Peter Lohmann's Mailing List - Issue #20

July 13, 2022

Welcome to the 81 new readers in the last month!

A Month Away From My Business - How I Did It

I was completely absent from RL Property Management from June 1st to July 5th, on a mini-sabbatical. Here's how I did it:

  1. Documented systems & processes (we use Notion - see video here for a walkthrough of ours)

  2. Core Value at our company: Figure It Out and Get It Done. This thinking permeates the culture.

  3. A very capable and trustworthy COO in place since January.

  4. Multiple long-tenured employees who know the biz inside and out.

  5. A willingness on my part to let some minor problems and errors happen while I was gone, and a team who knew I would not blame them or be upset.

  6. Huge delegation effort in the eight weeks leading up - offloading all the Operations stuff that was still on my plate.

  7. An incredible team who was happy to step up & prove to themselves that they could accomplish great things.

And the most important by far:

8. Stubborn belief that it was possible.

More to come on this topic, stay tuned.

2022 Property Management Financial Benchmark Study

NARPM (National Association of Residential Property Managers) is conducting the 2022 NARPM Financial Benchmark Study!

This is BIG NEWS for our industry. The existing benchmarks & associated "Chart of Accounts" were released almost 5 years ago now. It completely changed the landscape for our industry, and I expect this one to do the same.

My company implemented the NARPM Accounting Standards (NAS) that came out of the original study shortly after they were released, and it was a total game-changer. The visibility it gave us into both our financial performance & KPIs set RL Property Management on a path to being the sustainable, growing, and profitable company it is today.

NARPM & ProfitCoach need our help for this big update. I've already signed up, and strongly encourage you to do the same (if you own a property management company).

I'm going to quote Jordan Muela (I do that a lot) here, from his newsletter:

I am really really excited about this.

Expanding the data pool means getting to ask even bigger questions and parse out even greater details about what really makes our industry tick.

Questions like:

What's the relationship between market rents and PM profitability?

How does customer acquisition cost change as growth increases?

How fast are the most profitable PM's growing? Correlation or causation?

This is the sort of stuff I absolutely geek out about.

I'm infinitely grateful to have partners like I do at ProfitCoach & an incredibly forward-thinking trade org like NARPM that's making this possible for members.

So one more time, why do I need your help?

I need you to consider participating in the study.

Currently we're at 155 PM's signed up and there are slots for approx. 45 more.

It's a small time commitment with a big impact.

Here is my promise to you: This will be a highlight of your year.

I've seen time and time again, that having your data organized, sanitized and then compared against peers like you... completely changes how you look at your biz.

New Podcast Episode - Out Today!

“We look at what the industry does, and then we do everything the opposite way.”

I sat down with Lisa Wise, CEO of Flock DC, to talk about her philosophy of putting people & place above profit. This was a very raw interview for me and the most moving discussion I've had on the show, ever. Lisa is not only a dynamic leader and visionary, but she cares about her community, her employees, and her companies in a way that is truly unique in our industry.

Search "Owner Occupied" in your favorite podcast player to listen now.

RENT Magazine - Advertising Spots Available

We've launched a new magazine for central Ohio multifamily property owners called RENT:

We're sending this magazine (in a FEDEX envelope) to 700+ multifamily property owners who own at least 5 units in central Ohio. In total there are over 5,000 units owned by the readers. The goal is to provide them with real-world value with a full-color, professionally produced & printed 12-page magazine.

The content is completely original and developed in collaboration with our marketing partners at The Found Gen (they're producing the magazine as well, with my direction).

We're looking for two advertising partners who are interested in reaching this audience. Half-page color ads are available for the Fall issue. I'll be honest, I have no idea how to price something like this. If you're interested, reach out with a number you think is fair. We'll design the ad for you so it fits in with the theme.

Closing Thoughts

Until next time,

Peter