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July 24, 2007 - Subscribers to our Apartment Expense Report can create their own customized reports online. These custom reports provide more information and more flexibility than the printed reports.
Users can create a report showing all line-item expenses for any year since 2000. Or you can create a custom report showing the expenses for one line-item category for each year since 2000.
We just added this second option today.
You can select any year, beginning in 2000. The final report lists each line-item expense for that year. You can customize your criteria based on your definition of market area, property size, and property age range. Here's a snapshot of what the results page looks like.
You select the particular line-item expense you want to study. the report shows the cost for that expense item, by year, beginning with 2000. You can customize your criteria based on your definition of market area, property size, and property age range. Here's a snapshot of what the results page looks like.
Report #1 lists each line-item cost for the year you select. For example, you can select 2005 as the year and the report will show you what it cost in 2005 for each line-item expense (real estate taxes, insurance, utilities, and so on).
The screen shot below shows that report #1 lets you select any expense year from 2000 to the most recent year.
If you want to determine a trend, you can run individual reports for each year you are interest in. Or you can use report #2 and create just one report showing costs for each year for one specific line-item. for example, if you select "utilities" as the line-item expense you want to analyze, the report will show you the trend in utility costs beginning in 2000 through the most recent year.
The screen shot below shows that report #2 lets you select any one of 15 line-item expenses. The final report will show the costs by year, since 2000 for that expense item.
Except for the detailed versions of articles subscribers have access to, all other subscriber resources are in the "My account" section of this website. You should treat your personal "my account" page as your primary page on our site.
Both custom report options show costs for the following line-item expenses: real estate taxes, property insurance, utilities, owner-paid heating, resident management, professional management, office administration, decorating and turnover, repairs and maintenance, pool and recreation, elevator, landscaping, advertising, and miscellaneous costs.
Both custom reports show how many properties and units were surveyed for the selection criteria you used. If the survey size is too small, you can broaden your criteria. If it is a large survey size, you can narrow your criteria.
Both custom reports show line-item expense costs three ways: the average cost per unit, the average cost per net rentable square foot, and the average cost as a percent of effective gross income.
Both custom reports let you select the county, submarket (Example: Eastside King County), or you can even select down to the neighborhood level. Better still, you can combine neighborhoods to fit the market area you are analyzing.
Or, if you don't like our predefined neighborhood boundaries, you can select individual census tracts or groups of census tracts, defining your own neighborhoods. Here is a screen shot of what the market area selection screen looks like.
The custom online reports let users analyze information down to the neighborhood level, and even define their own neighborhood boundaries. They can also choose any age-range and size-range of property, making the final report a better fit for the property they are analyzing.
The screen shot below shows some of the selection options (the age-range of properties surveyed, its size range in number of units, and size based on the range of number of stories.)
We try to format these reports so they are easy to read. But we also give you the ability to print out your custom reports as PDF files. And you can also download the data in Excel, making it easy to include your custom report results in your own analyses and reports. The picture below shows what this tool looks like. you can usually find it near the top of the report results page.
The online reports are a powerful tool because you can customize them so much. You can define your own market area, property size range, and property age range. If you want to recreate a custom report you previously generated, you do not have to start all over by selecting each of the criteria you used before. you can save your custom settings for future use.
The following screen shot shows what this tool looks like. in addition to saving your custom report settings. This feature also lets you manage the settings you have previously saved. You can scroll through your saved report settings and delete any you no longer need.
