Once you’ve moved and all of your boxes and furniture are finally secured in your new home, the last thing you want to consider is any additional busy work. It can seem daunting to complete the move and turn the unit into your own home. Some tasks can be fairly quick and easy, and some can take a little longer but as you cross each one off your list, it’ll start to feel like your new home. Here are some tips for settling into your new home: 

Unbox everything

Packing everything up is no fun and unpacking everything isn’t any more fun. Before you start opening up boxes and putting things away, move each box to the corresponding room in order to give you some more space and make the task easier. A lot of clutter can induce stress and anxiety and by unpacking the boxes and tossing them out, you’ll create more space to move around. 

Arrange your furniture

Find the focal point for each room and arrange your furniture accordingly. For example, decide where your TV is going to go in the main living space. Now you can arrange the location of your couches and chairs depending on where the television is. You can do the same for your office and bedrooms. None of this has to be permanent, but creating a livable and comfortable space will help you get settled quickly. 

Change your address

If you haven’t already, be sure to go to the local post office and fill out a change of address form. This will ensure any mail that might go to your old address will get forwarded to your new address. You’ll also need to change your address on any accounts you have for billing or delivery. 

Transfer utilities 

One of the first things you’ll need to do is transfer all the utilities to your name. This depends on what utilities your landlord covers. If you live in an apartment, it is possible they may cover both water and gas. Check with your lease or your landlord in order to figure out what you are responsible for and who you need to contact. 

Lock it up

Take a look around your home for any security risks. If your landlord didn’t change the locks, ask them to change them or change them yourself. The old tenants may have made copies and given them to family or friends. Double-check all the locks on the windows and consider adding any other security features like ring cameras and motion alarms. 

Introduce yourself to the neighbors

You may not want to be social with your neighbors, but it is a good idea to get to know them on a neighborly basis. They may be able to keep an eye on your home if you’re out of town or collect your mail. They may also get packages delivered to their home that was intended for you

Explore the neighborhood

Find out what is in your immediate area, especially what is within walking distance. You can make your life more convenient by knowing everything that is in your area. You can save yourself trips and time by being aware of what services are within walking distance. 

Customize

Even though you’re renting, there are minor changes you can make to your rental unit that can make it your own. You can do things like paint a splash wall, use some peel-and-stick decor, or change or add curtains There are more options than many realize when it comes to customizing a rental and making it your own. This is especially true if you plan on staying in the same place for more than a year.

It’s easy to forget about cleaning the grout in your home, especially with how crunched people are on time. It’s also one of the places that can gather dirt the quickest because of its porous materials and the fact it is a natural crevice in the service. If you don’t wash the grout regularly, there’s a good chance it has already changed color and you may have forgotten what the original color looks like! Here are a few tips for regularly cleaning the grout in your home: 

Clean the tile

The first step is to clean the tile and the entire surface of the area. Before putting any cleaning solutions on the surface, you need to sweep or dust to remove any loose dirt and dust. You can use a cleaning product from the store, or you can make a simple cleaning solution out of warm water and dish soap. Use the solution with a mop or a sponge to scrub the surface. Once you have scrubbed the whole surface, let it sit for a few minutes. After a few minutes, remove all of the dirt with a wet sponge or mop. 

Cleaning the grout

When it comes to cleaning grout, you don’t want to use anything with harsh chemicals that might break down the surface and sealant and shorten the lifespan of the grout and tile. You want to avoid using bleach. You can use a neutral tile cleaner from the store to clean grout if you don’t want to make your own cleaning solution. You should have the ingredients in your own home to make a cleaning solution for your grout. Here is what you’ll need: 

• Baking soda
• Hydrogen peroxide
• Dish Soap
• Hot water

Mix together ½ cup of baking soda, ¼ cup of hydrogen peroxide, 1 tsp of dish soap. This will create a sort of cleaning paste to apply on to the grout

How to clean the grout

Once you have your cleaning solution ready, wipe all of the dirt off the grout with hot water and a towel. Then use a spoon to apply the cleaning solution to the grout and let it rest for about 5-10 minutes, depending on how deep of cleaning is needed. Once the cleaning solution has settled in, use a brush to scrub all of the dirt off. You’ll want to scrub hard to make sure you break up any first and grime that has set into the grout. Once you have thoroughly scrubbed the grout, wipe it clean.

