Rental Housing Journal On-Site October 2017

Rental Housing Journal On-Site

October 2017

3. Is Your Rental Housing A Target For Bird Nests?

5. Final Defendant Sentenced In Tacoma In Long Running Mortgage Fraud Case 6. Why Your Apartment Reviews and Digital Curb Appeal Matter

7. Segmented Training Fits Better In A Busy Multifamily Professional’s Day 8. 4 Ways To Keep Up With Changing Compliance Laws In Rental Housing 9. Washington Apartment Outlook

11. Top 10 Hottest Hipster Markets In America 17. Startup Company Tackling The Rental Property Maintenance Toothache

www.rentalhousingjournal.com • Professional Publishing, Inc 17,000 Papers Mailed Monthly To Puget Sound Apartment Owners, Property Managers & Maintenance Personnel Published in association with Washington Association, IREM & Washington Multifamily Housing Association

Seattle Area Landlords To Pay $95,000 To Settle Discrimination Complaint

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Professional Publishing Inc., PO Box 6244 Beaverton, OR 97007

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he owners and manager of three Edmonds, Washington, apartment buildings north of Seattle have reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice to resolve a lawsuit filed earlier this year following a discrimination complaint..

The lawsuit alleged that those landlords refused to rent their apartments to families with children, in violation of the Fair Housing Act, according to a release.

The landlords will pay $95,000 in damages and civil penalties to settle the discrimination complaint, according to the release.

Discrimination complaint alleges apartments advertised as adult only “The settlement resolves a complaint filed by the department in March 2017 which alleged that in March 2014 defendant Debbie A. Appleby told a woman seeking an apartment for herself, her husband and their one-year-old child that the apartment buildings were “adult only.” The complaint also alleged that defendants advertised their apartments as being in “adult buildings,” according to the release. continued on page 22

Is Your Property Management Compliance Training Working?

By Ellen Clark

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he Grace Hill training tip this month focuses on compliance training and the importance for landlords and property managers of keeping up with ever-changing rental housing laws at federal, state and local levels.

The holy grail of compliance training questions: Is the training working?

Being able to answer the question, “Is my compliance training program working?” requires thoughtful planning, but it doesn’t have to be complicated.

Breaking it down can help, so over the next few weeks we’ll provide a series of tips for structuring a good compliance continued on page 22

Empty Nester Housing Key As Baby Boomers Keep Working

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mpty nester housing is a key as the surge in full-time workers over the age of 65 means that folks born in the 1950s are going to continue working well past the traditional retirement age, according to a new report from John Burns Real Estate Consulting.

“The workaholic baby boomers continue to redefine employment, even as they reach the traditional retirement age. They created the surge in dualincome families that ended in 2000, and now they are creating a surge in fulltime workers over the age of 65,” write Chris Porter, Chief Demographer, and Mikaela Sharp, Research Analyst, for John Burns.

Burns calls this group born in the continued on page 11

Rental Housing Journal On-Site

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Rental Housing Journal On-Site · October 2017

Rental Housing Journal On-Site

Maintenance Check Up:

Is Your Rental Housing A Target For Bird Nests?

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he maintenance check up this month, provided by Keepe, asks whether your rental housing may be a target for unwanted bird nests.

You wake up on a Saturday, make yourself some coffee and a bagel, open up the newspaper and start reading.

Suddenly, you hear the dreaded beeping of your phone.

It is the tenant at your rental property complaining about bird poop all around the front porch and backyard.

A bird family has set up nest inside the vent. Your tenants can’t use the microwave oven or the vent fan for fear of hurting the little hatchlings. You decide to call bird control to remove the nest.

But one thing weighs on your mind you really don’t want to hurt the birds or their babies. Maybe they will just fly away in a few weeks?

Bird nests common in the Northwest This is an all too common scenario in many parts of Seattle and the Greater Northwest. It may be time for a maintenance check up to focus on nests.

Migratory birds (robins, tree swallows, tanagers, etc.) nest during late winter and early spring. With loss of habitat, and low winter temperatures, birds have begun nesting inside the warmer confines of household dryer vents. This keeps them safe from the extreme climate and allows

them to prepare for the arrival of their hatchlings.

While it is easy to fall in love with the notion of sharing your home with other harmless living beings (in some eastern cultures, a bird building it’s nest in/ around your home is considered a good omen), there are numerous downsides to letting this happen as well.

The obvious ones are visible bird droppings (aka bird-poop), and loud noises. Newborn birds often die and are abandoned in the vents causing serious odor problems throughout the house.

Even worse, these nests can become extremely dirty and be a haven for lice and bacteria.

Maintenance check up: Install bird guards over vents The best solution for this problem is prevention.

You can get a bird guard installed on your dryer vents. These are widely available on Amazon or any home department store like Home Depot or Lowes. Bird guards cover dryer vents and prevent mother birds from nesting in dangerous environments.

If you are unable to install it yourself, then ask your handyman or maintenance provider to install it for you.

October and November are the best times to do a maintenance check up and be proactive about installation so that

you don’t have to clean up after the birds have already set up nest, or even worse, after the hatchlings are born.

This allows the mother bird time to find a nest in a tree or somewhere else where they won’t be disturbed.

coming soon to an area near you. Learn more about Keepe at http://www.keepe.com

About Keepe: Keepe is an on-demand maintenance solution for property managers and independent landlords. Keepe makes hundreds of independent contractors and handymen available for maintenance projects at rental properties. Keepe is available in the Greater Seattle area, Greater Phoenix area, San Francisco Bay area, and is

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Rental Housing Journal On-Site · October 2017

Tiana Jackson Loan Associate 425.739.0023 tjackson@lbsavings.com

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A MOMENT TO SHINE Congratulations to the 2018 Eastern Washington emerald award Nominees!

LEASING CONSULTANT OF THE YEAR (1-150 Units)

MAINTENANCE SUPERVISOR OF THE YEAR (151+ UNITS)

Alex Parra, Broadmoor- Prodigy Blake Noll, Vintage at Spokane- FPI Daniel Madrigal, Parkside at Mirabeau- FPI Derek Mikkelsen, Riverside 9- Weidner Dom Felix, Lincoln Village- Prodigy Eddie Heiman, Lofts at Innovation Center- Prodigy Jeremy Johnson, Carrington Place/Timberline Lodge/Villas at Tullamore- Greystar Joel Jordan, Deerk Creek- Coast Kurtis Converse, Bella Tess- Greystar Scott Schurosky, Big Trout Lodge- Greystar Tim Feldman, The Highline at Kendall Yards- Rockwood Tom Clark, Prairie Hills- Greystar

Alyssa Kennedy, Carrington Place Apartments- Greystar Emily Harris, Residence at Tullamore- Prodigy Kristi Kauffman, Ashton Place- Avenue5

LEASING CONSULTANT OF THE YEAR (151+ Units)

Amanda Kolassa, Copper Landing- FPI Breanna Ossello, Parkside at Mirabeau- FPI Christina Rodriguez, The Villages- Avenue5 Kaston Pedersen, Big Trout Lodge- Greystar Katerina Nekhamis, Bella Tess- Greystar Keelie Sitts, The Homestead- Greystar Mickell Rigsby, Pine Valley Ranch- Avenue5 PJ Berish, Residence at Whispering Hills West- Prodigy Sara Dunlop-Moffatt, Stonehorse at Wandermere- Douglass Properties Taylor Warren, Eagle Point- Greystar Theresa Patterson, Windsor Crossing- Rockwood

COMMUNITY OF THE YEAR (1-150 UNITS)

Brookline Townhomes- Greystar Carrington Place- Greystar Colfax Square- Douglass Properties Lion's Gate- Weidner Residence at Tullamore- Prodigy The Blake- Greystar

ASSISTANT COMMUNITY MANAGER OF THE YEAR

Allison Brooks, River House at the Trailhead- Avenue5 Aubrie Dean, Copper River Apartments- FPI Cierra Puyear, Eagle Point Apartments- Greystar Deivid Freitas, The Lusitano Apartments- Douglass Properties Emily Bickerstaff, Center Court- Douglass Properties Melissa Enos, Bella Tess- Greystar Neepa Ladwig, Tree Top- FPI Rocio Ayala, Navigator Villas- Security Properties Shelbie Skinner, Big Trout Lodge- Greystar Veronica Lozano, Arborpointe- Avenue5

COMMUNITY OF THE YEAR (151+ UNITS)

COMMUNITY MANAGER OF THE YEAR (1-150 UNITS)

Aaliyah Kruger, Jake at Indian Trail- Greystar Amanda Berezay, Revere Ridge- Security Properties Amanda Lazaro, Riverside at Trutina- Rockwood Eugene Khala, College Terrace- Greystar Jordan Poulton, Gonzaga University Area Communities- Douglass Properties Sara Lamson, Carrington Place- Greystar Staci Grogan, Tree Top- FPI Stephanie Powers, Pine View- Prodigy COMMUNITY MANAGER OF THE YEAR (151+ UNITS)

Chelsea Ramirez, Regency Park- Avenue5 Christopher Roberts, Eagle Point- Greystar Dora Berger, Big Trout Lodge- Greystar Heather Matherly, The Lusitano- Douglass Properties Heather Teston, The Highline at Kendall Yard- Rockwood Larial Jacobs, Residence at Whispering Hills West- Prodigy Lidia Pauline, The Homestead- Greystar Melanie Servantes, Heatherstone- Security Properties Michelle Reinhardt, Washington Square 1- Prodigy Stephanie Fromont, Copper River- FPI Taylor Winebarger, Bella Tess- Greystar PORTFOLIO MANAGER OF THE YEAR

