By Gary E. Wilson, President & Designated Broker, Wilson Management, Inc.
Most guides to hiring a property manager are a list of nice qualities — responsive, experienced, transparent. Useful, but every company on earth claims all three. This guide takes a different approach: it covers the things you can verify independently, before you sign, without taking anyone's word for it.
Wilson Management, Inc. wrote this, and we manage property in the Greater Seattle area, so we have an interest in how you answer these questions. Everything below is checkable against public records, which is rather the point.
Step 1: Verify the license. This is not optional.
In Washington, managing rental property on behalf of someone else — collecting rent, negotiating leases, handling day-to-day operations — requires a real estate broker license under RCW 18.85. Owners managing their own property are exempt, as are on-site managers working at a single building. Everyone else needs to be licensed (Source: RCW 18.85, app.leg.wa.gov; Washington Department of Licensing).
A licensed broker must also affiliate with a designated broker, who carries responsibility for the firm's conduct. Ask who the designated broker is by name. If the answer is vague, that is informative.
How to check: search the firm and the individual through the Washington Department of Licensing's professional license lookup. It takes two minutes and it is the single highest-value diligence step available to you. An unlicensed operator is not merely a compliance risk — your management agreement may be unenforceable, and you have no regulatory recourse when something goes wrong.
Step 2: Ask where your money is held
Washington requires that funds a broker receives on behalf of a client be held in a trust account, kept separate from the firm's own operating money and maintained in a recognized Washington state depository (Source: RCW 18.85.285, app.leg.wa.gov).
This is the mechanism that protects your rent and your tenants' deposits if the firm hits financial trouble. Ask directly:
- Is my rent held in a trust account separate from your operating funds?
- Where are tenant security deposits held, and in whose name?
- When exactly are owner disbursements made each month, and what happens if a rent payment clears late?
A firm that handles this question comfortably has answered it many times. Hesitation here is a serious signal.
Step 3: Test them on current Washington law, not general principles
Washington landlord-tenant law has changed substantially, and a manager operating on 2019 assumptions will make expensive mistakes on your behalf. Three areas are worth probing directly:
The statewide rent cap. Washington enacted a rent cap in 2025. Ask how they calculate an allowable increase, what notice they give, and how they track the anniversary date for each tenancy.
Security deposit accounting. The deadline to deliver a full and specific written statement of any deposit withheld — along with required documentation and any refund owed — is 30 days after the tenancy ends and the tenant vacates, extended from the previous 21 days (Source: RCW 59.18.280, app.leg.wa.gov). Missing it can make a landlord liable for the entire deposit, with courts empowered to award more. Ask how they track that deadline and what their documentation standard is.
City-level overlays. Seattle imposes ordinances that most other Washington cities do not — just cause eviction protections, winter eviction restrictions, move-in fee rules, and rental registration and inspection requirements. Bellevue, Kirkland, Renton, Kent and most other cities in the region do not. Ask which rules apply to your property specifically, and which do not. A manager who cannot draw that line will eventually apply the wrong one.
Step 4: Read the management agreement for the four terms that matter
Most owners read the fee and skim the rest. The fee is rarely where the surprises live.
| Term |
What to look for |
Why it matters |
| Termination |
Notice period, and whether any penalty or unearned fee is retained |
This governs how easily you leave if the relationship fails |
| Maintenance authority |
The dollar threshold above which they must get your approval |
A high threshold means large repairs proceed without you |
| Vendor relationships |
Whether the firm marks up maintenance, and whether it owns or has an interest in any vendor it uses |
Markups are the most common hidden cost in the industry |
| Leasing and renewal fees |
Amount, when charged, and whether a renewal triggers a new fee |
Renewal fees quietly change the annual math |
Ask for a blank copy of the agreement before your decision meeting, not at it. Any firm that will not send one in advance has told you something.
Step 5: Ask the questions that reveal how they actually operate
- Who, by name, manages my property day to day, and how many doors do they carry?
- What is your average days-on-market for a property like mine, in my city, over the last twelve months?
- What is your written tenant screening standard, and is it applied identically to every applicant?