As a tenant, it can be a little unclear when and how to submit a maintenance request. Issues you are having with your rental unit may not be as urgent or pressing for the landlord. This can lead to frustration for the tenant that the landlord has no interest in making repairs while the tenant may be prioritizing necessary repairs that are required by law.

Even if some of your maintenance requests go ignored by the landlord, it is always important to document these requests in case any issues arise down the line. You’ll also want to submit requests even if you’re unsure if it is urgent in case it is something that could cause serious problems in the future. 

When to submit

Tenants are entitled to safe and habitable living conditions. While some people have higher expectations about what that means, in a strictly legal sense it means something more specific. You are also entitled to repairs for the appliances that are included in the rental agreement. There also may be other specifics that are unique to your rental unit, that is on a case-by-case basis. 

Here are a few examples of necessary repairs: 

• Leaky faucet 
• Broken dishwasher 
• A broken door
• Broken appliances 

These are all repairs that can be done in a reasonable amount of time and don’t require immediate action. There are some repairs that require action immediately and those are issues that put your health and safety in jeopardy. Here are some examples: 

• Busted plumbing that causes flooding
• No hot water
• Exterior locks broken on doors and/or windows
• Gas leaks

Put it in writing

Any information regarding how to submit maintenance requests should be included in the rental agreement. Even if you mention an issue to the landlord in passing, you should still submit a maintenance request in writing for multiple reasons. It protects you as a tenant if a failure to act causes you harm. It also helps the landlord prioritize repairs since they likely have more units with issues they need to keep track of. With tenant web portals now more common, submitting and tracking any maintenance requests is even easier. 

What to include in a maintenance request

Be as detailed as possible. Describing an issue that is often understood much easier visually can be difficult. Be sure to include any sounds, smells, how long it’s been happening, and anything else you can think of. If possible, include a picture in the request. 

Let your landlord know if you’ll be around. With work-from-home becoming more common communicating with your landlord is even more important. Let your landlord know if you will be around and if not, make sure they have easy access to your unit and the space that needs to be inspected. 

Be as respectful and professional as possible. Landlords can make mistakes just like anyone else and being aggressive and angry won’t make issues get resolved any quicker. Be accommodating and patient. Also, provide any contact information they may not have on file if it’s easier to contact you that way during the window they show up for repairs. 

Where to submit

This will be different for everyone and the information on where to submit should be included in the lease agreement. If there is management on site, there may be a drop box or someone you can talk to directly. For offsite management, email is often the best way to contact your landlord for repairs. With the proliferation of property management software and websites, submitting maintenance requests online through a tenant web portal is becoming the quickest and easiest way. You may want to follow up with an email to your landlord if no action has been taken on the repair in a few days.

One of the downsides of renting a home is how limited you are when it comes to customizing your living space. There’s no tearing down walls or installing new windows. You can’t rip up the floors and install new flooring. When it comes to the interior of your rental unit, you pretty much live in it as is. There are a handful of minor changes you can make, and if you get really creative it can make a big difference. One of the easiest ways to give a personal touch to your rental unit is to put up window curtains. Here are a few tips for selecting curtains: 

Into the darkness

When it comes to choosing the type of curtains for your home, you’ll need to consider their functionality of them. Are they for privacy? Are they for decor? Or are they for blocking out the light? If they are for your bedroom, or an area where you watch TV, you might want to consider using blackout curtains. This will help keep the sun out of your room in the mornings as well as create privacy. In your TV room, this will help reduce any glare that may from the sun. 

Keep it light 

Another option for curtains is to keep it light and use sheer. This will create some privacy when they are shut but still allow for plenty of light to come through and brighten up your room. If you’re more concerned about the decor than you are about keeping out the light, then this may be the best option for you. 

There are layers to this

If you can’t decide on one or you have multiple needs for each room, then just use them all. You can layer your curtains with multiple styles to match whatever you need for both appearance and functionality. You can use a combination of sheer curtains and blackout curtains and add on any lining as well. 

Once more for good measure

Another option is to combine looks by adding Roman shades with blackout curtains. This can provide the same effect as layering with sheer curtains and blackout curtains. Instead, the Roman shades can be used for sheer while keeping the blackout curtains. 