Aspen Apartments- Security Properties Badger Mountain Ranch- Avenue5 Big Trout Lodge- Greystar Canyon Bluffs- Coast Center Court- Douglass Properties Eagle Point Apartments- Greystar Mosaic on the River- Prodigy Pine Valley Ranch- Avenue5 The Highline at Kendall Yards- Rockwood The Homestead- Greystar Trestle Creek- Greystar

NEW DEVELOPMENT OF THE YEAR

Bella Tess- Greystar Eagle Point- Greystar Legacy Villas- Prodigy Riverside at Trutina- Rockwood Stonehorse at Wandermere Phase II & III- Douglass Properties The Commons at Innovation Center- Prodigy Villas at Tullamore- Greystar

CURB APPEAL (1-150 UNITS)

Artisan- Douglass Properties Hilby Station Apartments- Greystar Jake at Indian Trail- Greystar Quail Springs- Prodigy The Residence at River Run- Prodigy The Residence at Tullamore- Prodigy CURB APPEAL (151+ UNITS)

Garrett Thiemens- Prodigy Hollye Miller- 4 Degrees Peggy Low- Greystar MAINTENANCE TECHNICIAN OF THE YEAR

Aaron Smith, Windsor Crossing- Rockwood Aaron VanMeel, River House- Avenue5 Barb Wehrer, Riverside 9- Weidner Gerardo Mendoza, The Commons at Innovation Center- Prodigy Jaime Cruz, Vintage at Spokane- FPI Joe Villanueva, The Knightsbridge Communities- Douglass Properties Kyle Hamberg, Aspen Apartments- Security Properties Logan Gibler, Lincoln Village- Prodigy Sergio Sanchez, Copper Hill- FPI Timofey Sytnik, The Homestead- Greystar Zachary Barker, Eagle Rock Apartments- Greystar

Bitterroot Lodge- Rockwood Copper Landing Apartments- FPI Eagle Point Apartments- Greystar Lincoln Village- Prodigy Navigator Villas- Security Properties River House at the Trailhead- Avenue5 Rockwood Lodge- Coast Stonehorse at Wandermere- Douglass Properties The Ridge at Midway- Greystar

INDUSTRY PARTNER OF THE YEAR

Comcast Premier Landscape Services ResMan, LLC Sherwin Williams

MAINTENANCE SUPERVISOR OF THE YEAR (1-150 UNITS )

Grigory Khala, Brookline Townhomes- Greystar Jacob Mellick, Jake at Indian Trail- Greystar Jacob Northrup, Adams Square/Perrine Court- 4 Degrees Kevin Harding, Residence at River Run- Prodigy Roman Skumatov, Bitterroot Lodge- Rockwood

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS BROUGHT TO YOU IN PARTNERSHIP WITH OUR NOMINEE SPONSORS:

Join us as we honor excellence in property management on February 22, 2018 For more information and ticket sales, visit wmfha.org 4

Rental Housing Journal On-Site · October 2017

Rental Housing Journal On-Site

Final Defendant Sentenced In Tacoma In Long Running Mortgage Fraud Case

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he final defendant in a long running investigation of mortgage fraud at Pierce Commercial Bank, going back to the financial crisis of 2008, has been sentenced in U.S. District Court in Tacoma, according to a release from U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes for the Western District of Washington.

During the period of the investigation, 15 defendants ranging from vice president to loan officers were sentenced for fraud that resulted in the bank collapse.

“Those whose crimes deepened the damage from the 2008 financial crwisis deserve to be punished U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes for the Western District of Washington just like any other criminal,” Hayes said in the release. “This defendant and 14 other well-paid bank employees from loan officers to bank vice presidents forged documents and made false statements to close loans they knew were not sound. The result was the collapse of Pierce Commercial Bank and the expenditure of nearly $7 million of taxpayer funds to address the financial mess these defendants left behind.”

The most recent sentence was for Ben Leske, 40, of Puyallup. Between 2005 and 2008 Leske worked as a loan officer for PC Bank Home Loans, a division

of Pierce Commercial Bank. LESKE pleaded guilty in May 2017, to making false statements on loan applications.

U.S. District Judge Benjamin H. Settle sentenced LESKE to 30 days of home detention, 100 hours of community service, two years of supervised release and more than $131,000 in restitution.

According to records in the case, between 2004 and 2008, the architect of the fraud, Shawn Portmann, and other members of the conspiracy submitted false documents within various loan documents and applications.

They falsified information about the borrowers’ qualifications as well as their intention to reside in the homes being financed, according to the release.

A review of a sample of conventional and HUD loans showed that members

Rental Housing Journal On-Site · October 2017

of the conspiracy closed over 300 loans with false and fraudulent documents and information. More than half of this sample of loans have defaulted or otherwise caused loss, causing an estimated loss of more than $10 million to Pierce Commercial Bank, secondary investors and HUD/FHA. Court records detail multiple false statements included in loan documents regarding an applicant’s employment, income, and intention to reside in the property.

Pierce Commercial Bank was closed by regulators in November 2010. Pierce Commercial Bank received $6.8 million from Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) in January 2009. This money was never repaid.

gage fraud case “With the sentencing of mortgage banker Ben Leske, 15 bank employees have now faced justice for a conspiracy that directly contributed to Pierce Commercial Bank’s failure and the loss of $6.8 million in TARP bailout funds,” Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program Christy Goldsmith Romero, said in the release.

“Ringleader Shawn Portmann, who was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for his crimes, created a culture at PC Bank Home Loans, Pierce Commercial Bank’s mortgage lending office, where all loans applications were expected to approved, regardless of the applier’s ability to repay. Under this ‘close every loan’ culture, he and his co-conspirators submitted false and fraudulent documents showing borrowers who appeared qualified for mortgages when in fact they were not.

“As a result, PC Bank Home Loans greatly expanded the residential mortgage lending operations of Pierce Commercial Bank prior to the financial crisis from no more than $3.9 million a month to nearly $500 million a year. I thank the U.S. Attorney’s Office for their commitment to fighting fraud related to TARP,” Romero said in the release.

Close every loan culture in mort-

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Rental Housing Journal On-Site

Why Your Apartment Reviews And Digital Curb Appeal Matter

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igital curb appeal matters more than ever now as 62 percent of potential residents use ratings and apartment reviews at the beginning of a search for a rental property, according to J Turner Research.

And online reviews are becoming more important than personal recommendations on properties.

Surprisingly social media is not a significant factor in the apartment search process.

Joseph Batdorf, co-founder of J Turner Research, in a recent webinar revealed new information about the online apartment reviews industry and

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how it works, such as the percentage of potential residents using ratings and apartment reviews. He also discussed the large number of apartment review sites and the differences between them.

“If you want to outpace the

competition, you need more than two reviews per month about your property,” Batdorf said.

Also he made several points during the webinar including: • Apartment reviews are becoming more positive than they were in the past, and tools like gamification help get better reviews.

• There are 4.7 million reviews on the internet of housing.

• J Turner Research is actively monitoring 19 review sites over 67,000 properties on a monthly basis to measure the online reviews of those properties.

The number of multifamily apartment reviews are also growing rapidly. As an example in April of this year there were 115,929 multifamily housing reviews and by September of 2017 there were 154,191 reviews he said.

“Most people can tell you about reviews coming in on their properties, or two or three of their competitors in their region,” Batdorf said. “But when you are tracking 67,000 properties you get a really good idea of what is going on.”

There are review sites that are more trusted. Some have more information than others. Also some are more regional. Yelp is strong on the West and East coasts, but not so much in the middle of the country, he said.

The digital curb appeal of your property is important to potential renters, as well as the online reputation of the review site itself.

“If you have a poor online reputation and people are not stopping by your property, you may not even know that,” Batdorf said as he urged property

managers to keep up with reviews of their properties online.

In the report, Jackie Rhone, , CPM, CAPS, executive director of real estate, AMO, Greystar Real Estate Partners, says that online reputation is a critical component of strengthening today’s business model: “There is an unquantifiable loss of traffic that you will never even know that you could have possibly had at your door, if you don’t manage your online reputation,” she said in the report. “We consider it as our new online curb appeal.”

Batdorf said review sites vary and property managers should study them for the differences. He said that star ratings vary depending on which review site you are looking at. For instance, he said For Rent gives many 4.5 star rating and the ratings are skewed positive on that site.

“They are like your grandmother, always saying good things about you,” Batdorf said.

He said the top 3 most trusted review sites in making a decision to buy a property are Google, Apartments.com and Apartmentratings.com.

He said 11 percent of apartment sites have no reviews at all, and another 18

continued on page 20

Rental Housing Journal On-Site · October 2017

Rental Housing Journal On-Site

Segmented Training Fits Better In A Busy Multifamily Professional’s Day

By Ellen Clark

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he Grace Hill training tip of the week to help owners, landlords and property managers with online property management training information. Let’s break it down.

Think for a moment about all the ways you break things down to make them more manageable, or even possible.

So what is segmenting information and how does it work?

• You don’t tackle a major project in a single day. Instead, you break it down into a project plan with weekly tasks.

• You don’t save for retirement all in one year. Rather, you set aside money over time.

• You don’t eat a bar of fancy chocolate in one bite. Instead, you use the handy pre-cut squares to savor it piece-by-piece.

Segmenting information in order to process it better and recall it more easily is similar.

Think about training content in a similar way It is beneficial to break content up, let the learner take a piece, digest it, and come back for more when he or she is ready.

