Podcasts about yardi

Alex Price started his career as an officer in the British Army, moved into investment banking, did an MBA at London Business School, and joined Palmer Capital in 2003. At that point the business had three or four people, a balance sheet under £1m, no funds under management and three operating partners. Over 16 years he built it alongside founder Ray Palmer into a business with more than £1bn of assets under management, having raised over £1.5bn from the UK, US, Middle East and Asia, employing nearly 100 people across ten operating partners. They sold to Fiera Capital in 2019, and Alex went on to run the combined European business before leaving in 2023 to study a masters at King's College London. He set up Ashen Capital in 2024 with Steven Wright, a colleague of 15 years, to invest in the people investing in property. They take minority stakes in UK operating businesses, providing up to £5m of working capital alongside advice, connections and experience. Two investments so far: a land promotion business and an investment management business doing senior secured construction loans. His argument in this conversation is about what separates a real estate entrepreneur from any other kind. In most startups you risk a laptop, an office and your reputation. In real estate the numbers are staggering, so the downside is far larger relative to the upside, and that changes what investors look for. Alex backs character before skill set, because trust is what he's actually underwriting. He also never backs a solo founder, wanting two complementary people so one drives and one reduces risk. He walks through the mindset, skill set and character he looks for, the six steps to launching a business from concept through to launch day, and why he'd put £500m into UK residential rather than commercial. The People Property Place Podcast is powered by Art Capital & Yardi. For more on Yardi, head to: https://hubs.li/Q04wHxlH0 For more on Art Capital, head to: https://www.art-capital.co.uk/ LIKE - SHARE - SUBSCRIBE http://peoplepropertyplace.com/

Guy Butler grew up in a poor village in the Welsh valleys, the son of a butcher who understood the local property market better than he understood meat. He studied surveying at Reading, left an early consultancy role to co-found the planning and development boutique Turnberry Consulting in 1998, on the single condition that his name wasn't in the company name, and joined Grosvenor before he'd even qualified as a chartered surveyor. At Grosvenor he worked on major shopping centre developments, including a £330m scheme in Basingstoke, and built the relationships and reputation that gave him the confidence to go out on his own. He co-founded Glenbrook with former colleague Ian, setting the business up on £12,500 each while everyone else worked for favours and goodwill. Their first project took 14 months from start to finish, but by the time it was funded, Manchester had woken up to build-to-rent and sites became far harder to find. The Brexit vote in 2016 then cost the business roughly £2m in changed terms on a deal already in motion, right as they were trying to fund their first new-build scheme. Guy's central argument in this conversation is about risk. Developers tend to focus on the risks they understand best, things like rights of light or site access, and assume institutional funders share that focus. In reality, the risks that actually move capital are the ones outside the site altogether: where the bond market sits, the cost of debt, and what the entry and exit terms look like. Understanding an investor's risk tolerance, not just your own, is what actually gets a scheme funded. The People Property Place Podcast is powered by Art Capital & Yardi. For more on Yardi, head to: https://hubs.li/Q04wHxlH0 For more on Art Capital, head to: www.art-capital.co.uk/  LIKE - SHARE - SUBSCRIBE http://peoplepropertyplace.com/

Resources mentioned on this podcast: The 2026 Coworking Benchmark Session Scott Homa (JLL) Will Sanford (Yardi) What if the fastest-growing segment in coworking is operators with two to six locations? The keynote that opened this year's Global Workspace Association conference in Denver was Scott Homa, who leads flex research at JLL, and Will Sanford, the head of coworking at Yardi. The two companies track this market with different datasets and different methods, and they landed in almost exactly the same place. Scott is known for the headline that 30% of office inventory would be flexible by 2030. He explained where it came from: JLL asked occupiers how they wanted their portfolios split, and they said 30%. It was a demand number, not a forecast of how much flex space would get built. Flex is about 2.3% of the U.S. office market today. In this episode, I walk through the numbers from that keynote and what they mean for your growth plan. I talk about: • Where the 30% by 2030 number came from, and why it was never a supply forecast • Flex today: 2.3% of the U.S. office market, across 9,400 locations and 4,300 operators • Why London at 10% is the benchmark, and what that could mean for Manhattan • 88% growth for operators running two to six locations, against 8% for the top 100 by size • Where flex ranks when an enterprise tenant picks a building, and how to use that with a landlord • What a fast-growing enterprise tenant is buying from an operator None of these numbers are mine. They come from JLL and Yardi, and I am grateful to both companies for tracking this industry.

Tim Robinson joined Knight Frank as a graduate and has spent the whole of his 32-year career there, becoming an equity partner in 2008 and Head of Commercial in 2025. In April, he takes over as UK Managing Partner from Stephen Clifton, a role that will bring the firm's residential and commercial businesses together under one leader for the first time. His path started a long way from property. His father was an army colonel who wanted him to follow the same route, and Tim grew up moving between postings before boarding at Harrow from the age of six. He went into real estate instead, working his way up through agency roles at Knight Frank before taking on the property management, valuation, planning, business rates and building consultancy divisions in turn. He's candid about the timing of the new role. He'd assumed Head of Commercial would be his job until 60, and had committed to it fully, before Stephen Clifton told him a year in that he planned to leave and asked if Tim wanted to put himself forward. Taking over means running a residential business for the first time in his career, and merging two divisions that have operated largely independently to avoid duplicated costs and missed opportunities for clients. He also talks through how the partnership actually works, from the profit-sharing model to how someone becomes an equity partner, and where he'd allocate £500m of capital if he had it today, split across new talent, rural real estate and infrastructure. What guests would you love to see next on PPP? Let us know in the comments. The People Property Place Podcast is powered by Art Capital & Yardi. For more on Yardi, head to: https://hubs.li/Q04wHxlH0 For more on Art Capital, head to: www.art-capital.co.uk/ LIKE - SHARE - SUBSCRIBE http://peoplepropertyplace.com/

Rob Whiting is the co-founder and CEO of Boom, a proptech company building the future of rental financial services for residential property managers across single-family rental, manufactured housing and multifamily. Boom's three products — Boom Report for rent reporting, Boom Screen for applicant underwriting, and Boom CRM for agentic leasing and self-showing — serve hundreds of thousands of doors and count American Homes 4 Rent and Manage America among their key partners. Before Boom, Rob founded ventures in healthcare and education, including Haystack Health, a telemedicine company, and a financial aid organization focused on FAFSA access. Rob is based in Austin, Texas.(02:55) Why Rob built Boom(05:44) The ROAD to Housing Act, explained(07:11) The 350-home cap & how institutions keep buying(14:01) Rent reporting as a compliance path(16:09) What Boom does & who it serves(17:44) Is screening a commodity? Data quality & hit logic(21:51) How to evaluate a tenant screening vendor(25:47) How the ManageAmerica partnership came together(30:00) Lessons from partnering with AMH Homes(32:48) Closing the leasing stack gap with Boom CRM(35:52) Coexisting with Yardi, RealPage, & AppFolio(37:40) Collaboration Superpower: Daniel Ek

Extreme weather patterns are increasingly shifting where property and insurance risks are concentrated, with drought worsening in the West and Midwest while tornado activity moves eastward into more populated states such as Illinois, raising damage and insurance costs and potentially reducing the value of mortgage servicing rights in higher-risk markets. Robbie interviews Yardi's Doug Ressler on affordability-driven housing demand, favoring markets where housing costs, jobs and migration align and challenging lenders and the mortgage industry to rethink traditional paths to homeownership. And we close with a look at why the 30-year Treasury yield's rise to 5.31 percent amid persistent inflation, fiscal deficits, heavy debt issuance and strong corporate borrowing is tightening financial conditions at the long end of the curve, which gives the Fed more room to keep short-term rates on hold as weakening labor, consumer and spending data reduce the case for a September hike, though a renewed inflation surge in August could still force policymakers to tighten.Thank you to JazzX, the first true end-to-end AI platform built for mortgage. From application to close, JazzX is a new operating model that helps you scale growth, boost productivity, and transform how your team performs.The Chrisman Commentary is your go-to daily mortgage news podcast, where industry insights meet expert analysis. Hosted by Robbie Chrisman, this podcast delivers the latest updates on mortgage rates, capital markets, and the forces shaping the housing finance landscape. Whether you're a seasoned professional or just looking to stay informed, you'll get clear, concise breakdowns of market trends and economic shifts that impact the mortgage world.

Property management accounting problems rarely announce themselves. They build quietly, through reconciliation shortcuts, commingled funds, and data spread across systems that were never designed to talk to each other. By the time the damage shows up in a report, the decisions based on bad numbers have already been made. In this episode, Mo Hussein, CEO of Balanced Asset Solutions, breaks down why property management accounting systems break as portfolios grow, what bad data is actually costing operators, and how the next generation of AI tools is changing what oversight looks like at scale. About Mo Hussein Mo Hussein is the CEO and founder of Balanced Asset Solutions, a CPA-led consulting firm specializing in property management accounting, software optimization, and operational performance. Before founding BAS, Mo held roles at AppFolio and Yardi, giving him a front-row view of how these systems are built, where they get misused, and what breaks when operators scale without the right controls. He is also building PropStrata, an AI-powered platform designed to sit on top of property management systems and unify data, automate workflows, and surface operational bottlenecks across the tools operators are already using. What We Cover in This Episode Why property management accounting breaks as portfolios grow The difference between a system of record and a system of action Why AppFolio, Yardi, and RealPage are built differently than QuickBooks and when each is appropriate What "source of truth" means in property management and why most operators get it wrong Why operating off bank accounts or Excel instead of your PM software creates serious risk How commingled funds and weak accounting controls open the door to embezzlement Trust accounting compliance requirements and the regulatory exposure of getting it wrong What legacy property management software does well and where AI is creating the gap How PropStrata is building a layer that sits above systems of record to standardize data and automate repetitive workflows Why verticalized AI built for real estate will outperform general AI tools in this space What automating the eviction dossier process looks like at 1,000 units What property management operations could look like in three to five years Key Insight Mo makes a point that most operators don't want to hear: embezzlement in property management is more common than people think, and weak accounting controls are the reason. When funds get commingled, reconciliations get skipped, and permissions aren't set correctly, the exposure isn't just financial sloppiness. It's a direct invitation to fraud. Proper trust accounting guardrails in platforms like AppFolio and Yardi aren't just good practice. In states like California, they're a regulatory requirement, and operating outside them can cost you your broker license. Why This Episode Matters If your reports can't explain what caused a change in performance, you are making decisions with incomplete information. Mo's framework for treating your property management software as the actual source of truth for every operational and financial decision is one of the clearest articulations of this problem we've had on the show. If you're growing a portfolio and still reconciling in Excel or running financials out of QuickBooks, this episode is a direct challenge to how you're operating. Find Out More Website: https://www.balancedassetsolutions.com PropStrata: https://www.propstrata.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mohamedyhussein/ Instagram: @balancedassetsolutions Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Balanced-Asset-Solutions/100072508757757/ Sponsors Today's episode is brought to you by Green Property Management, managing everything from single family homes to apartment complexes in the West Michigan area. https://www.livegreenlocal.com And RCB & Associates, helping Michigan-based real estate investors and small business owners navigate the complex world of health insurance and Medicare benefits. https://www.rcbassociatesllc.com

Randy Moss, industry principal at Yardi, joined the REIT Report podcast to discuss the relationship between regulatory changes, rising energy costs, and net asset value (NAV), as well as how improving energy and utility data quality can reduce risk and support stronger REIT valuations. Yardi is a Nareit Real Estate Sustainability Partner.When evaluating potential real estate investments, cash flows often take center stage, Moss noted. Investors are increasingly looking for properties that not only have robust cash flows but also incorporate efficiency improvements. Enhancements that boost property efficiency can lead to maximized rents per square foot and higher occupancy rates, ultimately contributing to a more favorable NAV.Moss discussed how recent regulatory trends have introduced new challenges for real estate investors. Building performance standards (BPS) have emerged, mandating that owners meet specific energy and greenhouse gas emissions caps. As these regulations evolve, they come with significant penalties for non-compliance, impacting long-term cash flows dramatically.New York City's Local Law 97 sets stringent limits on emissions and requires reporting based on historical data. With nearly 27,000 buildings affected, compliance is a critical factor in maintaining property value and investment viability.Chapters: 00:50 Meet The Guests 01:24 How Investors Value Buildings 02:22 New Risks To NAV 02:55 Building Performance Standards 04:10 Local Law 97 Fines 05:40 Compliance Keeps Tightening 06:50 Why Data Quality Matters 08:22 AI With Human Oversight 10:50 Why Power Prices Rise 13:34 Future Policy Uncertainty 14:56 Mitigating Energy Cost Risk 18:08 BPS Lease And Tracking Tips 20:48 Bring In Leadership 22:49 Wrap Up And Subscribe

Artificial Intelligence is changing every industry—but what does that actually mean for property management? In this episode, IT expert Lara Hamilton joins Jake & Gino to break down how AI is already transforming property management operations, software, reporting, maintenance, and customer service. Rather than replacing people, AI is helping teams eliminate repetitive work, reduce operational friction, and spend more time on the tasks that actually generate value. In this conversation, you'll learn: • How AI is improving property management today • Why automation won't replace great employees • The biggest operational bottlenecks hurting property managers • The future of property management software • AppFolio vs. Yardi vs. RealPage • How AI can streamline reporting and business operations • Why human relationships still matter in an AI-driven world • The importance of using AI securely and responsibly • How maintenance teams could become dramatically more efficient with AI • Practical ways operators can begin implementing AI immediately Whether you're a property manager, multifamily investor, business owner, or simply curious about how AI is changing the workplace, this conversation is packed with actionable insights. If you enjoyed this episode, be sure to Like, Subscribe, and hit the Notification Bell so you never miss future interviews with industry leaders. TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Intro & Meet Lara Hamilton 01:24 What Help Desk Realty Actually Does 03:41 Lara's Journey into IT 06:41 AI, Phone Systems & Customer Support 08:33 Will AI Replace Jobs? 10:23 The Reality of AI Adoption 12:00 How AI Eliminates Operational Friction 13:08 AppFolio vs. Yardi vs. RealPage 14:41 Jake's Vision for Fully Automated Leasing 17:42 Which Property Management Software Is Best? 20:53 How Property Managers Can Start Using AI Today 24:17 The Future of AI in Property Management 25:49 RealPage vs. AppFolio 29:08 Why Maintenance Teams Matter Most 31:11 Jake's AI Body Cam Idea for Maintenance Techs 33:21 AI Leasing Assistants & Chatbots 35:22 Real-World Success Stories 37:14 How to Contact Help Desk Realty 37:45 Final Thoughts: Don't Fear AI—Use It 40:03 Outro

