Peter Lohmann's Newsletter - Issue #156

We Stopped Paying for Zillow and Nothing Changed

If you’re still paying Zillow for single-family rental listings, I encourage you to experiment with pausing or stopping. We’ve seen zero impact on our ability to lease up properties since turning off “Zillow Feed Connect”, which is their paid upgrade (we still syndicate our rental listings to their platform using the free version).

We’ve had 3 full months during prime leasing season to evaluate the change, and our leasing timelines (days on market) remain very strong.

If you read the Zillow marketing material about their paid listings (which has gone by a few different names in the past), they really try to scare you into paying for their premium listing product. I had suspected this was nonsense and now we have confirmation. And by the way, the vast majority of our leads came from, and still do come from, Zillow and their networks. About two-thirds, for us.

Their entire approach to monetizing rental listings has been wonky. For years it was totally free, then they started charging for it but only in certain markets and the pricing seemed totally random, with every property manager reporting a different price. Then we heard they were rolling back the paid listings, but just in certain markets? Anyway, it seems like nobody is paying attention over there. Save yourself some money and just use their free version.

By the way, I remain steadfast in my belief that Zillow’s consolidation of renter demand (eyeballs) is an existential threat to our industry. At least I’m not funding it directly anymore.

How do you break through a growth ceiling?

About a year and a half ago, I hit a plateau in my property management business. We were stuck at around 650 doors, and no matter what we tried, growth felt stalled. We’ve since made a few adjustments and are back to growing steadily, but that 650-door sticking point was top of mind during my recent conversation with Joni Wolfswinkel.

Joni runs two Real Property Management franchises totaling 2,300+ doors, and she knows the pain of plateaus, acquisitions, and scaling firsthand.

We talked about breaking through growth ceilings, the pros and cons of owning other service businesses (including why she’ll never own a plumbing company again), and how she and her husband have navigated being business partners. Joni also shared how her focus has shifted toward family, vision, and building generational wealth.

If you’re leading a PM company and wrestling with growth, leadership, or just the realities of balancing business and family, you’ll want to hear Joni’s story:

(You can also listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify)

Ask Me Anything about Property Management & Business

Chat (or talk!) with my brand new AI clone. It’s trained on everything I’ve ever written: my Notion, blog posts, every newsletter issue, and more. In total, that’s over 800,000 words, and still growing! It’s designed to help you talk through your most challenging questions and problems related to things like:

• Growing your PM company

• Property management owner/unit churn

• Organizing your business

• Notion

• PM processes and systems

• EOS

• Mindsets

• Taking a month off

• Hiring a COO

• Working with RTMs

It’s also trained on my voice, which means you can call it and have full conversations! This is how I recommend interacting with it. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

New Property Management Companies For Sale This Week

Buying or growing a property management company? Enterprise Bank & Trust* helps operators offset fees, manage trust accounts, and get financing without the runaround. Check out their PM lending solutions if you’re going to buy one of these companies:

• Here is a residential property management company for sale in Central Washington (asking $545k)

• This 90-door PM company in Macomb County, MI is asking $225k.

• Here is an HOA management company for sale in Austin, TX (asking $950k)

*This section is sponsored by Enterprise Bank & Trust. Interested in sponsoring this section? Get in touch to partner with Peter.

Industry News & Events

• Renter application fraud is increasing at a terrifying rate.

• Got questions about Crane? Register for our first-ever launch event.

• NARPM and Second Nature teamed up to offer complimentary NARPM National Tickets + hotel rooms for qualifying property managers. Many newsletter readers have taken advantage of this offer in the past. It’s a steal.

• Second Nature just opened VIP Experience registration for the NARPM Annual Convention. This is a no-brainer upgrade to your experience. They partnered up with AppFolio for a private event(!) at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Hogsmeade.

Closing Thought

A few quick things before you go…

• Last week’s issue went to 20,153 readers (59.4% opened, 5.2% clicked)

• The most popular link was The ESA Fight Goes to Court—and HUD Loses by Todd Ortscheid (125 clicks)

• Want to start your own newsletter? I use Beehiiv and highly recommend it.

• Interested in sponsoring this newsletter? Message me.

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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.