In lessons, break complex demonstrations or explanations into shorter parts. Rather than show a twominute demonstration on closing the sale straight through, break it up into bite-size parts. Show one strategy in each part, then let the learner pause, reflect, review and move to the next part when he or she is ready.

This is called segmenting. It sounds fancy, but segmenting just means presenting material in manageable chunks.

What are the benefits of segmenting training content?

• Smaller pieces let learners process and understand one thing before tackling the next. This makes the learner’s cognitive workload more manageable, which frees up space to put things into long-term memory.

• As trainers, long-term memory is just where we want that content to go. Practically speaking, segmenting helps learners fit

training into a busy schedule.

• A series of 15-minute trainings are generally easier to fit into a busy multifamily professional’s schedule than sitting for a two-hour course.

There are lots of opportunities to segment content.

Breaking information into modules helps it to be more easily understood and recalled later.

Break courses into modules. Think of these as mini-courses.

Consider using a standard structure: • An overview with clear learning objectives • Content • Practice • A quiz A key thing is to make each module feel coherent, with a clear beginning and end.

Break modules into topics or sections.

Like chapters in a book, these are simple, logical groupings of the module content.

This allows the learner to get the lay of the land (like a table of contents) and progress through the module content in manageable pieces.

How big is a manageable chunk?

Right now, there isn’t much research on how large or small a segment should be. Simply use your judgement and experience. The point is to break down complex things into smaller parts to lighten the load on the learner.

It is hard to learn when feeling overwhelmed, or like the training is moving faster than our brains or schedules can handle.

Segmenting, at many levels of training, can help break things down and free up the space to let real learning happen.

About the author: Ellen Clark is the Director of Assessment at Grace Hill. Her work has spanned the entire learner lifecycle, from elementary school through professional education. She spent over 10 years working with K12 Inc.’s network of online charter schools - measuring learning, developing learning improvement plans using evidence-based strategies, and conducting learning studies. Later, at Kaplan Inc., she worked in the vocational education and job training divisions, improving online, blended and face-to-face training programs, and working directly with business leadership and trainers to improve learner outcomes and job performance. Ellen lives and works in Maryland, where she was born and raised.

Advertise in Rental Housing Journal On-Site Circulated to over 20,000 apartment owners, on-site and maintenance personnel monthly.

Call 503-221-1260 for more information Rental Housing Journal On-Site · October 2017

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Rental Housing Journal On-Site

4 Ways To Keep Up With Changing Compliance Laws In Rental Housing

By Ellen Clark

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he Grace Hill training tip this month focuses on the importance of keeping up with ever-changing rental housing compliance laws at federal, state and local levels.

Ever-changing compliance news is a challenge to keep up with.

One of the trickiest things about compliance training is keeping up with changing compliance laws, rules, and regulations.

You can create a great compliance course, assign it to your learners or set a date for training, and a month later, it needs to be updated. This can feel like an endless, overwhelming cycle.

To help, here are some practical tips for managing the ever-changing compliance world.

No. 1: Make a plan to keep up with changing compliance laws In compliance training, change is a given.

Since you know it is coming, build change into your plans.

Make a plan to update training regularly. Have processes in place and resources set aside so you aren’t repeatedly scrambling for time or budget.

Identify a mechanism to get information

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out quickly (for example, an email or an alert in the LMS) if something critical comes up between scheduled training updates.

Training people to always anticipate change regarding compliance laws is key.

Subscribe to key email lists and newsletters. Sorting through the information takes time, but planning it into your schedule and leveraging technology will make it a more manageable task.

No. 2: Make “change” a big idea in training “The world of compliance is everevolving” is a fundamental concept that is important for learners to understand.

Providing learners with big ideas like this equips them with a framework around which they can learn in a coherent way.

Make “change” a theme in your compliance training and revisit it periodically. This may help learners better understand and appreciate the importance of engaging in regular compliance training.

No. 4: Retain an expert If you have the resources, retaining an expert such as a law firm for legal compliance or a CPA for compliance with the tax code is very useful.

Work with them to identify priority issues so you aren’t overwhelmed with information you may not need. Have them create short summaries of why the change in law, rule, or regulation or other information is important to your business specifically.

No. 3: Be proactive and keep with with changing compliance laws To avoid surprises and the scrambling that inevitably results, block time on your calendar every week or two to scan HUD, EEOC or state agency websites for important compliance news.

Set up a Google alert, or something similar.

lifecycle, from elementary school through professional education. She spent over 10 years working with K12 Inc.’s network of online charter schools - measuring learning, developing learning improvement plans using evidence-based strategies, and conducting learning studies. Later, at Kaplan Inc., she worked in the vocational education and job training divisions, improving online, blended and face-to-face training programs, and working directly with business leadership and trainers to improve learner outcomes and job performance. Ellen lives and works in Maryland, where she was born and raised.

As a trainer, your work is never done.

This is one of the most challenging aspects of your job, but it can also one of the most invigorating.

Actively managing the changing world of compliance can help you be ready for whatever the compliance world throws your way.

About the author: Ellen Clark is the Director of Assessment at Grace Hill. Her work has spanned the entire learner

Rental Housing Journal On-Site · October 2017

711 Powell Ave. SW, Suite 101 Renton, WA 98057 (425) 656-9077 • (425) 656-9087 (fax) admin@wmfha.org

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Executive Director - Jim Wiard Board President - Becky Sanders Vice President - Sheri Druckman Treasurer - Laura McGuire Secretary – Melissa Downs Vice President of Suppliers Council - Rob Pendleton Immediate Past President - Brett Stevens

Washington Apartment Outlook

t WMFHA’s recent Washington Apartment Outlook (WAO) economic forecast luncheon, Perspectives and Projections for 2018, 700 attendees were treated to exceptional information on the state of the housing industry in Washington and in the local region.

These are both exciting times and concerning times. The rental housing industry provides an invaluable resource to hundreds of thousands of people and families who choose to rent their housing. The rental industry contributes greatly to the economic vibrancy of communities across our state.

The housing industry helps people find the home that’s right for them. Renting is more popular than ever before, due to changing preferences and demographics.

To meet this increased demand, more housing development and supply is needed to keep housing affordable and all levels.

WAO attendees were introduced to Mary’s Place by their Executive Director Marty Hartman.

Marty explained Mary’s Place’ mission and philosophy regarding housing homeless families in need.

Mary’s Place works with situationally homeless families on placement into

housing through screening, case management, financial assistance, eviction prevention and employment resources. They have a successful track record and have been supported by many companies and developers.

WMFHA members were excited to partner with Mary’s Place to give back to our community, as we support other charitable organizations such as Shelters to Shutters, Work of Honor, The Domestic Abuse Women’s Network, Childhaven, Toys for Tots, Move for Hunger, and Northwest Harvest.

WMFHA’s Director of Government Affairs, Brett Waller, offered an extensive legislative and government affairs advocacy update, both statewide and locally.

By our efforts and the efforts of our members, we were successful in educating lawmakers in Olympia on the effect and consequences of enacting legislative proposals harmful to our industry.

According to Brett, all the recent laws restricting how housing providers do business can be complicated and confusing. However, rental housing providers must be aware of all new housing laws that impact their rental services so that they can ensure compliance with new requirements.

Rental Housing Journal On-Site · October 2017

Our government affairs team is closely watching several election campaigns throughout the state. Candidates that have sensible views on promoting strong businesses and practical solutions to affordability, transportation and taxes receive the support of our Political Action Committee.

In Seattle, there are important races for city council and the mayor that will have a profound impact on the business community, apartment owners and property managers. We need more elected officials who are willing to listen to and work with us on solutions to some of our region’s most pressing issues, rather than punish industries and stymie growth.

Multifamily housing is the present and future of housing in this country and we are using every opportunity we can to educate lawmakers on its benefits and the needs for this industry’s continued growth.

Matthew Gardner, a popular and knowledgeable economist for Windermere Real Estate, outlined the current state of the economy, both nationally and locally, and his projections for the future of real estate.

Nationally, job gains will continue, and the unemployment rate will stay at their low levels. Consumer confidence

and consumer sentiment are where they were pre-2007. U.S. income growth is not meeting expectations, however.

Inflation and GDP growth will stay near 2% in the near future, according to Matthew. The Federal Reserve will move interest rates even higher in 2018 and 2019. Matthew said he wouldn’t be surprised if the country experienced a mild recession in 2019.

Demographics will be a major factor in the U.S. economy for the foreseeable future, and Matthew thinks government legislative ineffectiveness will continue, and might not be a bad thing, possibly providing economic stability.

The Greater Seattle economy is firing on all cylinders and performing at high levels compared to most cities.

Admittedly, the tech sector and Amazon specifically have been huge economic drivers to our region.

Employment growth will remain steady, as will the already low unemployment rate locally. Tacoma has surprisingly improving trends. “The economy WILL continue to do well in 2018” Matthew promised.

However, Matthew cautioned that rental rate thresholds will be tested, due to all the new construction in the area, continued on page 19

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Rental Housing Journal On-Site · October 2017

Rental Housing Journal On-Site

Top 10 Hottest Hipster Markets In America

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he top 10 “hipster” markets that draw millennials, businesses and housing demand are led by Columbus, Ohio, Seattle and San Diego, according to a release.

Also making the top 10 list in the West are San Francisco, Colorado Springs and Long Beach, California, according to a new data collaboration from Realtor. com and Yelp.

The “Hottest Hipster Markets in America” list identifies the most indemand housing markets in the U.S. with the highest concentrations of "hipster" businesses for home buyers looking to embrace indie culture.

"Although their opinions about their music and fashion may be out of the norm, when it comes to real estate -- hipsters have a knack for getting it right," Javier Vivas, director of economic research for Realtor.com, said in the release.