Google Review Policy Changes: What Coworking Operators Must Do Right Now Google issued major updates to its Maps user-generated content policy in April 2026, and if you've been relying on any of the review strategies that have been standard practice in coworking for years, you need to stop and read this now. These changes directly affect how you can ask for, manage, and even display Google reviews. And it's not just about new reviews Google has deployed Gemini AI enforcement tools that are actively scanning your existing review history for violations. Phase three enforcement, which includes ranking penalties, is expected in May and June 2026. There is no time to sit on this. In this episode, Jamie walks through all eight policy changes and exactly what you need to do about each one. Why Your Google Business Profile Is Non-Negotiable Before diving into the changes: your Google Business Profile is the top of the funnel for your coworking business. When someone searches "coworking near me" or "meeting rooms near me," the map pack is what they see first and your profile is what lives there. It gets 10 to 20 times the traffic your website gets. Reviews are a core part of what keeps that profile current, credible, and ranking well. Losing review functionality or getting your profile suspended is not a minor setback. For most coworking operators, it is effectively a lead generation crisis. That's why this update matters so much. The 8 Policy Changes 1. No More Onsite Review Solicitation: You can no longer ask customers to leave a review while they are physically in your space. Google considers this pressured solicitation. That means: No verbal asks to members or meeting room users while they're on site No tablet at the front desk with a review prompt pulled up No QR codes in the space linking to your Google review page No asking event attendees on their way out the door Google can detect when reviews are submitted from your business location and will flag patterns of onsite reviews as inauthentic. What to do: Remove any review-related signage and QR codes. Replace with neutral language "We'd love your feedback" without mentioning Google specifically. Shift all review requests to automated follow-up emails or texts that go out after someone has left the building. 2. No More Incentivized Reviews: You cannot offer anything of value in exchange for a Google review. That includes: Free day passes or meeting room credits Membership discounts Referral program perks tied to leaving a review Staff bonuses or KPI tracking tied to Google reviews Contests or challenges (including internal programs like the Google Review Challenge we've run in Community Manager University, which need to be restructured) Offering to refund a visit or provide a credit in exchange for removing or revising a negative review What to do: Decouple your review strategy from any rewards or referral programs entirely. If you run a review challenge or staff incentive program, restructure it around general feedback, not Google reviews specifically. Focus team energy on delivering experiences worth writing about organically. 3. No More Review Gating Review gating means filtering customers based on their likely sentiment before directing them to Google. The common setup looks like this: ask for a thumbs up or thumbs down, send the happy people to the Google review page (defaulted to five stars), and send the unhappy people to a private feedback email. That is no longer allowed. Every customer must receive the same call to action, sent to the same destination, regardless of how they might feel about their experience. This increases your exposure to negative reviews, which means two things matter more than ever: delivering a genuinely great experience, and getting in front of problems immediately before someone leaves the space unhappy and heads straight to Google. What to do: Audit any gating logic in your CRM automations whether you're using CoLevel, ActiveCampaign, HubSpot, or another platform. Update those sequences so everyone receives the same follow-up with neutral feedback language. Remove direct links to Google reviews with language specifically asking for a Google review. You can still link to your Google Business Profile; you just cannot use the word Google or make it a conditional destination. 4. No Asking for Specific Content or Staff Name Mentions You cannot coach reviewers to mention specific products, services, or team members by name. That means: No asking members to mention private offices or meeting rooms in their reviews No asking guests to thank a specific community manager by name No staff incentive programs built around getting mentioned in reviews Google's AI will scan for these text patterns and flag or remove reviews that appear to have been coached. This is particularly tricky because keyword mentions in reviews do help with SEO but the path forward is to create experiences so compelling that people mention what matters naturally, without being asked. What to do: Let reviewers write whatever they write. If you want meeting room reviews, set up automated follow-ups specifically triggered by meeting room bookings people will naturally describe what they did. SEO-optimize your Google Business Profile through other means, including your posts, which you can and should still be doing intentionally. 5. No Fake Reviews Every Google review must reflect a genuine customer experience. Reviews from friends, family members, or team members who haven't actually used the space as a customer will be removed. This is especially common during new space launches, when operators ask their personal networks for support. What to do: Don't ask for reviews from non-customers. It wastes everyone's time and it won't hold up. Put that energy into getting reviews from real members, meeting room users, and event guests through compliant automated systems. 6. No Cross-Platform Review Campaigns You cannot use other platforms (social media, email lists, community groups) to coordinate Google review campaigns. That includes: Posting in your Facebook group asking members to leave a Google review Sending an email blast to your full membership asking for reviews Promoting a "Review Friday" push in your member Slack channel Instagram Stories with a link to your Google review page Google can detect when a batch of reviews comes in all at once and will flag that pattern as coordinated and inauthentic. What to do: Replace campaigns with individual, automated, trigger-based follow-ups. The goal is a steady drip of reviews tied to specific interactions (a tour, a day pass, an event, a membership milestone), not a wave that arrives all at once. This also distributes the timing naturally so no pattern gets flagged. 7. No AI-Generated Reviews Google's AI can detect text generated by ChatGPT, Claude, and similar tools and will remove those reviews. Even if you're sending compliant automated emails, if you suggest that members use AI to write their review or provide a template they can feed into AI, those reviews could still get flagged. What to do: Do not suggest that members use AI to write reviews. Do not provide pre-written review templates. Consider adding language to your automated review requests asking people to share their experience in their own words. 8. Reviews Must Come from a Personal Device Reviews must be submitted from the reviewer's personal device. No front desk tablets, no shared computers, no staff member handing someone a phone with the review page already pulled up. What to do: Most operators aren't doing this anyway, but if you have any setup that makes it easy for someone to leave a review from a shared device on-site, remove it. The Enforcement Timeline March 2026: Google activated new Gemini AI detection systems and began scanning, including existing review histories. April 2026: Active enforcement began. Non-compliant reviews are being removed. Google has already removed reviews from over 60,000 businesses and placed posting restrictions on over 782,000 accounts. May/June 2026 (Phase 3): Ranking adjustments will be applied to businesses with significant policy violations. Your search visibility could drop. This is not a "deal with it later" situation. Your Action Plan 1. Audit your automations. Check your CRM (CoLevel, ActiveCampaign, HubSpot, Pipedrive, etc.) and your coworking management platform (OfficeRnD, Nexudus, Optix, Coworks, Archy, Yardi) for any automated emails or SMS sequences that request Google reviews. Update any gating logic, remove direct Google review links, and adjust the language to be neutral. Also consider scheduling automated follow-ups to go out after hours or on weekends if members receive and respond to them while still on-site, it could still trigger a flag. 2. Update signage and physical touchpoints. Walk through your space and remove any QR codes, signs, or collateral that ask for a Google review or link directly to your review page. Replace with neutral feedback language or remove entirely. Check welcome packets, onboarding materials, and anything printed. 3. Retrain your team. Your community managers, front desk staff, and any outsourced marketing contractors need to know exactly what changed. Brief them on what they cannot say, cannot ask, and cannot offer. Give them this episode. CMU members will receive a cheat sheet and support playbook shortly. 4. Remove all incentive programs tied to reviews. Any staff bonus structures, contests, or member incentives connected to Google reviews need to come down immediately. 5. Build review generation into your systems, not your scripts. Set up automated, trigger-based one-to-one follow-ups for key moments: post-tour, 30 days into membership, after a meeting room booking, after an event. No campaigns, no broadcasts. Individual, triggered, automated. 6. Revisit the member and guest experience. The best long-term review strategy is an experience people cannot help but talk about. Use this as a forcing function to audit the full member and guest journey: what's frustrating, what's forgettable, and what's genuinely great. Get a peer or outside set of eyes on it if you can. Resources Mentioned in this Podcast: Google's official review policy Google's Maps UGC policy overview Everything Coworking Featured Resources: Masterclass: 3 Behind-the-Scenes Secrets to Opening a Coworking Space Coworking Startup School Community Manager University Follow Us on YouTube

What happens when housing authorities stop pushing paper and start moving people into homes faster?In this episode of ChangeMakers with Katie Goar, Shaina Fite, Public Housing Manager at Yardi, breaks down how outdated systems are slowing down affordable housing and how technology is starting to change that. Shaina shares her journey from growing up in public housing to helping distribute over $200 million in rental assistance, offering a perspective shaped by both lived experience and industry expertise.The conversation explores why paper-based systems create delays and risk, how automation speeds up housing placement, and what artificial intelligence will change in the next 12 to 24 months. You will also hear how transparency improves trust for residents and agencies, and why the demand for affordable housing continues to rise.This episode moves beyond policy and gets into the real systems behind housing access and what needs to change to serve people faster and more effectively.⏱️ Chapters / Timestamps 00:00 Intro00:13 Meet Shaina Fite01:25 How she got into affordable housing03:31 Growing up in public housing06:01 How lived experience shapes leadership10:49 What Yardi does and why it matters12:29 Why paper systems slow everything down14:49 How automation speeds up housing16:36 Transparency for residents and agencies19:13 Real-time data and decision making19:57 The role of AI in housing22:45 How AI frees up human work24:30 Why agencies resist technology26:10 The “bootcamp” of software implementation27:39 Getting teams to adopt new systems30:22 Why “we've always done it this way” is dangerous32:28 The real cost of outdated systems34:00 What Yardi does better36:17 The future of AI in housing37:41 Will AI replace jobs?39:31 The growing need for affordable housing42:18 Final thoughts

Today, Emily & Rachel talk about digital minimalism with guest Gauri Yardi!What you'll learn from this episode:What is digital minimalism? Emily's and Gauri's experience How to incorporate digital minimalism into your creative lifeThe challenges of limiting tech when marketing is a big piece of the writing journeyGAURI YARDI'S WEBSITE: https://www.gauriyardi.com/GAURI'S INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/gauri.yardi/Resources mentioned:Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/575667/digital-minimalism-by-cal-newport/Susan Dennard's substack article “Experiments In Focus” https://stdennard.substack.com/p/experiments-in-focusCal Newport's podcast episode “This is your brain on phones” https://www.thedeeplife.com/podcasts/episodes/ep-374-this-is-your-brain-on-phones/ Stolen Focus by Johann Hari https://stolenfocusbook.com/Ready to make readers so in love with your characters they can't stop biting their nails in anticipation?  Grab The Magic of Character Arcs free email course: https://www.goldenmayediting.com/arcsmagicJoin Tenacious Writing! With the perfect combo of craft, mindset, and community resources, you will build a writing life that feels sustainable, fulfilling, and fun—without any prescriptions or rules. Learn more: https://www.tenaciouswriting.com/If you enjoyed Story Magic, please rate, review and follow on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to this podcast!Follow us on social media!Rachel: https://www.instagram.com/bookcoachrachel/Emily: https://www.instagram.com/ebgoldenbooks/Join us on April 18th and 19th for Character Development Decoded! In this two-day LIVE virtual workshop, we'll teach you how to develop your character's life before page one and then teach you how to show it your story (without flashbacks!). Breathe life into your characters and bring their humanity to the page. All you have to do is register at https://goldenmayediting.com/character! See you there!

Most people don't spend 13 years quietly building one of the most comprehensive datasets in commercial real estate. But that's exactly what Peter Kolaczynski has been doing at Yardi. In this episode, Jamie sits down with Peter Kolaczynski, Associate Director of CommercialEdge, to unpack what's really happening beneath the surface of the coworking and office markets. And this one gets… data-heavy in the best way. We get into: Why coworking is still only ~2.3% of total office space—and why that number could 5x How Yardi tracks over 80,000 office buildings and what that unlocks for the industry The surprising reality of physical office occupancy (hint: it's still under 60%) Why enterprise demand for flexible space keeps growing despite return-to-office pressure How AI could reshape not just coworking—but total office demand One of the most interesting takeaways: even if office demand shrinks overall, coworking may expand. Why? Because uncertainty drives flexibility—and flexibility is exactly what coworking offers. We also get into: Office-to-residential conversions. Why "downtown" may matter less than ever. The rise of smaller, hyper-local office hubs. And why building owners—not just operators—may drive the next wave of growth. If you care about where the office market is actually heading (not just headlines), this is a must-listen. Resources Mentioned in this Podcast: Peter Kolaczynski on LinkedIn Yardi website U.S. Coworking Industry Report Q4 '25 Everything Coworking Featured Resources: Masterclass: 3 Behind-the-Scenes Secrets to Opening a Coworking Space Coworking Startup School Community Manager University Follow Us on YouTube

Jay Caplan, a seasoned fractional CFO for real estate businesses, shares his expertise on turning financial guesswork into strategic clarity. Many investors, while handling millions in assets, struggle to track where their money goes. Jay's mission is to get clients "24 hours current" with their financial data, transforming reactive decision-making into proactive, informed planning. He dives into how he builds essential dashboards and tools, integrating data from various property management systems like Yardi and Appfolio with real-time banking information. This comprehensive approach empowers operators to forecast accurately, ensuring they have funds for both distributions and critical capital improvements, rather than facing unexpected cash shortfalls. Tune in to discover how to streamline your financial operations, gain unparalleled insight into your property portfolio, and build a robust financial framework for sustained real estate success.

Welcome to The Chrisman Commentary, your go-to daily mortgage news podcast, where industry insights meet expert analysis. Hosted by Robbie Chrisman, this podcast delivers the latest updates on mortgage rates, capital markets, and the forces shaping the housing finance landscape. Whether you're a seasoned professional or just looking to stay informed, you'll get clear, concise breakdowns of market trends and economic shifts that impact the mortgage world.In today's episode, we dive into some mailbag questions I've been receiving from around the mortgage industry. Plus, Robbie sits down with Yardi's Doug Ressler for a discussion on the post-pandemic structural shifts driving affordable housing construction to outpace overall apartment development, how regional differences reflect policy and migration trends, and what distinguishes metros that successfully deliver projects from those that stall. And we close by looking at the strains impacting the domestic economy.This week's podcasts are sponsored by FirstClose. FirstClose Equity gets you to closings faster by empowering borrowers with vital property decisioning data. It is the only end-to-end digital HELOC & HEL solution built specifically for home equity.

Lula rebuilt property maintenance from the ground up by solving a fundamental problem: property managers spend 40% of their time coordinating maintenance with zero visibility into work order status. After pivoting from a B2C app when they discovered landlords were their actual users, Bo Lais and his team made a critical insight—deep PMS integration wasn't a feature, it was the entire go-to-market strategy. Today, Lula's 9,000-contractor network processes 1,000 work orders daily across 50 markets, performing 30 HVAC replacements per day at scale that enables direct manufacturer relationships. Now they're commercializing their internal tech stack as Foresight, a standalone SaaS platform launching Q1. In this episode of BUILDERS, Bo breaks down the strategic decisions behind building integrations as distribution, using network density to create pricing advantages competitors can't match, and knowing when to productize your internal tools. Topics Discussed: Why the B2C to B2B pivot happened after discovering usage patterns, not market research How PMS integration eliminated "swivel chair" friction and became the primary distribution channel Strategic partnership depth over breadth: enabling co-selling with AppFolio, Buildium, Yardi rather than partner proliferation The 250-door threshold where maintenance coordination breaks and technology becomes necessary Network density economics: 30 daily HVAC replacements creating leverage for direct manufacturer negotiations and flat-rate service catalogs The decision framework for commercializing Foresight based on upstream customer advisory group feedback Maintaining discipline around ICP when sales teams naturally want to expand GTM Lessons For B2B Founders: System of record integration is your distribution strategy, not a feature: Lula's standalone app created adoption friction because property managers refused to work outside their PMS. Bo's realization: "They need everything to live in their system of record...They don't want swivel chair. And then providing that real time visibility throughout the entire life cycle of the work order was really valuable because prior to that they assign it to a vendor, and then they cross their fingers and hope that it gets done." The integration solved both adoption friction and delivered continuous visibility their workflow demanded. For B2B founders: if your users live in Salesforce, HubSpot, or vertical-specific platforms all day, your integration strategy IS your distribution strategy—build there first, not alongside. Strategic partnerships require enablement infrastructure, not just signed contracts: Bo's approach rejects partnership sprawl: "It's not about stacking on another 10 partnerships, it's about how do we go deeper and enable those partners to co-sell with us and talk about the value props that together we can provide." This means building co-selling toolkits, joint value propositions, and partner success metrics. For B2B founders: one partnership where the partner's sales team actively sells your solution beats ten partnerships where you're just listed in a marketplace. Invest in making partners successful sellers, not collecting logos. ICP discipline requires sales team enforcement mechanisms, not just definitions: Lula knew their ICP but struggled with execution. Bo learned "it's one thing when we understood who our ICP was, but then it's a whole nother thing to adhere to that and get the sales team to adhere to that ICP." The specificity matters: residential (not multifamily), single-family, 250+ doors (where coordination breaks), capped at several thousand doors (before enterprise needs diverge). For B2B founders: document your ICP, but also build the compensation structures, deal approval processes, and CRM workflows that prevent sales from chasing deals outside the sweet spot—even when quota pressure hits. Message outcomes customers measure, not the technology delivering them: Bo's AI framing: "They care about the outcomes, right? If we're able to move the needle on the outcomes and provide a better experience for residents by automating communication, automating the time to schedule, automating the time to get resolution...it's not the how, it's the result." Lula's AI eliminates truck rolls through upfront troubleshooting and improves one-trip resolution rates—that's what property managers track. For B2B founders: if your customer's boss asks "how's that new tool working," they answer with metrics they're held accountable for (resolution time, truck rolls, resident satisfaction), not "it uses AI." Lead with those metrics. Productize internal tools when customer advisory groups request them and you have defensible advantages: Lula commercialized Foresight after upstream customers specifically asked for their tech during advisory sessions. Bo's competitive moat thinking: "Everyone else thinks they're going to do it better with the AI and automation they have. But our competitive moat is that our on-demand network is built inside this AI work order management system. And because of the scale of our network and the buying power, we can provide instant quotes for a lot of services...our competitors that are just doing software don't have this network of contractors nationwide." For B2B founders expanding product lines: customer pull plus operational advantages competitors can't replicate (Lula's contractor density, manufacturer relationships, 1,000 daily work orders of training data) create viable new products. Without both, you're just building undifferentiated software. // Sponsors: Front Lines — We help B2B tech companies launch, manage, and grow podcasts that drive demand, awareness, and thought leadership. www.FrontLines.io The Global Talent Co. — We help tech startups find, vet, hire, pay, and retain amazing marketing talent that costs 50-70% less than the US & Europe. www.GlobalTalent.co // Don't Miss: New Podcast Series — How I Hire Senior GTM leaders share the tactical hiring frameworks they use to build winning revenue teams. Hosted by Andy Mowat, who scaled 4 unicorns from $10M to $100M+ ARR and launched Whispered to help executives find their next role. Subscribe here: https://open.spotify.com/show/53yCHlPfLSMFimtv0riPyM