Be bold

Rental homes tend to be bland and monotone by design. It’s meant to attract all tenants and not push any away with any style choices. This means if you want your room to pop in a memorable way, you’ll need to choose some bold colors when it comes to your decor. Try using some bright, and bold curtains to make the room more vibrant. 

Pro tip

To make the room feel taller, instead of putting the curtain rod just a few inches over the window, install it a few inches under the ceiling. You can also extend it well beyond the width of the window to make the room feel larger and more grand than it is.

Carpet can be difficult to maintain. If you’re renting, you don’t have any say on what kind of flooring your unit has. This means you need to take care of the carpet on a regular basis because a landlord won’t replace the carpet unless it is absolutely necessary. This might not be as big of a deal if you’re in the unit for only one or two years, but if you end up staying long-term, you’ll wish you took good care of the carpet in those first few years of renting. Here are some tips on how to keep your carpet clean: 

Clean often

Everything is situational when it comes to a cleaning schedule that fits your specific needs, but a good rule of thumb is to vacuum weekly and get a deep cleaning once or twice a year. You may want to vacuum high-traffic areas more than once a week, especially around your entrance. If you have pets, you should vacuum a few times a week. Keeping dust from building up on the carpet will keep your carpet looking better for longer. 

Monthly cleaning

Once a month you’ll want to do a slightly more intensive clean than just your weekly vacuum. Before you start, go over any areas with crumbs with a lint roller for a quick cleanup. If you have any pets, get a rubber squeegee and run it over the carpet to collect any pet hair. 

After going through these steps, sprinkle some baking soda liberally all over your carpet and let it sit for at least an hour to absorb any oily stains and odors. Once that’s done, then it is time to vacuum. Repeat this once every month to avoid any odor or stains from building up on your carpet. 

Don’t wait to clean

Partial view of woman in rubber gloves cleaning striped carpet with foamy sponge[/caption]

It doesn’t matter what you’re doing, don’t waste any time when it comes to cleaning up a spill on your carpet. Immediately blot everything up with a moist white cloth or paper towel. If you drop any food or track mud onto the carpet, use something with a flat edge like a knife to scrape it up. Don’t ever smudge it into the carpet. 

If you end up with a visible stain, try using a mixture of one part distilled white vinegar and three parts warm water and put it in a spray bottle. Next, vacuum over the stain to remove any dirt or solids. After you vacuum, spray the cleaning solution onto the stained area until it is damp and let it set in for about five minutes. This will allow the solution to break down any stains. Finally, use a microfiber cloth to blot out the cleaning solution.

Rent has been steadily on the rise in Seattle for the last few decades. Even with the steady rise in rent, there were some ups and downs during and after the pandemic. But real estate is a long-term investment. If you’re a landlord, you’re not too concerned with the short-term movements in rent. So what does the current post-pandemic rental market look like? What is the long-term outlook for the rental market in the Emerald City?

Where we are now

Before the pandemic and before the slight population decrease during the pandemic, there was a housing shortage in Seattle and the surrounding areas of King County, Pierce County, and Snohomish County. While rents and demand fluctuated between 2020 and 2022, nothing changed the supply of housing in any significant way. Since then, the population has rebounded and reached a new record which lead to a fast rise in rent across the city. 

While it isn’t likely that rent will continue to increase at such a high pace, rent should continue to rise as long as the population continues to grow. It will likely settle down over the long term and unless there is some unforeseeable event like a global pandemic, the long-term trend should be one of steady increase. 

Zoning tells the story

While there is a high demand for housing and the population continues to increase, there’s very limited land that can be developed to meet that demand. As long as the city and the state don’t make any major changes to their zoning laws, housing construction will continue to lag behind the population growth. Even if the city or the state did make significant changes, it would take years to feel the impact of those changes. 

It’s not just the number of units allowed on a lot that impacts the number of units constructed. It also includes things like the number of staircases required, parking minimums, lot size minimums, and other local building codes. This means that developers often can’t even build the number of units a parcel is zoned for because they need to meet all these other requirements. As long as the city and state make it difficult to build enough homes, rent should increase. 

The Seattle area

One of the major problems when it comes to the regional housing supply is that the suburbs and the cities surrounding Seattle build very few homes. This means that even if Seattle did everything within its power to increase the supply of housing, it still wouldn’t be able to meet the demands of the region. This is due to single-family zoning which means only one home can be built on a parcel of land. 

