SMARTCAP, Inc.

If you care about housing the low-income, Seattle residents should take note! Goodman CRE is one of the best multifamily operators around. They consistently maintain high occupancy rates, treat tenants with respect, and operate as a top-tier landlord. However, Seattle's current laws have made property management increasingly challenging. It’s unreasonable for eviction processes to take 18–24 months and cost $30,000–$50,000 as many landlords in Seattle have reported. These delays allow problematic tenants to remain on the property, often causing damage and creating an unsafe or unpleasant environment for other residents. This impacts everyone, particularly low-income renters and families who need stable housing but are discouraged from living in communities where safety and cleanliness cannot be effectively maintained. When property management is hindered to this extent, it undermines the ability to provide quality places to live. It is currently cheaper to 'not rent' these units than it is to try to evict tenants that should not be allowed to stay. https://lnkd.in/dD-pusqC

Truly proud to be a donor for Hope for Heroes! What an amazing organization and such great people. Sat night was the annual gala to raise money for this cause. As of today, $681,420 has been raised, and gifts and matches are still coming in! Thank you Noel Meador, Karissa Meador, Melinda (Mindy) Nelson, and the entire board for everything you do. The funds raised go directly to helping our first responders (military, police, and firefighters) by working to save their marriages and relationships! By keeping families together and providing mental health support, we help break multi-generational trauma. Our first responders deserve not only our respect but also our support! Thank you to each and every one of you! These past few years I’ve had the chance to support Stronger Families, they are amazing and a worthy cause that supports Military, Veteran, and First Responders with their mental health and relationships, at home and work. This organization supports our heroes throughout the NW and the nation is changing lives and helping so many who serve. Their impact is generational and the support they offer the mental health of our heroes is multi-science based and incredibly effective. The community around the organization is a special group of leaders from throughout the community. #hopeforheros #strongerfamilies #firstresponders #military #police #firefighters #mentalhealth #families?#smartcap

And the saga continues. Who’s winning here? My guess: only the union leaders—not the workers, certainly not Boeing, and not Washington. https://lnkd.in/gdjUjJBr

17,000 jobs being cut from Boeing is not great for our local economy. Let's hope these strikes end soon. Without taking a firm position, I do worry that with the unions being as aggressive as they are, and our state making things challenging, there’s a risk that Boeing might consider leaving at some point. I seriously doubt they would ever leave completely, but they could slowly move more and more operations elsewhere. Let's hope this doesn’t happen. Boeing is very important to our local economy. https://lnkd.in/gKvi3AN9

King County (Seattle specifically) is making changes, but they have a long way to go. We need our elected officials to listen to the businesses in the region that make Seattle and Washington such great places. "Nordstrom's King County stores make up about 3% of the luxury department store retailer's global footprint and account for 10% of its companywide losses due to theft. Some retailers, such as Target and Goodwill, have cited losses from theft when closing stores in Seattle." If we don't fix the laws and prosecute theft, these stores will continue to leave. Even Starbucks is shutting down locations due to safety concerns. When Starbucks shuts down locations with very high traffic volumes, you know it is not due to sales! https://lnkd.in/gsr62Q5z

Amazon is instructing corporate staffers to spend five days a week in the office, CEO Andy Jassy wrote in a memo on Monday. The decision marks a significant shift from Amazon’s earlier return-to-work stance, which required corporate workers to be in the office at least three days a week. Now, the company is giving employees until Jan. 2 to start adhering to the new policy. Here’s the full memo from Amazon CEO Andy Jassy:

Washington becomes the second state to drop the bar exam to become an attorney (Oregon being the first). It will be interesting to see how larger law firms react to this. I would imagine most large firms will not hire anyone that has not passed the bar exam as it is fundamentally a way to show you have a base level of knowledge. https://lnkd.in/gpDj8hYN