Peter Lohmann's Newsletter - Issue #166

I Made a Shocking Discovery about Owner Leads

Earlier this week, I was doing some analysis on our new batch of Crane members to understand how they first heard about Crane, and what caused them to actually decide to apply (which email, what CTA, etc).

We had over 50 new members join last month, so there was a good bit of data to comb through. This was a really interesting exercise, and I was really surprised to find out that most of the new members had been subscribers to this newsletter for 18 months or longer, meaning they had seen me promote Crane through at least three full application windows before deciding to apply. My assumption was that if somebody was a subscriber to my newsletter and saw me talking about Crane, then an application window opened up, they would either apply right then or never become a member. But it turns out most people need to see a couple cycles of promotion before they finally decide to pull the trigger.

So then I got to wondering about my property management company, and the owners that were signing up. Would there be a similar dynamic at play here? So I pulled up LeadSimple (the CRM we use for owner leads), and filtered to see only leads that closed this year (not leads that came in this year, but leads that we actually Closed-Won this year).

This turned out to be 109 deals (closed-won owners). Next I counted days from the “Created” date to the “Closed” date, giving me the time it took to actually close that owner (eg, 29 days). And finally I averaged that for all 109 deals.

What would you expect here? Take a guess at the average time-to-close for a new owner lead…

…Two weeks?

…Maybe three to four weeks, or possibly five to six weeks during a slow time?

The actual number from our data is NINETEEN WEEKS! That’s four-and-a-half MONTHS.

Here’s how it looks visually:

If we had only been paying attention to “fresh” leads (60 days old or newer), we would have missed 40% of our opportunities!

The median days-to-close is still a shockingly-high 43 days.

This completely blew me away. I figured the average would be something like 4 weeks!

If your property management company has been around for a while (ours is 13 years old), you should do a similar analysis. Pull up a list of your Closed-Won deals ytd and find the average time-to-close. I bet you’ll be surprised.

Takeaways: I’m still digesting this, but it's clear to me that our company needs to take a close look at our drip sequences and email newsletters to make sure that old leads are being regularly and intelligently engaged. It's also going to make sense to invest some time doing direct outreach to these leads. I have more to think about here, but I'm curious about your take. Let me know what you think.

-Peter

This Bank Actually Understands PM Acquisitions

Most banks don’t know what to do with property management companies. Jordan Coleman does. She’s a loan officer at Live Oak Bank, and one of the only lenders in the country who actually understands how PM businesses work (and why client churn isn’t always a deal-breaker).

We sat down to talk about how SBA loans can unlock 100% financing for acquisitions (yes, really), what lenders are looking for in both buyers and sellers, and why seller notes can be a ticking time bomb if you’re not careful.

Jordan also dropped some practical gems on when clawback clauses actually make sense, how to refinance a seller note (without burning bridges), and why time kills more deals than bad financials

If you’re even thinking about buying or selling a PM company in the next 12–24 months, this one is a MUST:

(You can also listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify)

New Property Management Companies For Sale This Week

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

• Another solid California opportunity in Fontana, CA (asking $350k)

• Here’s an HOA management business for sale in Austin, TX ($950k)

• Established PM company for sale in Vermont (asking $850k)

• Second Vermont opportunity in Waitsfield, VT (asking $369k)

This section is sponsored by Apartments.com. We recently shifted our Zillow spend to Feed Pro, and lead share jumped 44%. Now they’re offering 20% off for November if you use this booking link or mention the newsletter.

Industry News & Events

• RealPage has appointed Dirk Wakeham as CEO. He succeeds Dana Jones, who was only on the job for 4 years. Bisnow called the change “abrupt”. RealPage owns Buildium and Propertyware.

• Drea Hespen is running a webinar on Tuesday all about building authority through content. She’s an expert on personal branding and influence. I’ve learned a lot from her.

• Great article here from YieldPro breaking down the current regulatory and legal landscape with regard to tenant fees (called “junk fees” by some).

• On Q Property Management has expanded to Austin. When I last checked in with On Q, they were managing 6,200 units (now over 7,000).

Closing Thought

A few quick things before you go…

• Last week’s issue went to 20,063 readers (63% opened, 4.9% clicked)

• The most popular link was Owner Lead Flow Deep Dive w/ Jeremy Pound on LinkedIn (345 clicks)

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

• Are you a property manager but not a NARPM member yet? I highly recommend joining.

• Did someone forward you this email? Subscribe here.

Software I use to run my 700-door property management company:

Note: These are affiliate links.

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.