COLUMN
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Round-and-Round written by J. J. PA NZER
Our housing market has always cycled through ups and downs. We’re headed certain bad actors who push the boundaries of what’s legal and ethical up from here. to increase their bottom lines. I hope
T
he best career advice I never listened to came from my dad: “Don’t be a property manager. You can do better than this!” Having founded RMC in 1980, he managed some challenging assignments. He’d put in his time in the industry by the time I was starting to wonder what I’d realistically do when I grew up.
He managed buildings in the Tenderloin through court-appointed receiverships and dealt with drug dealers and gangs. My dad promised to send me to college to get a degree and allow me to do something, anything, different. He’d learned so many lessons the hard way and didn’t want to see me go through the same challenges he’d faced in our business. Thankfully his experience and teaching have prevented me from learning those lessons the hard way. When I joined the company shortly after graduating from UC Berkeley in 2002, I had no idea I’d decide to stick around and buy the company, still running the show more than twenty years later and serving as your San Francisco Apartment Association President. It’s an honor and a privilege to have the support of the membership and my fellow board members, and to work closely with Janan, Vanessa, Charley,
12 APRIL 2023 | SF APARTMENT MAGAZINE
and the rest of our talented, dedicated staff who represent our interests in continuing to operate our businesses here in San Francisco. I’ve served on the Board since 2013, and my time working with SFAA has always been worthwhile and rewarding, helping me to stay informed and represent my clients as their property manager. In the coming year, I am looking forward to working with what promises to be a more moderate Board of Supervisors, including our newly elected supervisors Joel Engardio (District 4) and Matt Dorsey (District 6), as well as District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, to support initiatives that will hopefully improve conditions for all of us. [SF Apartment Magazine sat down for a conversation with DA Brooke Jenkins. Turn to page 20 to read the full Q&A.] We certainly have a lot of issues affecting our residents’ quality of life, such as crime, homelessness, open-air drug use, and shoplifting. We also desperately need sensible policies about building new housing. At the very least, I am hoping we won’t be facing as much punitive legislation that scapegoats all rental housing operators as a way of retaliating against
our members will continue to educate themselves, stay informed on current events and legislation, and maintain their properties and relationships with their residents. This year, I’m eager to see our rental market return to a “normal” cyclical demand pattern, which disappeared with COVID in 2020. The cycle felt pretty reliable for many years. Demand was fueled by two categories of people: newcomers and elective movers. The newcomers are people coming to San Francisco for work: corporate relocations, entrepreneurial types coming to seek their fortune in tech startups, and students of all levels. Elective movers are people already living here, undergoing life changes leading to a change in living situation: wanting different roommates, different neighborhoods, or just growing up. The “growing up” category usually includes people coupling up, breaking up, or having children. Both categories of residents usually start moving in the spring, starting around March 1, with the demand remaining throughout the spring and early summer. Before COVID, residents were ready to sign aggressively priced leases starting ASAP. Newcomer demand usually dipped early to mid-June, but elective movers