenders are likely to have more funds to lend.

With inflation rising and the gov-ernment’s unemployment rate fall-ing some economists and lawmak-ers have suggested the Fed should prepare to raise its benchmark short-term interest rate sooner than planned.

Although the Fed is steadily elimi-nating its bond buying stimulus pro-gram, Fed policymakers have indi-cated only that they plan to be able to begin raising interest rates sometime in 2015.

Ms.Yellen said that several labor market indicators, like the share of the population in the workforce, re-

main low. She said the ranks of the long-term unemployed are still at “unprecedented levels historically.”

The Fed Chair also downplayed concerns about inflation, which has been picking up, but at 1.8%, remains below the Fed’s 2% target. Noting that wage gains are improving, she said they’re “not rising to the point where they can give way to infla-tion.”

No doubt about it, The Fed knows the economy still faces headwinds as a result of the Great Recession. Not-ing low productivity growth, Yellen told lawmakers: “We have seen false dawns” before.

As for the housing market, the Fed chair noted that the housing sector “has shown little recent progress.”

“While this sector has recovered notably from its earlier trough, hous-ing activity leveled off in the wake of last year’s increase in mortgage rates, and readings this year have, overall, continued to be disappointing.”

While also speaking to the Senate Banking committee, Ms. Yellen set a powerful precedent.

She spoke directly about her con-cern over what Reuters reported as …stretched valuations in certain cor-ners of the U.S. equity markets, in-

cluding the small cap, biotechnology and social media sectors.

“The unusual comments from the Fed’s monetary policy report – the first time in 14 years that the Fed has commented specifically on valuation of a particular equity sector – that ac-companied Fed Chair Janet Yellen’s semi-annual testimony to Congress, hit stocks in riskier sectors of the market” Reuters summated.

Yellen said in her remarks that val-uations across equity markets remain generally in line with long-term av-erages, but the Fed’s report said the forward price-to-earnings multiples for smaller companies and those in the biotechnology and social media sectors appear “high relative to his-torical norms.”

My takeaway is that the Fed Chair wants to cool down the stock market while noting that the housing sec-tor still requires sufficient stimulus. Look for home prices to move higher along with rent rates.

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Fed Chair Says a Mouthful to Property Owners and Managers



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your insurance?’ They look at me like I’m crazy!”

Insure your retirement fund by taking steps to safeguard at least a portion of it, Ng says. As you get closer to retiring, the amount you safeguard will be what you need to rely on for your retirement income.

“Your retirement income should be derived from guaranteed sources, such as Social Security benefits and your pension plan,” says Ng, a li-censed 3(21) fiduciary advisor, certi-fied to advise companies about their 401(k) and other retirement plans. “It’s the amount you need to pay the bills and do the other things you hope to do in retirement, so your re-tirement income needs to be a guar-anteed source of income.

“Then you look for your ‘play checks.’ That’s the money you don’t absolutely have to have, so you can still try to grow it, and take risks with it, in the market.”

Ng offers these tips for insuring your retirement plan:

• Invest a portion of your portfolio in annuities.

Annuities are long-term invest-ment options through insurance companies that guarantee you pay-ments over a certain rate of time, which could be the rest of your life or the life of your spouse or other sur-vivor. Note: The guarantee is subject to the financial strength and claims-paying ability of the issuing insur-ance company.

• If you leave your job, quickly roll your employer-sponsored 401(k) into an IRA.

While 401(k)s are a great tool for saving, particularly if your employer is providing matching funds, if you were to die, the taxes your survivors would pay on your 401(k) would be much higher than on an IRA. That’s because they would have to inherit the money in a lump sum – that could easily take 35 percent right off the top. The lump-sum rule does not apply to IRAs. While your spouse would have the option to inherit your 401(k) as an IRA, your children

would not. So, take advantage of your employer-sponsored 401(k), but if you leave the company, convert to an IRA or ROTH IRA. You can also begin transferring your 401(k) funds to an IRA at age 59½.

• Consider converting your IRA to a ROTH IRA.

For protection from future income tax rate increases, you should con-sider slowly converting your tax-de-ferred IRA funds into a ROTH IRA. Yes, you’ll have to pay the taxes now on the money you transfer, but that will guarantee that withdrawals in your retirement are not taxed – even as the money grows. If you plan to leave at least part of your IRA to your children, they’ll benefit from a fund that continues to grow tax-free.

About Stephen Ng Stephen Ng is the founder and presi-

dent of Stephen Ng Financial Group™ (www.stephenngfg.com). Since 1992, he has helped pre-retirees and retirees preserve and increase their wealth by,

in part, helping them avoid common mistakes. He regularly holds financial

management, retirement investing and insurance planning seminars at busi-

nesses, churches and non-profit organi-zations. Ng is a Chartered Life Under-

writer, Chartered Financial Consultant and a Certified Estate Planner. He is

also an Investment Advisor Represen-tative with SagePoint Financial, Inc.,

member FINRA/SIPC. He brings a national and international perspective

to his financial advice, with professional and educational roots in Australia and

Asia, and certifications in 19 states.

Straw, Sticks...continued from front page

nities are defenseless to the big bad wolf because cutting corners and in-different service are surefire triggers for negative reviews.

The second pig built its house of sticks. While stronger than the straw, this material had its own shortcom-ings. The second pig chose sticks because he could fashion a sturdy structure quickly and still have the rest of the day to play. Stick com-munities have great intentions when it comes to their residents however, consistency and longevity are often a challenges. By not providing a stel-lar level of service day in and day out, the big bad wolf has no problem lurking outside your door, waiting for an opportunity to pounce.

This brings me to the third little pig. While its brothers teased him because of the playtime he was miss-ing, this pig never wavered in his quest to build a solid structure. The third pig had a “one and done” men-tality. Building his house correctly the first time and preparing for the unforeseen proved to be beneficial for this little pig. The wolf tries to blow the house down and when that doesn’t work, the wolf decides to climb to the roof and enter the house through the chimney. Oh but the third little pig, always prepared for the unforeseen, had a huge kettle of boiling water to meet the wolf as he came down the chimney, putting an

end to the big bad wolf.Brick communities, although resil-

ient, are not immune to the big bad wolf. The wolf knows the communi-ty is strong and well-built, but can’t resist trying to take a shot at its repu-tation. Knowing that a strong online reputation begins with a first-rate onsite experience, brick communities put forth the effort to make the most of every resident interaction. They sacrifice the easy to make residents top priority on a daily basis. And when the wolf does try to get it, they are prepared with a ready response.

Protecting your community’s on-line reputation starts with having the right attitude (work hard, build it right, prepare for anything) along with facing the negative head on with a counter attack. As the mother of the three little pigs said in the be-ginning of the story, “Whatever you do, do it the best that you can be-cause that is the way to get along in the world.” Straw, sticks or bricks…who’s afraid of the big bad wolf?

BY Lia Nichole Smith | VP – Edu-cation and Consulting | SatisFacts

Research and ApartmentRatings.com



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3 Tips ...continued from front page

can choose to lend the entire amount requested by a borrower, or as little as $25 to multiple borrowers, which adds protection if one defaults.

Investors can manually choose which loans to fund, or they can ask the platform to choose within certain parameters. Yields on a portfolio of loans can be 10 percent or more, Ross says.

He offers these tips for investors in three tiered financial levels:

• Investing $10,000 to $24,000: Visit the Lending Club and Pros-

per.com websites, and choose the one that most appeals to you, Ross says.

“Open an account in a tax-de-ferred IRA and shift a portion of your investments out of stocks and into lending,” he says.

The reason for that is interest in-come is taxed at a higher rate than the capital gains from stocks. Deferring

those taxes until you begin spending from the IRA will help keep a lid on your current tax bill.• Investing $25,000 to $100,000:

At $25,000, you have enough money to start getting professional advice about which loans to choose and how much to invest in each.

“I recommend going to www.lend-academy.com/invest because it’s run by Peter Renton, who’s very knowl-edgeable,” Ross says. “You choose between a conservative or balanced portfolio – I recommend balanced for higher yield -- and they’ll choose the loans for you and put them in your account.”

The fee is just 0.95 percent.

• Investing more than $100,000: Accredited investors have privi-

leged access – they can shop around for private fund pools, Ross says.

“As P2P matures, borrower cat-egories that have always had the highest yields, such as small busi-nesses, become available as private fund pools that are managed to de-

liver the highest yields,” he says.These pools form mutually ben-

eficial relationships with the P2P lending platforms, allowing the platforms to serve a larger volume of borrowers. The private funds get well-vetted borrowers from the plat-forms and manage the funds to the maximum benefit of all their inves-tors.