In this episode of A Canadian Investing in the U.S., Glen Sutherland welcomes renowned data-driven real-estate investor Neil Bawa. Neil shares his journey from tech entrepreneur to full-time real-estate operator after selling his company in 2013 and facing a huge tax bill that pushed him into multifamily investing. He now manages a $660 million portfolio across multifamily, self-storage, industrial, and student-housing projects, backed by 1,300 accredited investors. Neil explains why he diversifies across asset classes—citing supply-cycle shifts, learning opportunities, and partnerships—as well as the value of publishing commercial-real-estate data to attract like-minded, analytical investors. Later, the conversation turns to market cycles and practical indicators of when new opportunities emerge. Neil predicts that within 18 months, most U.S. metros will transition from oversupply to shortage, starting a new bullish phase. He outlines how professionals can track this shift using CoStar, Yardi, RealPage, or Hello Data, and even simple rent-growth trends above 2 percent as a signal of recovery.

In this episode, Joe Consolo, Industry Principal at Yardi, joins us to discuss how AI agents are transforming the world of property management. We'll dive into the capabilities of Yardi's AI platform, Virtuoso, and explore how it's helping operators work smarter and faster. To learn more about Yardi, visit yardi.com. Find knowledge for the dynamic world of real estate management at irem.org.

As a property management business owner, you likely work with seasoned investors who are always looking for new ways to build and preserve their wealth and assets. In this episode of the #DoorGrowShow, property management growth expert Jason Hull sits down with Alan Porter to discuss how to reveal the powerful financial strategies the wealthy and large financial institutions use and how you can apply them. You'll Learn [01:09] Alan's Inspiration for Uncovering Financial Secrets [08:38] Learning Financial Planning Strategies 90% of People Don't Know [12:25] How to Get Started on the Path to Tax-Free Retirement [15:43] Strategies For Property Managers and Their Clients Quotables "The one thing you can always trust is for everybody to look out for their own self-interest." "If your own self-interest is in alignment with their interests, then that's a win-win. Otherwise, someone's gonna lose." "If you don't have a plan, make one. But you've got to have a plan and improve on it all the time." Resources DoorGrow and Scale Mastermind DoorGrow Academy DoorGrow on YouTube DoorGrowClub DoorGrowLive Transcript Alan Porter (00:00) I teach people to think outside the box, conventional financial planning, and show them the strategies that the wealthy and banking institutions have been using for years. Now, I show people how to become their own bank. Jason Hull (00:10) All right, welcome everybody. I am Jason Hull, the founder and CEO of DoorGrow, the world's leading and most comprehensive coaching and consulting firm for long-term residential property management entrepreneurs. For over a decade and a half, we have brought innovative strategies and optimization to the property management industry. We have spoken to thousands of property management business owners, coached, consulted, cleaned up hundreds of businesses. Alan Porter (00:26) Thank Jason Hull (00:35) helping them add doors, improve pricing, increase profit, simplify operations. And we run the leading property management mastermind in the industry. At DoorGrow, we believe good property managers can change the world and that property management is the ultimate high trust gateway to real estate deals, relationships, and residual income. We are on a mission to transform property management business owners and their businesses. We want to transform the industry. eliminate the BS, build awareness, change perception, expand the market, and help the best property management entrepreneurs win. Now, let's get into the show. So my guest today is Alan Porter of Strategic Wealth Strategies. Welcome, Alan. Alan Porter (01:16) Well, thank you for having me on. Jason Hull (01:18) Yeah, glad to have you. And we're going to be talking about, he's going to be sharing how to reveal the powerful financial strategies, the wealthy use, how you can apply them to. Alan will be uncovering the IRS approved playbook for retiring completely tax free, explain the millionaire tax strategies business owners use to keep more of what they earn and break down Wall Street myths to show how to build lasting wealth without market volatility. So Alan. Again, welcome to the show and why don't we kick things off by give us a little bit of background on you. How did you get into entrepreneurism, into business and give us a little bit of backstory so we understand how this all came to be. Alan Porter (02:00) Well, I never thought I'd be doing this. I retired from the military back in 1993. I was a Blackhawk instructor pilot and I told everybody I had a safe landing for every takeoff and I dodged all the bullets and I had a great career. And I got enrolled in the real estate mortgage business after that up till about 2008. I've had some tragic things happen to my family. In 2009, live in Little, mean Fayetteville, North Carolina. My son lived in Little Rock, Arkansas with his wife, Lynn. She was 39 and they had two little girls that were seven and four. Jason Hull (02:19) in 2009. Alan Porter (02:28) Well, we went down there for Christmas in 2009, but my son had been 100 % disabled for three years and still not getting the disability. And January 5th changed my entire life. His wife, Lynn, called me up. said, Alan, I've been diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer and they've given me six months to live. Of course we were all devastated, but there's a huge financial problem that's developed in my son's family because there's no money coming in. Jason Hull (02:28) Well, we went down there for business in 2009, but my son had been 100 % disabled for three years and still not in a disability. Wow. And January 5th changed my entire life. His wife Lynn called me up, she said, Alan, I've been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer and they've given me six months to live. Of course, we were all devastated. Yeah, I bet. there's huge financial problem that's developed in my son's family because of the money coming in. Alan Porter (02:55) I'm helping them out, but I don't know for how long Jason Hull (02:55) I'm helping him out, but I don't help him. Alan Porter (02:56) until I'm gonna have to sell my house or do something. But I was like 99 % of the people out there, Jason, that thought life insurance was a death product that you had to die to benefit from it. Well, little did I know she had a terminal illness right or her life insurance policy that she could access within one year of diagnosis of this deadly disease and was completely tax free, which I knew nothing about. It was hundreds of thousands of dollars. Jason Hull (02:58) Yeah. Really? Alan Porter (03:21) And if it had not been for that, my son would be bankrupt and it took a huge financial strain off of me. Jason Hull (03:25) Yeah. Well, long story short, died a year later, so I moved my son back here to Fayetteville, North Carolina. But about a year after that, my daughter's an oncology nurse, and her husband's a doctor at Woodbrook and Raleigh, North Carolina, and just gave birth to my third grandson. And she was diagnosed with breast cancer, and it was very bad. We didn't think she was going to live. Well, now in 2023, she's been 12 years cancer free, but she also was diagnosed with Graves' disease, thyroid eye condition. Alan Porter (03:26) Well, to a long story short, she died a year later. So I moved my son back here to Fayetteville, North Carolina. But about a year after that, my daughter, who's an oncology nurse and her husband's a doctor, they live up in Raleigh, North Carolina, had just given birth to my third grandson. And she was diagnosed with breast cancer and it was very bad. We didn't think she was going to live. Well, now in 2023, she'd been 12 years cancer free, but she also was diagnosed with Graves disease and thyroid eye condition. There's only one treatment for it. It's not a cure-all for anything, but Jason Hull (03:51) And there's only one treatment for it. It's not a cure-all. Alan Porter (03:55) it's a treatment. It's an infusion, eight infusions of this drug is called Tepezza I believe. The first one was like $32,000. The last one was almost a quarter of a million dollars. That was in May of 2023. On January of 2024, the thyroid eye condition came back. In February, she went to the doctor. The doctor said, Nicole, I'm sorry, there's nothing we can do until you go blind and then we can operate. I'm thinking, man, what a prognosis. Jason Hull (03:55) my Yeah. ⁓ Alan Porter (04:21) So we tried to get her a study at Duke. She didn't qualify for that because she had already taken the Tepezza But April did get her into the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. But basically there's nothing they can do for her. She was up there for about four days for testing and consultation. But basically, like I said, there's nothing they can do for her. They got a drug that may be 50 % effective. It's not improved by insurance. And believe it or not, it's even more expensive than the Tepezza is. And it's just, I mean, so. Jason Hull (04:39) Yeah. Yeah. Alan Porter (04:51) So both of my kids are living day to day in misery. And when I got started in this, knew, like I said, these things, because I was to have a very successful real estate mortgage business. And I said, these financial strategies that the insurance companies have, why don't people know about this? These are the greatest financial vehicles out there. People tell me, well, listen to Suzy Orman and Dave Ramsey, insurance is not a good investment. Well, first off, it's not an investment. Jason Hull (04:54) When I got started in this, knew, like I said, these things, because I was very successful in estate in my early years. I said, these financial strategies that the insurance companies have, why don't people know about this? These are the greatest financial vehicles out there. People tell me, listen, as soon as you arm it today, Ramsey, insurance is not a good investment. Well, first off, it's not an investment. Alan Porter (05:18) It's an asset class all of its own. There's no other financial product that can Jason Hull (05:19) It's an asset class all of itself. There's no other financial product that... Alan Porter (05:23) provide the protection, performance, and benefits of cash value life insurance when properly structured and fixed and fixed indexed annually. And I'll give you one big point. They eliminate or mitigate the risk in retirement that a stock portfolio only compounds. That's absolutely... Let me ask you this. Have you ever heard of sequence of returns risk? Jason Hull (05:23) could provide the protection, performance, and benefits of cash, money, or life insurance. Yeah. if you have one big point, they eliminate or mitigate the risk in retirement that a stock portfolio only compacts. That's absolutely, let me ask you this, have you ever heard of sequence of returns risk? Sequencing returns? Sequence of returns risk. No.   Alan Porter (05:46) Sequence of returns risk. Well, don't feel lonely because 99 % of the people I talk to, to include multi-millionaires that have fee-based advisors. And let's say that you're 65 years of age and you go to retire and you got a million dollars in your stock portfolio. They used to say a 4 % distribution rate was a safe distribution rate to last for 30 years, index for inflation at 3%. Well, my plans go to age 120. They don't cut off in 30 years. Jason Hull (05:50) Well, don't feel lonely because 99 % of the people I talk to include multi-millionaires that have fee-based advisors. let's say that you're 65 years of age and you go to retire. You have a million dollars in your stock portfolio. They used to say a 4 % distribution rate was a safe distribution rate to last for 30 years, index for inflation at 3%. Well, my plans go at age 120. They don't cut off in 30 years. But the problem with that 4 % distribution rate Alan Porter (06:15) But the problem is that 4 % distribution rate, that's Jason Hull (06:19) That's $40,000 a year. And that stock portfolio, that's not guaranteed. What if you have a 10 % loss the first year? now your million dollars goes down to $900,000 minus the $40,000 you took out minus the fees you paid on financial advisor whether you make money or not. And then the next two to three years, 2008 happens again, where you lost 38 to 52%. You never got the money in the fifth year. And when I tell people about this, they're financial advisors, Alan Porter (06:19) $40,000 a year. And that stock portfolio, that's not guaranteed. What if you have a 10 % loss the first year? So now your million dollars goes down to 900,000 minus the $40,000 you took out minus the fees you pay that financial advisor, whether you make money or not. And then the next two to three years, 2008 happens again, where you lost 38 to 52%. You're going to be out of money in the fifth year. And when I tell people about this and their financial advisors, Don't tell them, I mean, they're said, I said, why do you think that is? Jason Hull (06:45) don't tell them. I made letters, I said, why do you think that is? Alan Porter (06:48) It's because they make a fee whether you make money or not. The number one fear in retirement is running out of money before you run out of money. I can eliminate that. Jason Hull (06:49) Because they make a fee, well, if you make money or not. The number one fair return is 20,000 dollars. Yeah, compensation structures are incentive models. And so if their incentive is not to tell you, it's because they're getting paid to not tell you. Well, they're supposed to be fiduciary looking out for their best interest clients. I'm a certified financial financial advisor. Yeah, but regardless, the one thing you can always trust is for everybody to look out for their own self-interest. Oh, you're right there. Alan Porter (06:59) Yeah, exactly right. Well, they're supposed to be fiduciaries looking out for their best interest clients. I'm a certified financial fiduciary. you're right there. Jason Hull (07:18) So if your own self-interest is in alignment with their interests, then that's a win-win. Otherwise, someone's gonna lose. Yeah. It's always the clients. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, well, that's quite the story. how is everybody doing now? Alan Porter (07:26) Yep. And it's always the client. My son looks like he's 85 years old and my daughter's living day to day in pain. Jason Hull (07:43) Yeah, yeah. So you have this burden of trying to figure out how do I take care of them? How do I make sure that, you know, taking care of your kids and, you know, nothing's more stressful emotionally or more motivating for us as a parent than our own kids having it going through a tough time. Yeah. I remember my oldest daughter, she was born with a birth defect that there was a rotation in her gut and she was just always sick, throwing up, stuff like this. Well, she almost died. We didn't know this. got, went and got a scan. Everything was inflamed. They're like, we have to do emergency surgery immediately. And yeah, it was pretty scary as a parent. And they had to like pull her guts out, do surgery, put them back in. And she was a little kid, you know? Now she's my oldest. I mean, she's still my oldest, but now she works for me. and in DoorGrow which is great. But yeah, I remember those times. That's really scary. And I can imagine that's just really a big load on your shoulders. So did this kind of spark you creating the strategic wealth strategies then? Alan Porter (08:30) No. Absolutely, that's my passion for this. I'm very passionate about what I do. It's all about education because people don't know. Jason Hull (08:49) Explain the passion, like what gets you excited about this? Alan Porter (08:53) Well, educating people. That's what I did in the Army. I was an educator. I taught people how to fly. it's just like this, educating people. I teach people to think outside the box, conventional financial planning, and show them the strategies that the wealthy and banking institutions have been using for years. Now, I show people how to become their own bank. I've been doing this for a decade and a half. And why don't everybody doesn't do this? I don't know why. mean, you borrow money from yourself, you pay yourself back compound interest. Jason Hull (09:16) you Alan Porter (09:20) and not the financial institutions and you eliminate the effective interest cost that you pay on the money that you borrow. And people, are you aware of what effective interest cost is? Banks love it. I had a gentleman who wanted to do my debt free for life plan. And I said, well, how much debt do you have? He says, well, we bought a new house a couple of months ago, a couple of car payments, a loan and a credit card. I said, what's the interest rate on your mortgage? He said 2.75. Jason Hull (09:20) Yeah. And people, are you aware? No, what is that? Alan Porter (09:46) I said, what's your effective interest cost on that? He says, well, I don't know what you're talking about, Alan. I said, don't fill it, only most people don't. Fill out my form, we'll do a Zoom conference the following week. I said, you got $461,000 in debt. That's not your problem. The problem is the 49.76 effective interest cost, you're paying on that 2.75 % mortgage. His eyes got real big and he said, Alan, how is that possible? I said, it's not going to get down to the 2.75 until the last couple of months of the mortgage. Jason Hull (10:10) Yeah. ⁓ Alan Porter (10:14) You've got a credit card here that's over 90 % effective interest cost. And even though you've got great credits, your average effective interest cost is over 46%. So my next question to him was, what financial vehicle are you investing in, your 401k or anything else, that gives you a 46 % return on your money? Because 46 cents of every dollar that you pay out goes to compound interest for some financial institution, and that money's gone for you forever. Jason Hull (10:17) and ⁓ Alan Porter (10:38) He said, well, nothing. In fact, I lost 10 % of my 401k. Jason Hull (10:40) Yeah, that'd be hard to find that much. And then my last question was how long does it you to your debts off? I said with my cap three buck of money and a whole lot of insurance policy, 14.17 years past, saving $73,000. And in the 10th year it would be 52 years of bids, and there's over $149,000 in cap Alan Porter (10:43) And then my last question was, how long can it take you to pay your debts off the way you're doing it? I 20 some years. I said, with my tax-free bucket of money and a whole life insurance policy and our software, we're paying all your debts off 14.17 years faster, saving you $73,000 in interest. And in the 10th year, you'll be 52 years of age and there's over $139,000 in a tax-free bucket of money that you can use ⁓ to buy a new car, whatever, college education for your kids. Jason Hull (11:06) you can use uh buy a new car whatever college education for your kids at that point your debt benefits will be $400,000 in tax-free money from the federal bank but think about this you don't have to any more money in this by the time you're 65 there'll be over $400,000 in tax-free money that you can use to supplement your income that does not affect the taxation of social security or the tax and community care part which will be in the thousands per year Alan Porter (11:13) At that point, your debt benefits over $400,000 of tax-free money to protect your family. Think about this. You don't have to put any more money in this. By the time you're 65, there'll be over a quarter of a million dollars in a tax-free bucket of money that you can use to supplement your income that does not affect the taxation of Social Security or the means testing for Medicare Part B, which will be in the thousands per year. You're protected from lawsuits, liens, and judgments, and it eliminates or mitigates all the risk in retirement. This is absolutely great for real estate investors. Jason Hull (11:35) Yeah. Yeah ⁓ Alan Porter (11:42) Because once they build that money up in the cash value of their policy, they can take it, go buy a property, and pay themselves back. I do this all the time. I just bought two new cars in last two years. I pay myself back. I'm going to have tens of thousands of dollars more because I compounded interest for me instead of some financial institution. Jason Hull (12:03) So you said multiple times, like why aren't people doing this? Well maybe you could answer your own question, why aren't people doing this? Alan Porter (12:10) It's lack of education. It ought to be taught in high school, but it's not. I've got college professors with PhD degrees in accounting and finance. They have no idea what I'm talking about. They ask me to teach their classes. Jason Hull (12:20) Yeah, got it. So it was just a lack of education on this. Alan Porter (12:24) That's exactly what it is. Jason Hull (12:25) So, yeah, well, I mean, it sounds like something that everybody should be doing. So how does somebody get started with this or how do they become aware of this or what would you say are the first steps? Alan Porter (12:38) Well, give me a call. I don't charge for my consultation services. That's free. It's an education. I think everybody needs to know these things because it will change their financial future, not only for them, but for their family also and possibly generations to come. at 9-8-5. Jason Hull (12:52) So Alan, it sounds like you've kind of found a passion in this. You really enjoy helping people to be able to figure this out and do this. Alan Porter (13:00) Absolutely. Jason Hull (13:01) So yeah, I think that's noble. I think this is pretty awesome. So for those that are listening to this point, I'm going to read a quick word from our sponsor and then Alan, I'm going have you share your phone number so they can get in touch with you and we can keep talking about it. So this episode is sponsored by KRS Smart Books. So if you're a property manager, are you tired of getting tangled up in numbers? KRS Smart Books has your back. They specialize in property bookkeeping. for small to mid-sized managers who'd rather focus on, well, managing. With over 15 years of experience in real estate accounting, their pros in AppFolio, Yardi, and all the top property management software, trust them to make your monthly reports hassle-free so you can get back to what really matters running your business. Head over to krsbooks.com to book your free discovery call. All right, so Alan, what's the number that they should get? to get in touch with you or to reach you to find out about this. Alan Porter (13:59) You can call me at 910-551-1046, email me at strategicwealth, the number zero at gmail.com. And you can always go to my website, which is www.strategicwealthstrategies.com and you can book appointment there. And I've got a plethora of information on that website. Jason Hull (14:18) What? Great, thanks for sharing. So for those that are listening, some people might listen to this and go, well, that's nice, but Alan probably can only work with people that maybe have a million dollars or that are ultra wealthy or have lots of savings. People will listen to this and say, that's probably not for me. What would you say to that? Alan Porter (14:39) Well, quite frankly, bull I work with everybody. know, I'm for the military. Military people don't make a lot of money. Okay. And I work with them, but I work with regular, regular working people that I mean, I'll give you a perfect example. I asked people, said, why do you contribute to a 401k? They said, well, it's a tax deduction. I said, no, it's a tax compounder. And I thought you don't think tax is going to be higher when you retire. I got another thing coming for you. Jason Hull (14:43) Okay. Right. Alan Porter (15:07) But see, thing is people don't understand. 1 % of people out there don't even think there's a fee in a 401k. A 1 % fee over a 30-year period will reduce your income by one-third. The average fee in a 401k is 2.99%. Now that's by Forbes Magazine and the Laptimes. People have less than two-thirds of their money and then they get hit with taxes anywhere from 20 to over 55%. And they're not prepared for it. They're not prepared for long-term care, which costs right now between $50,000 to $200,000 a year. I can get money for that's tax free for pennies on the dollar. It's just a matter of education. Jason Hull (15:43) So for the property management business owners listening, a lot of them will have sometimes hundreds of clients that are investors and they're wanting to maximize their investments, how would this maybe benefit the property management business owners to be better educated on this and have a strategic partner like you? Alan Porter (16:03) Well, the thing is, you've to have a plan.   If you don't have a plan, make one. But you've got to have a plan and improve on it all the time. But it's just like, you know, building up your cash value and borrowing from yourself to buy a property and paying yourself back. That's an absolutely great thing for a real estate investor. And these property managers, I've got health and wellness programs. If you've got employees over 10 employees, understand this. The employer will save anywhere from $500 to $700 a year in FICA taxes. The employee and the employer have 1,100 drugs, prescription drugs, at zero copay. That's 20 to 30 % of healthcare costs. Jason Hull (16:37) Yeah Alan Porter (16:50) I mean, and they also have an accidental indemnity program and that's not for the employer, but they have a revolution health app. They've got the number one telehealth app according to JD Power and associates. It's a plethora of benefits. We have legal club, we have identity shield. It's just all at no net cost to employer and no net cost to the employee. It's the section 125 of the tax program. Jason Hull (17:06) This is all at no net cost reported at no net cost reported. Got it. Got it, interesting. Okay, well cool. Well what else would people generally ask about this or should we make sure that the listeners are aware of related to this? Well, are you... Alan Porter (17:26) Well, are you risk averse? Are you conservative? You know, it's just like when you go to retire and you've got that million dollars in stock portfolio, a 4 % distribution rate, $40,000. If you had a property constructed fixed indexed annuity at, say, age 65, you'd only need approximately $650,000 of that stock portfolio to give you the same $40,000 a year. That's guaranteed for the rest of your life. we're guaranteed. Jason Hull (17:53) New York Heat. ⁓ Alan Porter (17:53) Never to have a loss through the market because we're not tied to the market for our gain. We use indexing strategies and every time that indexing strategy goes up we have increasing income and the older you get the higher the distribution rate is. You can't do that with a stock portfolio. It's not even comparable. Jason Hull (17:59) And every time that index of strategy goes up, we have increasing income. And the older you get, the Yeah, yeah. Well, Alan, I appreciate you coming on to the DoorGrow show and bringing this to light for those listening that are not aware you're doing your purpose of educating. So appreciate that. And to wrap up what final words do you have? And then again, why don't you go and share how people can get in touch with you one more time. Alan Porter (18:31) Okay, well I've got a best-selling book out right now on Amazon. It's called Tax-Free Retirement Solution. Again, Tax-Free, Tax-Free Retirement Solution. Jason Hull (18:38) It's called tax, tax free. Retirement solution, okay. Got it. Alan Porter (18:45) And again, you can call me at 910-551-1046. My email is strategicwealth, the number zero at gmail.com. And you can go to my website, which has a plethora. I've got videos, I've got blogs, I've got everything there. And you can book an appointment there at www.strategicwealthstrategies.com. Jason Hull (18:51) email is strategicwealth0 at gmail.com and you can go to my website which has a cluster. I've got videos, I've got blogs. book an appointment there at www.strategicwellscladagy.com. Awesome. Alan, appreciate you being on the show and thanks for your service. You mentioned your former military. Yeah, I appreciate it. So for those watching, if you've ever felt stuck or stagnant in your property management business, you want to take it to the next level, reach out to us at doorgrow.com. Also be sure to join our free Facebook community, Just for Property Management Business Owners at doorgrowclub.com. Alan Porter (19:13) Well, I appreciate it. Jason Hull (19:31) And if you would like to get the best ideas in property management, join our free newsletter at doorgrow.com slash subscribe. And if you found this even a little bit helpful, don't forget to subscribe and leave us a review. We'd really appreciate it. And until next time, remember the slowest path to growth is to do it alone. So let's grow together. Bye everyone.  