"Based on our research, there's clear evidence that "hipster" popularity – in markets like Austin, Texas – has led to mainstream interest and higher home prices over time. Whether it's the farmto-table restaurants or urban renewal projects that were already underway, a concentration of hipsters seems to be an indicator of a hot housing market."

From a housing perspective, all the

markets on the list have strong market dynamics, showing healthy buyer demand with homes selling in an average of 30 days. Each market also has low or average unemployment rates ranging from 2.7 percent to 4.6 percent, compared to 4.4 nationally.

Top markets sought by millennials With all the hipster businesses in town it comes as no surprise that these markets are also highly sought after by

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millennials, according to the release.

Overall, millennials -- ages 25 to 34 -in the top ten markets make up an average of 22 percent of the population, higher than the national population share of millennials of 13 percent. Additionally, these markets are continuing to draw interest from a younger crowd, as the millennial age group is viewing property listings at a rate 1.2 times greater than the share of millennials already living in

the area, indicating strong interest from other millennials wanting to move into these neighborhoods.

Yelp data shows that mentions of "hipster" occur across a wide range of businesses, from music venues and dive bars, to restaurants, barbers, and vinyl record shops. While some cities and ZIP codes, like Seattle, may be more recognizable as traditional hipster havens, Yelp data shows that there are many under-the-radar locations where Yelpers have identified neighborhoods that tout cool, hipster businesses. The average star rating of businesses with mentions of hipster in the Columbus zip code is 3.8, with the top 10 ZIP codes averaging 4 stars. Beyond searching for hipster businesses, Yelp also offers tools for homeowners like Request a Quote, which allows people to send requests to up to 10 home service providers at once.

"Yelpers are great at identifying upand-coming areas and businesses, which allows us to predict trends as well as uncover detailed data on what's happening in local economies right now," said Carl Bialik, Yelp data editor.

"While 'hipster' is something of a cliche, it turns out to be a useful term to uncover the types of businesses and attributes we often associate with cool hunters, such continued on page 13

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Rental Housing Journal On-Site · October 2017

Rental Housing Journal On-Site

Hipster Markets ...continued from page 4 as visually appealing interiors and less touristy parts of town."

The realtor.com® Yelp Hottest Hipster Markets in America list was developed by first leveraging Yelp data to rank ZIP codes by the greatest gap between the share of reviews in the ZIP containing the word "hipster" and the share in the ZIP's city. The realtor.com® Market Hotness Index was then calculated for each market (based on realtor.com® page views and days on market). Markets were then ranked based on a composite index made up of both the Yelp differential and the realtor.com® hotness index. Only one ZIP code per metropolitan area was included. The neighborhoods listed have the most businesses associated with that neighborhood within the ZIP code.

To read more about the findings, please visit: realtor.com research + Yelp blogs.

No. 1. Columbus - ZIP 43202 (Clintonville, Ohio)

The draw: Columbus features art, music, theater, museums, and culture, in addition to being home to Ohio State University. It has a strong economic ecosystem with employers like JP Morgan Chase and a thriving startup scene, with nearly 72 startups for every 1,000 businesses in the area. In addition, after New York and Los Angeles, Columbus is home to more fashion designers than any other U.S. metro area, with a pipeline of young design talent coming from the Columbus College of Art & Design.

Clintonville hipster hotspot: Harvest Bar + Kitchen Review highlights: Kale Caesar salad, lunch special The stats: The median listing price is $269,455. The median household earns $44,007 a year, with a low county unemployment rate of 3.8 percent.

Millennials make up 28.8 percent of its population, contributed contribute to 26 percent of all page views in the area on realtor.com®, and have a median household income of $46,265.

2. Seattle - 98122 (Capitol Hill) The draw: Capitol Hill offers a strong collection of restaurants, bars, boutiques, and culture. Seattle has a booming economy, with tens of thousands of job openings pulling young technophiles into the city.

Seattle-dwellers are some of the most active people in the U.S., with open spaces and parks located all around the city, and Mt. Rainier closeby for hiking in the summer and skiing in the winter.

Capitol Hill hipster hotspot: Porchlight Coffee & Records Review highlights: Cold brew, chill vibe The stats: The median listing price is $756,653. The median household earns $65,367 a year, with a low county unemployment rate of 3.2 percent.

Millennials make up 26.6 percent of the population, contribute to 23.8 percent of all page views in the area on realtor.com®, and have a median household income of $61,089.

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3. San Diego - 92104 (North Park) The draw: San Diego is known for a plethora of local breweries, farmer's markets, beach eateries and nightlife for the non-mainstream crowd. Compared to California cities like Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area, San Diego boasts of lower rent and mortgages on average. A concentration of top universities and a thriving startup scene bring many young buyers and renters to the area.

North Park hipster hotspot: Pigment Review highlights: Air plants, terrariums The stats: The median listing price is $597,000. The median household earns $55,130 a year, with a county unemployment rate of 4.1 percent.

Millennials make up 23 percent of the population, contribute to 25.4 percent of all page views in the area on realtor. com®, and have a median household income of $55,772.

4. Fort Wayne - 46802 The draw: Fort Wayne offers fun traditions like BuskerFest, an annual celebration of street performers. Fort Wayne adjusted to the shrinking manufacturing industry faster than its Rust Belt counterparts and today has a strong economy with a lower unemployment rate than other cities in the area.

Hipster hotspot: Junk Ditch Brewing Company Review highlights: Joseph Decuis Farm Wagyu beef, brunch The stats: The median listing price is $163,925. The median household earns $29,591 a year, with a county unemployment rate of 3.3 percent.

Millennials make up 19.9 percent of the population, contribute to 27 percent of all page views in the area on realtor.com®, and have a median household income of $32,243.

5. Rochester - 14620 (Highland Park) The draw: Rochester's Highland Park neighborhood is best-known for its arboretum by the same name, which hosts an annual Lilac Festival drawing in visitors from out of town. From Shakespeare in the Park to live music during the summer, Highland Park is a hotspot for local residents, helping to create the tight-knit community that Rochester residents love.

Highland Park hipster hotspot: The Playhouse Swillburger Review highlights: Pinball machine, vampire fries The stats: The median listing price is $154,925, making it an affordable place for a younger population to settle. The median household earns $43,550 a year, with a county unemployment rate of 4.58 percent. Millennials make up 23.1 percent of the population, contribute to 24 percent of all page views in the area on realtor.com®, and have a median household income of $45,871.

6. San Francisco - 94117 (The Haight) The draw: Hippie mecca HaightAshbury has transitioned into a hipsterfriendly neighborhood. The Haight offers a plethora of restaurants and bars, and its proximity to Golden Gate Park's free events and concerts can't be beat.

The Haight hipster hotspot: The Alembic Review highlights: Cocktail menu, pickled quail eggs The stats: Even San Francisco's continued on page 18 13

Rental Housing Journal On-Site

A Moment

Congratulations to the 2018 Western W ROOKIE OF THE YEAR—OFFICE

Abby Ellingson, Creekside- Pinnacle Abigail Cordell, SAMM Apartments- Allied Austen Ness, Charter Club- Pinnacle Austin Padilla, Beaumont Grand- Security Properties Brandi Beutler, Griffis ResidentialBelltown- Griffis Residential Breanna Moen, Wellington - Avenue5 Cimone Grace, Fountain Lake Townhomes- SUHRCO Danielle DeBellis, The Carter on the Park- Insite Ermias Kotu, Stream Belmont & Stream 15- Pacific Crest Forrest Brown, Tivalli- Greystar Irina Skoric, Swiss Gables Apartments- Epic Jennifer Berg, The Commons- Avenue5 John Jones, Uptown Queen Anne- Avenue5 Julia Lopez, Timberlake Park Apartments- SUHRCO Justin Barta, Alder Flats- Thrive Kiley Edwards, Brackett- Greystar Larry Uzzle, Vive- Weidner Laura Garcia, The Station at Othello Park- Greystar Levi Palmer, Hunters Run- Thrive Maryam Sulaiman, Oregon42 Apartments- ConAm Oscar Ramos, Stadium Place- Pillar Reide Alflen, LEVA on Market- Alliance Samia Elew, Starboard- Thrive Shauna Weisbecker, The 104 Apartments- Insite Velizara Aleksandrova, Campo Basso Apartments- Epic

LEASING CONSULTANT OF THE YEAR (1-300 UNITS)

Alyssa Reinhart, Origin- Alliance Amanda Lockleer, LINQ Lofts & Flats- Insite Angelica Loehr, Park 212 Apartments- Epic Basil Kourie, 77 Central Apartments- Pinnacle Dee Randhawa, The 101- Pillar Devin Perrotta, Park 210- Epic Dominique Saldana, Augusta- Greystar Erik Brown, Copper Trail- FPI Heidi Davis, Clock Tower Village- Security Properties Katelyn Close, Broadstone Clarendon- Alliance Keith Ponis, Viktoria- Greystar Libbie Pavlich-McIntosh, The Summit at Lake Union- First Pointe Lolita Newsome, Deer Creek- Avenue5 Sajia Salehin, Bordeaux- Security Properties Tatiana Lopez, Griffis ResidentialBelltown- Griffis Residential Zenani Mawaka, Zig Apartments- Avenue5

LEASING CONSULTANT OF THE YEAR (301+ UNITS)

Auti Zarrin, Griffis ResidentialNorthcreek- Griffis Residential Brittany Ziebell, Alaire- FPI Dustin Pohll, Tivalli- Greystar Ingrid Conerly, AMLI Mark 24- AMLI Rebecca Chapman, Club Palisades- FPI Sarah Bhatti, Overlook at Magnolia- Weidner Tyesha Jack, Leilani on Greenwood- Weidner