- Show me a real owner statement with the details redacted.
- What happens, step by step, when a tenant stops paying?
Question three deserves emphasis. Screening applied "case by case at the manager's discretion" is both where poor tenancies come from and where fair housing liability originates. The standard should be written, objective, and uniform.
Step 6: Weigh accreditation properly
Not all badges are equal. These involve genuine standards, review, or continuing education:
- IREM — Institute of Real Estate Management
- AMO — Accredited Management Organization, awarded to firms
- CRMC — Certified Residential Management Company
- BBB accreditation
- RHAWA — Rental Housing Association of Washington
- WMFHA — Washington Multi-Family Housing Association
Directory listings you can buy are not accreditation. Ask which memberships the firm holds and verify at least one directly with the issuing body.
What this looks like at Wilson Management
Because it would be strange to publish this and not answer our own questions: Wilson Management, Inc. has managed Greater Seattle rentals since 1982, from a Bellevue office at 1380 112th Ave NE, Suite 203. Gary E. Wilson is our President and Designated Broker. We are members of IREM, RHAWA and WMFHA, BBB accredited, and we manage single-family, multi-family and commercial property with AppFolio owner and resident portals.
We do not publish a single management percentage, because the number is meaningless without the scope attached to it — and we would rather quote your property than have you compare a figure that does not describe the same service. That reasoning is set out on our property management fees page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a property manager need a license in Washington?
Yes, in nearly all cases. Managing rental property for another owner — collecting rent, negotiating leases, running operations — requires a real estate broker license under RCW 18.85, and the broker must affiliate with a designated broker. Owners managing their own property and on-site managers at a single building are exempt (Source: RCW 18.85, app.leg.wa.gov; Washington Department of Licensing).
Where is my rent money supposed to be held?
In a trust account, separate from the firm's operating funds, at a recognized Washington state depository (Source: RCW 18.85.285, app.leg.wa.gov). Ask where your rent and your tenants' deposits are held and in whose name before you sign anything.
How long does a Washington landlord have to return a security deposit?
Thirty days after the rental agreement terminates and the tenant vacates, to deliver a full and specific written statement of any amount withheld, with documentation, plus any refund owed. This was extended from the prior 21-day deadline (Source: RCW 59.18.280, app.leg.wa.gov). Missing the deadline can make a landlord liable for the full deposit.
Do Seattle's rental rules apply everywhere in Washington?
No. Seattle layers city ordinances on top of state law — just cause protections, winter eviction restrictions, move-in fee rules, rental registration. Most other Washington cities, including Bellevue, Kirkland, Renton and Kent, do not have those overlays. Statewide rules, including the 2025 rent cap and the 30-day deposit deadline, apply everywhere.
What is the most important question to ask a property manager?
"What is your written tenant screening standard, and is it applied identically to every applicant?" It predicts the quality of your tenancies and reveals whether the firm has fair housing exposure that could become yours.
How do I verify a property management company's credentials?
Check the broker license through the Washington Department of Licensing, verify claimed memberships with the issuing organizations (IREM, RHAWA, WMFHA, BBB), and read reviews with the understanding that most are written by tenants rather than owners.
Next step
If you would like us to answer every question on this page for your specific property, request a free rental analysis or contact us at (425) 453-0089. You can also compare us against other firms in our Bellevue and Seattle and Eastside company comparisons.
Sources
- RCW 18.85 — real estate brokers and firms; licensing requirements, app.leg.wa.gov
- RCW 18.85.285 — transactions, recordkeeping, and trust accounts, app.leg.wa.gov
- RCW 59.18.280 — security deposit statement and refund deadline, app.leg.wa.gov
- Washington State Department of Licensing — real estate broker laws, rules, and license lookup, dol.wa.gov
About the author
Gary E. Wilson is the President and Designated Broker of Wilson Management, Inc., which he has led in serving property owners across Bellevue and the Greater Seattle area since 1982. With more than 40 years of hands-on experience, Gary helps owners protect and maximize the value of single-family, multi-family, and commercial properties.
More about Gary → · Get a free rental analysis →