In this episode of The Grow Your Occupancy Podcast, Julie Podewitz, CEO and Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, dives more deeply into the topic of closing from her book "(Re)Solving the Occupancy Puzzle: A Senior Living Regional, Sales & Executive Director Playbook." Closing is a skill set that requires frequent review and practice. Whether you're working on your own closing skills or coaching others on closing, Julie covers questions to ask prospects for better discussions, addressing objections, and responding to those not ready yet. Thank you Yardi for generously sponsoring this episode.

Dive into this week's episode of The Gray Report as Spencer Gray and new co-host Griffin Haddad break down the most important trends shaping multifamily real estate heading into 2026.From Midwest outperformance and slowing rent growth to supply waves, investor sentiment, distressed opportunities, and insights from major reports (PwC, Yardi, and the brand-new Gray Capital 2026 Midwest Multifamily Forecast), this episode is packed with actionable data for both passive and active investors.Plus—don't miss the announcement of our December 16th live webinar, featuring data scientist John Chapman, who will walk through our forecasting methodology and what's ahead for Midwest markets.Download the 2026 Midwest Multifamily Forecast Report:⁠https://www.graycapitalllc.com/2026-multifamily-forecast/

Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, recently talked with Jesse Tillman Pitts. Jesse is not only a Regional Director at Angels Senior Living, but is also Founder of Aravine Consulting, author of "Living With Purpose: The TILLMAN Framework for Activities in Senior Living", and a two-time Latin Grammy nominated drummer and producer. Jesse talks about the impact of resident engagement programs on occupancy, and shares some data about this area of opportunity in senior living. You can find Jesse's book in paperback on Amazon: https://a.co/d/8VlVXMi Thank you Yardi for sponsoring this episode of The Grow Your Occupancy Podcast.

It's budget season—and chances are, your process is more fragmented than you think.In this episode of the Multifamily Collective, I share why most multifamily budget models fail before they even launch—and what to do about it. Whether you're using Excel, Yardi, RealPage, or tools like Visibly, the platform isn't the problem.The problem is the process.Here's what's really happening behind closed doors:VPs are building their own forecasts, with no alignmentSite teams are left out of critical decision-makingC-suite assumptions are disconnected from the reality on the groundBudgets are finalized in isolation, then handed down as gospelAnd the result? Missed numbers. Misalignment. And a whole lot of finger-pointing.What you need is a collaborative budgeting process—one that includes your site teams, regional leaders, and executive council from day one. Because when everyone has a voice, the forecasts become real. The buy-in becomes stronger. And the outcomes become achievable.This isn't just about hitting numbers. It's about building trust, driving performance, and showing up with clarity across every level of your organization.If this resonates, hit like, subscribe, and drop a comment below. How is your team approaching 2026 budgets? Let's learn from each other.

Randy Moss, an industry principal at Yardi, joined the latest episode of the REIT Report podcast to discuss the current landscape for energy management and sustainability reporting facing REITs and commercial real estate (CRE). Yardi is a Nareit Real Estate Sustainability Partner. Moss pointed to funding and building performance standards as key issues of the moment. “The challenge is understanding where your buildings have to comply, (and) what all-new data points you may be needing to collect,” he said. At the same time, utility companies are putting more roadblocks in the way of providing data, especially for tenant-occupied spaces in buildings, according to Moss. “Staying ahead of all of that is going to take some real focus within the REIT space,” he said.

Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Russ Papia, President of Prosper Life Care. Russ shares his passion for making a positive impact on the lives of his residents and team members and what he did to support a new sales director and leadership team to grow occupancy more than 20 basis points in a year! Thank you Yardi for sponsoring this episode of The Grow Your Occupancy Podcast.

Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talked with Justin Harden, Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Phoenix Senior Living, and Kristine Schrudder, Senior Consultant at Yardi, about using a tech stack in senior living sales and marketing. Justin and Kristine explain what a tech stack is, the efficiencies of using one system for all platforms from a tech perspective, and how much time it saves senior living operators. Justin talks specifically about how much added sales time their teams have by using a tech stack, the simplicity of reporting, and Kristine shares her insights into the data that can be accessed to inform decision-making. Thank you Yardi for sponsoring this episode of The Grow Your Occupancy Podcast.

Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Heather Dampier, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Advena Living. Heather started her position at the beginning of this summer and since then has traveled 800 miles on the road visiting all of her communities. She shares her first impressions, what she learned from her time on the road, and gives some great advice about outreach. This episode of The Grow Your Occupancy Podcast is sponsored by Yardi.

Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, talks with Paula Rathgaber-Gomez, Chief Experience Officer of Sequoia Living, about not only the resident experience, but the prospect experience too. Sequoia Living continuously seeks to learn what their residents and prospects want to craft and enhance their experience at Sequoia's communities. The result? At any given time, the portfolio is at or near 100% occupancy. Thank you Yardi for generously sponsoring this episode of The Grow Your Occupancy Podcast.

Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, recently talked with Kevin Yax, Sales & Marketing Director at Brookdale Garden Grove, an assisted living and memory care community in Orange County, California. Kevin is relatively new to senior living, but he has achieved remarkable success in a short amount of time. In just a little over a year in his position he netted 47 units to reach 100% occupancy. That is an average of right around a net of four a month! What is he doing to get these outcomes? Watch and find out! This episode of The Grow Your Occupancy Podcast is sponsored by Yardi.

Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, recently talked with Kjersten Joachim, Executive Director of Sales & Marketing of Dow Rummel Village. Dow Rummel Village is a very large senior living community in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, offering an entry fee model for independent living and a rental model for assisted living and memory care. The community consistently meets and exceeds 95% occupancy - with a long waitlist - and has been like this for over eight years. So how do they do it? Check out this episode of the Grow Your Occupancy Podcast to find out! Thank you Yardi for generously sponsoring the Grow Your Occupancy Podcast.

Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, recently talked with Joshua Bentley, Senior Regional Vice President of Sales and Marketing at The Aspenwood Company. The Aspenwood Company is a client of Grow Your Occupancy and their Remote Sales Specialist (RSS) service. Joshua shares his initial skepticism that RSS would be a robotic technology that fails to capture the essence of the human touch needed in the industry, and how he was ultimately sold on the professionalism and sales mastery of the specialists that provide this unique service. Thank you Yardi for sponsoring this episode of The Grow Your Occupancy Podcast.

Welcome to NAA's Apartmentcast, the official podcast of the National Apartment Association. On this sponsored episode, we sit down with two leaders, Chris Ulep, Vice President at Yardi Breeze, and David Franklin, Industry Principal of AI at Yardi, to explore how artificial intelligence is not just for the big players. They share how Yardi is making AI tools more accessible, affordable and user-friendly for small and mid-sized property management companies. From simplifying workflows to predictive analytics to improved resident communications, this episode demystifies how AI can empower teams of any size.

Julie Podewitz, CEO & Founder of Grow Your Occupancy, recently talked with Jessi Barton, Community Relations Director at The Lodge at Stephens Lake in Jasper, Georgia. Jessi not only diligently worked her way through the Grow Your Occupancy Selling Senior Living Workbook, she also shared her progress with Julie – and the impact it made on her success. Thank you to our sponsor Yardi for making this podcast possible.

When we talk about cybersecurity, it's often easy to think in terms of firewalls, passwords, and high-profile breaches. But what happens when the vulnerability isn't within your own systems but somewhere deep in your third or fourth-tier supply chain? In this episode, I spoke with Ben Edwards from Bitsight about the unseen infrastructure propping up much of the global digital economy and the new risks emerging from it. Our conversation begins by challenging the assumption that larger technology providers are automatically safer. Bitsight's research reveals that scale often introduces complexity and a larger attack surface, which can make it even harder to stay secure. In fact, UK supply chains are now around 10 percent larger than the global average, reflecting a more advanced digital economy but also introducing more room for hidden weaknesses. One of the most sobering parts of the discussion focused on geopolitics. Around 30 percent of UK and US supply chains rely on Chinese military-linked companies like Huawei and China Telecom. That's not just a cybersecurity concern. It's a geopolitical time bomb. Ben broke down the ripple effects that potential restrictions or bans could have, including costs, infrastructure overhauls, and widespread operational disruption. Then there are the “hidden pillars,” smaller vendors like Aptiv and Yardi, which may not be household names but play disproportionately influential roles in sectors like aerospace, education, and real estate. Their obscurity makes them dangerous single points of failure, especially when regional dependencies form without anyone noticing. The bottom line? End-to-end supply chain visibility remains elusive. Shadow IT, employee workarounds, and a constantly shifting tech landscape mean organizations must approach cybersecurity as an ongoing process, not a checklist. Ben urges companies to continually assess the criticality of their providers and, just as importantly, understand their own role in others' ecosystems. If you're curious about how internet balkanization, AI, and outsourcing are shaping the next phase of cybersecurity strategy, this episode will give you a lot to think about. Y

In this episode of The Industrial Real Estate Show, Chad Griffiths interviews Charlie Stanton of Valley Advisory and Management to unpack the often overlooked but critical role of property management. With over 1.5 million square feet under management across Texas and Arizona, Charlie explains how property managers are the “catch-all” for maintaining properties, enforcing leases, resolving tenant issues, and mitigating risk, especially in industrial settings where unexpected problems like roof leaks, unauthorized modifications, and illegal dumping are more common than many owners realize.Charlie emphasizes that great property management requires not just responsiveness but also deep knowledge of leases, maintenance, and financial reporting. He highlights how the industry has evolved from handwritten ledgers to sophisticated platforms like Yardi, which improve documentation and transparency. He also stresses the importance of regular site visits, clear communication with tenants, and understanding the full scope of responsibilities tied to commercial leases, especially for smaller tenants who often underestimate their obligations.The conversation wraps with tips for landlords interviewing potential managers: ask about their workload, team structure, tenure, and software tools. Charlie also shares wild stories from the field, including discovering unauthorized mezzanine builds, dealing with vacant buildings, and handling risk scenarios like pothole claims. The big takeaway? Property management is far more complex (and influential) than most people think, especially in industrial real estate.Connect with Charlie:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charles-stanton-cfa-b8172591Valley Advisory & Management: https://www.vamcre.com/--

Computer algorithms are great at processing vast amounts of data and then making either recommendations or decisions based on that data. AI is even better at that process. Yet somehow consumer groups feel like landlords have a disadvantage when it comes to data and therefore should not have the right to use that market data when it comes to setting rates for a rental property.The latest legislation to pass through the US Congress has a Federal statute that aims to block the states and local governments from oversight of AI and automated decision systems for 10 years. This won't block claims of anti-competitive behaviour. If successfully passed, this would give companies like Yardi, RealPage, and numerous others a clearer path to use their algorithms for the benefit of making pricing decisions based on supply and demand. If the data is being used for landlords to collude, then that would constitute a cartel which violates anti-trust laws. But the use of data for dynamic pricing, both up and down does not constitute collusion. The new legislation keeps the playing field favouring the development of technology to improve market efficiency. The states should not be blocking the use of technology.-----------**Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** Spotify: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://open.spotify.com/show/3GvtwRmTq4r3es8cbw8jW0?si=c75ea506a6694ef1)   iTunes: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-real-estate-espresso-podcast/id1340482613)   Website: [www.victorjm.com](http://www.victorjm.com)   LinkedIn: [Victor Menasce](http://www.linkedin.com/in/vmenasce)   YouTube: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](http://www.youtube.com/@victorjmenasce6734)   Facebook: [www.facebook.com/realestateespresso](http://www.facebook.com/realestateespresso)   Email: [podcast@victorjm.com](mailto:podcast@victorjm.com)  **Y Street Capital:** Website: [www.ystreetcapital.com](http://www.ystreetcapital.com)   Facebook: [www.facebook.com/YStreetCapital](https://www.facebook.com/YStreetCapital)   Instagram: [@ystreetcapital](http://www.instagram.com/ystreetcapital)  

Navigating Multifamily CRE in a Volatile Environment Insights from Paul Fiorilla, Director of U.S. Research at Yardi Matrix   Paul Fiorilla offers a data-driven view of today's commercial real estate (CRE) landscape using the vast resources he has at his disposal at Yardi.   While market sentiment may be growing more optimistic, Fiorilla acknowledges investors should separate short-term mood from long-term fundamentals. His perspective, rooted in close analysis of multifamily data and macro conditions, is both pragmatic and cautionary: yes, there's capital on the sidelines and deals are getting done but many investors may be misreading the durability of recent tailwinds and underestimating latent risks.   Short-Term Confidence, Long-Term Industry   Real estate is an inherently long-term, illiquid asset class yet, much of the current market behavior appears to be anchored in short-term confidence (and short term memories). That dissonance should give investors pause. While macroeconomic shocks like tariffs, interest rate hikes, and political uncertainty do not immediately register in quarterly CRE data, their effects compound over time.   Investor sentiment, meanwhile, remains buoyant. Debt markets have resumed activity, stock indices are back near prior highs, and many assume the worst is behind us. But the lagging nature of real estate data means we're still months away from fully seeing the impacts of recent fiscal and geopolitical developments.   Multifamily Fundamentals: A Shifting Landscape   Fiorilla addresses the fundamentals of the multifamily sector, noting that demand has remained strong in recent years, but the distribution of that demand is shifting. Rent growth is no longer universal. Over the past 15 months, metros in the Midwest and Northeast, markets like Chicago and New York, have consistently posted moderate, steady rent growth. In contrast, high-growth Sunbelt cities such as Austin, Atlanta, Nashville, and Salt Lake City are experiencing flat to negative rent trends.   What's driving this bifurcation is primarily supply. In oversupplied markets, absorption hasn't kept pace with new deliveries. Despite a sharp national decline in starts, down approximately 40% year-over-year, the existing pipeline remains heavy. Nationally, over 1.2 million units are either in lease-up or under construction. In high-growth markets, deliveries will continue at elevated levels for the next several years. Some cities may see 12–15% added to their multifamily inventory by 2027.   Fiorilla underscores that while national numbers suggest a tapering of supply, the local realities are more complex. Markets that arguably need more housing, Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago for example, are seeing similar slowdowns in new development as oversaturated markets. The result is a continued misalignment between where capital is building and where it's most needed.   The Waning Tailwinds of Demand   Fiorilla also points to softening demand drivers that may soon undermine current assumptions. Over the past several years, demand has been supported by several powerful tailwinds: robust job growth, high immigration, and pandemic-era trends such as household formation and suburban relocation. But these are now tapering.   Net immigration, while still meaningful, is slowing. Job growth has begun to decelerate. Moreover, federal employment cuts and delays in private-sector hiring – driven by political and fiscal uncertainty – are contributing to a weakening outlook for household formation. These are not necessarily signs of imminent distress, but they do suggest that the extraordinary absorption rates of 2021–2022 will be difficult to sustain.   As Fiorilla puts it, “the risks are to the downside.” He's not forecasting a collapse but cautions against overreliance on recent performance when underwriting future deals, particularly in light of ongoing supply pressure.   Policy Risk and the Fragility of Subsidized Housing   Among the more underappreciated risks in the market, Fiorilla emphasizes policy risk, especially in affordable and subsidized housing. He notes that while programs like LIHTC and Opportunity Zones appear safe, others such as Section 8 are under pressure.   Of particular concern are proposals to convert these programs into state-administered block grants. While this may seem like a technocratic shift, it would represent a material change for property owners. Federal guarantees would be replaced by varying state-level funding regimes, increasing payment risk and reducing the predictability that underpins underwriting in the subsidized housing sector. For owners reliant on these programs, even modest payment disruptions could be “catastrophic,” he notes.   Interest Rate Volatility: The Real Pain Point   Turning to capital markets, Fiorilla distinguishes between the level of interest rates and the pace at which they change. Today's rates, he argues, are not historically high. Pre-GFC, rates were often at similar levels. What's destabilizing is the speed of change. A sharp increase from near-zero to 4–5% within a single year has impaired refinancing feasibility and upended underwriting assumptions.   This volatility, not the rates themselves, has created most of the current distress. Borrowers facing refinancing at double or triple the prior coupon are under strain. And yet, transaction activity persists, with many deals still pricing at thin or even negative leverage. Why? Because the #1 driver of compressed cap rates is investor confidence in future cash flows. The belief that rents will continue to rise justifies aggressive pricing – until it doesn't.   This mindset echoes pre-GFC sentiment, where rent growth was taken as a given. Fiorilla is quick to clarify that today's market is not nearly as reckless. Still, elevated pricing in an environment of cooling fundamentals could leave investors dangerously exposed to even mild shocks.   Quiet Distress and the Maturity Wall   Another issue masked by short-term optimism is the growing volume of loan maturities. These include both regularly scheduled maturities and loans previously extended during 2021–2023 that are now reaching their end.   Fiorilla notes that many of these are being addressed quietly. Lenders, reluctant to force asset sales, are working with borrowers on a case-by-case basis. The result: distress is real, but it's largely invisible. There's little evidence of forced portfolio liquidations or widespread delinquencies – yet.   The availability of capital, particularly for multifamily, is helping to buffer these pressures. There's no shortage of dry powder. But absent a sharp rate reversal or improved clarity from policymakers, the sector could see a slow bleed of marginal deals rather than a systemic reset.   Underappreciated Geopolitical Risk   One of the most thought-provoking parts of the conversation concerns CRE's growing sensitivity to global and political dynamics. This is a structural change. The U.S. has long benefited from its role as a stable, rule-of-law jurisdiction. But shifts in foreign policy, trade restrictions, and political dysfunction are beginning to weigh on foreign investment.   Declining Canadian cross-border investment and tighter restrictions on visa travel are, in part, evidence of this shift. These aren't headline stories but they are meaningful. If the U.S. loses its perception as a reliable haven for capital, CRE pricing could face downward pressure from shrinking foreign demand. This is a long-term trend worth monitoring closely, not a transitory blip.   What He's Watching   When asked what indicators he watches most closely, Fiorilla points to three primary metrics: Occupancy Rates – Particularly in high-supply markets. Stabilized occupancy below 94% would be an early warning sign. Absorption Trends – A sustained drop in household formation or leasing activity could signal weakening demand. Employment Data – Job losses, especially if broad-based, would ripple into rent growth and occupancy. He also monitors transaction volume as a proxy for investor confidence. If deal flow freezes again, that would signal a recalibration of forward expectations.   Final Reflection   While Fiorilla resists giving investment advice, his closing thoughts reflect a conservative posture. He's not sitting on the sidelines entirely but he's not rushing in either. Caution, portfolio balance, and realistic expectations are the guiding principles.   For CRE professionals, this conversation is a reminder to look past sentiment and dig into the data and the fundamentals: local supply pipelines, policy shifts, interest rate trends, and the fragility of assumptions underpinning future rent growth. The macro backdrop is far from stable and the margin for error, even in multifamily, may be thinner than it appears.   *** In this series, I cut through the noise to examine how shifting macroeconomic forces and rising geopolitical risk are reshaping real estate investing.   With insights from economists, academics, and seasoned professionals, this show helps investors respond to market uncertainty with clarity, discipline, and a focus on downside protection.    Subscribe to my free newsletter for timely updates, insights, and tools to help you navigate today's volatile real estate landscape. You'll get: Straight talk on what happens when confidence meets correction - no hype, no spin, no fluff. Real implications of macro trends for investors and sponsors with actionable guidance. Insights from real estate professionals who've been through it all before. Visit GowerCrowd.com/subscribe Email: adam@gowercrowd.com Call: 213-761-1000