“Everybody wins,” Ross says, “in-cluding the borrowers, who get fast loans at reasonable rates.”

About Brendan RossMoney manager Brendan Ross is a

peer-to-peer lending first adopter who has become an expert in this non-tradi-tional transaction. The president of Di-rect Lending Investments LLC, (www.dirlend.com), which runs a short-term,

high-yield small business loan fund, he previously ran a number of other

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Put it in WritingBy Mary Girsch-Bock

Often, when renting an apart-ment, tenants are over-whelmed by the amount of

information they are given, from the initial apartment viewing, to filling out the application, to getting ap-proved, to finally, moving in. While it’s important to let all prospective residents know and understand the rules they must abide by when mov-ing into their new apartment home, it’s even more important that the rules and regulations be put into writing.

While standard information such as lease term, rental amount, and de-posit information is almost always included in every lease, it’s impor-tant that other items are written into the lease as well. It’s also a good idea to mention these items to residents so that they are aware that they are there. After all, most tenants do not

read their lease from beginning to end.

Here are some things that prop-erty managers should ensure are in-cluded in every lease and mentioned to each tenant as well:

Rental due date. While most leas-es will stipulate that rent is due the first of each month, most manage-ment companies will offer a grace period of a few days. If rent is con-sidered LATE on the 1st, put it in the lease, likewise if the late period starts on the 3rd.

The penalty for late rent. This needs to be spelled out as well. Ten-ants must be informed what the pen-alties will be if the rent is late, and if extenuating circumstances will ever apply.

What utilities, if any, are included in the monthly rent. If gas is includ-ed in the monthly rent, state that in the lease. Likewise, if the tenant is responsible for electric, that should

be stated in the lease as well.Apartment alterations. This can

be a sticky area, and one most likely to be abused. If tenants are required to get permission from management prior to making ANY alterations to the unit, it must be spelled out in the lease. This includes anything from painting the walls, to installing a ceiling fan. If this is not spelled out in the lease, tenants cannot be pe-nalized for any property alterations found upon move-out.

Authorized landlord entry. An-other sticky area. Years ago, when I rented a house, the owner of the house thought nothing of using her key to enter the property, clip roses in the backyard, and complain to me about the unwashed dishes in the sink. Only legal action could keep her out. While landlords are perfect-ly within their rights to enter a prop-erty during an emergency situation, 24 hour notice is typically required to

enter any other time. It would be in your best interests to put this in the lease. And obey it.

Pet policy. If your property doesn’t allow pets, put it in the lease. If you do accept pets, layout any re-strictions (dogs under 25 pounds), and any pet deposits required. Also be sure to note whether the deposit is refundable upon moveout.




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Help, My Time’s Been HijackedDoes it feel like

you manage your schedule or does your schedule manage you? I’ve started days focused, with my

task-list in front of me ready to tackle the day. Then I opened up my email, received some phone calls, had peo-ple walk into my office needing instruction, and before I knew it I had completely lost focus on my task list allowing my day to be hijacked. We can’t always control the hours we work, the interruptions or additional tasks we have to complete but there is a way to manage it more success-fully and to focus on the right things. I’m going to share ten tips that have helped me over the years to have more balance in my life and to take control of the busy chaotic demands of my career.

1. The first step is to conscious-ly set your priorities. This includes priorities for work and for life. Determine what is most important to you and what your goals are. Pick your top 5 (keep it simple) and stay focused on these. Take time each morning to review your priorities reminding yourself to block out time each day that will focus on what is important to you. Live a life that reflects the priorities you have set.

2. Track your time for one week. Look for time wasters that suck up your day without being obvious. These may include social media sites, news feeds, personal calls, shopping online, or a gossiper in the office. You may notice that in addition to wasting your time, they drain your energy too! Identify times in the day that you are more produc-tive and schedule more challenging tasks during those times.

3. Use Microsoft Outlook or other electronic calendar programs to schedule out your month as much as possible in advance. Organizing your schedule puts you in a pro-active frame of mind. Schedule one thing you look forward to doing every day. These are the items in your day that reenergize you and give you the energy and focus you need to accomplish the other tasks in your day that you don’t like as much. Keep your commitments to personal appointments on your schedule. If you have something fun on your schedule (for instance making it to your son’s baseball game) then you will work harder and stay focused so you don’t have to cancel or show up late.

4. Make health a priority. Getting up earlier in the morning is not always the easiest thing for most

of us to do but the benefits of taking time to exercise are proven. Studies show that you deal with stress much better when you regularly exercise and you also have more energy and focus. Make sure you get enough sleep every night. This can have an impact on your focus during the day and also helps maintain a healthy weight. Plan out your meals for the week to ensure you have healthy snacks and lunches throughout the day. I hear a lot of people say “I haven’t eaten all day” and they won-der why they are so tired. Drink plenty of water to stay hydrated. Drinking water can give you that boost of energy and focus you are looking for in the middle of the after-noon. Make space in your life for quiet time. This is a great time to reflect on life and if you are living your priorities.

5. Learn to say “no”. I admit this is not something I am good at but over time I have learned that there is not choice, I can’t do it all. One of my mentors taught me that it is important to say “yes” to the right things and equally as important to turn down projects that are too much to handle at that time. Over commit-ting will spread you too thin and then you aren’t great at anything.

6. Ask for support. Asking for help on projects is not a sign of weakness but shows you know when you need help. Be sure to have peo-ple in your life that are positive and help to support you. Delegate. This empowers your teams when they know you trust them with responsi-bility. If you think no one can do it better than you then you need to reevaluate your perspective. Hiring smart people that you can develop and delegate to is a positive reflec-tion of your abilities.

7. Dale Carnegie says “About 90% of the things in our life are right. Make sure you don’t overlook the 90% that is right because you are focusing on the 10% that isn’t.” Do you waste a lot of energy focused on the things that are going wrong? Ask yourself “how much of this is in my control?” It isn’t worth your time to

focus on the things you have no con-trol over. Spend your energy coming up with solutions on the things you actually can have an impact on.

8. Take vacations. Plan your vacations in advance. Schedule you vacations at the right time of the month to avoid critical deadlines or meeting. Make sure you are choos-ing adequate coverage during your absence and give everyone the tools needed to handle any emergencies that may arise. Learn to let go for that week and turn off your email. If your team can’t handle things while you are gone then you may need to reevaluate your hiring and training skills. If you have done your job well you should be able to leave for a week without any problem.

9. Find a mentor. This can be a formal or informal arrangement. Look around you for someone that has their time management and work life balance figured out (or at least they appear to). Ask them to help you to review your habits and work style to improve your efficien-cy. Glean from them as much as you can and adopt their good habits.

10. You will have to put in extra hours when learning a new skill or taking on a new project but it if it related to achieving your bigger career goals it is worth it and will pay off. Successful people will put in the time when needed and aren’t focused on punching a clock.

These ten tips are the tools that best helped me to manage my sched-ule more effectively. But I have one last tip that sums it up for me. Be passionate about what you do. When you find your drive and passion for what you do at work and in life it will give you more energy to keep going. Be sure to surround yourself with smart, positive people who are passionate about what they do. They are energizing and will rub off on you. In turn pass along your passion for life to others. Be the person that leaves a positive impact on everyone around you. Make an impact!

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Seattle - Apartment Insights 2nd quarter results show rents increasing 2.5% for the quarter and 4.5% for the year, according to Tom Cain of Apart-ment Insights. The data are from his Seattle firm’s statistics and trends on 50+ unit properties in Pierce, Kitsap and Thurston counties.

Vacancy: 4.81% The market vacancy for our non-

random survey of conventional, stabilized 50+ unit properties in all three counties is 4.81%, up from 4.7% last quarter. This is the first time in 9 quarters that the vacancy hasn't im-proved. The vacancy rate was 5.59% a year ago. The rate for all properties including those in lease-up is 5.78%, about the same as the first quarter.

Pierce: 5.11% The current vacancy rate in Pierce

County is 5.11% compared to 4.78% last quarter. The rate was 4.87% a year ago. Fife's 3.67% vacancy rate is the lowest in the county while the 7.03% rate in Lakewood is the high-est.