ASSISTANT COMMUNITY MGR. OF THE YEAR (1-300 Units)

Amy Floyd, On the Green- Security Properties Ashley Cantrell, La Mirage Apartments- Indigo Brittany Fortman, Bellwether- Woodspear Corissa Gutierrez, Waterstone at Silver Creek- Thrive Daniel Ortiz, Viktoria- Greystar Farhiyo Abdulkadir, Mural Apartments- Greystar Hannah Weber, Ondine at Juanita Bay- Weidner Jamie Anderson, Proctor Station– edison47 Joe Tuiala, Main Street Flats- Greystar Kristina Martin, Vintage at Chehalis- FPI Leith Kayyali, The Carter on the Park- Insite Lucy Lebinac, West Mall Apartments- Epic Madison Murphy, Dexter Lake Union- Alliance Maghan Powers, Padden Creek at Fairhaven Park- SUHRCO Mayra Miramontes-Ruiz, Woodcreek Apartments- Thrive Sandy Voravongsa, Ridgegate- Avenue5 Schick Soto, Sir Gallahad Apartments- Epic Seth Burkett, Rollin Street Flats- Indigo Sheila Williams, Willows Court Apartments- Epic Taylor Young, Griffis ResidentialSeattle South- Griffis Residential Tyson Ocheltree, Villages at South Station- Security Properties Valerie Fontenot, The Lyric- Pillar Yajayra Andrade, Club Palisades- FPI

ASSISTANT COMMUNITY MGR. OF THE YEAR (301+ UNITS)

COMMUNITY MANAGER OF THE YEAR (301+ UNITS) CONT’D.

Britnee Hernandez, The Ridgedale- First Pointe Edward Magana, AMLI Mark 24- AMLI Jeanne Rispoli, Avery at the Reserve- ConAm Jenna Atchison, The Fairways- Pinnacle Jeri Young,Club Palisades- FPI Mary Hazuka, Via6- Greystar Michael Courtney, Benson Downs- Simpson Natasha Clark, Urban Center- FPI Robbie Campbell, Beaumont- Avenue5 Stephanie Laeger, Avana 522- Greystar Taylor Haglund-Nuanez, Central Park East- Greystar

Matt Stibbs, Stadium Place- Pillar Melanie Frankart, Beaumont- Avenue5 Rachel Phinney, Fulton's Crossing- Pinnacle Shauna McAllister, Club Palisades- FPI Sidney Mitchell, Sparc- Security Properties Tammy Gee, Alaire- FPI Therese Bushnell, Tower 12- Avenue5

COMMUNITY MANAGER OF THE YEAR (Affordable)

Andrea Colson, Maple Crossings- Avenue5 Denise Brooks, Vintage at Chehalis- FPI Jennifer Evanger, Eagle's Landing- First Pointe Michelle Bernardi, The Summit at Bay Vista- Cascade

COMMUNITY MANAGER OF THE YEAR (1-150 UNITS )

Amy Beedon, Terravita- Pacific Crest Carol MeKash, Evolve- SUHRCO Christina Freidline, Guinevere Apartments- Epic Crystal Attison, Discovery Landing- MG Darcy Eakins, Paul Revere Apartments- Epic Jamie Beatty, Evergreen on 47th- Pacific Crest Janelle Allen, Stockbridge- Epic Jeanele Bolder, Sunrise Lane Apartment Homes- Weidner Kate Talmadge, East Howe Steps- Greystar Kelley Brown, Westend- Coast Kim Morrison, The Noble- Security Properties Krista Fracker, Capitol Heights- ConAm Kyle Ward, Villaggio Apartments- Epic Marrianne Owens, Jackson House- Coast Meagen Martin, Station 9 Apartments- Thrive Mimi Lam,Sir Gallahad- Epic Scott Southern, Canvas- Pinnacle

COMMUNITY MANAGER OF THE YEAR (151-300 UNITS)

PORTFOLIO MANAGER OF THE YEAR

Angie Bentler- Pacific Crest Brandy Hildebrand- Avenue5 Candice Johnson- Alliance Chantel Emery- Insite James Tirpak- Griffis Residential Shannon Hammond- Avenue5 Sosena Kifle- FPI

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR—MAINTENANCE

Alyssa Adams, LEVA on Market- Alliance Angie Agliam, Zig Apartments- Avenue5 Beth Wennergren, Copper Trail- FPI Brittany Doust, Montclair Heights- Avenue5 Daniella Tobar, The Spenceer 68- Insite David Springer-Trybus, AMLI South Lake Union- AMLI Eduardo Porath, Woodlake- Pinnacle Erinne Batterson, Lock Vista Apartments- Greystar Hattie Spofford, Alley 24- Greystar Heather Johnson, Griffis ResidentialSouth Seattle- Griffis Residential Joy Campbell, Park 88 Residences- Pacific Crest Kaitlin Polack, Griffis ResidentialBelltown- Griffis Residential Katie Sheremet, The Mercer Luxury Apartments- Avenue5 Kevin Marquis, Augusta- Greystar Kirsten Pitt, Bryson Square- ConAm Kristina Wardean, Ridgetop Apartments- Avenue5 Laureen Adriano, Allegro Apartment Homes- Weidner Marceline Capuyan, Portsmith Apartment Homes- Weidner Matt Wiseman, Koi- Greystar Megan Rogers, Pacific Park Apartments- Epic Micah Perkins, Broadstone Sky- Alliance Michelle Scearce, Apex- Greystar Nick Colglazier, Bella Sonoma- FPI Nicole Roberts, Collins Junction- Thrive Rosa Rhodd, College Pointe- SUHRCO Tom Brohead, Waterstone at Silverlake- Thrive Tracy Moesch, Velo Apartments- Greystar

COMMUNITY MANAGER OF THE YEAR (301+ UNITS)

Alexandra Thornton, Central Park East- Greystar Anela Bucan, Campo Basso- Epic Angela Flook, The Fairways- Pinnacle Anna Vann, Brackett Apartment Homes- Greystar Ben O'Sullivan, Griffis ResidentialNorth Creek- Griffis Residential Brooke Renshaw, On the Green- Security Properties Candace Hendrickson, Urban Center- FPI Cindy Lee, Camelot Apartments- Epic Daisy Scott, Huntington Park- Pinnacle Irma Robles, Walden Pond- Pinnacle Kathleen Beeby, The Bravern- Greystar Katie Neely, Green Lake Village- Alliance Kelly Cunningham, Avana Forbes Creek- Greystar LeAnna Bell, Overlook at Magnolia- Weidner Leslie Lopez, Shorewood Heights- Pinnacle

Benjamin Watts, Uptown Queen Anne- Avenue5 Blake Womack, Link Apartments- Greystar Danny Fagerlie, Keeler's Corner- Thrive Dave Hill, Woodcreek Apartments- Thrive Dixon Sellin, Adagio- Weidner Gordon Gilbreath,F awcett Apartments- Cascade Management Hayden Wise, Gilman Square- Security Properties Joel Sanders, The Meyden- Pillar Jorge Esquivel, The Carter on the Park- Insite Jose Flores-Campos, AMLI Wallingford- AMLI Joshua Stephenson, Beaumont- Avenue5 Natalia Garcia Betancourt, Main Street Flats- Greystar Sean Reed, Boulder Creek- Simpson Shawn Terrence Santos, Main Street Flats- Greystar Temara Legohn, Shorewood Heights, Pinnacle Tyler Leslie, Stack House- Greystar

MAINTENANCE TECHNICIAN OF THE YEAR (1-300 UNITS)

Arnie Bermudez, Waterstone at Silverlake- Thrive Asher Hinsington, Rooster- Thrive Carlos Castellanos, Guinevere Apartments- Epic Christopher Taylor, The Mercer Luxury Apartments- Avenue5 Christy Rolfe, Liberty Ridge- ConAm Jaime Martinez, Madison Bellevue Apartments- First Pointe Joshua White, Bellwether- Woodspear Properties Nathan Knopp, West Mall Apartments- Epic Perry Morin, The Corydon- Pillar Rodney Pope, The Commons- Avenue5 Sean Young, Artesia by the Lake- Thrive Vadim Yurchuk, 2000 Lake Washington- Security Properties Zach Alvis, Infinity Capitol Hill- Alliance

MAINTENANCE TECHNICIAN OF THE YEAR (301+ UNITS)

Amos Testa,Via6- Greystar Andrei Makouski, Regency Woods- Weidner Anthony Burwell, The Bravern Signature Residences- Greystar Camilla Maston, Leliani on Greewood- Weidner Christopher Paul, Green Lake Village- Alliance Curt Havener, Shorewood Heights- Pinnacle Dallas Saville, Shorewood Heights- Pinnacle Dave Voss, Stadium Place- Pillar Delvin Hector, The Fairways- Pinnacle Douglas Frelin- Epic Evan Dorsey, The Fairways- Pinnacle Fulvio Granados, Camelot Apartments- Epic Hector Mejia, AMLI 535- AMLI Jose Bedolla, The Bravern Signature Residences- Greystar Jose Rivera, Club Palisades- FPI Kyle Ludwig, Griffis ResidentialNorthcreek- Griffis Residential Mehdi Hajidavalloo, Urban Center- FPI

Join us as we honor excellence February

For more information visit our 14

Rental Housing Journal On-Site · October 2017

Rental Housing Journal On-Site

t To Shine

Washington emerald award nominees!

