Peter Lohmann's Newsletter - Issue #152

We've sold 100 pre-inspections since February. NARPM selects new CEO.

Author

Peter Lohmann
August 08, 2025

A no-fluff weekly publication for the property management industry.

NARPM Selects Troy Garrett as CEO

From their press release:

National Association of Residential Property Managers (NARPM) 2025 President Amy Hanson, MPM RMP, announces Troy Garrett as the association’s new CEO effective today.

Garrett previously served as NARPM’s Governmental Affairs Director, developing legislation to benefit the property management industry while also addressing legislative and regulatory issues that are harmful to property managers. In his four years with NARPM and association management company Organization Management Group (OMG), Garrett has developed a deep understanding of property management issues and built valued relationships with members across the United States.

While advocating for NARPM at the federal level, he has also forged relationships with the White House, key members of Congress, housing and environmental departments, and agencies within the administration. election_art_3122423.jpeg Troy Garrett, CEO Additionally, Garrett helped to increase PAC and Advocacy Fund participation among members and has increased NARPM’s recognition among other housing stakeholders. This year, he spoke at the National Association of REALTORS Property Management Forum and has been invited by the National Apartment Association to work on several mutually beneficial projects.

Garrett’s experience, priorities and strengths align with NARPM 2.0, enabling the NARPM Board to set its vision for the association’s future and empowering staff to execute that vision while meeting strategic goals to take NARPM to the next level.

“Continued membership growth, renewed educational programs, increased networking opportunities and revitalized event programming are key as NARPM moves into the next phase of association building and development,” Garrett said.

Within the housing industry, Garrett also served as executive director of the Virginia Association of Housing and Community Development Officials, for which he organized and facilitated board meetings and executed the objectives set forth by the board. In that role, he oversaw event planning, education programs, the association budget and accounting procedures, communications and member services, and developed strategies to increase membership and build partnerships with vendors, affiliate members and other housing stakeholders to strengthen the association into a premier housing network. He also represented affordable and workforce housing partners on the landlord/tenant, zoning and land-use workgroups within the Virginia Housing Commission.

A graduate of Virginia Tech, where he earned Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees in political science, Garrett also served as a lobbyist for the Virginia Dental Hygienist Association, the Virginia Society of Health-System Pharmacists, the Virginia Electoral Board Association, and Manufactured Housing Communities of Virginia. Garrett is working to attain his Certified Association Executive (CAE) designation with the American Society of Association Executives.

“We are excited to have Troy Garrett as our new NARPM CEO. He has been steadfast in his goal to protect our industry of property management while protecting the private property rights of our landlords,” Hanson said.

“Troy has years of experience in working with volunteer organizations and is thrilled to be able to implement the NARPM 2.0 changes and realignment of our organizational structure. Troy has been able to bring consensus across party lines, which is a talent that will help all of our members going forward. His strong leadership background will help propel our team of volunteers into the future,” she continued.

Garrett launched his professional career working in the Virginia House of Delegates as Chief of Staff for Del. Chris Hurst of Montgomery, Giles and Pulaski Counties and the City of Radford. He was recognized for his research on the interconnectivity between federal, state and local government structures as well as nongovernmental organizations, and was awarded both the Best Master’s Thesis Award from the Department of Political Science and the prestigious William Preston Society’s Master’s Thesis Award from the Virginia Tech Graduate School.

At Virginia Tech, Garrett taught the classes Comparative Politics and Nations and Nationalities, and he remains active in various outreach and research initiatives at Virginia Tech. He enjoys karaoke and, as a loyal Hokie, has been spotted at more than a few Virginia Tech football tailgates.

THIS ISSUE IS PRESENTED BY RED CEDAR

I used to dread HR stuff. Not because I didn’t care, but because I really didn’t know what I was doing.

Every time an HR issue came up, I’d either spend hours Googling, or worse… just take a wild guess hope I didn’t screw it up. That changed when I found Lauren and the Red Cedar team.

She’s our fractional HR director, which is a fancy way of saying she’s on our team without being on payroll full-time. And I can’t overstate what a relief that’s been.

Lauren and her team handle everything: payroll, compliance, onboarding, benefits, reviews, employee questions, you name it. They’re in our Slack. They’re at our leadership meetings. They’re part of the crew.

And here’s the kicker: it feels like Lauren works here. Like, actually here.

Want a fun stat? Since Lauren and her team joined my PM company, our team’s average happiness score jumped from 71% to 92%, in under 18 months. And it shows.

If you’re still flying solo on HR (or duct-taping together a half-solution), do yourself a favor and talk to Red Cedar. They’ve made a big difference for me.

We’ve Sold 100 Pre-Inspections Since February

We (RL Property Management) just sold our our 100th pre-inspection since February. We charge $300 for this using a Stripe link:

Stripe dashboard showing RL Property Management pre-inspection sales

Ever since we implemented this new policy of requiring a property inspection with scope & estimate BEFORE signing a new owner, our churn has dropped like a rock and we're automatically filtering out all the bad-fit clients before they even sign a PMA.

This was successful beyond my wildest imagination. It fixed so many issues were were having during our sales and onboarding process.

I posted about this on Facebook and got so much interest, I decided to schedule a short webinar where I will break down our process and how we talk about it with property owners. I’ll pull my BDM into this as well so she can describe it first-hand. Register here. I will NOT be selling you anything or yapping about a specific vendor. Purely info-sharing.

New Property Management Companies For Sale This Week

Wondering who the utility providers are for a property? Utility Profit’s “Google for utilities” tool gives you accurate info - fast and free. Use it every time you onboard a new property.

  • Here is a property management company for sale in Vermont (asking $850k)

  • Here is a coop & condo management company for sale in New York, NY (asking $3.5M)

  • Here is a property management company for sale in Carmel-By-The-Sea, CA (asking $1.6M)

Industry News & Events

  • “In the second quarter of 2025, AppFolio reported revenue of $235.6 million, a 19% increase from the same period last year. Net income rose to $36.0 million, up 21% year-over-year, while earnings per share (EPS) improved to $1.00, a 21% increase from the previous year.” Remarkable. More here.

  • Realpage (they own Buildium) has acquired Livble.

  • A deputy conducting an eviction in Portland was shot 7 times, and is now suing the property management company for $23M, saying they didn’t warn him the tenants were dangerous. “The lawsuit also alleges the property owners failed to prohibit tenants from keeping guns as a condition of the lease, and they failed to include or enforce safety conditions for tenants who had guns.”

  • Register for August’s Peter & The Wolf live show: Back to Basics: Building Awesome PM Processes.

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. *Affiliate link.