There have been attempts to make it easier and legal to build accessory dwelling units in the backyards of single-family homes but those have mostly failed or haven’t gone far enough. Unless the suburbs in King County, Pierce County, and Snohomish County change their zoning laws to allow substantial amounts of housing construction, the entire region will continue to see rents rise even in cities far outside of Seattle.

What to expect

Real estate is a risky investment. There are a million unforeseen possibilities that can impact your investment in good and bad ways. There can be recessions, natural disasters, local economic decline, and on and on. These risks are expected but even with a housing bubble that burst and a once-in-a-century global pandemic, the Seattle housing market has continued to see rents rise. When you consider all the regulations and local zoning codes, it’s difficult to see a path for a drastic increase in construction, so expect housing prices and rents to rise.

Over the last few years, the Seattle housing market has had its ups and downs. Well, mostly one down and one up during and after the pandemic preceded by decades of mostly upward trajectory. There’s a wide range of factors that can impact the housing market. Population growth, the local economy, interest rates, and restrictive zoning laws all play a part in the Seattle housing market along with the rest of King County. Another major factor impacting the local housing market is the housing supply. Here’s how the supply of housing is impacting the current and future market of Seattle: 

The Great Recession

In order to understand the full story, you have to look back to the Great Recession. As housing markets all over the country collapsed, developers got spooked and housing construction fell off a cliff. Even though construction came to almost a near stop, populations continued to grow. The drop off in construction was so dramatic that even in 2022, construction has yet to return to its recession numbers. 

This means that not only was there a construction deficit during all those years, but the current rate of construction continues to be outpaced by the population growth. What this means is there are fewer housing units available for more people. This doesn’t just impact Seattle on its own, it impacts the entire region that includes King County, Pierce County, and Snohomish County. 

Restrictive Zoning

The construction slowdown isn’t only due to the recession. It partially has to do with local zoning laws and ordinances. This can be anything from the number of units allowed on the lot to the number of parking spots required per unit. All of these can impact the number of housing units a developer will build on a single parcel of land. 

Because urban centers and metropolitan centers are running out of available land, it makes it more difficult to increase the rate of construction. This means the growth of regions depends more and more on superstar cities like Seattle to build a large supply of housing. If the rest of King, Pierce, and Snohomish don’t make any major zoning changes, the region will continue to lag in construction. 

Higher interest rates

Even if the region and the state of Washington take drastic measures to increase the housing supply, the increased interest rates could play a role in holding back housing construction. The interest rates aren’t likely to stay this high for a long period of time, they also won’t likely return to the extremely low rates from before. 

For developers with a large cash flow, this could actually decrease the cost of purchasing new properties as long as they can hold out and refinance when the interest rates go down. This

Seattle has long been one of the most desirable cities to live in. Compared to other cities on the west coast like San Francisco or Los Angeles, the Emerald City has been a more affordable option. It also has plenty of high-paying jobs in the tech industry for those looking to advance their career. Because of this, the population has steadily increased over the decades. 

While there was a slight dip in the population during the pandemic, the population quickly rebounded as life returned to normal. The housing stock in the city was already strained and the sharp increase in the population growth caused the rent to grow rapidly. Here are some of the rent trends in Seattle: 

One-Bedroom homes

The city of Seattle is 55% renter-occupied, meaning there is a lot more competition for renting than there is for buying. While 1-bedroom apartments saw the biggest decline during the pandemic, those prices rebounded with vengeance. While the average rent hit a low of just under $1,500 in 2021, the average rent shot back up to $2,055 in September of 2022. This is higher than the pre-pandemic average. 

Two-Bedroom homes 

Similar to one-bedroom apartments, two-bedroom apartments also saw a huge dip during the pandemic followed by a sharp increase but it was less pronounced. The average price bottomed out at just under $2,000 a month. Since then it has shot up to $2,807 a month. With both the one and two-bedroom average rent swings, this suggests those who were leaving the city and those who were returning were mostly those who weren’t settled long-term in three or four-bedroom homes. 

Three and four-bedroom

The three and four-bedroom average rents during the pandemic had dips that were much less pronounced and more in line with prior highs and lows. This could be because residents in larger homes tend to be from families who are more settled than young professionals who are single and without kids. It could also be because some residents moved away from the high-density urban core of Seattle and settled in less densely populated neighborhoods where there are larger homes. 