MAINTENANCE TECHNICIAN OF THE YEAR (301+ UNITS) CONT’D. Navid Raveshti, Beaumont- Avenue5 Peter Jackson, Belara at Lakeland- Greystar Roderick Gray, Tower 12- Avenue5 Simon Miller, Overlook at Lakemont- Security Properties

MAINTENANCE SUPERVISOR OF THE YEAR (1-150 UNITS ) Anousone Norchampasak, Ondine at Juanita Bay- Weidner Bill Leptich, The Malloy Apartments- Epic James Ohrn, Ruth Court- Avenue5 John Subero, Ladera - Heatherwood Apartments- SUHRCO Jose Arreguin, Braodstone Clarendon- Alliance Luis Duran, 95 Burnett- SUHRCO Moises Rodriguez, Guinevere Apartments- Epic Nazar Fandych, Promenade at the Park Apartments- Epic Roy Reynoso, The Row Townhomes- Thrive Samson Jiwan, Vive- Weidner Siahei Lavor, Majestic Bay Apartment Homes- Weidner

MAINTENANCE SUPERVISOR OF THE YEAR (151-300 UNITS)

Bill Jones, Evergreen Villages- FPI Brett Martin, The Heights at Beer Creek- Security Properties Chuck Joy, Crystal Springs Apartments- Pacific Crest Eric Stuart, Park 88- Pacific Crest Ferdie Gudinez, Park 120- Avenue5 Jacob Ward, Charter Club- Pinnacle James DeLong, The Marq on Martin- Avenue5 Jason Wakefield, Heritage Place Apartments- SUHRCO Juan Zaragosa, Pacific Park Apartments- Epic Kenan Hodzic, The Seasons- Greystar Kevin Aguilar, AMLI at Bellevue Park, AMLI LaMarr Chapman, Bella Sonoma- FPI Leonid Baz, Terra Heights- Security Properties Manny Santana, Rollin Street Flats- Indigo Marco Subero, The Galleria- Thrive Milton Brady, The Meyden- Pillar Properties Nicolas Monico, Aspen Creek- Weidner Phillip Barnet, Griffis ResidentialBelltown- Griffis Residential Rafael Angel, Excelsior- Greystar Rich Bliss, The Arbors at Edgewood- Greystar Samson Jiwan, Vive- Weidner Shawn Town, Mark on 8th- Greystar Steve Korom-, Griffis ResidentialSeattle South- Griffis Residential Tony Flaherty, La Mirage Apartments- Indigo

MAINTENANCE SUPERVISOR OF THE YEAR (301+ UNITS)

Andrew Guest, The 104- Insite Batsaikhan Bazarragchaa, Overlook at Magnolia- Weidner Dan Pollino, Aspira- Pinnacle Daniel Finn, The Fairways- Pinnacle David Kahikina- Pacific Crest David Sandman, Central Park East- Greystar Doug Hunton, Casa Blanca Apartments- Epic Ethan Grable, Shorewood Heights- Pinnacle Jason Poe, Fulton's Crossing- Pinnacle Jeff Hayes, AMLI Mark 24- AMLI John Rogalinski, Met Towers- Greystar Keith Smith, The Summit at Bay Vista- Cascade Kienan Fischer, Shorewood Heights- Pinnacle Larry Young, Sparc- Security Properties Muzaffar Ahmad, Stadium Place- Pillar Properties Onofre Bautista, Keeler's Corner- Thrive Patrick Acheson, Morningtree Park- Woodspear Rob Stanfield, The Ridgedale- First Pointe Terry Spivey, Green Lake Village- Alliance

DESIGNATE OF THE YEAR

Don Hankinson, CAMT- Security Properties Jean Heier, CAPS- Security Properties Kelly Onarheim, CAM- Epic Natasha Amira, CAPS- Avenue5

COMMUNITY OF THE YEAR (1-150 UNITS)

Cascade Terrace- Thrive Sir Gallahad- Epic Starboard Apartments- Thrive Stockbridge Apartments- Epic Terravita Luxury Residences- Pacific Crest

COMMUNITY OF THE YEAR (151+ UNITS)

Alto Apartments- Greystar AMLI Mark24- AMLI Apex- Greystar Benson Downs- Simpson Griffis Residential Seattle South- Griffis Residential Park 88 Residences- Pacific Crest Ridgetop Apartments- Avenue5 Shorewood Heights- Pinnacle South Hill by Vintage- FPI The Bravern Signature Residences- Greystar The Carter Apartments- Insite The Lyric- Pillar The Seasons Apartments- Greystar Waterstone at Silver Creek- Thrive

NEW DEVELOPMENT OF THE YEAR (1-150 UNITS)

East Howe Steps- Greystar Hayes on Stone- Thrive Janus- Security Properties Modera Ballard- Mill Creek Shelton Eastlake- Thrive Stream 403- Pacific Crest The LINQ Lofts & Flats- Insite

NEW DEVELOPMENT OF THE YEAR (151+ UNITS)

Affinity at Covington- FPI AMLI Wallingford, AMLI Augusta- Greystar Excelsior- Greystar Modera South Lake Union- Mill Creek Park 88- Pacific Crest Pike Motorworks- Avenue5 Soma Towers- Su Development Sparc- Security Properties The Carter Apartments- Insite

NEW DEVELOPMENT OF THE YEAR (Affordable)

CURB APPEAL MID RISE/HIGH RISE

AMLI Wallingford- AMLI Main Street Flats- Greystar Ruth Court- Avenue5 Soma Towers- Su Development The Carter Apartments- Insite Timberlake Park- SUHRCO

COMMUNITY SERVICE-INDIVIDUAL

Christina Koski– Indigo Felipe Miranda- Greystar Kayleigh Fulton- Greystar

COMMUNITY SERVICE-TEAM Central Park East Apartments FPI Gives Back Greystar Taking Action Pillar Passions Weidner Cares!

INDUSTRY PARTNER OF THE YEAR American Floors & Blinds Brook Furniture Rental Community Northwest Executive Coatings & Contracting ServPro of Renton

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT To be announced at the gala.

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT IS BROUGHT TO YOU IN PARTNERSHIP WITH OUR NOMINEE SPONSORS:

The Estates at Hillside Gardens- Indigo The Reserve at SeaTac- Indigo

RENOVATED COMMUNITY OF THE YEAR (1-150 UNITS) The Row Townhomes- Thrive Trillium- Coast

RENOVATED COMMUNITY OF THE YEAR (151+ UNITS)

AMLI at Bellevue Park- AMLI Avana One Six Four Apartments- Greystar Beaumont- Avenue5 Carvel- Greystar Chelsea at Juanita Village- Thrive Clock Tower Village- Security Properties Griffis Residential Seattle South- Griffis Residential Metropolitan Tower Apartments- Greystar Panorama Apartments- Avenue5 Ridgetop Apartments- Avenue5 Santa Fe Ridge- Greystar The Fairways- Pinnacle Wellington- Avenue5

CURB APPEAL GARDEN STYLE: PRE-1990

Alderwood Park- Avenue5 Hampton Greens- Greystar Pinewood Square- Epic Serra Vista Apartments- Epic The Fairways- Pinnacle Trellis Apartments- Thrive Yarrowood Highlands- Thrive

CURB APPEAL GARDEN STYLE: POST-1990

Avana 522- Greystar Avaya Trails- First Point College Glen Apartments- Greystar The Stinson- Coast The Woodlands- Avenue5

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF OUR EMERALD AWARD NOMINEES! FINALISTS WILL BE ANNOUNCED IN NOVEMBER

e in property management on y 16, 2018

r web site at www.wmfha.org Rental Housing Journal On-Site · October 2017

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Rental Housing Journal On-Site

Startup Company Tackling The Rental Property Maintenance Toothache

A

new company is tackling the rental property maintenance challenges that face many landlords and property managers every day in managing rental housing.

In an interview with Rental Housing Journal, Keepe Co-founder and CEO Rishi Mathew discussed the primary research that led him to start the company, currently operating in Seattle and Phoenix, and provided a question and answer about the company.

In doing the primary research on rental property maintenance, “We had more than 400 different conversations with property managers, contractors, consumers and tenants,” Mathew said.

“The salient thing we got from property managers was that there are folks who have their own maintenance crew, they have enough density of units – eg. 200 units in the same building they can afford their own crew. But for property managers who have 50 to 250 units spread out in a particular city, like Seattle and suburbs, then it is impossible to maintain your own crew. You have to have a big crew to manage it and it is not economically feasible.”

When property managers do not employ their own rental property maintenance people “Many have a rolodex of vendors they work with. The problem is, because they do not employ them, property managers have to depend on the vagaries of those vendors,” Mathew said.

“Let’s say a maintenance request comes in, and they try and schedule a vendor and the vendor is not available at

that time.

“And so they have to go to the next one, and then next one,” he said.

Average 14-day turnaround on rental property maintenance “What property managers were telling us is that the turnaround time from a maintenance request coming in to the problem actually getting solved is like two weeks and up,” so some get done sooner and some take longer Mathew said.

“That 14-day average turn around was their No. 1 problem because tenants get really upset and then they vent on Yelp or other social media and say, ‘These property managers are really bad because they are not getting my problem fixed.’

“We validated that by looking at Yelp reviews of some of these property managers and the No. 1 complaint on Yelp for property managers is that maintenance is shoddy, it takes a long time, and quality levels are not high.

That is what we validated- what they were saying.

“For the property managers themselves, it consumes a lot of their time. They are running interference between the contractor and the tenant.

They are doing the scheduling, they are fielding all the bids, looking at all the estimates, and then picking the right contractor and managing the scheduling.

