Peter Lohmann's Mailing List - Issue #49

Are We Actually Asset Managers?

As I continue to reflect on the major client losses we suffered earlier this year, there are a few ideas that I keep returning to:

1. Investor clients with 10+ units have a different set of success criteria by which they are judging their property management company. Our track record with retaining these clients is frankly horrible, and in talking with other property managers, many of them have struggled as well. These clients are wanting a much higher level of attention and service (both personally, and for their properties). At the same time, they expect a volume discount. It’s exceptionally difficult for a typical scattered-site property management company to deliver here.

2. Client expectations are going up across the board, slowly blurring the line between asset management and property management. Property owners are expecting their management company to provide professional advice on topics such as acquisition, disposition, financing, tax strategy, remodeling & improvements, and portfolio performance. At the same time, they would rebuff any attempt to charge an asset-management type fee, such as 1% of assets under management. This puts us in a tough position.

3. We need to articulate to our clients what we believe successful property management looks like, and regularly measure ourselves against these benchmarks. I got this from Mark Brower, who says “When you don't define parameters for success you are agreeing to allow the other party to define those parameters for themselves.” That’s exactly the situation our company is in right now. Mark owns a PM company out of Arizona — you can read more about his philosophy and see his benchmarks here.

I’ve historically been very resistant to incorporating any asset-management type functions into our scope, because it feels so unfair that clients are expecting this but not wanting to pay for it. But it’s time to face facts — this is what the market wants. So my strategy moving forward is to find the intersection of “high-value” and “easy to deliver” asset management functions and begin to incorporate those into our standard PM product offerings

Shoutout to two groups working hard to deliver solutions in this area: REI Monitor and Rescover (neither is sponsoring this issue). Both have impressed me with their ability to track & display portfolio-level performance for property owners in a way that truly elevates the conversation we can have with them.

Have you had success with this? Or are you a vendor trying to provide this to property managers? I would love to hear from you!

Industry News & Events

• Next week, the fine folks over at Evernest are putting on a live event all about buying property management companies. This is one I would not miss. Register here (even if you can’t attend live, they will send you the recording afterward). Sponsored by yours truly.

• New: LeadSimple User Summit! LeadSimple is hosting their very first user summit “LeadSimple University” in Austin, TX on Dec. 5-7. This is the perfect opportunity to learn from experts and level up your processes. I am a keynote speaker at this event. Learn more here.

• PM Systems Conference tickets are on sale (early bird pricing). I am a speaker at this event! Learn more here.

• New: Have you heard about the “UNconference”? It’s a new “conference without the conference” in the property management world. August 12-16 in Key West. Go here to find out what it’s all about.

This week’s issue is sponsored by AppFolio.

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● Management Fee Automation: Eliminate busywork and automate the fee collection process to keep your books consistent and accurate.

● Bank Feed: Streamline your accounting cycle by managing bank reconciliations in a single, centralized view – all with a little help from AI.

● Smart Maintenance: Let AI manage maintenance requests at any time of day or night – ensuring efficient, timely service for residents while freeing up time for your team.

To learn more about the latest innovations at AppFolio, click here.

Zapier Integrations

Last year I published a list (on my blog) of property management software that integrates with Zapier. It was a VERY short list, so I will reproduce it here in case anyone finds this useful:

• LeadSimple (Sales CRM & Process Automation)

• RentCheck (Property Inspections)

• Rentometer (Rental Comps)

Vendors - does your software have a Zapier integration? Please let me know so I can update my list!

Programming Updates

• We blew through the 3,000 subscriber mark (3,125 as of today). THANK YOU!

• I’m taking off the month of June again (I did this last year too - listen to this if you want to hear my lessons learned & takeaways). No newsletters in June.

• My podcast “Owner Occupied” IS RETURNING! Season 3 will be 15 episodes and kicks off with episode 1 - “Partnerships, Delegation & Hiring with Nick Huber” - Wednesday July 5th. New episodes each Wednesday thereafter. You can subscribe & listen anywhere you get your podcasts. Check out the back catalog while you wait!

• Sponsorship spots for this newsletter are full through the end of Q3. I’ll put out a call for sponsors again sometime in early September.

• Sponsorship spots for Owner Occupied are completely full.

Closing Thought

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Property Management Coaching: No availability - check back soon! Just need an hour or two? Book here instantly.

Looking for a longer-term partnership, private community, my full Notion package and more? You may be a good candidate for our Property Management Business-in-a-Box program. Apply here.

That’s all for this week! See you in July. -Peter

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