Kitsap: 4.03% The market in Kitsap County con-

tinues to improve. The vacancy rate is 4.03%, down from 4.54% last quarter and 9.73% a year ago. Port Orchard showed the greatest improvement and registered the lowest vacancy

rate, 3.13%. Poulsbo/Bainbridge Is-land's rate of 4.84% is the highest in the county.

Thurston: 4.19% Thurston County's vacancy rate

fell to 4.19% from 4.50% last quarter and 5.31% a year ago. Tumwater has

Rents Up 2.5% for Pierce,Kitsap,Thurston in 2nd Quarter

...continued on page 13



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break out into a cold sweat; even if that familiar product has resulted in more work and increased mistakes.

Let’s take a quick look at some of the repercussions of Jill’s current technology situation. Jill’s approval rating has dropped among some of her tenants; mainly because when they call with a maintenance request, it is frequently ignored. While large, catastrophic issues are handled fairly well, many ‘little’ requests never get funneled to the maintenance staff.

Jill decides to email out a residen-tial newsletter, but she’s found many of her tenants are entered into her CRM system multiple times. She has no idea which ones are correct, so she sends the newsletter out to all of the emails, resulting in several angry residents accusing her of ‘spamming’ them.

Since Jill was never comfortable using the reporting software she has installed, she uses Excel to produce her monthly reports. During a long month end closing, she accidently transposes numbers to create a dev-astating loss of income. Now several of her superiors are questioning her ability to do her job. To make matters worse, she had two leasing agents quit because they felt they were be-ing short-changed on their commis-sions. One of those employees has now filed a formal complaint with Human Resources.

While using an integrated soft-ware system can eliminate many of the problems highlighted above, there are also several benefits that

property managers like Jill can begin to reap immediately. They include:

• A reduction in the amount of data entry needed daily. With employ-ees no longer required to enter ap-plicant and tenant data more than one time, they are free to concen-trate on leasing more units

• A more proactive maintenance department. Maintenance staff will no longer have to operate in ‘reactive’ mode, resulting in few-er lost maintenance orders, and a much better response time for all of your tenants

• Quick, accurate report processing. Staff can process a report with a few mouse clicks. And while no system can guarantee that infor-mation is input correctly, you’ll no longer have to worry about transposing numbers, eliminating a line of data or inadvertently de-leting a mathematical formula

• An accurate database. You’ll have more confidence in your tenant database, and can communicate via email more effectivelyToday, Jill’s office uses a fully in-

tegrated property management soft-ware that combines their accounting system, leasing system, and mainte-nance system seamlessly. With the proper tools at her disposal, Jill can now do what she was hired to do; manage her property.

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48-HOUR NOTICE OF ENTRYTENANT(S): ____________________________________________________ DATE:________

ADDRESS: ____________________________________________________ UNIT: _________

CITY: _________________________________________ STATE: __________ ZIP: _________48-HOUR NOTICE OF ENTRY

Pursuant to RCW 59.18.150, this is your 48 hour notice that your landlord or their agents will be

entering the dwelling unit and premises located at (Address)______________________________________________________________________________on between the hours of and . (Date) (Time) (Time)The entry will occur for the following purpose:______________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

Landlord Phone

Method of Service: Personal Service: Post and Mail: ** Add one additional day for compliance if served by post and mail.

WA-RTG-40 Washington

©2009 NO PORTION of this form may be reproduced without written permission.

CHECK-IN/CHECK-OUT CONDITION REPORTTENANT(S): __________________________________________________________________ADDRESS: ________________________________________________UNIT: ______________CITY: ___________________________________ STATE: ________ ZIP: _________________Rating Scale = (E)Excellent (VG) Very Good (G)Good (F)Fair (P)Poor Rating Scale = (E)Excellent (VG) Very Good (G)Good (F)Fair (P)Poor Rating Scale = (E)Excellent (VG) Very Good (G)Good (F)Fair (P)Poor Rating Scale = (E)Excellent (VG) Very Good (G)Good (F)Fair (P)Poor Rating Scale = (E)Excellent (VG) Very Good (G)Good (F)Fair (P)Poor Rating Scale = (E)Excellent (VG) Very Good (G)Good (F)Fair (P)Poor Rating Scale = (E)Excellent (VG) Very Good (G)Good (F)Fair (P)Poor Rating Scale = (E)Excellent (VG) Very Good (G)Good (F)Fair (P)Poor Rating Scale = (E)Excellent (VG) Very Good (G)Good (F)Fair (P)Poor IN Out In Out In OutLIVING AREAS KITCHEN BEDROOM 3Walls Walls Walls

Windows Stove/Racks WindowsBlinds/Drapes Refrigerator Blinds/DrapesRods Ice Trays RodsFloor Shelves/Drawer FloorCarpet/Vinyl/Wood Disposal Light FixturesLight Fixtures Dishwasher Doors/WoodworkDoors/Woodwork Counter Tops LocksLocks Cabinets CeilingsCeilings Sink Electric OutletsElectrical Outlets FloorGarbage Cans WindowsTV Antenna/Cable Blinds/Drapes BATH ROOMFireplace

Towel BarsCleanlinessSink & Vanity

ToiletBEDROOM 1 BEDROOM 2 Tub/ShowerWalls Walls Fan (Exhaust)Windows Windows FloorBlinds/Drapes Blinds/Drapes Electric OutletsRods Rods Light FixturesFloor FloorLight Fixtures Light Fixtures Essential ServicesEssential ServicesDoors/Woodwork Doors/Woodwork PlumbingLocks Locks HeatingCeilings Ceilings ElectricityElectrical Outlets Electric Outlets Hot Water

Smoke Detectors

OR-RTG-20 Oregon


PET AGREEMENTTENANT INFORMATION

TENANT(S): ____________________________________________________ DATE:________ADDRESS: ____________________________________________________ UNIT: _________CITY: _________________________________________ STATE: __________ ZIP: _________

DESCRIPTION OF PET(S)

1) Type _______________ Breed _______________ Size ______ Age __ Weight ___ Color ____ Name ________ Vaccinations: Yes____ No____ License Number: ______________



Additional Security Deposit Required:$

AGREEMENTTenant(s) certify that the above pet(s) are the only pet(s) on the premises. Tenant(s) understands that the additional pet(s) are not permitted unless the landlord gives tenant(s) written permission. Tenant(s) agree to keep the above-listed pets in the premises subject to the following terms and conditions:

1) The pet(s) shall be on a leash or otherwise under tenant’s control when it is outside the tenant’s dwelling unit. 2) Tenant(s) shall promptly pick up all pet waste from the premises promptly. 3) Tenant(s) are responsible for the conduct of their pet(s) at all times. 4) Tenant(s) are liable for all damages caused by their pet(s). 5) Tenant(s) shall pay the additional security deposit listed above and/or their rental agreement as a condition to keeping the pet(s) listed above. 6) Tenant(s) shall not allow their pets to cause any sort of disturbance or injury to the other tenants, guests, landlord or any other persons lawfully on the premises. 7) Tenant(s) shall immediately report to landlord any type of damage or injury caused by their pet. 8) This agreement is incorporated into and shall become part of the rental agreement exe -cuted between the parties. Failure by tenant to comply with any part of this agreement shall constitute a material breach of the rental agreement.

_____________________________ ______________________________Landlord Tenant ______________________________ Tenant

OR-RTG-24 Oregon


CHECK-IN/CHECK-OUT CONDITION REPORTTENANT(S): __________________________________________________________________

ADDRESS: ________________________________________________UNIT: ______________

CITY: ___________________________________ STATE: ________ ZIP: _________________Rating Scale = (E)Excellent (VG) Very Good (G)Good (F)Fair (P)Poor

Rating Scale = (E)Excellent (VG) Very Good (G)Good (F)Fair (P)Poor







Rating Scale = (E)Excellent (VG) Very Good (G)Good (F)Fair (P)Poor IN OutIn Out

In Out

LIVING AREASKITCHEN

BEDROOM 3

Walls

Walls

WallsWindows

Stove/RacksWindows

Blinds/DrapesRefrigerator

Blinds/DrapesRods

Ice TraysRods

Floor

Shelves/DrawerFloor

Carpet/Vinyl/WoodDisposal

Light FixturesLight Fixtures

DishwasherDoors/Woodwork

Doors/WoodworkCounter Tops

LocksLocks

CabinetsCeilings

CeilingsSink

Electric OutletsElectrical Outlets

Floor

Smoke DetectorsGarbage Cans

WindowsTV Antenna/Cable

Blinds/DrapesBATH ROOM

Fireplace

Towel BarsCleanliness

Sink & Vanity

ToiletBEDROOM 1

BEDROOM 2Tub/Shower

Walls

Walls

Fan (Exhaust)Windows

WindowsFloor

Blinds/DrapesBlinds/Drapes

Electric OutletsRods

Rods

Light FixturesFloor

FloorLight Fixtures

Light FixturesEssential ServicesEssential Services

Doors/WoodworkDoors/Woodwork

PlumbingLocks

Locks

HeatingCeilings

CeilingsElectricity

Electrical OutletsElectric Outlets

Hot WaterSmoke Detectors

Smoke DetectorsSmoke Detectors

WA-RTG-20 Washington


www.rentegration.com 503-933-6437 [email protected]

state specific forms for arizona, california, colorado, indiana, KentucKy, new Jersey,

new yorK, oregon, pennsylvania, texas, utah, washington & more.

