Peter Lohmann's Newsletter - Issue #86

My 2024 Solo Retreat: Takeaways

Every year I take 3 days alone to think, read, write and plan.

I leave technology behind and go by myself to a literal cabin in the woods. This idea was partially inspired by Bill Gates’ "Think Week” concept. It’s one of the most impactful and meaningful things I do all year.

My friends who know about this ritual are always curious about what I take away from it. In no particular order, here are some of my takeaways from this year:

• I think my biggest conclusion is that I love making content. I am going to double down on content in 2024 (newsletter, socials, podcast). And I am going to reduce "asks" within my content (per Alex Hormozi - since I'm still in growth mode). I will still have 2 ads per podcast and 1 per newsletter, but I'm going to stop doing new affiliate/referral deals.

• Crane is a huge priority (the private community for PM company owners), but I want to hire a "Who" within Crane to help with the day-to-day so I can focus on things that only I can do. Community manager?

• Audience = optionality and it's definitely my highest and best use. If I’m being honest with myself, I have a really unique set of skills in this area (writing, interviewing, breaking down complex topics etc) and people seem to really get a lot of value out of it. I need to really lean into this.

• My 2024 “Do Not Do” List. This are items that I really WANT to do, but are not going to move the needle on my most important goals, so I need to avoid them (at least for this year):

  • Join Hampton/EO

  • Affiliate deals or referrals

  • Regional or unpaid speaking

  • Local networking

  • Any new partnerships

  • Any new deals under X size

  • Checking email before noon

• The last 2 years have involved a LOT of personal and biz changes. Would like 2024 to be a stabilizing year for me.

Books I read this time (my favorite was $100M Leads):

This week’s issue is sponsored by: Propwell.

If you’re looking to sell your property management company, it can be difficult to find interested buyers right now. Many of the large groups have paused their acquisition programs.

Good news : Propwell is full steam ahead. They’re looking for property management companies to buy in the sunbelt states, but will also consider strategic deals in other locations. Propwell is targeting 10k doors over the next three years and is paying attractive multiples during this initial launch phase. Propwell is NOT a private equity group and is looking to retain and invest in employees and communities, which includes profit sharing.

Click here to schedule a meeting.

If you’re interested in finding out how much your property management company is worth, how the process works for selling, or what your options are as an owner, reach out to Propwell and ask for Jeff. Their team is committed to providing a seamless process for you, your staff and your property owners.

Contact us today!

The #1 Most Valuable Notion Page

Last week I kicked off a Notion mini-series by sharing 10 tips on how to get started documenting your business (basically, creating a company wiki). You can read that issue here if you missed it.

Today I’d like to share what I believe is the single most valuable and important page you can add to your company Notion.

I call it a Task Map, and here’s what it looks like:

It looks like a lot. Let me explain it with one sentence:

The task map lists every single task at your company, who does it, and links to a page with instructions on how to do it.

Our task map has 278 tasks listed. Literally every single thing that needs to happen at my company is listed there. It also shows the “Trigger” or interval, basically what tells someone that it needs to happen.

Under “Procedure Instructions”, there are links to other Notion pages with detailed instructions on how to do that specific task.

And of course, Notion lets you slice and dice this data however you want. So it’s easy to switch to a “Board/Kanban” view that breaks down the tasks by role:

If you take the time to fully document everything that needs to happen at your company, when, and who does it — you’ll unlock an insane of amount of free time for yourself (and it will also increase the value of your company immensely). Instead of being a Job Owner, you will turn into a true Business Owner.

For newsletter readers, I have created a sample version of this page. You can view and duplicate it for free right here, and use it to start building out your own.

Live on Stage: Asking AppFolio and Rentvine the Hard Questions

Back in December, I got the chance to host a panel discussion about the future of technology in property management at LeadSimple’s user conference.

Joining the panel were Dave Borden, CEO of Rentvine; Matthew Kaddatz, Sr. Director, Product at AppFolio, and Jordan Muela, CEO of LeadSimple.

We had a great discussion and I got a ton of positive feedback from the live audience afterward — press play and enjoy:

Thanks to LeadSimple for the invitation, and the recording of this discussion.

Industry News and Events

• Here is a PM company for sale in Hawaii (45 properties, asking 35k).

• Here is a PM company for sale in New Mexico (asking 720k).

• Here is a PM company for sale near San Diego, CA (33 units, asking 350k).

• Here is an HOA management company for sale in Michigan (asking 775k).

• ProfitCoach is hosting a webinar next week on scalable labor efficiency. This looks like a good one, especially because my buddy Adam Willis is a guest.

• PMAssist is hosting a webinar with industry partner Steady on April 24th, to explore financial and insurance solutions for single-family rental home managers.

• Showmojo is hosting a webinar on April 11th to update the industry on leasing trends. They always bring amazing data.

• I’m hosting a webinar (with Wolfgang Croskey) on April 11th to discuss change management best practices. I have a LOT to say about this, so register now to get access (& the recording if you can’t make it).

Closing Thought

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That’s all for this week! Have a great weekend. -Peter

Note: Sponsorships for this newsletter are sold out through the end of May.

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