Peter Lohmann's Newsletter - Tuesday Edition #23

AppFolio's Newest Partnership. I debate Mark Brower: Should RBP be opt-out?

Author

Peter Lohmann
June 30, 2026

A no-fluff, twice-weekly briefing for the property management industry.

A bunch of random PM stuff

I don’t have enough meat on any of these for a full article, but think they’re all worth sharing anyway. In no particular order:

  1. I talk a lot about vendors in the PM industry - on the podcast, in this newsletter, on social media, and elsewhere. Some of them I’m just a happy customer of or genuinely interested in, some of them pay me for ads, some I’m a shareholder in, and some I have affiliate deals with. You deserve to know which is which. That's why I recently created a page on my website with the FULL LIST of companies that I'm involved with and my specific relationship with them. I will keep it up to date as things change. It’s linked in the bottom of every issue of this newsletter.

  2. Just finalized: At the PM Systems Conference I will be doing LIVE DEBATES:

    1. I’m debating Adam Willis: Pods are Superior to Departmental - yes/no

    2. I’m debating Brandy Landon: Caring deeply about your clients and tenants is a strategic advantage - yes/no

    3. I’m debating Samuel Eddinger: Promoting leaders from within is best compared to hiring from outside - yes/no

      So get your tickets now because this conference sells out MONTHS beforehand. It’s actually crazy. You can use code WONDER-LOHMANN to get $100 off since I’m a speaker. If you know someone that is speaking, use their code instead of mine! Because full disclosure there is a competition among speakers with PRIZES on who can sell the most tix 😇

  3. If you have a bunch of credit card or airline points, you need to follow Colin Stroud on LinkedIn and/or sign up for his newsletter. I have no affiliation with him but he is a master of points. I’ve gotten huge value from reading his stuff and I think I even paid to talk to him 1:1 about my situation. If you’re not maximizing your points earn and spend as a business owner, you’re leaving tens of thousands of dollars in value on the table each year. It’s all tax-free too. Some people take this too far and play silly games like signing up for 5 new cards a year—that’s not what I’m talking about. You can make a few small changes to cover the basics that get you 90% of the way there.

THIS ISSUE PRESENTED BY RENTENGINE

My team uses RentEngine to lease units faster, plain and simple. And it's seriously insane how fast these guys crank out updates and new features.

For example, they recently rolled out two new Fraud Guard tools that include:

  1. Advanced forensics on uploaded IDs

  2. Behavioral analysis that flags suspicious prospects before they ever reach a showing

AI-manipulated IDs are a real problem right now, and they're already on it.

That's on top of faster Rental Applications, filtering your showings calendar by method, scheduled follow-ups in the phone app, and a handful of other improvements (I'll spare you the full list - it’s too long to include here).

If your agents are still chasing leads and coordinating showings by hand, I highly recommend checking out RentEngine.

P.S. I recently recorded a podcast where I asked their CEO, Alexander Stringfellow, how they move this fast. Stay tuned - the episode drops next week.

PM Company & Vendor Updates

  • PMI W Properties out of New Hampshire has acquired PMI Granite State.

  • Snappt and AppFolio announced a partnership that will “embed Snappt's AI-powered document fraud detection directly into FolioScreen™ Trusted Renter.”

  • LeadSimple announced a whole suite of new features and many product updates last week. Catch the replay if you missed it live.

  • Buildium is having issues processing rental applications. Users, including us, have not had any communication from the company. I’m switching to RentEngine Applications rather than waiting for a fix, which someone in the Facebook group said they were told by Buildium could be up to 30 days out.

Good Profits, Bad Profits, and the Ugly Opt-Out Trap

The class action against Entrata over mandatory rent-reporting fees raises a question every PM company with a resident benefit program should ask: opt-in or opt-out? On our recent episode of The Crane Podcast, Mark Brower and I get into where the line is.

Opt-out works because of emotional momentum. By the time a resident sees the fee, they're already mentally moved in, and disclosure timing ends up mattering more than the fee itself. We dig into good profits vs. bad profits, plus the 750-door "trough of sorrow," cold calling ethics, and why A-players pay for themselves.

Also available on Apple Podcasts, Amazon, and Spotify.

Meme Tuesday:

Did someone send you this newsletter? Subscribe here.

Not interested in the Tuesday Edition? Click here to opt out. 

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.