Color Standards for National Tenant Network Logo

• Logos are provided on the CD in all three forms: all black, reversed to white, or in PMS 280 Blue/PMS 7543 Gray spot or 4/color applications. Please see below for specific use examples.

• No other colors are acceptable for use for the logo.

• No altering of the logo is allowed. If you have a special circumstance that requires something not provided on the CD, please call NTN NaTioNaL HeadquarTerS 1.800.228.0989 for assistance.

• Logos should not be put over a busy background.

BLACK WHITE (with 40% gray circle)

PMS 280/PMS 7543 over colorBlue PMS 280/Gray PMS 7543

uNaCCePTaBLe CoLor uSaGe

do NoT put over a busy backgrounddo NoT change the color do NoT alter in any way

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Rents Up ...continued from page 10

had the lowest vacancy rate in the county for over two years running. It currently stands at 3.82%.

Rental IncentivesPierce: $13 per Month (1.44%) Kit-

sap: $12 per Month (1.31%) Thurston: $9 per Month (1.02%)

The overall rate for rental incen-tives for the three-county area is 1.33%, down from 1.71% in the pre-vious quarter. Thirty percent of prop-erties offered rental incentives versus 29% last quarter.

RENTS: $904 per Unit Rents for the three-county area

increased $22 to $904 per unit and $1.05 per foot. This is the largest quarterly improvement ever for the 3-county area since we added Kitsap and Thurston in 2009.

Pierce: $901 per Month $1.05 per Square Foot

Kitsap: $918 per Month $1.08 per Square Foot

Thurston: $886 per Month $1.03 per Square Foot

Rents increased $26 in Pierce, $19 in Kitsap and $6 in Thurston.

New ConstructionThe 172-unit Bracera in Gig Har-

bor opened this year (see photo). It is managed by Palladium Real Estate Services. There are 1,474 units un-der construction in the three-county

area, most of which are in Thurston. There are 1,418 units that have com-pleted the design review process, and another 1,659 units that are in the earlier stages of the construction pipeline.

Observations Rents rose 2.5% this quarter and

4.5% for the year. The vacancy rate is below 5%. This certainly is the best performance for the three-county market since the financial crisis of 2008. Owners and managers have been patiently waiting for some relief from the stagnation of the previous five years or so. They deserve to par-ticipate in the rebound.

Tom Cain of Apartment Insights Washington is a member of the nonprof-it Central Puget Sound Real Estate Re-

search Committee in charge of providing apartment rent and vacancy data. Tom

has been a member of the Committee for over 25 years, and has been researching apartment market trends in the Seattle area since 1978. His company surveys the five counties in Central and South

Puget Sound. This article highlights survey results that subscribers can

access from an online database of all 50u+ properties. Apartment Insights also provides customized rent reports

and market reports. www.apartmentin-sightswa.com 206-632-2220

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• Executive Director – Jim Wiard • President – Gail Duke – Vice President – Kris Buker • Secretary – Becky Sanders • Treasurer – Brett Stevens • Vice President of Suppliers Council – Barry Savage • Immediate Past President – Jay Olson

18300 Cascade Ave. S., Suite 130Tukwila, WA 98188

(425) 656-9077(425) 656 9087 (fax)

[email protected]

Budget and Financial ManagementIt’s hard to believe budget sea-

son is upon us again! To add salt to the wound, after a long and

busy spring and summer in prop-erty management, we get to immerse ourselves in seemingly endless itera-tions of budget number crunching, historical performance evaluation, and trends analysis. All while trying to squeeze in a last summer vacation and prepare for kids going back to school.

Of the many educational and training classes designed to enhance

our association members’ skills and improve their property financial per-formance, one of the most popular classes at WMFHA is our Budget Boot Camp. Two recent sold out classes offer proof that members need to have access to quality educa-tion, industry trends and best prac-tices designed to improve their bot-tom line.

There is no more necessary edu-cation to grow and advance in our industry than financial management training. Understanding financial

and accounting concepts, exploring ways to improve the financial suc-cess of your property, and realizing that your property is an investment add complexity to your job descrip-tion.

The budgeting process is one of the most important tools you have in evaluating strategy to improve your property and the services you can offer to your customers. Analyze current and historical performance, discuss goals and objectives, re-visit current policies and programs, con-duct an extensive property inspec-tion, prepare a thorough market rent comparison, obtain bids, evaluate contracts, and involve staff feedback.

The greatest impact on the bottom line can be found in maximizing the revenue side of the equation. This involves a thorough understanding of rent trends, market conditions, customer preferences, branding strategy and a commitment to ser-vice. Employee skill development in the area of leasing is critical to meet-ing income assumptions. So too is a strong maintenance and property upkeep program.

Evaluate each expense line item with industry best practices in mind,

looking for ways to maintain the physical property and resident ser-vice level yet identify ways to reduce costs. Reductions in the major ex-pense categories of utilities, mainte-nance and payroll require diligence and creativity. Don’t forget to de-velop a capital expense budget, both short term and long term.

There are a multitude of reports available in today’s property man-agement software programs to as-sist in the budgeting process, such as the general ledger report and lease expiration report. A thorough review of property financial reports is essential while preparing for next year’s budget. Payback period cal-culation, cost-benefit analysis, return on investment (ROI) and valuation all come into play while looking for ways to improve your property as a real estate investment.

Understand key financial and ac-counting terms such as cash vs. ac-crual accounting, accounts receivable and accounts payable, assets and li-abilities, same store comparison and turnover ratio. A strong community manager has a clear grasp of their operating statements on an ongoing

continued on page 20

September 25, 2014 11:30am - 3:00pm

A Luncheon at The Seattle Sheraton

Networking Dessert Reception Immediately Following Program.

Thank you to our Platinum Sponsor

Legislative Update Joe Puckett, Director of Government Affairs - WMFHA

Featuring Keynote Speakers Mike Scott

Principal, Dupre+Scott

Matthew Gardner Principal, Gardner Economics

Member Tickets — $89 Non-Members — $109

Reserved Tables of 10 available

For Tickets and Additional Information Contact 425.656.9077

or visit us www.wmfha.org

This is the Property Management Industry’s leading economic forecast event. The 8th annual Washington Apartment Outlook will provide Apartment Industry Professionals, Community Leaders, Owners, Lenders, Executives and Asset Managers the latest information on economic trends in real estate from the state’s leading and most trusted experts. This information will be critical in helping your team properly forecast your business, build your budgets, and formulate winning strategies for success in 2015.

www.RentalHousingJournal .com



Apartment residents have long held in high regard such amenities as a fitness

center, a patio, a washer/dryer and a pool, but now of equal importance as those features is having high-speed community-wide Internet service.

Having high-speed community-wide Internet service is now among the most desired amenities accord-ing to a 2013 survey by the National Multi Housing Council. More than 70 percent of respondents said that it was important or very important.

Easy enough, right? Practically every restaurant and coffee shop you visit has wireless Internet service. Most libraries have it. Many college campuses do too. If the corner Star-bucks (and mid-block Starbucks and other corner Starbucks) can pull this off, surely you can too. Is it as simple as expanding the WiFi you already have running in your business center or around the pool area? It’s not.

As many an apartment manager has discovered, there are a plethora of significant hurdles to setting up a WiFi system that provides consistent, fast and full coverage across a num-ber of buildings and in open spaces.

It would be hard to design some-thing that would be tougher to bring WiFi to than an apartment commu-

nity. Concrete. Stucco and wire fram-ing. Metal duct work. Hot-water heaters and washers and driers. Fire-places. And any number of devices in each unit trying to connect to the Internet. In fact, everything apart-ment communities have in quantity interfere with the microwave level frequencies that WiFi uses.