Looking forward

While it seems the sharp increases in rent seen all over the country have started to slow and even decline a little, it should be expected that the rent will continue to increase over the long term. As long as the rest of King County as well as the neighboring counties like Pierce and Snohomish counties are unable to increase their housing supply, Seattle should continue to see steady growth in rent for the foreseeable future.

During the pandemic, there was a nationwide departure from big cities. For the first time in decades, urban centers saw populations decline as residents moved away from the cities and into the suburbs. This led some to believe that this was the start of a long-term trend and that it would be the death of big cities. During the first year of the pandemic, Seattle saw its population decline and the demand for housing dipped. 

People left the cities for several reasons. Some started families and needed more space and the start of the pandemic caused them to move earlier than they planned. Some wanted to save money and move to less expensive areas. Others saw remote work as an opportunity to live elsewhere. While the population did decline, the exodus didn’t last long 

2022 population

In 2022 Seattle saw a big population boom recovering from its temporary decline. The population increased by just over 20,000 residents and bringing Seattle to a new record high of 762,500 residents. This has caused the demand for housing to rapidly increase with what was already a housing shortage. 

Seattle outpaced the population growth of Snohomish County and Pierce County combined and grew faster than the rest of King county by a 2 to 1 margin. The return to the city could be because everything has opened back up and it could be because the cost/benefit of moving to the suburbs and exurbs became less pronounced as the housing supplies became stressed and rents increased. Some jobs didn’t stay remote and had their workers return to the office so some who left during the pandemic may have returned to avoid a commute. 

Looking forward

It looks like city life is alive and well and will continue the trend of people moving to urban centers that’s lasted thousands of years. The only thing that will slow this trend is the housing supply. If Seattle can’t increase the housing supply fast enough, rents will continue to increase rapidly and become less affordable for the average American.

Seattle has long been one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. While the weather may not be as good as California’s, it’s still very moderate and consistent compared to other regions in the United States. It also has a large and still growing tech industry with plenty of high-paying jobs. 

There’s a vibrant nightlife and music scene, some of the best restaurants in the world, and a breathtaking skyline. It’s easy to see why Seattle has become such a popular place to live. It has also become a popular place for real estate investors. What is it about the Seattle rental market that has made it attractive for both small landlords and large real estate firms? Here’s an overview to help explain the basics. 

Population growth

During the pandemic, like other cities, Seattle saw its population growth trend reverse and decline for the first time in years. This led some pundits and opinion columnists to suggest that maybe the era of urban growth had ended. People were finally over the city life and the suburbs is where the new population boom would take place. 

Continued population decline would be bad news for landlords and the economy as a whole in Seattle. While there would still be plenty of demand for housing even with a sustained population decline, it would mean the demand and the supply would become more balanced and slow the increase of rent. 

It would appear that the predictions of doom and gloom for urban life were a bit premature and the trend that’s lasted for thousands of years of people moving from less densely populated areas to more densely populated areas has continued. There are many reasons why people left the cities during the pandemic. Some did it for financial reasons. Some who had planned to leave the city in the future decided it was time. Some did it because they were able to work remotely. Regardless of the reason, people are either returning to the city, or it is seeing new residents moving in. 

In the last year, it is estimated the population of Seattle has increased by 20,100 residents. That’s a population growth of 2.7% and one that outpaces the rest of King County by almost 2 to 1. It’s also outpaced Snohomish and Pierce County combined. This is in line with a state that also saw its population grow by 1.3% over the last year. Not only will housing in Seattle continue to be in high demand, but so will housing in the rest of the state. 

Vacancy rate

How in-demand is housing in Seattle? Contrary to popular belief, new housing developments don’t sit vacant for years while developers collect tax write-offs. According to the most recent U.S. census data, the vacancy rate for both rental and home-buyer markets is the lowest they have been since the 1980s. This was also data that was collected during the pandemic which means the vacancy rates could be even lower now. 

This is an ideal market for landlords. Low vacancy rates mean tenants are unlikely to move, meaning you can increase rent accordingly without worrying about looking for new tenants. If your tenants do decide to move, in a tight rental market, you’ll have potential tenants competing for your rental unit instead of the other way around. 