That takes a lot of their time,” Mathew said.

Two high level points out of the

Rental Housing Journal On-Site · October 2017

research conversations on rental property maintenance It takes too long for any maintenance request and tenants are unhappy.

It takes a lot of the property managers own time and they would rather have that time back to focus on getting new clients and managing more units.

So that is how Mathew and his cofounder thought of Keepe as a solution to that problem.

“We want to be the one-stop shop for maintenance for property managers.

They send us a maintenance request and we take care of the rest,” he said.

Tenants now have a ready audience “Social media has changed everything when it comes to the relationship between the property manager and the tenant,” Mathew said, when it comes to rental property maintenance.

“Tenants can give both positive and negative feedback on social media.

Tenants now have a ready audience of current tenants and future tenants as well as owners. It has made property managers sit up and take notice. They cannot ignore that feedback any more.

“They are being held to a very high standard just like a lot of other industries.

So property managers have to be responsive to the tenants’ feedback and be considerate. A lot of good, successful property managers are that way already but now the standards are going up,” he said.

A platform for all sizes of landlords for rental property maintenance “We have a lot of independent landlords on our platform,” he said, “Our long-term goal is to help the rental industry in all sizes of rental housing. Right now we are focusing on property managers, but the product and service we have is built for everybody.

“We want to make it possible for the independent landlord to be successful and manage their units themselves without having to depend on anyone else for maintenance management,” he said.

A Q&A with the CEO Q: Why did you found the company?

A: Initially, our goal with Keepe.com was simply to make maintenance and repairs an easy process for homeowners and renters. However, we discovered that in the rental market, property maintenance is like toothache. There is a huge opportunity to make a real difference in the renting experience for renters, property managers and

independent landlords, so we jumped at the opportunity of creating a technologyaccelerated online marketplace that makes property maintenance a far easier, more transparent and super-convenient solution for these stakeholders.

Q: Why are you qualified to operate in this space?

A: Our team has a unique blend of experience in software technology, real estate and residential contracting that we want to leverage to create a paradigmchanging solution for renters, property managers and landlords.

Q: What demographic info do you have to show how big the need is out there?

We did a significant amount of primary customer research (hundreds of interviews with property managers, renters, landlords and contractors) and found that the number one obstacle for property managers was the lack of an effective rental property maintenance solution. Some property managers have insourced their maintenance operations in order to keep costs low, however the overall high cost of maintenance combined with bad reviews from tenants is a significant burden. Others who don’t have or can’t afford a maintenance crew depend on a small rolodex of external maintenance pros, but their ability to influence responsiveness and quality levels is limited.

Q: What problem are you trying to solve? Especially for the multifamily property manager. Probably not talking about the big guys who can hire their own full-time maintenance folks, but rather the smaller operators.

A: The problem for property managers who don’t have their own crews is that they cannot control responsiveness and quality levels of the maintenance professionals that they work with.

Additionally, property managers are spending half their time running interference between their tenants and maintenance guys. With Keepe.com, they get access to hundreds of qualified and licensed maintenance professionals available for immediate (even sameday) service. Keepe.com provides an end-to-end service that includes free estimates, tenant scheduling, contractor dispatching and transparent pricing.

Some of our customers have realized a 40% time savings in maintenance overhead and a multifold increase in tenant satisfaction from using Keepe. continued on page 13

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Rental Housing Journal On-Site

Hipster Markets ...continued from page 13 population, contribute to 25.4 percent of all page views in the area on realtor.com, and have a median household income of $67,680.

most hipster neighborhood costs significantly more than the national average. The median home in The Haight costs $1,396,500. The median household income in this area soars above the national median at $111,817 and its county unemployment rate is well below the national average at 2.9 percent, making the high cost of living more accessible. Millennials make up 31 percent of the population, contribute to 23.8 percent of all page views in the area on realtor.comÂŽ, and have a median household income of $113,762.

7. Long Beach - 90814 The draw: Just south of Los Angeles, Long Beach is a more relaxed, cheaper and friendlier option for those drawn to Long Beach's social, tight-knit community and charming Spanishstyle homes. Add in great dive bars and a vibrant art scene, and it's no surprise Long Beach is one of the most hipster towns in America.

Hipster hotspot: Viento y Agua Coffeehouse & Gallery Review highlights: Open mic nights, Mexican mocha The stats: The median price to buy a home in Long Beach is $737,000.

The average household earns $60,751 a year, with an unemployment rate of 4.5 percent. Millennials make up 19.2 percent of the population, contribute to 22.3 percent of all page views in the area on realtor.com, and have a median household income of $52,001.

8. Louisville - 40217 (Schnitzelburg)

18

The draw: With a strong community and affordable local restaurant scene, Schnitzelberg has seen growing popularity over the past several years.

Schnitzelberg is a quirky neighborhood with traditions like hosting the World Dainty Championship the last Monday of July.

Schnitzelburg hipster hotspot: Zanzabar Review highlights: Bands, pinball machines The stats: Schnitzelberg is one of the most affordable areas on the list, with a median home price of $173,950.

The average household earns $53,134 a year, with an unemployment rate of 4.6 percent. Millennials make up 19.3 percent of the population, contribute to 27.7 percent of all page views in the

area on realtor.com, and have a median household income of $53,134.

9. Grand Rapids - 49506 The draw: Between the public art installations and extensive craft brewery scene, it's no wonder hipsters love Grand Rapids. It attracts artists, musicians, young families, and has a strong LGBTQ community, which puts on the highlyanticipated Grand Rapids Pride event every summer.

Hipster hotspot: Brewery Vivant Review highlights: Beer cheese, stained glass window The stats: The median home price in Grand Rapids is $387,000. The average household earns $63,308 a year, with an unemployment rate of 3.2 percent.

Millennials make up 13.8 percent of the

10. Colorado Springs - 80903 The draw: Colorado Springs offers the same natural beauty and proximity to world-class skiing and hiking that nearby Denver does, but with a lower cost of living and unemployment rate.

Its quaint downtown is filled with mom and pop shops and local watering holes.

Hipster hotspot: Shuga's Review highlights: Patio, lavender lemonade The stats: The median price to buy a home in Colorado Springs is $337,000.

The average household earns $37,215 a year, with an unemployment rate of 2.7 percent. Millennials make up 16.8 percent of the population, contribute to 22.5 percent of all page views in the area on realtor.com, and have a median household income of $43,841.

Rental Housing Journal On-Site ¡ October 2017

Rental Housing Journal On-Site

Consumers Continue to be ....continued from page 12 1950s, and ranging in age from 58 to 67, “The Innovators” and the have delayed retirement, driven by economic necessity in the wake of the Great Recession, a desire to keep working, and a realization that they will likely live longer than any generation before them.

"The Innovators" will need empty nester housing “The Innovators” are now outside the “prime working years” category (ages 25–54) that many economists use. The 55+ age group now holds 22% of all fulltime jobs—a significant increase from only 11% in the mid-1990s.

• Large in numbers. 66% more people were born in the 1950s than the 1930s, and immigration over the years has added to their size.

• Hard working. They have had the highest labor force participation rates of any generation after age 35, with nearly two-thirds of them still working today.

“As more Innovators reach the traditional retirement age, we forecast that they will continue to work more than any preceding generation,” Porter and Sharp write in the report. “We anticipate that one-quarter of them will still be working full-time in their late sixties—almost 7% more than those born in the 1940s and 11% more than those born in the 1930s.”

Building empty nester housing “Because of these shifts, we are telling our clients to build Empty Nester housing,” Porter and Sharp write: • Near employment centers.

While many will telecommute, a higher than usual percentage want to live closer to job centers.

Additionally, a higher percentage will want to live near their kids and grandchildren, whose presence is the most important “amenity.”

• With multigenerational floor plans.

Separate entrances, dual masters,

and even separate mini-kitchens have resonated with this group.

The 1950s Innovators have the down payment, and their adult kids can make the mortgage payment, resulting in a great opportunity to build homes that don’t exist in the resale market today.

About the authors:

Chris Porter is Chief Demographer for John Burns Real Estate Consutling. He helps our clients understand the role demographics plays in shaping the demand for housing in the short and long term. He co-authored Big Shifts Ahead: Demographic Clarity for Businesses, which is now available for purchase. Chris was instrumental in developing our Housing Demand by Price Point and LifeStage model. The research he leads informs many of our firm’s forecasts.Before joining John Burns Real Estate Consulting in 2005, Chris worked for Reed Business Information’s HousingZone.com web site, and was also Director of Electronic Media for Reed’s Building and Construction Group. Before that he was an analyst at Rogerscasey, an investment consulting firm. Chris has a B.A. in Economics from Princeton University and a M.S. from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and works in the Irvine office. If you have any questions, please contact Chris at (949) 870-1218.

Mikaela Sharp collects and analyzes data for compelling and timely demographic research.

She also supports the Marketing team toward building the company’s demographic brand.

Before becoming a Research Analyst, Mikaela began her career with John Burns Real Estate Consulting as an intern for both the Demographics and Marketing departments.

Mikaela holds a B.A. in Business Economics from the University of California, Irvine. If you have any questions, please contact Mikaela at (949) 870-1203

Washington Apartment Outlook ...continued from page 9 with 2018 projected to be more of a balanced market for apartment owners and managers.

Mike Scott from Dupre+Scott dove deeper into local market trends and performance. Cap rates remain under 5% as mortgage rates for multifamily loans remain below 4.5%, a favorable dynamic for investing. Lower cap rates exist in higher rent and newer property.