The vastness of the area to provide coverage is yet another challenge. Most WiFi access points (AP) have an indoor broadcast range of be-tween 25 to 100 feet, so dozens if not

hundreds of AP units are required to create complete coverage. These AP units need to be installed with great care and must operate in coordina-tion so that all areas get coverage but that each signal doesn’t interfere with the other.

In most urban areas, all the other devices operating on the license-free radio frequency cause interference with WiFi systems, which weakens the signal and can cause interrup-tions. These devices include mobile phones, baby monitors, radios, two-

way radios and other WiFi systems. Couple that with the small antenna most consumer devices have and you have connectivity issue.

Security is increasingly one of the biggest issues in setting up a WiFi system. Hackers target public WiFi systems that are weakly defended or are poorly designed, snooping about for sensitive information to ex-ploit. With the high-profile security breaches in the past few years, users are more conscience than ever of the need for top-quality security.

Perhaps the greatest hurdle in in-stalling community-wide WiFi in apartment communities has been the cost. The electronic hardware and cost of installing the equipment can easily top $100,000 (not to mention on-going maintenance), too great a price tag for most apartment com-munity owners to justify installing, leaving residents to each get their own Internet service.

But a few wireless internet ser-vice companies have developed new equipment, software and delivery methods that solve the issues that have long prevented apartment com-munities from installing campus-like WiFi. A growing number of apart-ment communities are installing the

Campus-Style WiFi Systems: The Amenity for Today




18

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Too many property managers aren’t aware of the free tools offered by a familiar online

company. You’ve heard of Yelp, but did you know that 132 million people use it monthly for buying decisions?

The most recent data suggests there are over 57 million reviews on Yelp. More importantly 82% of Yelp users go there because they intend to buy a product or service.

People who are looking for prop-erty management and rentals often do business once they find what they’re looking for. About a third of Yelp visitors are looking for real es-tate services.

According to a Nielsen survey, what matters most to consumers when they’re looking at a business profile on a site like Yelp are the re-views. The survey found that 44% read those reviews.

It surprised me that only 26% were impacted by the company’s rat-ing, but that’s still more than 1 out of every 4 users. Reviews and ratings together influenced 70% of people who use Yelp.

Yelp partners with Apple, Yahoo and Microsoft’s Bing to offer search results for Smartphone users. Yelp’s

services are offered to power the search experience of people looking for professionals like you.

Let’s Make a DealYou’ll be pleased to know that

Yelp offers your business some very powerful free tools. You can learn more about what Yelp gives away to business owners by going to this page and watching the brief video.

Property managers can offer pro-spective clients and residents a “Yelp Deal” on your free business page. For example, why not offer to wave part of the application fee for people who contact you on Yelp?

It’s also a good way to offer cash

rewards, a gift card or other incen-tives to help attract new business and referrals. And don’t be afraid of attracting some reviews or asking current clients to write one.

With your free business page you can position yourself as a leader in your industry.

Whether people find you using Yelp’s mobile phone app or online with a computer you can promote yourself and demonstrate what makes your business exceptional.

Speaking of reviews on Yelp, make sure you stay on top of them. Reviews, especially negative ones, are frequently ignored, and that can

be a mistake.Delegate someone you trust to

keep up with reviews and respond to complaints. As the saying goes, “roll with the punches” by not being de-fensive. Instead reply tactfully and constructively.

Yelp can be quite the image-mak-ing and reputation-sustaining tool. With it you can check the numbers on how many people “checked in” to your page and made inquiries. It’s a great lead generator as well.

The folks at AppFolio posted a we-binar recap they hosted with Yelp’s Business Outreach Director. If you participated in the webinar I encour-age you to watch it again. The ideas and suggestions are invaluable.

Consumers are relying on services like Yelp to make buying decisions more than ever before. Consider us-ing it to build both a strong mobile and online presence for your busi-ness and benefit directly.

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By Marc Courtenay

Property managers work hard for their money. Everybody talks about increases in the

cost-of-living and rents rising, but how about the people who make rentals available?

Yes, I’m referring to your clients the owners, and you, the liaisons between the residents and the “land-lords”. When’s the last time your cli-ents called and said, “You deserve a raise!”?

If you’re waiting for that to hap-pen I have a bridge in my area I’d like to sell to you. If you’re going to earn more as a property manager there are mainly two ways to do that.

First way is to increase your rev-enue, aka your sales growth, and the other way is to decrease your costs. I’d like to hear from you in the com-ment section below on other ways that work.

To increase your revenue you’ll need to find new clients, increase the number of rental units you manage, or create a new source of revenue like hiring a real estate sales agent or be-coming one yourself.

You can add to your income by im-

proving your occupancy rate. A good target rate is 95%. Seasoned veterans know that if your rate is lower than that you’ll need to hone your skills at attracting new residents.

If your occupancy rate is higher than that your rental rates may be too low for your area. A rule of thumb is to have rates high enough that your rentals are in the top 10% for compa-rable units. Why, you might ask?

One answer is if you aren’t in the top 10% there’s probably something wrong with the condition of your rental properties. It may indicate the need for better, more attractive main-tenance procedures.

This brings up a common mistake property managers make. In the in-terest of keeping costs low or cutting costs they forgo repairs or attractive

How Property Managers Can Increase Their Earnings in Today’s Economy




According to a recent survey by Matrix Information, three billion people around the

globe have access to Internet-based services and E-mail. In addition, this report expects electronic commerce to grow from $3.2 trillion in 2013 to $6.2 trillion by the year 2015. Is your property management company ready for these exploding communi-cation and marketing trends? Is your leasing team ready to handle the E-mail just sent by 15 new prospects re-locating from Paris or Moscow? Read the tips in this article and learn how easy it is to master E-mail and profit from it…it’s just a few keystrokes away!

Tips for using E-mail with prospective new residents:

Ask your leasing teams to always use spell check before sending an E-mail to a future resident

• Have your teams read each E-mail twice before they send it, just to make certain it conveys exactly what they are trying to commu-nicate and it portrays the profes-

sional image important to your property management company

• When sending an E-mail, the sub-ject line must clearly summarize what the body of the E-mail says

• If your leasing teams are using the E-mail “reply” feature to respond to a future resident, make certain they reply by including the infor-mation the prospect sent in their original E-mail note. In addition, ask your leasing teams to include the name of the future resident throughout their E-mail reply.

Tips for using E-mail within your property management company:

When your leasing teams are using E-mail to communicate inter-nally, make certain they understand when to respond by E-mail and when to call the person who sent the original E-mail, depending on the tone or content of the E-mail

• Explain to your leasing teams how and when to use carbon copy {cc} and blind carbon copy {bcc} with E-mail

• Have a written company policy regarding the use of E-mail, clear-ly outlining the rules and expecta-tions of your company. Have this document signed by each person who will be accessing your E-mail software

• Explain to your leasing teams that deleting an E-mail does not remove it from their computer system nor from the system of the person the E-mail was sent to. During several recent lawsuits, damaging E-mails that had been deleted were used in the courtroom to the surprise of the individuals and their property management companies

• Instruct your leasing teams about the extra care required if they re-ceive an E-mail that has an at-tached document, as this is where most computer viruses are hid-den. Many property management companies do not let their leasing teams send or open attached files

• E-mail files can easily be opened and read so confidential informa-tion like salaries, financial reports, social security numbers or credit

card numbers should not be sent by E-mail.

Tips for using E-mail as a marketing tool:

E-mail can also be used as a pow-erful marketing tool to attract new residents or to better service your ex-isting residents. Here are some tips: Aside from a small $15-$20 service charge per month, sending or receiv-ing E-mail is free. When compared to other forms of marketing…hav-ing your leasing teams send E-mails to new or existing residents is their least expensive form of marketing

• Imagine the marketing success your leasing teams will have if they had the E-mail address on the guest card of every future resident who visited their apartment com-munity over the past 12 months…and your leasing teams can stay in touch with these potential new residents for free!

• When your properties are using E-mail to handle resident questions or maintenance requests, a timely

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by Ernest F. Oriente, The Coach {Article #220…since 1995}

C23 Property Management Tips for Mastering E-mail ©




By Jerry L'Ecuyer & Frank AlvarezDear Maintenance Men:

Dear Maintenance Men: By Jerry L'Ecuyer & Frank Alvarez

Dear Maintenance Men:I am a firm believer in doing interior

and exterior inspections at my proper-ties. However, as I’m getting older, I find I am spending less time at the buildings, so I need to use my time constructively. What should I include in an inspection report to help me decide what work to do now or later?