As property managers, you know how important communication is. Building solid relationships and creating trust is crucial in the industry, especially when trying to bring on new clients and doors. In this episode of the Property Management Growth Show, property management growth expert Jason Hull sits down with Sam Wakefield from Close it Now to talk about how you can level up your sales game to close more deals at a higher price point. You'll Learn [00:54] Vendor and Property Manager Relationships [09:43] Why You Attract Cheapo Clients [15:33] Building Trust in Sales [21:14] Shifting Perception: It's Not A, It's B [27:43] Learning to Improve Your Sales at DoorGrow Live 2025 Quotables “Truly all that sells is just communication.” “The second you start to develop a trend in your life, look internally because you are attracting exactly who you are.” “If we don't build the right culture, it's on us as a business owner.” “As business owners, we want to not give up big chunks of our life for just money. We want to be able to have something scalable.” Resources DoorGrow and Scale Mastermind DoorGrow Academy DoorGrow on YouTube DoorGrowClub DoorGrowLive Transcript [00:00:00] Sam: A lot of times property management companies think all the companies are the same, so they're looking for maybe cheaper, whoever's cheapest, a cheaper price. [00:00:07] Sam: But then what they get is a company that doesn't communicate and doesn't show up when they say they're going to, and it's really the old adage, you get what you pay for.  [00:00:14] Jason: All right. I am trying a new platform today. This is Jason Hull and I am a property management growth expert. If you're not familiar with me, I help grow and scale property management companies and I am really good at that. And so our company's DoorGrow and we are the world leaders of growing and scaling property management businesses. [00:00:35] Jason: I've helped thousands of property managers do that. And today my guest is Sam Wakefield. Hanging out here with Sam. Sam, welcome to the show.  [00:00:44] Sam: Thanks for having me on, man. I'm glad to be here.  [00:00:46] Jason: Hey, good to have you. So, I'm really excited to get into this. We had some really nice dialogue back and forth. You coach. [00:00:54] Jason: Well, I'll let you tell. What group, category of people do you coach and you help with them with sales and closing more deals, so.  [00:01:01] Sam: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. So we do sales training and basically sales systems, whole operation systems within companies, but mostly sales focused for home services. So everything from HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and then even outside of that. Garage doors, or you name it. If someone improves a home, then we help the communication side of all of those companies.  [00:01:27] Jason: Got it. So in my industry, property management people would call those vendors. That's usually what they call them. They're like, "these are the vendors." And so we thought it was fun. I went on your podcast, we had this really fun dialogue. [00:01:39] Jason: I highly recommend you go check out Sam's episode with Jason Hull and go check that out. We were going back and forth because we had done a survey each to our audiences, like what's frustrating about HVAC companies and what's frustrating about property management companies. Right. And just seeing the disconnect that existed there. [00:01:56] Jason: Which was interesting. So, before we get into this, I want to read a quick message from our sponsor. This episode's sponsored by KRS SmartBooks. Do you have properties manage, and zero time for bookkeeping headaches? KRS SmartBooks is your secret weapon. They specialize in finances for busy property managers like you, with 15 plus years of real estate knowhow and skills in AppFolio, Yardi, and more imagine monthly reports magically appearing, and zero accounting stress. Sound good? Head to krsbooks.com to book your free discovery call, integrity, quality, and a dash of bookkeeping brilliance, that's KRS SmartBooks, and that's K as in Kansas, R as in Rogers, S as in Sam. Sam. All right, so cool. Now let's get into this. [00:02:45] Jason: So we're going to talk about closing deals, but why don't you give us my audience a little bit of background. How did you get into sales and then starting your own company, helping people with sales, and like, how'd you how did Close it Now come to be?  [00:03:00] Sam: Yeah, for sure. Thanks for that question. So, I've spent almost 20 years now in home services. [00:03:05] Sam: Most of my time has been in HVAC. I've done solar. I've done a lot of different trades over the years and, you know, so I launched the Close it Now company in 2019 because I really just recognized a place where there was not a lot of modern training because truly all that sells is just communication. [00:03:26] Sam: You know, it's how do we communicate clearer and in a way where we can educate so somebody can understand, one, what we're talking about, and two, why they should care and how it's going to make a difference in their life. So at the essence of that, so I was looking for some more modern training for my people at my company that I had at the time, and I didn't find anything out there. [00:03:48] Sam: So I just said, well, now we have a space for, you know, I have communication skills. I can train people. So that's when I launched the company in 2019 and so much of my career built up to that point of, and specifically how it affects here and why I'm here today. You know, I've worked with so many property management companies and individuals across 20 years of doing this. Yeah. So I've definitely learned a lot of best practices and a lot of the things not to do, you know? Got it. I all own my mistakes as well as, you know, coming across maybe property managers that I wouldn't work with again. Right. Yeah. So from all of that experience, you know, I started the training company, so I work with those home service companies to communicate better. [00:04:33] Sam: You know, a lot of it is, you know, of course, working directly with homeowners. But also there's a huge portion of all of those companies that, you know, rely on it and need property management companies to, you know, really help them stay in business and in turn they can turn around and, you know, help those property management companies to efficiently take care of properties. [00:04:58] Sam: But there's always seems to be this kind of struggle of, you know, that back and forth. So that's obviously why we're here today is a big part of that. But that's some of my history. I've been doing it 20 years. I started Close it Now six years or in, coming up on... yeah, April this year, next month is six years anniversary. [00:05:16] Sam: Nice. Of the company. And it's been a fun ride and we've definitely helped lots and lots of organizations to you know, to grow in a way.  [00:05:24] Jason: You're helping them close it now. All right. Yeah. Got it. All right. So you're just, you're helping these vendors close more deals, right? [00:05:31] Jason: So, property managers, I think would love to hear. You're on the other side of this relationship between property managers and vendors. What have you seen and what's the general feedback that you're noticing of the property management industry? What's kind of the vendor's perspective? [00:05:46] Jason: Because I know property managers, they get frustrated with vendors, right? They're like, "oh, the vendors like say you need something when you don't and like they don't like, it's difficult to reach them or this or whatever." Right. What are some of the complaints and gripes about property management companies? [00:06:03] Sam: Yeah. Complaints and gripes about property management companies. One of the big ones is, a lot of it is kind of the same thing is lack of communication. Okay. That's always one of the biggest complaints that comes up is, you know, we will get, you know, say someone, a property manager will call in for us to go evaluate a property. [00:06:21] Sam: We'll take an air conditioning issue or something like that, so we'll show up and then we're trying to call ahead. There's no clear information was given on who to call ahead to. Then we show up to the appointment, maybe the tenant's there, maybe not. A lot of times they're not there. [00:06:36] Sam: Okay. Then we can get ahold of the property manager to even get in the place. So now we're like dancing around in the circle of, okay, who do we contact? You get frustrated, move on to the next call, then the property manager calls and "Well, why'd you leave? Somebody was there." [00:06:50] Sam: Well, nobody was there. And so all of this just seems to happen very often. [00:06:55] Sam: Too often. Yeah. So it creates a stereotype. When the stereotype is created, that means of course there's a reason for it. Yeah. And so this is one of the big ones is the lack of communication. And I know that I've heard that the other direction as well. But so that's one of the things I hear the most. [00:07:11] Jason: Yeah. Got it. Yeah, so I'm sure when a vendor finds a property manager that does communicate effectively that there's clarity in that communication happening, and they've got good systems in place. The tenant's there, the tenant understands what's going on. Everybody's informed. Then those can be really great relationships to have. [00:07:34] Sam: Absolutely. Yeah. Those are, you know, the last the last organization I was at, I was with them, I was a sales manager and trainer for six years there. And I went through about 18 different property management companies to find two to three that were worth working with. Wow. And that was, you know, just sadly. We were always open to when a property management company came to us and we're like, "Hey, we, you know, we need you to do some work. We're looking for a new vendor." We're like, "sure. Absolutely. We'll try you out as well as you're trying us out." Right. But sadly, you know, the two or three that we did find great relationships with. They were fantastic relationships because yeah, we, you know, part of my ethics is our team was like, we will show up on time no matter what. [00:08:19] Sam: Right? We always do what we say. We will never, you know, recommend something that's not verifiable from our, you know, from our testing. We're not going to just guess at this because we're not guessing with anybody's, you know? Yeah. Investment. And at the same time when we, you know, say we're going to do the work, we do the work, and we show up to do the work, we say we're going to. [00:08:43] Sam: So that was my ethics statement I always led with. And then basically I would ask the property management company, can I expect the same thing from you guys? Right? And sure enough, the second that we met in the middle and said, yes, this is how we want to do business, those relationships were always the very best ones because sure, were we a few more dollars than the other contractor down the street? Sure. Yes. But we showed up when we said we were going to and we did the right work right the first time. And so, right. That's a big part of that disconnect, I think, is it seems like so many you know, a lot of times property management companies think all the companies are the same, so they're looking for maybe cheaper, whoever's cheapest, a cheaper price. [00:09:22] Sam: But then what they get is a company that doesn't communicate and doesn't show up when they say they're going to, and. It's really the old adage, you get what you pay for.  [00:09:30] Jason: You know, property managers have the same sort of problem is that a lot of people that are looking for a property manager are just looking for the cheapest price. [00:09:38] Jason: And they hate that. They're like, "we're not all the same." Right. So I, yeah, I think it's really important. I think this is dictated by the morals, the ethics, and the values of the business owner. It's always a top down thing. And so if the business owner is a cheapo, they attract cheapo clients and they deal with vendors through this cheapo lens, and this is where there's going to be a lot of mess and a lot of communication issues, and a lot of times the business owner, and this goes for any business and any industry, has a blind spot to the fact that they're cheap. But they're, you know, you're a cheapo if you're the person that's always looking for the stupid coupon code every time you buy everything online, you're always like hunting for that like. I don't have time to do that. [00:10:21] Jason: Like that's a massive waste of my time to go find, save 10% on some stupid a hundred dollars thing online, right? Right. Like, Ooh, I'm searching around. Right. Oh, I saved $10 even though I could have made a hundred thousand dollars. Like if I just like built something awesome, right? So I think there's a mindset issue is that these property managers or vendor business owners are not valuing their time enough. [00:10:45] Jason: If you value your time, you value other people's time. You then show up on time. You then like try to make sure, like your schedule is tight, you want to make sure your schedule is full. Like you, because you value your time and you feel that it's important. And if you really value your time enough as a person, you get things like assistance. [00:11:03] Jason: You get team members, like you get support because your time is so valuable that you want to go buy other people's time because it's less valuable than your time. Right, and this is how we scale our businesses over time is we are buying other people's time that are like they're willing to trade and give up their life chunks of their life for money. [00:11:24] Jason: And as business owners, we want to not give up big chunks of our life for just money. We want to be able to have something scalable. And so I think there's a mindset thing that we have to not be cheap. We have to operate with integrity, and then our team members need to have these values instilled in them, and if we don't build the right culture, it's on us as a business owner. [00:11:45] Jason: And if we don't build the right culture, we then don't have longevity in our business. We don't get return business, we don't get return clients. We don't get to have that really good vendor to continue to work with. We don't get to have that property owner continue to want to work with us, right? [00:12:00] Jason: Because we have showcased that we are not on top of things, or that we don't have the right values or that we don't have healthy mindset. And so I feel like. At the foundation of everything. It always comes back to mindset. A lot of times  [00:12:13] Sam: I a hundred percent agree with that. It, you know, it's funny that you're kind of started this conversation going down this path. [00:12:19] Sam: This is something that's been a very basically a soapbox for me, a big hot button. Yeah. You know, when I'm coaching... [00:12:26] Sam: jump on that soapbox, Sam. Let's go.  [00:12:27] Sam: Yeah. When I'm coaching and training people lately, especially at this last week especially... yeah. You know, I'm training people with sales and that type of focus, and they, of course, people always come to me, "Hey, how do I overcome these sales objections?" [00:12:43] Sam: You know, somebody says, "I want to get three bids, or somebody says, your price is too high, I want to shop around, or I need to think about it." Yeah. And instead of just going straight to, "well, here's the word track and how to handle these objections." Yeah. We always start with: anytime that you find a trend in your life, [00:13:00] Sam: so if you're getting the same consistent objection, say somebody's getting every single time they get to the end of their appointment and the homeowner or whoever they're talking to says, "I want to think about it." It's like the second you start to develop a trend in your life, look internally because you are attracting exactly who you are. [00:13:17] Sam: I would be willing to bet that person does the same thing when they shop. So then no wonder you're getting every single one of your clients is telling you, "I want to think about it." Or if when you shop, do you ask for say, "oh, I've got to get some three bids on this thing. I got to look around." Yeah. Well, no wonder the people you're selling to always have to get three bids because we attract who we are. Yeah. And it starts right here in the mind. And it's incredible how that works.  [00:13:43] Jason: Yeah. because if we're anxious, if we have that energetic sort of anxiety of that, like things are, it's expensive, and we go into that trying to sell it to somebody. Then they can feel that and we present it differently. And so we're like, "here's the price." And like, yeah, and it's worth it. And they can just, there's so many little subtle clues they pick up on that, Hey, this seems a little high. And because sometimes like if you're presenting to somebody and they're not what I call a cheapo, there's three types of buyers, cheapos, normals, and premiums I call them. [00:14:16] Jason: And normals are like, you typically like 60%. They're like the majority, 61%. The smallest group are usually the premium buyers, supposedly. But the idea is this: if you're a premium buyer and I present a price and I'm not even going to like flinch telling you about it, I'm like, "yeah, we've got this and this is what it costs and this," and they're going to go, "oh, this person feels really confident." [00:14:36] Jason: And it's just energetically how we present it. There's no like, "Hey, I'm trying to prep you for this price, you know, reveal because it's going to hurt a little bit." Right. Or if they just have the confidence and they know they're expensive, they might even just say, "Hey, we're one of the most expensive, but we're also one of the best. Let me tell you about your options." Right? So maybe they start with a pre-frame like that, but either way, they have this confidence that they know they have value and that it's worth it, and then they present it like that, then people would go, oh, okay, but if you have that anxiety deep down related to price and you know, you're this person if you're always looking for the coupon code or the discount code or you're trying to find the cheapest way to do something, then you've got a bit of that going on. [00:15:21] Jason: Because that's your identity. And so I've noticed this. Like in order to get people to be better salespeople, I can't just give them tactics. I have to give them identity. And so, and this is why my greatest sales hack, I call the Golden Bridge Formula. It's like it's the most authentic way to sell, which is your personal why connected to the business why connected to the prospect's why. Because we always trust motives. And the default assumption in sales, if I don't know your motive and you're trying to sell to me, is you want my money. [00:15:54] Sam: Right.  [00:15:54] Jason: And if I think that's your only motive is you want my money and you're willing to do whatever it takes to get that, then you're probably maybe even willing to be unethical in order to get that might be the assumption. [00:16:05] Jason: Right? So that's kind of the default assumption in sales. And so to correct that, if I tell somebody, "Hey. I'm Jason Hull. My personal why is to inspire others to love true principles. And so what that means is I love sharing what works and learning what works and teaching to others. I would do that for free, for fun, and so I created DoorGrow and our why at DoorGrow is to transform property management business owners and their businesses. [00:16:27] Jason: And so if our whole belief system is around helping people transform their businesses. So that allows me to basically feed my addiction to learning, coaches, masterminds, books, whatever, and turn around and be able to share what's working with others. And that's just fun for me. So I have a business that basically fulfills my lifestyle and allows me to have fun and do what I want to do. [00:16:51] Jason: And you, Mr. Property management, business owner, who I'm maybe selling to, want to grow your business. And so our interests are in alignment. My business is the bridge that connects your why to my why. We both get what we want. It's the ultimate win-win, right? Everybody wins. And so I've been able to take really terrible salespeople that are really bad at selling, and I just get them clear on their own identity. [00:17:14] Jason: Mm-hmm. Who they are, why they do what they do, and have them relate that to people and then people trust them. And sales and deals happened at the speed of trust.  [00:17:22] Sam: Oh my gosh, I love this so much. It's insanely powerful too when I'm teaching people how to do just introductions, you know? A super quick formula too for the property managers out there that are listening to that, even if you're property manager, you have to get good at sales. [00:17:38] Sam: Yeah, you have to be good at communication to be able to bring more doors into your portfolio. And so the way you know, a really easy formula for those homeowners when you're having that conversation, first of all, they've got to know who they're talking to. Yeah. You know, this belief, identity, you know, matrix that I actually I love to call, I just did a keynote. [00:17:59] Sam: It's funny for everybody listening. It's almost like Jason and I have read each other's notes, but we haven't. Just did a keynote, well that's maybe a month ago in Minnesota, that the entire talk was your thoughts, create your belief about yourself, your totally belief about yourself creates your identity, and then your identity creates your outcomes. [00:18:16] Sam: Yeah. And, but we have to go back and start with those thoughts. And so, but a simple, easy formula for property managers out there having this conversation is first of all, start asking permission for things. Yes. We can't just tell, right? If we can ask it as a question, ask it as a question. [00:18:36] Sam: So ask permission, like, "Hey, before we get started, do you mind if I take a quick minute and just introduce you to our company and myself."  [00:18:44] Sam: yeah.  [00:18:45] Sam: And so first of all, anytime a conversation starts, there's always this period of icebreaking, right? Yeah. Anytime anything new is introduced in anyone's environment, there's always stiffness until that moment of rapport happens and we relax a little bit. [00:19:00] Sam: Yeah. So taking a couple of minutes to just. "Hey, before we get started, do you mind if I introduce the company and a little bit about myself? Would that be all right?" Yes. So permission to it and then just take a few minutes because I mean, so many times we'll go through this crazy presentation and then we're asking somebody to buy from us and they don't even know who we are. [00:19:21] Sam: We never took the time to even introduce ourselves. Right.  [00:19:24] Jason: Yeah.  [00:19:24] Sam: Or they don't know thing about the company.  [00:19:25] Jason: Trying to immediately shove the product or service down their throat.  [00:19:28] Sam: Yeah. No wonder they need to think about it. They don't even know who you are. And so we introduce that first. [00:19:34] Sam: It's huge. And to just getting into the things. So that's the flow. It's like, okay, now that you know a little bit about us, tell us a little bit about you. What are you looking for? Right. So then you start that discovery process, and I'm sure you trained this but the discovery process is everything. [00:19:51] Sam: We have to understand the motive behind why they want to do things. Somebody just says, "Hey, I'm looking for a property manager." Okay, great. That's one thing. "Why do you would need a property manager? What are you trying to solve? What do we want to accomplish by having a property manager for your property?" [00:20:09] Sam: So we find out, what are the pain points? What are the issues that they're wanting to overcome? And then from there, we can create a, you know, craft a conversation around it. But until we know that, we're just stabbing in the dark and just guessing it. Yeah. Well, hopefully this will work.  [00:20:23] Jason: Right. Yeah. If we just jump right to offering solutions when we don't even ask what they need it's not very effective. [00:20:30] Jason: And then they're going to have a ton of objections.  [00:20:32] Sam: Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. But yeah, that's the some of the complaints we have are the communication and the other one is just not responding once we find solutions, then give them to the property manager. [00:20:45] Sam: And then it's like ghosting for who knows how long until finally somebody gets back. And so that's the other side of the communication is not getting resolution once we actually, you know, we can do this work, but we're not going to sit around here all day to wait to get it approved. We have other appointments. [00:21:02] Sam: So do we want to reschedule?  [00:21:03] Jason: It's treating the vendor like they're high value, they're going to treat you like you're high value and they're going to prioritize you. And so it really is a mutual respect relationship that needs to be built. So, Sam, I also want to bring up to our audience, you are going to be coming [00:21:19] Jason: to speak at DoorGrow Live. Yeah. And you're going to be teaching some really cool stuff. Could you just touch on real quick what you're going to be sharing at this because I wanted to come bring you to expose my clients and my audience to what you're going to be sharing and maybe you can get some people pumped up for DoorGrow Live, so. [00:21:38] Sam: Absolutely. Yeah. So thank you for the invite as well. I'm super excited to be speaking for DoorGorw Live. It's my passion, in fact to be able to help people in their daily lives, especially in conversations like this, to make it easy. I am such a firm believer that sales should be easy. If it's not easy, we're overcomplicating it. And so what we're going to be talking about at the event is I'm going to give some really simple keys to better communication so people actually not only listen, but they understand what you're saying and, more importantly, why should they care? [00:22:18] Sam: So we're going to talk about something called, the benefit lens. We're going to talk about some easy word substitutions. We're not going to be learning scripts or anything. We're going to be, we're going to show any really easy ways to get immediate buy-in to what our conversation is. Nice. And how to recruit people to be raving fans and be on board. [00:22:38] Sam: And how to ask and get referrals because that's huge in...  [00:22:44] Sam: absolutely.  [00:22:44] Sam: ...something like a property management. If every third door you added also added another one from a referral, what would that do to your business? Yeah, absolutely. So not just asking for referrals, but actually asking in a way where actually get them. [00:22:57] Jason: Right. Yeah. If you're getting enough referrals, one, because you have a good reputation, you're doing a good job, but also because you have an intention and you're asking appropriately, you create this kind of virus of growth in your business where it's multiplying. [00:23:13] Jason: Every client becomes more clients.  [00:23:16] Sam: Yep. Absolutely. In fact, we can do a quick little as an example of some of the things we're going to cover. Are you open to doing a quick little role play with me on...  [00:23:24] Sam: all right. Let's do it.  [00:23:25] Sam: Some of the conversation here. Yeah. I love role play.  [00:23:28] Sam: Let's have fun.  [00:23:29] Sam: Yeah, for sure. [00:23:30] Sam: So I'm property manager. So before we do, give me a quick little context of what is a premium price property manager and what is like a middle range property manager. And so I'll know what I'm working with here. [00:23:44] Jason: Oh yeah. Usually our clients have three different price points for that reason. So, perfect. But let's say like, real typical in the marketplace is 10% is pretty normal. Okay? And this is not what we recommend. because our clients close more deals more easily at a higher price point. [00:23:59] Jason: So we have some special pricing models, but let's say 10%. Premium, maybe 12%, and the lower would maybe be like 8%.  [00:24:08] Sam: Got it. Got it. Perfect. Alright, so I'm the project manager. So I'm going to be a premium 12%. Yeah. So what we're going to do in this conversation, I'm going to ask for the business and you're going to give me a little bit of a price flinch with, "well, the other guy was only 10%." [00:24:23] Sam: Okay. And so we'll show a quick, easy way to handle that. All right. In a way that will make sense for everybody. So, alright, Jason, so, sounds like everything that you've talked about, can you see how all the things we do will take care of the concerns that you have? [00:24:38] Sam: Yeah, absolutely. Sounds great.  [00:24:40] Sam: Awesome. Perfect. So the next steps to get moving is you know, so we're just 12% of the monthly as for us to be able to take care of all of that. And this will just need a quick authorization on this form here and we can get started right away.  [00:24:55] Jason: Ooh, okay. Well, I was expecting, you know, I talked to a company down the street, they were like 10%, which seems to be a bit more normal. [00:25:04] Jason: I don't know.  [00:25:04] Sam: More normal?  [00:25:07] Jason: I've talked to a couple companies and a lot of them all do it at 10%. Could, like, is it possible you could do it at 10%?  [00:25:13] Sam: Oh, gotcha. So listen, I mean, so we were just 12%, but listen, we're not 2% higher or 2% more expensive. We're 2% better. Can I explain to you why that is? [00:25:25] Jason: Sure.  [00:25:26] Sam: Absolutely.  [00:25:27] Sam: So at that point, as a great company, you're going to have a hit list of all of the reasons why you're better than everybody else, and what makes you that premium company. I like it. So the minute we get that permission question in of, "Hey, we're not 2% more expensive, we're 2% higher, we're 2% better." [00:25:43] Sam: Then the permission question is, "can I show you why, or can I show you how?" And they say "Yes." Then we're going to, "okay, so what we do, it's..." never talk bad about the competition. Sure. But it's always with that perspective. "So what we do is this, and what we do is this, and what we do is this. We're always going to have the availability to be in contact, you know, 24/7 or you know, whatever all of the benefits is. [00:26:10] Sam: We're going through this huge benefit list. Yeah. And then when, once we, and it works like magic, once you get to about 10 or 12 things, especially when you know, those first 10 or 12 things are things the other companies don't do. Yeah. So many times that person will go, "you know what? You're right. You know what? You're right. Let's just go ahead and do it." Yeah.  [00:26:31] Jason: I mean, you go through those things you say, "so does that make sense why maybe we're 2% better?" And they're going to be like, "yeah."  [00:26:38] Jason: You've got agreement.  [00:26:39] Sam: Cool. Absolutely. And the other thing to do in this conversation, and this is really powerful too, so, you know, we'll take you know, what's a, what's the average rent that we'd be taking that percentage off of? [00:26:50] Jason: Let's say 2000 bucks.  [00:26:51] Sam: So 2000 bucks. That's what I was going to use. "So we're talking about 2% difference. So we're looking at $40 a month or $10 a week. Is it worth it to you for $10 a week to potentially fight the headache of, you know, your property management company not responding when you need them to respond, your tenants being really unhappy, the tenants turning over and over, for, I mean, $10 a week. Is it worth it to you for that?"  [00:27:22] Jason: Yeah.  [00:27:23] Sam: So if, I mean, if you're willing to roll the dice and take that chance, then of course you could do what you want. But if you want it done right and done once, so you're headache free and you're not going to have to, because the reason you hire a property manager is to be hands off. [00:27:35] Sam: Right? Yeah. Perfect. That's why what, that's what sets us apart. Next to any of the other companies around.  [00:27:43] Jason: Got it. So hypothetical property manager, Sam here, like believes. You can tell by listening to him, he believes in what he is selling. He believes he's worth that 12%. He believes he's worth that value, and I love that reframe. [00:27:58] Jason: One of the NLP hacks I teach clients is, it's not a, it's b, and he's like, "it's not that we're expensive or higher price, it's that we're 2% better." And so you're saying this is how you are looking at it. Here's how I want you to look at it. And that's a really cool correction. I love that right there. [00:28:16] Jason: Very powerful.  [00:28:17] Sam: The other part of that too is when you take, we're not talking about the total monthly, you know, we're talking about what's 12% or 10%? We're talking about 2% difference. Yeah. Is it worth it to you for a 2% difference to take the chance on having to deal with this, having to manage your own projects, having the headache, having the you know, the angry tenants or we don't have that problem. [00:28:42] Sam: And here's proof: review, testimony. Other people in the area, for people that use us just like you guys.  [00:28:49] Jason: Yeah. Awesome. Perfect. And you're going to share some really cool stuff I know at DoorGrow Live. I'm excited, man. Me too.  [00:28:56] Sam: Let's just tip of the iceberg. [00:28:57] Jason: For a salesman to be able to like build a coaching business, teaching sales like these are the best in the world at sales, and so I'm really excited to have you come. I've sold millions and millions of dollars of stuff. I love, I'm always learning more about sales, like this is something you can always continually learn more, so I love that little reframe. [00:29:17] Jason: That's a good one. I'm excited to hear what else you have to share. This is going to be really awesome. And if you're interested, go to doorgrowlive.com and get your tickets. Get your tickets. Our theme this year is innovating the future of property management, and we are bringing future ideas. [00:29:32] Jason: I'm going to be going over hybrid pricing, a new pricing model for property managers. This is the future. We're going to be sharing our DoorGrow hiring system. This is the future of how you're going to need to do hiring, so you're not making mistakes with hires, we're helping a lot of people replace their entire team. [00:29:48] Jason: So anyway, DoorGrow Live is going to be really freaking cool. So, yeah, and it's a holistic conference as well. We're bringing people from outside the industry, people that are related to different things. I've got a biohacking expert. We've got different things just to optimize your life as an entrepreneur and to make you better at what you do. [00:30:05] Jason: So this is going to be really cool. So, well, Sam anything else we should touch on?  [00:30:10] Sam: You know, there's so much we could cover.  [00:30:12] Jason: There's a lot. We'll save it for DoorGrow Live. How can people that, if they're listening, they're like, I'm a vendor, or I've got this, or I could really use Sam's help. [00:30:21] Jason: How can they get ahold of you?  [00:30:23] Sam: Yeah, absolutely. They can go to, of course the website is closeitnow.net. That's NET so closeitnow.net. They can email me directly, sam@closeitnow.net. On an Instagram at @therealcloseitnow. Okay. Or basically search Close it Now anywhere and I pop up all over the place. [00:30:44] Sam: All right. I'm kind of everywhere on social media and on the Googles at this point. All right.  [00:30:50] Jason: All right, well we're going to close this show now, so appreciate you coming on, Sam. It's been great having you. And for those that are watching, listening, if you could use some help from DoorGrow reach out to us. [00:31:00] Jason: You can check us out at doorgrow.com. We are the world leaders at coaching and scaling property management companies. And so if you are dealing with operational challenges, team challenges, hiring challenges, or you just don't know the right strategies for adding doors or business development, we can help you with all of that. [00:31:18] Jason: So reach out to us, check us out at doorgrow.com and until next time, to our mutual growth. Bye everyone. 

