042 - Skip the Spring Cleaning: How Passive Real Estate Works

This episode of Growing Up Yakima leaned into a springtime theme — spring cleaning. I took a trip back to my childhood, where growing up on a farm meant learning to do a little bit of everything: weeding gardens, mowing lawns, laundry, even sewing. Chores were just part of the daily routine before school even started. I also remembered helping my dad take care of a couple of rental properties he owned, which got us talking about the different arrangements landlords make with tenants — some folks work out deals where tenants handle upkeep themselves in exchange for a break on rent, though those situations are honestly pretty rare.

That memory turned into a bigger conversation about why spring is exactly the time property owners start thinking about their rentals, and why Washington state can be such a tough place to be a landlord. I talked about a trend I'm seeing right now: people selling off their single-family rental homes and reinvesting that money with us in a more diversified portfolio of multifamily apartment communities instead. I used the example of a 240-unit property we just financed in Indianapolis, where we locked in a rate a full percentage point better than what's typical on a 30-year loan here at home.

One of the big advantages of investing with us is that you're never the one doing the "spring cleaning" — we've got on-site community managers, leasing agents, and roughly one maintenance staffer per 100 units keeping things running. I also shared a great example of our team's track record: on a property we recently sold, we grew the net operating income by 85% over five years, which led to a $15 million distribution to investors in that fund. If any of this sounds interesting, give me a call, send a text, or find us at wearewilkinson.com.