Fred

Dear Fred:You are thinking ahead and that is

a good thing! Just because you visit the property less, does not mean the building requires less maintenance and as you know, routine mainte-nance issues evolve into costly re-pairs that could have been avoided. Here are some of the things we pay special attention to:

1: First and foremost, we look for potential hazards. Broken side-walks, poorly lit stairs, missing handrails; anything that can po-tentially cause an injury for a resi-dent or a guest. And, of course,

we make sure those fire extin-guishers are functional and fire escape areas are clear of clutter.

2: It is important to check building exteriors for cracks in the founda-tion, open crawl spaces and any places in brick work or stucco where water might get into the walls during heavy rain. This in-cludes making sure that caulking around vents and piping is suffi-cient. We do a similar inspection of the roof, looking for spots were leaks might occur.

3: Make sure that all of the proper-ty's windows close smoothly and securely and identify any broken panes. Windows that leak or col-lect condensation on the sills can create major problems down the road.

3: Fire Hazards such as dryer vents should be inspected to make sure they are clear of lint and debris. Chimneys are inspected for cracks and proper ventilation. Both gas and electric water heaters pose fire and water hazards. Electrical connections are checked as are gas lines along with water pipe connections and venting.

4: Biannual furnace filter inspec-tions at the end of fall and spring will keep your HVAC systems operating at peak performance, while ensuring dangerous condi-tions are not present.

5: The most costly and damaging of all deferred maintenance is wa-ter related. Plumbing throughout the building must be inspected to make sure that seals are secure, faucets are not leaking and pipes are in good condition. Residents should be encouraged to report leaks and drips. A small leak un-der a cabinet can create serious damage if left unchecked.

6: Inspect breaker boxes and all elec-trical equipment:

7: Include washing machines, ga-rage door openers and other me-chanical devices such as garbage disposal units and re-circulation pumps etc. in your inspections. Check for loose wires, water leaks and unsafe conditions.

This is only a partial list and indi-vidual buildings may differ in their needs.

Dear Maintenance Men:

It is currently summer time and that is when we get the most vacancies. How do I keep my residents from moving?

Denise

Dear Denise:According to the 2011 national res-

ident study, "Getting Inside the Head of the Online Renter," the number one factor in a resident's decision to renew a lease is "Quality of Mainte-nance Services."

Additionally, the current Satis-Facts Insite® Index for Work Orders indicates that 18% of all service re-quests are not completed right the first time. And of those, only one-third of residents received notifica-tion that there would be a delay in completing the request.

What the above means is poor maintenance service can lead to higher vacancies. It does not mat-ter if you have 10 units or 100 units; maintenance is a critical tool in the physical well-being of your property and the happiness of your residents. Think of it this way. A service call and parts may cost $250 to service a broken washing machine or water heater, resulting in a satisfied resi-dent. However, a resident having to

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Budget and ...continued from page 14 Increase Earnings ...continued from page 15

basis and makes adjustments contin-uously to improve performance.

Budgeting and financial man-agement are essential management tools. They are methods professional real estate managers use to improve property performance, meet owner-ship goals, develop staff, maximize property value and allow for smooth, stable, successful management of an investment property. Remember, the budget plan becomes your road map to reach your desired financial desti-nation. Without such a plan, you can easily drift off course and not know it until it is too late to make adjust-ments.

As the Washington state affiliate of the National Apartment Asso-ciation, WMFHA members benefit from excellent training opportuni-ties through NAA’s Certified Apart-

ment Manager (CAM) and Certi-fied Apartment Portfolio Supervisor (CAPS) designations. Both designa-tion courses offer a robust financial management curriculum. The CAM course may be taken online as well.

Make sure to budget in 2015 for ample employee training as well as attendance at industry events such as trade shows and the popular Wash-ington Apartment Outlook luncheon. Investing in your employees is an investment in your company future and properties under management.

For information on joining the Wash-ington Multi-Family Housing Associa-

tion or services provided, visit www.wmfha.org or check us out on Facebook

and review all that we have to offer.

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yet inexpensive improvements. This may increase costs in the long run and lead to longer turnaround time for vacancies.

If your properties are top notch you’re less likely to lose residents when it’s time to raise the rent on the anniversary of their lease. Consider what some call a “nuisance increase”.

This is a $15 to $25 per month rent increase on each resident’s anniver-sary. Remember that increasing the rent also ups the value of the rental property, and owners love that!

The second way to make more money as a property manager is to decrease your costs of doing busi-ness. Time is money and your time should be worth more.

One of the biggest money and time savers is modern technology. Make sure you’re using your mobile devices to cut down on unnecessary traveling, communications and pa-

perwork.If you need more ideas to reduce

costs without reducing services and the quality of your management I recommend you contact a represen-tative from a company like Appfolio.

This organization knows the prop-erty management business and has earned my respect for their profes-sional excellence and competence. Invest your valuable time to ask questions and learn more.

To help you save money and make money be looking for my upcom-ing articles, including one where I’ll share some important reasons why you should consider some timely re-pairs,




WiFi ...continued from page 15

service and marketing the much-de-sired amenity.

Residents of the Emparrado Apartments, a 154-unit community in Mesa, have been receiving high-speed Internet service since the spring. In addition to faster speeds, resident are most excited about be-ing able to unbundled service from cable providers, saving money, and in the flexibility of service, said Deb-bie Achs, property manager.

“I live here and I am dumping the Internet portion of my cable service,” she says. Most residents don’t want a land line phone, and a good portion want to drop cable TV service, given the increasing cost.

Having campus-style WiFi has made the property more attractive to potential residents, Achs said. “It's been the one amenity that every single potential resident has asked about,” she said. “It's been a huge in-fluence. It just opens the door to new and better things.”

How have wireless Internet ser-vice companies overcome the diffi-culties in having campus-style WiFi in apartment communities?

First, they’ve taken advantage of the high-speed and high-capacity data packages available directly from data center operators. By eliminating the cable or satellite dish companies from the equation, end users get In-ternet service at a fraction of the pri-

or cost and the apartment communi-ty owners can establish a new profit source. Installation costs are typical-ly borne by the Internet service com-panies, who earn a return from the monthly charge to end-users.

“The technical solutions were dif-ficult; we tried many designs that just didn’t perform,” said Rory Conaway, a well-known radio frequency engi-neer and owner of Phoenix-based Triad Wireless, which designed and installed the campus-style Wi-Fi sys-tem that was installed at the Empar-rado Apartments. “But we knew the market demand for campus-style WiFi was strong and worth the engi-neering and technical effort.”

At the behest of Red Hot-Spot Company, a start-up Internet ser-vice provider, Triad Wireless spent more than a year in R&D creating a proprietary Wi-Fi design for apart-ments. Access points are where end users connect to the Internet. Triad’s design uses access points that are a third the size of the smallest access point previously on the market. The small size and increase in power made it possible to design and build a campus-style WiFi system that overcomes stucco, steel, firewalls and a geographically spread com-munity, Conaway said.

Concurrently, Red Hot-Spot de-veloped a proprietary software system that manages each account

separately, blocks external sharing, allows each household to have mul-tiple devices connected at any one time, manages gamers, and manages the revenue and service components.

“It seems like a simple task – hav-ing multiple users and multiple de-vices trying to connect from one apartment unit – but it was quite a challenge to develop the software to allow that to happen without con-nection and security issues,” said Red Hot-Spot President Zach Spain.

Security for end users was also addressed in designing the cam-pus-style WiFi system, Spain said. Rather than users having to rely on the security filter on their home com-puter and devices, which are often outdated or over-matched, users of campus-style WiFi are protected by a commercial security system that filters out threats and dangers before they ever get reach users' computers.

“This is a level of security typical-ly found at Fortune 500 companies,” Spain said. “We knew we had to of-fer that kind of peace of mind on a

WiFi system, given that it’s viewed as a shared system and because of the increasing level of threats on the Internet.”

The Phoenix-based company, which is just two years old, has in-stalled campus-style WiFi in a num-ber of communities in Phoenix and Tucson, and expects to start con-struction on dozens of communities throughout the Southwest by fall.

D.J. Burrough is a Scottsdale-based freelance writer. His work has appeared

in Urban Land Institute Magazine, The New York Times, The Dallas

Morning News, The Christian Science Monitor and The Arizona Republic. Red

Hot-Spot is a Phoenix-based wireless Internet service company that creates

campus-style WiFi in commercial and multifamily housing settings. For more

information contact Red Hot-Spot at www.redhotspot.net or call 1-800-468-

6851.