Falling cap rates and increasing rents have given rise to apartment sales pricing, with newer construction commanding a nearly 100% higher sales value than older properties.

Although 12,000 new multifamily rental units are expected to come online in 2017, well exceeding the two previous years, more than 14,000 new units are expected to be built in 2018, over 19,000 units in 2019, and close to 16,000 new units are expected in 2020, unprecedented growth in our region.

Most of those new units are projected in the Belltown/Downtown/South Lake Union area of Seattle. Apartment vacancies will be trending up in coming years, especially at the higher rent levels, according to Mike.

Rent trends will remain steady relative to historical standards, but adjusting out the effect of new construction which generally rents for higher amounts, rent growth is showing signs of trending lower.

Over long-term history trends, rental rate growth shows cyclical movement, while expense growth trends show

no signs of trending lower. This will negatively impact property NOI in the coming years, Mike predicts.

Market dynamics for rental housing continue to evolve as our economy grows locally and nationally. The Washington Multi-Family Housing Association will continue to represent the housing industry and our members with professionalism, service, and passion.

We are lucky to be part of such an important service industry and will support both industry needs and public policy advancement.

We thank our attendees for a successful forecast luncheon and look forward to many more outstanding and informative events in the future.

For more information about opportunities to support our industry, feel free to contact the Washington Multi-Family Housing Association at 425-656-9077 or go to www.wmfha.org.

Advertise in Rental Housing Journal On-Site Circulated to over 6,000 apartment owners, on-site and maintenance personnel monthly.

Call 503-221-1260 for more information www.rentalhousingjournal.com Rental Housing Journal On-Site · October 2017

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Rental Housing Journal On-Site

Compliance Training ...continued from page 1 training evaluation plan.

Measure the effectiveness of your compliance training program using these five simple steps It may help to think about your plan in the five components below. Each one represents an important program evaluation pillar. Collectively, the information will help you understand what’s working and what isn’t so you can target improvements to your compliance training over time. Even if an evaluation doesn’t show positive results, it is a success if it provides the information you need to make things better.

your compliance training programs: • What does success look like?

No. 1 - Implementation of compliance training Did employees complete the training?

Collecting this data guards against drawing wrong conclusions about effectiveness. You don’t want to say training didn’t work when, in fact, the issue was that employees didn’t complete the training, or didn’t complete it with fidelity.

Ellen Clark is the Director of Assessment at Grace Hill. Her work has spanned the entire learner lifecycle, from elementary school through professional education. She spent over 10 years working with K12 Inc.’s network of online charter schools - measuring learning, developing learning improvement plans using evidence-based strategies, and conducting learning studies. Later, at Kaplan Inc., she worked in the vocational education and job training divisions, improving online, blended and face-to-face training programs, and working directly with business leadership and trainers to improve learner outcomes and job performance. Ellen lives and works in Maryland, where she was born and raised.

No. 2 - Learning Did employees learn the content taught in the training?

This provides information on effectiveness of the instruction itself. If employees can’t demonstrate they grasp what’s been taught, it is very unlikely they will be able to apply the training content on the job.

Curb Appeal ...continued from page 6

• Is it that all employees take training on time?

• Is it also that instances of non-compliant behavior (e.g., harassment) are reduced, or that accident rates or claims rates are at or below a benchmark?

Taking the time to articulate your success metrics up front will pay off greatly as you create and implement your evaluation plan.

About the author:

No. 3 - Reaction Did employees like the training and feel they benefitted from it?

Buy-in will increase likelihood that training will continue to be implemented with fidelity. This is particularly important in compliance training.

No. 4 - Transfer Do employees use the strategies on which they were trained on the job?

Even if employees demonstrate learning mastery (above), key metrics will not be affected if behaviors aren’t changed.

No. 5 - Performance Results Does using the strategies result in improved on-the-job performance?

The primary goal of training is to improve job performance. This is typically one of the more difficult things to measure, but also arguably the most important.

Before you start planning against these components, it is important to answer this question regarding each of

percent only have one to five reviews.

Some of the key findings about apartment reviews in the report: • Brand image: The importance of reputation of the management company in their decision to lease at a community has been rated at a high of 8.10 on a scale of 0-10 by the residents.

• The top five sites with regards to their market share (based on the number of properties with a review) are Google, ApartmentRatings.com, Facebook, Apartments.com, and Yelp.

• The top three sites with regards to their impact on a prospect’s decision to rent at a property are Google, Apartments.com, and ApartmentRatings.com.

• Residents are more affected by reviews on independent review sites than reviews posted on property websites and Facebook.

• Modern Message, the pioneer of review gamification, has the highest volume of reviews per property.

• Sites (ApartmentGuide.com, Rent. com, and ApartmentRatings.com) which allow survey companies to feed reviews for their clients have the second-highest number of reviews per property.

• ForRent.com displays filtered reviews from other sites such Google, Facebook, and Yelp for its clients, hence it has the most positive sentiment of reviews.

• Modern Message has the secondhighest positive sentiment – an effect of review gamification. For properties with reviews on Modern Message, the average rating is higher as compared to the average rating of the same properties on other sites.

• Apartments.com assigns a star rating to a property based on

its proprietary CoStar Building Rating SystemSM. The star rating is independent of the resident review; it does not reflect the opinion of residents. It has the third-highest sentiment of reviews.

• The review sentiment on ApartmentRatings.com is the most negative as it has historically been used by residents to express dissatisfaction. However, over time, the sentiment is improving on this site.

• Online reviews are becoming more important than personal recommendations.

• A large majority (75 percent) of residents look at ratings and reviews multiple times in their apartment search.

• Social media is not a significant factor in the apartment search process.

About J Turner Research J Turner Research is the leading market research firm exclusively serving the multifamily industry.

Our data and research empowers management companies to drive revenue. We offer customer insights and an integrated online reputation management platform that enables companies to enhance resident satisfaction, increase closing ratios, and improve online reputation.

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Discrimination Complaint ...continued from page 1 “The family filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”), which conducted an investigation, issued a charge of discrimination against the defendants, and referred the case to the Justice Department “Equal access to housing is essential for all Americans, including families with young children,” U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes of the Western District of Washington said in the release.

“Particularly in our tight housing market, landlords must follow the law and make units available without discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability or familial status,” she said.

Landlords to pay settlement of $95,000 The three apartment buildings that are the subject of the settlement are located at 201 5th Ave. N., 621 5th Ave. S., and 401 Pine Street in Edmonds, Washington, a northern suburb of Seattle.

They are owned and managed by defendants Debbie A. Appleby, Apple One, LLC, Apple Two, LLC, and Apple Three, LLC, of Stanwood, Washington.

According to the settlement agreement, the defendants do not admit they violated the Fair Housing Act. Under the settlement, the defendants will pay a total monetary settlement of $95,000, comprised of: $35,000 in damages to a family that they turned away because the family had a small child $35,000 that will be used to compensate other families that were harmed by defendants’ practices

Curb Appeal ...continued from page 6

$25,000 as a civil penalty to the United States Adopt non-discriminatory policies and practices that ensure compliance with Fair Housing Act Submit to record keeping and monitoring requirements for the threeyear period of the settlement agreement.

“The Fair Housing Act prohibits apartment owners and managers from denying housing to families because they have children,” Acting Assistant Attorney General John M. Gore of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division said in the release. “We will continue to vigorously enforce the Fair Housing Act’s prohibition of discrimination against families with children.”

“No family should be denied a place to live simply because they have a child,” Anna Maria Farias, HUD Assistant Secretary for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, said in the release. “HUD will continue to work with the Justice Department to ensure that property owners comply with their obligations under the nation’s fair housing laws.”

The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin and disability.

Resources: Justice Department Settles Lawsuit with Edmonds, Washington, Landlords DOJ Settles Familial Status Fair Housing Act Case For $95,000

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com for their property maintenance.

Q: Most property managers and landlords tell say rental property maintenance is their No. 1 headache/ issue. What do you see so far as the No. 1 maintenance issue you have to deal with?

A: We see a wide array of maintenance issues ranging from repair or replacements of garbage disposals, kitchen sinks, appliances, roofs, heating/ cooling. We also see a regular influx of rental turnover projects resulting from lease-ends. In both scenarios, time is of the essence. Either tenants are upset from slow responsiveness, or during turns, the owner is losing money because the unit is not ready for showings and the property is vacant.

Q: Property managers sometimes markup maintenance, sort of their handling fee. How do you charge?

A: We have a transparent business model. We charge an hourly rate that is prorated to the minute. The contractors on our network (also known as Keepers) are accepting jobs and logging time on our proprietary app. There is no markup on materials. The hourly rate is set at market prices and adjusts to the location (zip code). The transparent pricing is beneficial to both property managers and maintenance professionals.

Property managers pay market prices and maintenance professionals get the benefit of reduced overhead and zero marketing costs.

Q: How many customers do you have?

A: We have over a hundred property managers on our network in Seattle and Phoenix. More locations coming soon.

Q: Breakdown between multifamily and single-family?

A: About 40 percent multifamily and 60 percent single-family.

Q: Are you the best fit for the mom and pop landlord?

A: We have many independent landlords who are using our platform.

However our value proposition is primarily a great fit for property management companies. In the future, we plan to create a streamlined solution for independent landlords.

About Keepe We created the company with the ambitious goal of transforming the renter experience by modernizing property management and maintenance. Property maintenance today is too slow, too painful and too opaque for property managers, landlords, tenants and maintenance professionals. We aim to create technology tools that delivers fast turnaround and optimal quality at reasonable cost. In the process, we want to make renting, land lording and managing properties way easier than it is today.

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