Outside of major population or economic decline, the demand for housing should outpace the supply for the foreseeable future. It’s not just Seattle with low vacancy rates. According to a Washington State Study, the vacancy rate for apartments statewide fell from 4.2% to 3.6% in 2021. This means that tenants in the Seattle area looking for a less competitive market don’t have many options. 

The low vacancy rates are a nationwide trend. According to searches on Apartmentlist.com, many in the Seattle area searching to leave are looking for apartments in other low vacancy cities like Portland and Los Angeles and these are some of the same cities where people are searching for apartments to relocate in Seattle. 

Housing Supply

The construction of new housing over the decades has steadily declined and almost came to stop during the Great Recession. It took years for construction to ramp up after the recession and even then construction hasn’t increased fast enough to make up for the slow down during the recession. While some areas of the country and the northwest had a surplus of housing, most of those surpluses have quickly disappeared. 

16 metro areas across the northwest including Idaho, Washington, and Oregon all have major housing shortages. This has caused both home prices and rents to increase dramatically over the years. This means there aren’t many options for those who are looking for relief when it comes to the high cost of living. While some areas may be cheaper than others, the cost/benefit of living farther from the urban center may not be worth it anymore. 

Since the housing shortage is a regional problem, it’s not something that one city can address. Seattle can’t build enough homes in the city limits to handle the needs of the entire Seattle metropolitan area. While newer buildings can have downward pressure on older rental units, in the long run, rents will continue to increase as long as the construction isn’t outpacing the demand. 

Housing shortages often lead to crowding. This means you’ll have more people living in a unit than the desirable number. For example, two friends may be splitting a one-bedroom apartment or a couple in a one-bedroom unit instead of two bedrooms. This means you now have two incomes competing with people with one income for the same unit. The same goes for roommates who split a three or four-bedroom home where two parents have to compete with three or four incomes. These are some of the factors that will drive the rent up with a housing shortage. 

The shortage of homes is also causing the price of homes to increase as well. This makes buying a property to convert into a rental unit less attractive for those who don’t have a lot of capital. This means larger corporations can grow their businesses while smaller landlords are unable to compete in a tight market because they may have less capital. 

Housing construction

Housing construction hasn’t recovered from the Great Recession and that’s not just because people got spooked by concerns of another housing bubble. The lack of construction is because of a variety of factors. For example, some regions are running out of vacant land. Because land has become more scarce, the only other option to increase the supply of housing is to increase density. Washington, like the rest of the county, has very restrictive zoning and land use policies. 

Most of the zoning in the state is reserved for single-family homes making apartments or townhomes illegal almost everywhere. This puts more pressure on cities like Seattle to upzone and build more high-rises. The problem is Seattle has a number of its own hurdles that slow down the rate of construction. 

While the Seattle City Council did loosen laws regarding accessory dwelling units within the city, it is riddled with lengthy permit processes that are difficult to navigate. This means if you intend to build an accessory dwelling unit on your rental property, you’ll need to plan on it taking a long time. While ADUs can be effective in creating more middle-income housing units, it isn’t enough to tackle the entire housing crisis. 

Because the housing shortage is a regional issue, even when Seattle creates a path for more housing, it still isn’t enough. The problem needs to be resolved with the state legislature. In 2022, there were some attempts to pass legislation allowing small 6-unit apartment complexes near transit stops, but those bills died in committee. There’s another bill that would make allow for ADUs on single-family lots that have potential, but that won’t be enough to impact the shortage. 

Because of the restrictive zoning, land shortages, lengthy permitting process, and municipal building codes, the potential for a housing construction boom is very low. This means that unless the state of Washington takes drastic measures to allow for more housing to be built, Seattle will continue to deal with a housing shortage. 

Since any real estate investment needs to consider both short and long-term risks, the potential for housing construction is a valid concern. There are currently no signs that the state or even the city of Seattle are going to make the changes necessary to spur construction and even if they did, the impact of those changes would take time. Even with a housing shortage, rent increases can slow over time, but they should continue to increase and stay high over time. 

Rent increases

Rent is rapidly rising all over the country and is one of the main drivers of inflation. According to Apartmentslist.com, the national average for a rent increase is 10% over the last 12 months. Seattle’s average rent increase over the same period is slightly lower at 5.8%. This is partial because people in high-rent areas have been relocating to the few places that did have a housing surplus but have since vanished. 

