The company acquired two consolidated rental properties for $366.3 million and disposed of 11 consolidated rental properties for $379.9 million, demonstrating active portfolio management.

The company spent $118.2 million during 2023, primarily for consolidated and unconsolidated development projects, demonstrating a commitment to future growth.

The Company entered into two separate unconsolidated joint ventures during 2023 for the purpose of developing vacant land parcels in the Boston and Seattle markets. The company's total investment in these two joint ventures was approximately $4.9 million as of December 31, 2023.

The company's same store physical occupancy was 95.9% and its total portfolio-wide physical occupancy, which includes completed development properties in various stages of lease-up, was 95.4%.

The company has been named as a defendant in a number of cases filed in late 2022 and 2023 alleging antitrust violations by RealPage, Inc. The complaints allege collusion among the defendants to illegally fix and inflate the pricing of multifamily rents and seek monetary damages, injunctive relief, fees and costs.

Management concluded that its internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2023, and Ernst & Young LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, has issued an unqualified opinion on internal control.

Our properties face competition for residents from other existing or new multifamily properties, condominiums, single family homes and other living arrangements, whether owned or rental, that may attract residents from our properties or prospective residents that would otherwise choose to live with us.

Rising interest rates increased and may continue to increase our interest expense and the costs of refinancing existing debt. Higher interest rates also increased and could continue to increase capitalization rates, which may lead to reduced valuations of the Company's assets.

A cybersecurity incident is an unauthorized occurrence, or a series of related unauthorized occurrences, on or conducted through the Company's information systems that jeopardizes the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of our information systems or any information residing therein.

The Company's properties are located in developed areas with multiple housing choices, including other multifamily properties, condominiums, single family homes, and other living arrangements.

The company may be competing with other housing providers that have greater resources than the company and whose managers have more experience than the company's managers.

We may not be successful in pursuing acquisition and development opportunities. We expect that other real estate investors will compete with us for attractive investment opportunities or may also develop properties in markets where we focus our development and acquisition efforts.

The increase in same store operating expenses is due primarily to: Repairs and maintenance – A $9.9 million increase primarily driven by greater outsourcing due to higher internal staffing utilization to address issues from California rain storms that occurred earlier in 2023.

The increase in same store operating expenses is due primarily to: Real estate taxes – A $5.8 million increase due to modest escalation in rates and assessed values.

The increase in same store operating expenses is due primarily to: On-site payroll – An $8.0 million increase due primarily to fewer staffing vacancies as compared to 2022 and elevated employee benefit costs, partially offset by the impact of innovation initiatives.

We have developed and may continue to develop initiatives that are intended to serve our customers better and operate more efficiently, including "smart home" technology and self-service options that are accessible to residents through smart devices or otherwise.

We may incur significant costs and divert resources in connection with such initiatives, and these initiatives may not perform as expected, which could adversely affect our business, results of operations, cash flows and financial condition.

We have incorporated and may continue to incorporate the use of generative artificial intelligence ("AI") within our business, and these solutions and features may become more important to our operations or to our future growth over time.

The Company repurchased and retired 864,386 Common Shares during the quarter ended December 31, 2023.

The Company continues to allocate capital in order to optimize performance by balancing current cash flow growth with long-term capital appreciation.

The decision to declare and pay dividends on our securities, as well as the timing, amount and composition of any such future dividends, is at the discretion of the Board of Trustees and will depend on actual and projected financial conditions.

At Equity Residential, we believe focusing on corporate responsibility is a key way to programmatically address stakeholder concerns as part of our corporate purpose as we recognize the profound impact that the real estate industry can have on our environment and society as a whole.

Corporate responsibility evaluations remain highly important to some investors and other stakeholders. Certain organizations that provide corporate governance and other corporate risk advisory services to investors have developed scores and ratings to evaluate companies and investment funds based upon corporate responsibility metrics.

Government regulators' and investors' increased focus and activism related to corporate responsibility and similar matters may constrain our business operations or increase expenses or capital expenditures.

Our business benefits from elevated single family home ownership costs, positive household formation trends and the overall deficit in housing across the country, especially in the areas in which we are investing.

Substantial inflationary pressures can adversely affect us by disproportionately increasing the costs of land, materials, labor and other costs needed to operate our business.

In part due to increasing pressure from advocacy groups, a growing number of state and local governments have enacted and may continue to consider enacting and/or expanding rent control, rent stabilization, eviction moratoriums or other similar regulations.