Peter Lohmann's Newsletter - Issue #162

AppFolio announces three “Realm-X Performer” agentic AI solutions

I was in San Diego this week for AppFolio’s Future real estate conference. On Wednesday, they announced the introduction of a new “Real Estate Performance Management” platform and three new AI-driven solutions for property managers:

Pricing (unconfirmed) is reported to be $1.50 per Performer or $3.00 for all 3 of them (per unit per month).

AppFolio also announced a partnership with Second Nature to streamline lease-signing and resident onboarding:

Attendees seemed excited about the potential for these innovations but curious about how they will actually work in practice. Property managers are a skeptical bunch (myself included). I often wonder if all property managers are somehow from Missouri - the “Show-Me” state.

I’d love to hear from any readers who have actually gone live with these products and what your experience has been!

Speaking of leasing, here are the leasing poll results from last week:

So if you’re feeling a slowdown in your area, it looks like you are most certainly not alone. 79% of respondents report leasing as somewhat or much slower compared to last summer.

Inside NARPM 2.0: How DD Lee Is Helping Modernize the Industry

If you’ve been around property management long enough, you know NARPM has always been the backbone of our industry, but it’s also been run largely by volunteers. That’s changing.

This week on the podcast, I sat down with DD Lee, former owner of Skyline Property Management (500 doors, plus a 3,000-door HOA division), now President-Elect of NARPM National and Industry Liaison at PURE.

We dig into what “NARPM 2.0” actually means (shifting from volunteer-led to professionally staffed) and why that’s such a big deal for operators. DD also shares what it was like to sell her company to PURE, the emotional side of letting go (“detach” became her mantra), and how those experiences are shaping her leadership today.

If you care about where this industry is headed (or what it really takes to grow, sell, and keep your sanity), you’ll want to hear this one:

(You can also listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify)

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’s a PM company with Construction for sale in Portland, OR (asking $750k)

• Here’s a PM company for sale in San Francisco, CA (asking $725k)

• Here’s a PM portfolio for sale in Sacramento County, CA (asking $250k)

• Here’s a PM company for sale in Utah (asking $700k)

*Sponsored.

Industry News & Events

• Doug Brien is succeeding Gary Beasley as the Roofstock/Mynd CEO.

• HUD is attempting to limit enforcement of fair housing laws. I do not approve.

• Enterprise Bank has acquired First Interstate Bank, with branches located in Arizona and Kansas.

• Rentvine has acquired RentFinder.ai.

• AppFolio launched a “listing spotlight” partnership with Zillow. Readers of this newsletter know that I am concerned about Zillow’s dominance in the SFR rental listing marketplace. I hope AppFolio launches similar partnerships with Zillow’s competitors. Crane members, don’t miss this post from a member who shared tons of helpful details about this new program (including pricing).

• Buildium yanked Vendoroo’s access to their mutual customer’s Buildium accounts. Vendoroo email to customers, Buildium email to customers (hat tip Todd O). I don’t know any of the details, but it’s an open secret that half the SFR ecosystem relies on vendors & consultants using customer logins for AppFolio, Buildium, etc. If they begin to crack down on this more broadly, it will be fairly devastating for the average PM operator. Let’s hope this is an isolated incident.

Closing Thought

A few quick things before you go…

• Last week’s issue went to 20,140 readers (58.0% opened, 4.5% clicked)

• The most popular link was The Future of PM Credibility - PropertyManagement.com (183 clicks)

• Interested in sponsoring this newsletter? Sold out. Will open Q1 soon.

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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.