Peter Lohmann's Mailing List - Issue #18

June 24, 2022

AppFolio marketplace, brand new podcast episodes, and more.

AppFolio Stack

If you didn't already hear the news, AppFolio has released a brand new app marketplace with integrations to Property Meld, Lowe's, HappyCo, Knock and more. This is BIG news in the world of property management software. Buildium recently released their marketplace as well.

Jordan Muela (CEO of LeadSimple and co-founder of ProfitCoach) has some excellent analysis of this in his most recent newsletter. I'm going to quote part of it here, but you should really go subscribe. His newsletter is something I always look forward to reading.

Here's Jordan:

So why does AF’s announcement matter?

Competition.

AppFolio’s entry into the marketplace category means the race is now on for which PMS can offer the most robust ecosystem.

More importantly, what was once an opportunity for differentiation has now become table stakes… as it should be in 2022.

Two predictions and some advice.

1) The Ecosystem Gold Rush

Each major PMS represents +10k PM customers. AF alone represents 17,215 pmc’s managing 6.35 million units (source).

By providing access to their users, each PMS is offering a significant acquisition channel for their integration partners.

...

The beauty of AF’s entry is that by virtue of their size it adds significant pressure on every other vendor to improve in all the areas listed above… which will then put pressure back onto AF, and thus we get to see the free market in action.

This will undoubtedly lead to not only a new crop of vendors but also greater integration with existing vendors towards each PMS.

By the way, an extra special thanks to AppFolio for sponsoring this entire season of Owner Occupied!

Two Brand New Podcast Episodes OUT NOW

Speaking of Jordan, I recently interviewed him on my podcast Owner Occupied and the episode dropped last week. You can listen here. It's a GREAT one.

This week's episode is with Matthew Whitaker, founder & CEO of Evernest (prev. GK Homes). Evernest manages over 7,000 rental homes across over a dozen different markets.

Jordan and Matthew are two men that I highly respect in the property management industry, and I have learned so much from reading, watching, and listening to both of them. It was a great honor to have them both on the show, and I hope you get as much value from them as I have.

My guest next week is none other than Jeremy Pound, CEO of RentScale! Episode drops Wednesday!

My Month Off Work

I'm just over 3 weeks into my 5 week break from work. It's going great so far, and I'm taking notes along the way. I'll have more to share after it's over.

Next week I'm heading to Maine for a 3-day sailing trip with my dad on board the historic schooner Mercantile. Bringing lots of books! By the way, I have a list of book recommendations for property management company owners here. I haven't updated that list yet, but I'll be definitely be adding "Who Not How" - I read it last week and it's the most important book I have read in years.

Closing Thoughts

Kelsey McRichards is a favorite new follow on Twitter. She tweets about property management regularly and has very unique and insightful content. Here's a great example:

Thank you for reading! If you get value from my free newsletters, the best thing you could do for me is forward it to 2 friends in property management. Thank you!

-Peter