7801 Lake City Way NE

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www.RentalHousingJournal .com



It’s Tough To Afford To Be A Renter These Days

By Marc Courtenay

Housing affordability isn’t looking too promising as 2014 begins. If you listen to

the National Association of Realtors the opportunity to be a homeowner hasn’t been this affordable in a long time.

If you review Figure 2 below you’ll get the impression that Ameri-can housing is now extremely afford-able and the typical household can easily make the monthly mortgage payment on a home. Thanks to his-torically low interest-rates, fixed rate mortgages have become more af-fordable for some American families

and many analysts expect that this cheap credit will fuel another hous-ing boom.

Figure 2: US Housing Is Afford-able

Perhaps another home-buying- boom has begun, but from the index above it still looks like the price of housing is above the levels we saw between 2005 through 2008. Yes, there’s been a dip since 212, but an-ecdotally I’m not hearing of a big in-crease in existing housing sales since mortgage rates are climbing.

In fact on Dec.19, 2013 Reuters re-ported that “U.S. home resales fell sharply in November to their lowest level in nearly a year, hurt by a rise in interest rates since the spring and ongoing price increases that have shut some home buyers out of the market. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said on Thursday [the 19th] that sales of previously owned homes dropped 4.3 percent last month, the third monthly fall in a row, to an annual rate of 4.90 million units.” That was the lowest annual rate since December 2012, and well below the median forecast in a Re-

uters poll of a 5.03 million unit pace. “It is a clear loss in momentum for home sales,” NAR economist Law-rence Yun told reporters.

How About The Cost Of Being A Renter?

As Mr. Doubtfire said to Mrs. Doubtfire in the movie by the same name, “Brace yourself Effie!” An online trade journal for folks in the mortgage industry, The National Mortgage Professional had a grim as-sessment titled, “American Renters Facing Tough Affordability Issues”.

“Affordability problems for rent-ers have skyrocketed over the past decade both in number and the share of renters facing them, according to a new report on rental housing from the Harvard Joint Center for Hous-ing Studies.” “The inability of so many to find housing they can afford dramatically impacts the health and well-being of U.S. renters, as lower-income households cut back on food, healthcare, and savings, just to keep up.”

The Harvard report, “America’s Rental Housing: Evolving Markets

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response is expected and required

• Create two separate E-mail lists…one for future residents and one for current residents so you can send appropriate marketing infor-mation to each group

• Create an E-newsletter which can be easily sent out on a weekly or monthly basis. Remember, since sending E-mail is free, your leas-ing teams will have lots more flexibility. In addition, E-newslet-ters portray a professional image about your property management company and are quick to be passed-along to others, thus ex-panding the reach and exposure for your marketing

• When sending E-mail, have your leasing teams develop a five to seven line signature which is au-tomatically placed at the bottom of every E-mail they send out. This signature line will further promote their apartment commu-nity, your corporate website and can be changed on a daily basis, if necessary

• Use E-mail to stay in touch with the media in your area, especially if your apartment communities have any exciting events or com-munity projects to announce

• The E-mail address at each of your properties should be included on every business card, every bro-chure, on any sales information and with all print advertising.

Want to hear more about this im-

portant topic or ask some additional questions about how to use E-mail as a powerful marketing tool? Send an E-mail to [email protected] and The Coach will E-mail you a free PowerHour invitation.

Author’s note: Ernest F. Oriente, a business coach/trainer since 1995

[32,320 hours], serving property man-agement industry professional since

1988--the author of SmartMatch Alli-ances™, the founder of PowerHour® [ www.powerhour.com ], the founder of

PowerHour SEO [ www.powerhourseo.com ], the live weekly PowerHour

Leadership Academy [ www.power-hourleadershipacademy.com/pm ] and

Power Insurance & Risk Management Group [ www.pirmg.com ], has a pas-sion for coaching his clients on execu-tive leadership, hiring and motivating

property management SuperStars, traditional and Internet SEO/SEM

marketing, competitive sales strategies, and high leverage alliances for property

management teams and their leaders. He provides private and group coaching

for property management companies around North America, executive re-

cruiting, investment banking, national utility bill auditing, national real estate

and apartment building insurance, SEO/SEM web strategies, national

WiFi solutions [ www.powerhour.com/propertymanagement/nationalwifi.html

], powerful tools for hiring property management SuperStars and build-ing dynamic teams, employee policy

manuals [ www.powerhour.com/prop-ertymanagement/employeepolicymanu-

als.html ] and social media strategic solutions [ http://www.powerhour.

com/propertymanagement/socialme-dialeadership.html ]. Ernest worked for

Motorola, Primedia and is certified in the Xerox sales methodologies. Recent interviews and articles have appeared

more than 8000+ times in business and trade publications and in a wide variety

of leading magazines and newspapers, including Smart Money, Inc., Business

2.0, The New York Times, Fast Com-pany, The LA Times, Fortune, Business Week, Self Employed America and The

Financial Times. Since 1995, Ernest has written 225+ articles for the property

management industry and created 400+ property management forms, business and marketing checklists, sales letters

and presentation tools. To subscribe to his free property management newslet-

ter go to: www.powerhour.com. Pow-erHour® is based in Olympic-town…Park City, Utah, at 435-615-8486, by

E-mail [email protected] or visit their website: www.powerhour.com

The Coach...continued from page 18 Deat Maintenance ...continued from page 19

www.rentalhousingjournal.comThe statements and representations made in advertising and news articles contained in this publication are those of the advertiser and authors and as such do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Professional Publishing, Inc. The inclusion of advertising in this publications does not, in any way, com-port an endorsement of or support for the products or services offered. Metro Apartment Manager is produced monthly and is published by Professional Publishing Inc. PO Box 6244 Beaverton, OR 97007. (503) 221-1260 - (800) 398-6751 © 2014 All rights reserved.

Publisher Will Johnson • [email protected]

Designer Steve Olsen • [email protected]

Advertising Sales Will Johnson • [email protected]

Terry Hokenson • [email protected]

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live with a broken washing machine or intermittent hot water may elect to move rather than dealing with the hassle of calling in repeated service requests. That resident vacating will now cost the owner thousands of dollars in loss rent and rehab work to bring the unit back to rent ready condition. Good maintenance is a year round tool to keeping your in-vestment healthy and your residents paying the rent month after month.

Dear Maintenance Men:I have been hearing the term “Aging

in Place” more and more lately. What does it mean and how does it affect my apartment building?

Harold

Dear Harold:Aging in place is defined as liv-

ing in the community with a level of independence for as long as possible without the need of in home care. The biggest barrier to aging in place is our homes. Most homes and rental communities are ill equipped for long term aging in place residents. As an eye opening statistic, the Baby Boomer generation is 25 percent of the population and the first of the Boomers turned 65 in 2011 and the last will turn 65 in 2029.

As apartment owners and man-agers, we need to pay attention to

this aging trend and not be caught off guard. Aging in place means big-ger showers with wider doors, taller toilets, grab bars and bath sinks that will accommodate wheelchairs etc. As your units come up for rehab over time, think about these improve-ments; they might just be money in the bank for the long run.

Bio: Please call: Buffalo Mainte-nance, Inc for maintenance work or consultation. JLE Property Manage-

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Washington Working Families Can’t Afford Rent Control

By: Chester Baldwin, Attorney at LawExecutive Director, WROA (WAA)

Background on Rent ControlDuring the 1960s and 1970s, state

and local governments embarked on an experiment. Costs of living were steadily increasing and major metro-politan areas were unable to accom-modate the migration of people into their municipalities. To maintain the supply of affordable housing, gov-ernments started passing ordinances to limit the amount that landlords could raise rent. Unfortunately, these experiments failed to meet the objec-tives they set out to address.

Typically, municipalities' rent con-trol ordinances would place a ceiling

on rent increases and surcharges of the existing rent. Where landlords made substantial improvements on the property, they were still limited in the amount that they could in-crease rent for the unit, therefore, property owners discontinued or de-layed improvements on the land that they owned. Residents in these cities quickly recognized their mistake and the problems rent control caused.

As so many individuals were migrating into major metropolitan areas, they found that it was rather difficult to find a place to live. This is because rent control ordinances tended to protect the old or current residents at the expense of the new residents. Whereas individuals who

already occupied a given tenancy benefitted from lower costs, those attempting to move to a particular area had increasing difficulties find-ing housing that was available and affordable.