Compared to similar major cities throughout the country like San Franciso and New York City, Seattle has the 5th highest median rent for a two-bedroom apartment. Cities with fewer apartments in the Seattle area have seen their median rent increase at an even faster pace than Seattle, and some of those cities have even higher rent. This is because those cities tend to have fewer one and two-bedroom apartments. 

Rent can vary depending on the neighborhood in Seattle as well. When it comes to buying a new unit or renting an old one, you’ll need to research what the typical rent for that neighborhood is. For example, Pike Place Market is the most expensive for one bedroom with an average price of $3,215 a month. The next highest has a significant drop and that’s South Lake-Union with an average rent of $2,771. 

The rate at which rent increases will depend on both the housing stock of the city and the neighborhood as well as how a housing unit fits into the demand of the neighborhood. If there is a huge demand for one-bedroom units for young professionals but the supply is low on one-bedroom, rent will increase even faster for one-bedroom. 

When it comes to investing in a new rental unit or deciding to rent out your current home, you’ll want to research not just what the overall rent is in the area. You’ll want to research the rent trends for similar units to the one you intend to lease. 

Mortgage rates

The high cost of housing can be a deterrent for those who are looking to enter into the rental market. Buying an investment property with a high mortgage payment is a risky endeavor. While the housing shortage means rent will continue to increase year over year, there’s a good chance the first few years you could break even, or take a loss. 

This means large investment groups with a lot of capital have a huge advantage in growing their business, while the small business landlord will find it difficult to grow their business. On the one hand, rent will increase on your current properties, on the other, there won’t be many opportunities to grow your business without taking on substantial risks. 

With interest rates increasing, there many situations where the mortgage payment will be substantially more than whatever you can collect with rent. In May of 2022, the average mortgage payment in Washington was $2,800 and the interest rates have since increased. The good news for landlords is this can keep new buyers out of the market because they would rather pay a few thousand dollars in rent than four or five thousand a month in mortgage payments. 

This can keep the demand for rental units higher for the time being and while it may be difficult to grow your business, you should see a steady increase in revenue. If you do have enough capital to continue to invest with the high mortgage rates, you can always refinance once interest rates drop. 

One way to slowly build your investment property portfolio is to upgrade your home every few years. This way you aren’t just buying investment properties and trying to rent them out. You’re buying a new home to live in while leaving a perfectly habitable home that is ready to rent immediately. You’ll have the added advantage of rent prices that won’t leave you taking a loss. This is a way you can slowly work your way up over the years from a studio condo all the way to a single-family home. As long as rents continue to increase, they should become even more profitable over time. 

Getting help 

Managing any small business can be difficult. Growing and managing a real estate business is extremely risky and difficult. You need to be knowledgeable in a wide range of fields where most large corporations will hire professionals for each area of expertise. You need to understand fair housing laws, finance, tax codes, maintenance requirements, and so on. 

One way to help manage your business is using software like Ziprent. Ziprent will help you manage your properties through [tenant placement services](https://www.ziprent.com/seattle-tenant-placement) to make sure you rent your properties quickly with the ideal tenants. You’ll also have access to local data to help you make decisions about how much to charge. 

Ziprent has quick and easy web portals for both landlords and tenants. This allows tenants to submit both rent payments and maintenance requests. Landlords can receive the payments and the money then gets directly deposited into your business account. The landlord web portal will also have access to in-depth reporting that used to be reserved only for the big real estate firms.

Consider getting help with legal and rental property tax deductions. The real estate industry and tax codes are complex and can take professionals years to learn how to navigate without creating unnecessary risk. Even if you can’t afford to hire anyone full-time, you can keep a lawyer and accountant on retainer to help you protect both yourself and your business from any liability. 

Finding a reliable broker can be incredibly helpful as well. They can keep an eye out for any properties that might interest you and notify you as soon as they go on the market. They can also help you with any information regarding zoning and housing laws to see if a lot has the potential for more units to be built on it. 

Don’t be afraid to ask for help. As a landlord, you take on a lot of work and risk. It’s a business and it’s important to treat it as such, not just some way to get passive income. The more seriously you take managing your properties, the easier it will be to grow and increase your personal wealth.