Peter Lohmann's Newsletter - Issue #127

This Guy Thinks PMs are like “Rookie Firemen”—Is He Actually Right?

This LinkedIn post from a couple months ago caught my eye (FWIW, I don’t know Joseph, and please don’t harass him).

His analogy made me wince a bit, but I think there’s an element of truth in the advice he gave to his “friend”. Property management and asset management are fundamentally different skills. Property owners mostly don’t understand this distinction, which means they default to assuming their property manager can help them with asset management-type activities and advice. And property managers mostly aren’t set up to deliver this, nor charge for it. The resulting mismatch of expectations creates a lot of frustration between both parties, and leads to client churn.

I’ve always liked this graphic from Real Property Management, which helps clarify the difference:

I’ve been talking about this problem for years and years! Here’s me talking about asset management vs property management back in 2021, on Season 1 of my podcast.

Several companies have added powerful functionality in recent years to help property management companies meet their clients’ asset management expectations. A few of them that I have been following are Blanket, Lineage and Rescover.

Disclosure: Lineage is a consulting client. Blanket is a Crane Partner. All 3 companies have sponsored my podcast or newsletter. I’m probably biased!

This mostly takes the form of slick dashboards and clarifying visualizations that helps property owners understand the true financial performance of their property, both historically and by forecasting future returns. This is excellent, because we (as property managers) would really prefer to show up as expert financial advisors discussing retirement plans and tax strategy, rather than spend 20 minutes arguing over a $199 plumbing repair.

I’m excited to see where these new asset-management capabilities take our industry. I think it’s clear that this is the direction forward-thinking property managers need to be going.

Watch a Control Systems Engineer Build a Lease Renewal Workflow

Ever wonder how to get started with process automation and workflow software? Wonder no more. In this special live event, I built the lease renewal process for a volunteer in real-time.

She walked away with a functional process ready to launch, and I explained my thought process all along the way.

We manage ~700 doors and my background is engineering, so I’m huge on systems and process automation. Hopefully this is helpful to you if you’re thinking about process in your PM company. Be sure to register for the next one here (the delinquency process).

New Property Management Companies For Sale This Week

Generously sponsored by Live Oak Bank’s property management lending team! Let them help you with your next PM acquisition.

• Here is a property management company for sale in Lake Buena Vista, FL (asking $1.6M, 120 units)

• Here is a property management company for sale in Aurora, CO (asking $279k

• Here are HOA management turn-key accounts for sale in Denver, CO (asking $199k)

• Here is an STR management company for sale in San Bernardino County, CA ($550k)

• Here is a property management company for sale in Denver, CO (asking $280k)

• Here is a property management company and proprietary software for sale in Tampa, FL (asking $600k)

Note from Peter: If you purchased or sold a PM company in the last 12 months, please submit your data below. I will be publishing an industry M&A report with aggregated (and anonymized) data, so we can bring some transparency and context to property management company sale multiples and other valuable details. If you submit your deal, you’ll get a copy of the final report for free.

Industry News & Events

• NARPM’s Capitol Summit is next week in DC!

• Pablo Gonzalez has launched the PM Frame Breakers podcast. Listen to episode 1 now.

• Strategic PM / RentScale has announced a new industry conference, limited to 40 property management companies. It’s in May in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

• Another one? Property manager accused of stealing over $1.5M.

Closing Thought

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The content of this newsletter is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. I may have consulting agreements with, or financial interests in, companies mentioned in this newsletter. Additionally, some of the links included in this newsletter are affiliate links, meaning I may earn a commission if you make a purchase through these links. Always perform your own due diligence before making any financial or business decisions.