As usual, Jim Lazar writes a good piece.
However, having been an occasional renter over the years in a number of cities similar to Olympia, and having been a landlord recently while simultaneously renting here in Olympia for a few years, I feel the need to point out that Jim omitted a very substantial piece of the puzzle, which is the amazing tax benefits that the real estate lobbies have fought hard to and have secured for property owner/investor-landlords. I highly doubt that someone like Jim labored in the vinyards of landlording without stumbling upon these tax breaks, so they should have been included.
Leaving the tax piece out of the article makes it seem like landlords are downtrodden wretches suffering to gather a few scraps -- which is obviously not the case, or landlords would be rushing to sell in droves and those investment properties wouldn't be attracting so many buyers.
Indeed, there are so many juicy tax breaks for landlords that you could write a book about them -- no, wait, someone (who lives in Olympia, actually) did! See "Every Landlord's Tax Deduction Guide" from NOLO Press.
https://store.nolo.com/products/every-landlords-tax-deduction-guide-dell.html
As the book is blurbed: "Rental real estate provides more tax benefits than almost any other investment. If you own residential rental property, Every Landlord’s Tax Deduction Guide is an indispensable guide, focusing exclusively on IRS rules and deductions for landlords. "
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