By imposing a price ceiling on fu-ture rent increases, the government only harmed the housing markets. These ceilings maintained pricing below the equilibrium point, i.e., the point where housing providers' sup-ply meets current and prospective tenants' demands. In competitive markets (absent controls on pric-ing), when the demand for a good or service is higher than the amount supplied, prices naturally rise to eliminate the shortfall in demand.

However, by maintaining these rent ceilings, a market shortage results and the artificial controls prevent rents from reaching levels to equal-ize the market. Because of these ceil-ings, many landlords were unable to pay their mortgages because often the rent they were receiving was too insufficient. Worse yet, the quantity of housing available decreased, as did the quality of the units that were available.

Landlords were increasingly dis-incentivized from making any capi-tal improvements on their land be-cause the amount that they could increase rent would not offset the amount that they paid into the im-provements, or at least severely re-stricted the margins to recoup their costs. As housing prices remained artificially low the demand for hous-ing increased, which meant that less housing options were available for those with limited incomes. Further, as some areas of the cities maintained low housing prices, the prices in sur-rounding areas typically increased.

With one portion of the housing supply controlled, the excess de-mand spills over into the noncon-trolled sectors.

Moreover, since landlords' mar-

Washington apartment association

61st Anniversary Celebration

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To register, or see if we can assist with carpool arrangements contact Jen Kahler via email

at [email protected] or call (425) 353-6929.

When: Saturday, September 27th

Time: 5:30 pm to 9:30 pm

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...continued on page 27

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and Needs,” found that half of U.S. renters pay more than 30 percent or more of their income on rent, up an enormous 12 percent from a decade earlier. A large amount of the in-crease was found among renters with severe financial burdens (e.g. paying more than half their income on rent). These levels were unimaginable just a decade ago, when the percentage of American renters paying half their income or higher on housing stood at 19 percent and was already an alarm-ing concern.

“Escalating rental affordability problems come at a time when the share of Americans that rent has in-creased from 31 percent in 2004 to 35 percent in 2012. In fact, the 2000s marked the strongest numerical growth in renter households in the last fifty years” the report continued. “As ownership rates fell, housing markets have adjusted dynamically to the increased demand for single-family rentals, with about three mil-lion existing homes switching from owner to rental occupancy from 2007-2011 alone.”

That number has risen in the last two years, and most of those hous-es were rented at local fair-market rent levels. So Property Managers, are you keeping up with the rental affordability circumstances in your area? How fast are your vacancies being filled, and will vacancies start

a trend in the other direction?Be prepared to speak with your

owners (clients) and let them know what’s going on both regionally and nationally. If fewer Americans can afford the current cost of renting a house or an apartment, perhaps we will all experience the need for tem-porary rent reductions? Another pos-sibility to consider; Are your owners and you willing to rent to multiple couples, and are you going to need to advertise your unfilled vacancies for singles to share to help the afford-ability challenge?

Hopefully a rebound in employ-ment and a robust gain in the eco-nomic circumstances of the average American will unfold in the year ahead. In case it doesn’t, prudent Property Managers need a back-up, contingency plan. What is yours, and are you communicating with your clients about it? If you don’t have one, create one. Then plan on sched-uling individual meetings with own-ers or do a client-appreciation semi-nar to let them know your ideas.


It's Tough...continued from page 22

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By Marc Courtenay

As your business evolves and grows your role as a proper-ty manager needs to be crys-

tal clear to you, your clients and the residents you serve.

Notice I listed “you” first. If you don’t fully grasp all the various roles that you’re playing in your business, how you prioritize your time and what is falling between the cracks, you can’t know for certain if you’re on top of your game.

The varying parts of your busi-ness, the anatomy of it, will either bring you success or impede it. The late Andrew Carnegie, who is his day was a legend of professional ex-cellence, had this to say:

“And here is the prime condition

of success, the great secret. Concen-trate your energy, thoughts and capi-tal exclusively upon the business in which you are engaged in. Having begun in one line [profession], re-solve to fight it out on that line; to lead in it. Adopt every improvement, have the best machinery [technol-ogy] and know the most about it.”

As springtime approaches these words seem very timely. Property managers have an important busi-ness, but sometimes we get caught up in the small details and miss the urgent big ones.

Carnegie’s “great secret” and de-scription of success is the big picture and it speaks to what we can’t afford to overlook. This may be the perfect time to reevaluate how we do what we do, and bring a new form of fit-

ness to “the business in which you [we] are engaged in”.

You can begin this process by read-ing a relevant book like Reinventing the Entrepreneur by MaryEllen Trib-by. It’s not one of those “feel good” motivational books with vague ideas and big promises.

It’s the kind of detailed, down-to-earth guide to building your busi-ness around what you feel passion-ate about. Ms. Tribby doesn’t beat around the bush and she doesn’t mince words.

Although she doesn’t speak di-rectly to the property manager, she addresses some universally valuable steps for starting, reinvigorating, running and growing a successful business. Just a couple of great ideas from the book could make the time

you spend reading it the most value-added hours of your week.

Whether you learn how to brain-storm million-dollar business ideas or better ways to size up your com-petition and know what you can of-fer that they can’t, this book delivers the goods.

It’s also about starting and build-ing a successful business in today’s competitive marketplace. With the advice given and the pointers pro-vided, you could literally start over from scratch, or, reinvigorate your business like never before.

There are some great ideas for bet-ter ways to market your business, how to build a better online follow-ing, and create the kind of image that contributes to the success you’ve been hoping for.

May I ask you a favor? If you know of a book that was specifically helpful to you as a property manager, would you be willing to either leave a comment or email us with the title?

All of us can use proven tech-niques for improving the anatomy of our business model and boosting our bottom line in a big way.

Let this article motivate you to do just that and replace mediocrity with the professional excellence that produces a level of success that only those willing to go above and beyond will ever experience.


The Anatomy of Your Business and How to Reinvigorate It

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Rent Control ...continued from page 24

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gins on occupied units were so thin, they looked toward newly vacated units to recoup their profits, charging new tenants more than current ten-ants. This disincentivized both land owners and builders from maintain-ing current buildings and erecting new buildings. Existing buildings fell into states of disrepair and some were even abandoned. Areas that desperately needed revitalization did not get it because prospective profits for owners were nonexistent.

Not only was rent control bad for landlords, but it also negatively impacted tenants as well. Price con-trols prevented tenants from mov-ing to other areas because there was no housing available. Tenants found it harder to vote with their wallets (by moving to units located in better neighborhoods or into units of high-er quality than their current unit) be-cause landlords were already voting with theirs. Rent control exacerbated segregation of racial minorities and prevented low income tenants from being able to find affordable housing.

Rent Control Fight Coming to Washington

With the election of a Socialist City Council member in Seattle in Kshama Sawant and her successful champi-oning of the $15/hr minimum wage in Seattle, she has turned her sights to rent control. She has argued that

rent control is needed because work-ing families can’t afford to pay rent in Seattle.

Additionally, Frank Chopp the Washington State Speaker of the House, and arguably the most pow-erful man in the legislature has re-cently come out in favor of revisit-ing the discussion of removing the Washington State prohibition on rent control. This is a scary proposition for ALL landlord in Washington. This is going to be a hotly contested issue this year and in years to come in Olympia with the legislature. Low income housing advocates believe that it is rent control that can turn the tides in Seattle and other metro-politan areas to bring rents down. The problem that they fail to address is that home and property prices are not coming down in those areas and implementing rent control will only serve to provide less affordable housing and that which is provided will not be able to be maintained.

What Landlords Can DoThe Washington Apartment As-

sociation (WAA), recently renamed the Washington Rental Owners As-sociation (WROA), is working hard in Olympia to maintain the law pro-hibiting rent control in Washington. Their lobbyists have met with more than 40 of the key decision makers in both the Washington State House

and Senate and have championed the message that rent control is NOT good for Washington and our work-ing families.

This may be the biggest potential issue to affect Washington landlords in decades and it will take everyone to successfully defend against rent control. All landlords need to be in-volved in this fight and make sure that their voices are heard. Ask for more information and become part of WROA and learn how you can make a difference. Every landlord has two House Representatives and one Sen-

ator that represent your district and everyone should be contacting those members and educating them on the dangers of rent control and voicing their strong opposition.

If you need more information about what you can do to help fight rent

control in Washington, please email [email protected] for more information

about how to become involved, how to become a member, and the many ben-

efits of membership in WROA.

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