diff --git a/polymer-micro.html b/polymer-micro.html
index ffbc2aac3d..f443f8658e 100644
--- a/polymer-micro.html
+++ b/polymer-micro.html
@@ -33,6 +33,8 @@
       this._prepBehaviors();
       // factory
       this._prepConstructor();
+      // fast access to property info
+      this._prepPropertyInfo();
     },
 
     _prepBehavior: function(b) {
diff --git a/polymer-mini.html b/polymer-mini.html
index 98e2e45d65..668fb54502 100644
--- a/polymer-mini.html
+++ b/polymer-mini.html
@@ -34,6 +34,8 @@
       this._prepTemplate();
       // dom encapsulation
       this._prepShady();
+      // fast access to property info
+      this._prepPropertyInfo();
     },
 
     _prepBehavior: function(b) {
diff --git a/polymer.html b/polymer.html
index b1dafa7c2d..a5c82fd745 100644
--- a/polymer.html
+++ b/polymer.html
@@ -48,6 +48,8 @@
       this._prepBindings();
       // dom encapsulation
       this._prepShady();
+      // fast access to property info
+      this._prepPropertyInfo();
     },
 
     _prepBehavior: function(b) {
diff --git a/src/micro/attributes.html b/src/micro/attributes.html
index 679ca6e19f..f4ac4d8d88 100644
--- a/src/micro/attributes.html
+++ b/src/micro/attributes.html
@@ -91,20 +91,27 @@
     },
 
     _takeAttributesToModel: function(model) {
-      for (var i=0, l=this.attributes.length; i<l; i++) {
-        this._setAttributeToProperty(model, this.attributes[i].name);
+      for (var i in this._propertyInfo) {
+        var info = this._propertyInfo[i];
+        if (this.hasAttribute(info.attribute)) {
+          this._setAttributeToProperty(model, info.attribute, i, info);
+        }
       }
     },
 
-    _setAttributeToProperty: function(model, attrName) {
+    _setAttributeToProperty: function(model, attribute, property, info) {
       // Don't deserialize back to property if currently reflecting
       if (!this._serializing) {
-        var propName = Polymer.CaseMap.dashToCamelCase(attrName);
-        var info = this.getPropertyInfo(propName);
-        if (info.defined ||
-          (this._propertyEffects && this._propertyEffects[propName])) {
-          var val = this.getAttribute(attrName);
-          model[propName] = this.deserialize(val, info.type);
+        var property = property || Polymer.CaseMap.dashToCamelCase(attribute);
+        // fallback to property lookup
+        info = info || this._propertyInfo[property];
+        if (info && !info.readOnly) {
+          var v = this.getAttribute(attribute);
+          // TODO(sorvell): maybe not kosher but under current rules, 
+          // we can avoid deserializing null values for non-Boolean types.
+          if (v !== null || info.type === Boolean) {
+            model[property] = this.deserialize(v, info.type);
+          }
         }
       }
     },
diff --git a/src/micro/properties.html b/src/micro/properties.html
index 7b70597bb9..83f23b3ea4 100644
--- a/src/micro/properties.html
+++ b/src/micro/properties.html
@@ -127,7 +127,39 @@
         p.defined = true;
       }
       return p;
-    }
+    },
+
+    // union properties, behaviors.properties, and propertyEffects
+    _prepPropertyInfo: function() {
+      this._propertyInfo = {};
+      for (var i=0, p; i < this.behaviors.length; i++) {
+        this._addPropertyInfo(this._propertyInfo, this.behaviors[i].properties);
+      }
+      this._addPropertyInfo(this._propertyInfo, this.properties);
+      this._addPropertyInfo(this._propertyInfo, this._propertyEffects);
+    },
+
+    // list of propertyInfo with {readOnly, type, attribute}
+    _addPropertyInfo: function(target, source) {
+      if (source) {
+        var t, s;
+        for (var i in source) {
+          t = target[i];
+          s = source[i];
+          if (!target[i]) {
+            target[i] = t = typeof(s) === 'function' ? {type: s} : s;
+            t.attribute = Polymer.CaseMap.camelToDashCase(i);
+          } else {
+            if (!t.type) {
+              t.type = s.type;
+            }
+            if (!t.readOnly) {
+              t.readOnly = s.readOnly;
+            }
+          }
+        }
+      }
+    },
 
   });
 
diff --git a/src/standard/configure.html b/src/standard/configure.html
index cc0f9f9d1e..fdf0036f87 100644
--- a/src/standard/configure.html
+++ b/src/standard/configure.html
@@ -94,6 +94,9 @@
       }
       // prototypical behavior
       this._configureProperties(this.properties, config);
+      // TODO(sorvell): it *may* be faster to loop over _propertyInfo but
+      // there are some test issues.
+      //this._configureProperties(this._propertyInfo, config);
       // override local configuration with configuration from above
       this._mixinConfigure(config, this._aboveConfig);
       // this is the new _config, which are the final values to be applied
@@ -119,7 +122,12 @@
 
     _mixinConfigure: function(a, b) {
       for (var prop in b) {
-        if (!this.getPropertyInfo(prop).readOnly) {
+        //if (!this.getPropertyInfo(prop).readOnly) {
+        // TODO(sorvell): tempatized things don't have _propertyInfo atm
+        // so fallback to property lookup.
+        var info = this._propertyInfo && this._propertyInfo[prop] || 
+          this.getPropertyInfo(prop);
+        if (!info.readOnly) {
           a[prop] = b[prop];
         }
       }