Multi Family Property Management in Tacoma
Duplexes, fourplexes and small apartment buildings from 5 to 50 units, managed on per unit economics rather than one lump number. Unit mix, common areas, the lease calendar and utility billing are where the return is made or lost.
A building is not a house with more doors
Single family management is one lease, one tenant, one roof. Multi family is a small business with a repeating revenue line, a shared physical plant, and legal exposure that multiplies by the door. A policy mistake on one house is one problem. The same mistake in a 24 unit building is 24 problems, and in Tacoma each can carry its own penalty.
Unit mix and per unit economics
The first thing we build for a multi family owner is a per unit view, not a building total.
Rent per unit against the right benchmark
A 1 bedroom competes with other 1 bedrooms, not with your own 2 bedrooms. In Tacoma, average asking rent as of August 2026 is $1,403 for a 1 bedroom and $1,815 for a 2 bedroom, per Zillow Rental Manager Market Trends. For buildings of 50 or more units it is $1,777 at an average 808 square feet, per RentCafe and Yardi Matrix, August 2026. For a smaller building that is a ceiling reference, not your comp.
Loss to vacancy
There is no reliable published vacancy rate for Tacoma or Pierce County. The only citable figure is the 5.3% rental vacancy rate for the West region, US Census Housing Vacancy Survey, Q2 2026, and it is regional. We track your building’s own vacancy instead.
Common area maintenance on a residential building
In a house, everything belongs to the unit. In a building, a large share of your cost sits in space nobody rents. We manage the shared plant on a schedule: roofs, gutters and drainage, parking lots and lighting, entries and stairwells, landscaping, laundry and trash enclosures, life safety equipment and shared mechanical, reported per unit so you see what it costs per door per month.
Individual unit repairs still run on the RCW 59.18.070 clock: 24 hours for no hot or cold water, no heat, no electricity or an imminently hazardous defect, 72 hours for a refrigerator, range and oven or a major plumbing fixture, and 10 days for everything else. One failed boiler starts that clock in every unit at once.
Staggered lease expirations
Here is a problem that only exists in multi family. If a building was leased up all at once, every lease expires at once and the whole rent roll is exposed in the same 30 days. December and January are the slowest leasing months here.
We map every expiration on one calendar, shift them toward stronger months using short term and extended term renewals, cap how many units may expire in any single month, and start renewal conversations early. Restaggering takes two to three lease cycles, and it is one of the highest return things a manager can do.
Utility billing
Most small Tacoma buildings are master metered for water, sewer and garbage. The owner pays and needs a lawful way to recover it: building the cost into rent, a ratio utility billing system that allocates by unit size or occupancy, or submetering.
Disclose it in the lease: what is billed, how it is calculated, and when. Non-refundable fees may not be called a deposit and must be in a written agreement under RCW 59.18.285. Recurring charges also interact with the rent cap: pet rent sits inside the HB 1217 cap.
How the rent cap applies to a whole building
HB 1217 is codified at RCW 59.18.700 through .730. The cap on an annual increase is 7% plus CPI, or 10%, whichever is less. The 2026 cap is 9.683% and the 2027 cap is 10.0%, set by the year the increase takes effect, not the year you send the notice. Across a building, that means:
No increase in the first 12 months of a tenancy.
With rolling move-ins that is a different eligible date for every unit. You cannot raise the whole rent roll on one day.
Lease type parity.
Under RCW 59.18.700(4) there may be no more than a 5% rent difference based on lease type.
The exemption is claimed, not automatic.
Under RCW 59.18.710, a building whose first certificate of occupancy is 12 or fewer years before the notice date may be exempt, along with public housing authorities and PDAs, qualifying nonprofits, LIHTC units under a WSHFC agreement, and owner-occupied 1 to 4 unit buildings. Claim it in the written notice.
Notice periods stack in Tacoma.
Statewide notice is 90 days under RCW 59.18.140, on a form that substantially follows RCW 59.18.720 and states the percentage, the dollar amount, the effective date, and whether the increase is below, at, or exempt from the cap. Inside Tacoma, TMC 1.95.060 requires 180 days on a City form, and TMC 1.100.050 requires two notices, at 210 to 180 days before and again at 120 to 90 days before. Send both.
Relocation assistance triggers at 5%.
In Tacoma, an increase of 5% or more in 12 months where the tenant elects to move triggers relocation assistance on request, paid within 30 days: two months rent for 5% up to 7.5%, two and a half months for over 7.5% up to 10%, three months for over 10%.
Penalties are real.
A tenant may terminate on 20 days notice if an increase does not comply, under RCW 59.18.700(3), with penalties up to three months of unlawful rent plus fees and Attorney General penalties up to $7,500 per violation. You also cannot raise rent while a unit has habitability violations, or serve a notice at all without a current Tacoma business license.
Mobile home lots follow a different rule: 5% flat, once per 12 months, under RCW 59.20.390. We build a rent increase calendar per building, unit by unit.
Pricing for multi family
Our Gold Package starts from 8%, with a leasing fee of 50% of one month’s rent, lease renewal at $250 and city code compliance at $75. Tenant screening, rent collection, owner portal access, monthly statements, ACH owner payment, maintenance support, utility management and eviction assistance are included at no extra fee.
See our pricing, our full property management services, owner financial reporting, maintenance and inspections, and single family property management or commercial property management if you also own other property types. Request a free rental analysis for a per unit read on your building, and see Washington rent increase law for the full statute.
Talk to our multifamily team.
From duplexes to apartment buildings, multifamily properties need steady, hands-on management. Our team keeps units full, handles shared maintenance, and gives you clear reports on every building.
- Keep every unit full. We market vacancies fast and work to keep good residents renewing.
- A real person reads every message. No bots, just our local team.
- Quick replies. Most messages get a response within one business day.
- No pressure. Property owners can ask questions with no obligation.
Related services
Explore more property management services.
Most owners use a few of these together. See how each one works.
FAQ
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Yes. We manage duplexes, fourplexes and apartment buildings, with the strongest fit in the 5 to 50 unit range. That size needs real systems for common area maintenance, lease staggering and utility billing, but does not support on-site staff.
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Per tenancy, not per building. HB 1217 caps annual increases at 7% plus CPI or 10%, whichever is less, with a 2026 cap of 9.683% and a 2027 cap of 10.0%, set by the year the increase takes effect. No increase is allowed in the first 12 months of any tenancy, so a building with rolling move-ins has a different date for every unit.
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Statewide the requirement is 90 days under RCW 59.18.140. Inside Tacoma, TMC 1.95.060 requires 180 days on a City form, raised from 120 days on January 1, 2026, and TMC 1.100.050 requires two notices, at 210 to 180 days before and at 120 to 90 days before. Send both.
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The owner pays the utility, then recovers it through rent, a disclosed allocation such as a ratio utility billing system, or submetering. The method has to be in the lease and verifiable by the resident. Non-refundable charges may not be labeled as a deposit under RCW 59.18.285.
Send us the rent roll
Book a consult and bring your rent roll and expiration dates. We will show you the per unit picture, where rents are under market by unit type, and where your lease calendar is creating risk. We respond within 24 hours.
Call 253.222.3387 or email support@redroofrentals.com. 14208 Pacific Ave., Unit #2, Tacoma, WA 98444.