Gauchos return home after a tough trip to Hawaii where they dropped their first series of the season to go to 15-4 (4-2 BigWest) and get set to take on UC Irvine in a pivotal home conference matchup this weekend at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium.  On this week's episode we recount the weekend interviews with LHP Donovann Jackson and 3b/SS Xavier Esquer, and then your host attempts a solo recap of the Hawaii series plus a preview for the upcoming series with the Anteaters. The Gaucho9 Podcast is proudly presented by Kyle's Kitchen and Yardi. 

The property management industry is no stranger to conferences and in-person events, but have you ever thought about creating an event yourself? In this episode of the #DoorGrowShow, property management growth experts Jason and Sarah Hull discuss the behind-the-scenes of putting on a live event or conference and all the pros and cons of doing so. You'll Learn [04:39] Learning from Past Mistakes and Failures [15:32] Getting Back in the Saddle: DoorGrow Live [21:07] What Goes Into Creating a Conference? [30:31] The Magic of In-Person Events Quotables “I think being able to just connect with people, making sure that people know who you are and what you do, I mean, it's really valuable.” “When you've got a room full of people who are in the same sector, in the same industry, there's so much knowledge in that room.” “When you're connecting with other people that are like you, that are growth minded and you both share an industry and a share a business model, like it really helps you grow.” “Your business is the sum of the five property management business owners you as a business owner are most connected to.” Resources DoorGrow and Scale Mastermind DoorGrow Academy DoorGrow on YouTube DoorGrowClub DoorGrowLive Transcript [00:00:00] Jason: When you're connecting with other people that are like you, that are growth minded and you both share an industry and share a business model, like it really helps you grow. [00:00:08] Jason: Your business is the sum of the five property management business owners you as a business owner are most connected to. [00:00:13] Jason: Welcome DoorGrow property managers to the Property Management Growth Show. If you are a property management entrepreneur that wants to add doors, make a difference, increase revenue, help others, impact lives, and you are interested in growing in business and life. And you're open to doing things a bit differently, then you are a DoorGrow property manager. DoorGrow property managers love the opportunities, daily variety, unique challenges, and freedom that property management brings. Many in real estate think you're crazy for doing it. [00:00:42] Jason: You think they're crazy for not because you realize that property management is the ultimate, high trust gateway to real estate deals, relationships, and residual income. At DoorGrow, we are on a mission to transform property management business owners and their businesses. We want to transform the industry, eliminate the BS, build awareness, change perception, expand the market, and help the best property management entrepreneurs win. [00:01:06] Jason: We're your hosts, property management growth experts, Jason and Sarah Hull, the owners of DoorGrow. Now, let's get into the show. All right.  [00:01:14] Sarah: Woo!  [00:01:15] Jason: So first, you'll have to excuse if I sound a little nasally today, because I have a cold, which doesn't happen often. And I might have given it to Sarah. I don't know. [00:01:25] Sarah: My sinuses just feel weird.  [00:01:27] Jason: So.  [00:01:27] Sarah: So thanks.  [00:01:28] Jason: Yeah.  [00:01:29] Sarah: Thanks for that.  [00:01:30] Jason: Okay, so.  [00:01:31] Sarah: Appreciate it.  [00:01:32] Jason: You keep kissing me. I'm not kissing you. Like I'm not trying to get you sick.  [00:01:35] Sarah: He's not kissing me.  [00:01:36] Sarah: She can't resist.  [00:01:37] Sarah: Does anybody believe that? Nobody believes you. Nobody should.  [00:01:40] Jason: I'm sick. You keep coming up to me. [00:01:42] Jason: I'm like, you want this? Obviously she does, guys. Obviously.  [00:01:46] Sarah: Oh brother.  [00:01:47] Sarah: Alright.  [00:01:48] Sarah: What a great episode. What a great kicker offered.  [00:01:51] Jason: So I might be coughing and I apologize. Alright, so what we're talking about today is we thought we'd give you a little bit of behind the scenes into us creating an event and us doing DoorGrow Live, getting prepped and prepared for this. You know, we put an entire year into getting this thing going and getting this prepared and promoting it, finding speakers. [00:02:15] Jason: And so let's chat a little bit about some of the behind the scenes stuff.  [00:02:19] Sarah: Yeah. So one of the things that I wanted to talk about is kind of everything that really goes into it behind the scenes that when you go attend an event, you just don't notice. You just don't like realize a lot of the times, unless you're used to running events. [00:02:35] Sarah: And once you start running an event, go run one event and then you will attend every other event differently. For example, when we go to, you know, Aaron's events, or Funnel Hacking Live, my brain is constantly going, like, operationally, this must be a nightmare. How on earth are they coordinating all of this? [00:02:56] Sarah: It's just insane. Because I know how crazy it is with our conferences, and we don't yet have thousands of people there. We will, at one point. But, man, there's just so much that goes into it. So, If you're ever considering running events, and I think that for property managers and for anyone who's a real estate agent or investor, I really think events are something that you should at least look into. And it doesn't have to be this big crazy event where, you know, you spend 25- 30 thousand dollars like we do and that's kind of like a low budget, you know. That's like you'll blow through that real quick. It doesn't have to be anything like that and it definitely doesn't have to be this, you know, this big crazy promoted thing you can do your own version of events like in a very different way, back when I was in property management, you know, we would do some little networking events and they were nowhere near the size, but also nowhere near the cost, but they can be really beneficial for you to do. So I think if you haven't experimented with that, then maybe get some tips and pointers and check it out. Like try it, experiment and see what happens. Because for me, it was really great to just be connected. So there's that saying, "your net worth is in your network," and I think being able to just connect with people, make sure that people know who you are and what you do, I mean, it's really valuable. So if you're a property manager and you haven't done a little in person event yet, then perhaps you might want to try. And we're going to talk a little bit about, you know, what goes into like a bigger event the way that we run them. So why don't you give them some background? [00:04:41] Sarah: When was your first? Your first DoorGrow Live was pre-Sarah, the pre-Sarah DoorGrow age, I think it was it 2018?  [00:04:49] Jason: Yeah. 2018. 2018. Yeah. Yeah.  [00:04:51] Sarah: Okay. Can you talk about you know, what was the first DoorGrow Live like?  [00:04:57] Jason: Oh man. Yeah. And if you want to get a visual of this, you can go to, I think it's photos.doorgrow.Com and we have photos of all of our different major events. You can go back to 2018 and there's a nice photo of me and Mike Michalowicz there. And so we brought in some big, you know, for me, they were big speakers. Some people that I really looked up to and that I got a lot of value from. [00:05:22] Jason: So, coach, authors, you know, people that I had worked with. And so, it was a big deal. We spent, I think we spent about $115,000. Putting that event together because I wanted to do it, right. I didn't want my first event to be Mickey Mouse or cheap or you know, whatever So I wanted to do a really good job and I thought well, "and we'll sell tickets to make up for it." We did. We sold about a hundred and fifteen tickets at around, I think $1,000 a pop. [00:05:53] Jason: And I have a whole podcast episode I did on this. I call it my $2 million mistake because we were growing at a pace of, we were doing about a million in revenue a year and we were growing at a pace of about 300% percent at the time we were growing really quickly. We had a lot of momentum, and I decided to do this big conference. It was a little bit of an ego thing. Like it was like kind of a dream that I wanted to feel cool and be on stage and it was super stressful. The event went really well. People liked it, but I was massively stressed during it. And then I didn't do another one for how many years? I don't know.  [00:06:29] Sarah: Yeah, that was his first and only and then like canceled it  [00:06:33] Jason: I was like, "I don't think I'll do that again." [00:06:35] Sarah: Yeah.  [00:06:36] Jason: I mean I didn't realize everything that goes into it. I'm sure people were watching me start my first conference from the sidelines who have done events in the space were like, "good luck, bro," because they know how hard it can be. [00:06:47] Jason: It's like starting a whole nother business but you have to recognize there's like the hotel. It's hard to do an event that's not at a hotel. So you kind of have to do it at hotels and so they have this like, sort of, they're like the mafia. [00:07:01] Jason: They have this control over doing events. Like, and you go to them, you're like, "I want to do an event here." And they're like, "cool." And like finances become a thing and they negotiate a group rate with you, which means you have to book certain number of rooms because they want you to book rooms, and if you don't book out the group rate for the rooms in the room block, then you're responsible to pay for that. [00:07:24] Jason: So we were on the hook for like a lot of money for rooms. I'm like, "well, how many rooms does that mean? And like how many nights?" And all this stuff. So just managing finances for an event is like managing finances for a dangerous business startup is really what it is. Because people have gone bankrupt from doing big events really big events where you have two, three thousand, five thousand. These are millions and millions of dollars in and out. [00:07:48] Sarah: Yeah. [00:07:49] Jason: And if they don't navigate this well, it can bankrupt companies  [00:07:53] Sarah: Russell just said that on stage. He didn't say who, but Russell Brunson said that he knew someone that was running a big event, didn't sell enough rooms in the room block, and he went bankrupt from it because it was such a large event and he was on the hook for so much money and ended up bankrupting the company. [00:08:13] Jason: It's dangerous. And then you got to get people to buy the ticket, book the hotel, like, and then there's marketing to do this. You got to spend a lot of money to get people to do this. And then, you know, in order to attract people, sometimes people will do like big speakers. Like I got some speakers and let me tell you speakers, they're expensive. [00:08:33] Jason: Like usually they, they want thousands and thousands of dollars. Like an  [00:08:37] Sarah: inexpensive speaker just to like put it out there, like an inexpensive speaker is still usually around like 5k  [00:08:44] Jason: Anyone you've probably heard of is that minimum 25 grand.  [00:08:47] Sarah: Well more than that. [00:08:49] Jason: And if they're a big name It's 50k, 100k, it can be really expensive to have them come be in an event. [00:08:58] Jason: So, Yeah, so it can be really challenging. Then there's food and beverage minimums. So the hotel, they're like, "you also have to spend a certain amount on food and beverage while you're here." Yeah, so they're like, "you have to book a certain number of rooms. You have to, like, pay for a certain number of food and beverage, and you're not allowed to bring any other food or beverage into our place." [00:09:19] Jason: Nope.  [00:09:19] Jason: "You have to use our stuff. And our stuff is like going to the movie theater. It's overly priced, like, inflated."  [00:09:26] Sarah: Remember, we did the Game Changer event at the JW Marriott in Austin so I looked at everything afterwards and it was not a huge event. It was not a big event. We had under 20 people there. [00:09:40] Sarah: Yeah. And that included like Jason, myself, DoorGrow staff, speakers, like under 20 people. And one lunch and we had, it was a two day event. So we did like two lunches. So one lunch, I think was somewhere around like two or 3,000 dollars. Yeah, it was insane for lunch.  [00:09:57] Jason: And my first event, we spent eight grand to provide coffee for two days. Eight grand for...  [00:10:03] Sarah: coffee. Yeah.  [00:10:05] Jason: For two days like and you know, and they have all these rules. I think the rules are made to inflate the price, but they have these food and beverage and they charge you sometimes by plate. So that hotel that we were at our first event, we didn't realize this, but they have people to go around and pick up plates. [00:10:22] Jason: And you're paying by the number of plates people use. Like how much food they consume and by plate. So they were picking up plates.  [00:10:29] Sarah: Oh my god.  [00:10:30] Jason: It's a racket. Like if you go into this not knowing what you're doing, some hotels can take gross amounts of money. Wow. They negotiate a terrible group rate, they negotiate a horrible food and beverage minimum is really high for you, and then you go way over that minimum if they have anything to do with it. [00:10:45] Jason: And so you're spending all this money and they're like, "well..."  [00:10:47] Sarah: you'll never have to worry about hitting your minimum in food and beverage, like, never. No, really.  [00:10:51] Jason: I mean, if you want food there, period, like,  [00:10:54] Sarah: you're going to hit it. So, I don't care. I don't even care what my minimum is because it doesn't, honestly, it doesn't even matter.  [00:11:00] Jason: Yeah. So then people think, oh, well, then I'll do the event somewhere else. Well, if you do it somewhere else, then how are they going to get from where they're staying to the venue? And so then there's a logistical challenge. So then like people aren't like coming and it's just like it's so much easier if they walk. [00:11:17] Jason: So everything gets like complicated when you don't do it at the hotel.  [00:11:22] Sarah: Where was your first event? Where was it?  [00:11:24] Jason: It was in St. Louis at an old classic hotel. It was really beautiful.  [00:11:28] Sarah: Okay. Interesting.  [00:11:30] Jason: Yeah, we did in St. Louis. We did it at This hotel and we did it because we thought we'll make it easy because NARPM had an event around the same time. [00:11:41] Jason: So we're like, Oh man, we want to do it at the same time. So let's just do it at the same venue. I think we did it the same venue, but we booked a nicer room on the top floor with lots of windows. It was very cool. And it was on different days. So you could attend both. We thought that would give us some cross pollination and really, it didn't. [00:12:00] Jason: Like there were a few people that went to the NARPM one and came to ours, but yeah, it was like so small. So that didn't even really help. "We're like, yeah, it's so easy to stay a little longer and go to ours." [00:12:08] Sarah: Interesting. Okay. Yeah.  [00:12:10] Jason: Yeah.  [00:12:11] Sarah: So after the first DoorGrow Live, he decided, I think when I came on board, he said, "I'm never doing another event again." [00:12:18] Jason: Yeah, I just didn't want to deal with it. It was so stressful. And your whole team, that's the real part of it, is like your whole team is involved in it in different ways, unless you have someone specifically handling sales, event, marketing, planning, advertising, planning, like every role we had in our business that we needed for our business had to go towards the conference because we were now on the hook for, I can't remember, like 50, 80 grand or something with the hotel. We had to figure out how to get rooms booked. We had to figure out how to pay for speakers. It was a whole thing. It was like starting a whole nother business. And our main thing was no longer the main thing. [00:12:58] Jason: So our business stopped growing. It actually didn't grow for several years after that, like a couple of years after that. And that's why I call it my 3 million or 2 million mistake, but it was probably a bigger multi million dollar mistake than that, because there's a lot of money I could have made over those years extra. [00:13:14] Jason: We're not hurting by any means, but that really slowed things down. And I just chalk that up to being the price of tuition in business. I made a mistake. I didn't know. And I learned from it, right? And I didn't listen to my mentor. Alex was like, "make it a really small event. Make it really small. Do your first one, make it small." I'm like, "no way. I've been to so many events. I'm going to make this awesome. I want this. If I'm going to compete with all the other events that are out there, I want this to be the best." And I really think, like, we had the best food there. We had the best, like, everything was the best. [00:13:46] Jason: We had audio visual team. We had a stage set up, like, we put a lot of money into this and it was pretty awesome. Like, it went pretty well. But I was massively stressed during the whole event. And yeah, but people that went, they gave us good feedback. They had a good experience. So, which I'm glad. Then you got to like ticket sales is hard too. [00:14:06] Jason: That's a tough challenge. How do you get people to give up what they're doing to come do something else? And so, you know, we've created some really strong magic. I think at DoorGrow, like our in person events, there's just something magical about our events. There's more heart, there's more connection. [00:14:20] Jason: It changes lives and that's very different than what has happened in the space. And I think that's more just about who we are and what we bring and the type of speakers that we bring in. It's very different than just property management.  [00:14:34] Sarah: And so that's one of the things I wanted to talk about is, so you did your first event. [00:14:39] Sarah: It went well, but it was pretty crazy. We basically broke even. We're not doing another event. I came on to the business a couple years after this and there's still a lot of like trauma and PTSD associated with it and then we started talking. Well, what if we do another event? And he said "no. No I don't want to do another event," and I said, "well, what if we do it differently?" So we did bring DoorGrow Live back after that first conference that they did and we've done several of them since then. We have another one coming up in May. It's May 16th and 17th. It's a Friday and Saturday at the Kalahari Resorts in the North Austin, Texas area. So if you're watching this and you have not yet registered, then definitely go do that. You can go to doorgrowlive.Com. But we've done several of these events since then, and one of the reasons that we wanted to bring these events back, especially even though for Jason it was just so, so traumatic, we just needed to do them a little differently. [00:15:43] Sarah: So, the reason that we wanted to bring them back though is because everything is just so much different when it's in person. And we know that there's so much magic that can just happen if, you know, if we can get people in a room. It's not just going to another conference. So in the industry, there's a lot of conferences, I mean, there's tech conferences and like all the big you know softwares have their own thing and there's NARPM events and there's all kinds of things like this and DoorGrow Live is just different. It's different than all of those things. We're not trying to focus on hey, you know, what are they doing and let's duplicate it. We're focused on how can we provide like such a great experience and such great value and real connection in a like large group environment? Which is hard. [00:16:38] Sarah: Like that's a challenge. If you're like, okay, we're going to get, you know, 50 to a hundred people in a room and we want them to all be connected. That's hard. That's hard. But I think that our events do actually a really great job at that.  [00:16:49] Jason: Yeah, I think so. Yeah, we get great testimonials. It's going to we have a really cool venue We just decided to keep doing it at this Kalahari resort. [00:16:59] Jason: It's near our house. It's in Round Rock They treat us really well there. It's a big it's like we have endless room to grow there We could have thousands and thousands of people someday if we wanted to. There's plenty of room there  [00:17:12] Sarah: But they're great to work with and the rooms are nice. When you guys book a room, the rooms are nice, everything is right on property, it's very family friendly too, so, you know, if you want to kind of bring your family and usually, I've noticed sometimes people, when they go to the conference, and then their family stays at home, there's a little bit of like, "oh, you're leaving me with the kids, like, what is this? Like, you get to go off to a conference and," well, come, like, come with us and you guys can hang out at, like the water park and the Build A Bear and the restaurants and the like arcade and there's still...  [00:17:48] Jason: America's largest indoor water park. Yeah. Yeah.  [00:17:52] Sarah: And I think when you book a room, they include a ticket. [00:17:53] Sarah: Yeah.  [00:17:54] Jason: You get a ticket to all a bunch of cool stuff. So like you get a, like a wristband. So yeah it's a pretty fun place. Like there's a whole Facebook group just for people looking for deals and discounts to stay at this resort. Yeah. They're like always talking about it in that group. I've joined all the local groups, just see what's going on. [00:18:15] Jason: So, yeah, so it's pretty interesting. So yeah, we've got a really cool venue. And oh, the other things places have charged us for other places we've done some of our events they charge us for electricity, they charge us for, like, just having cords put down.  [00:18:31] Sarah: They charge for internet. [00:18:32] Jason: They find a way to charge you for everything at some venues, and so, not all venues are equal. [00:18:38] Jason: So, yeah, so we've really appreciated the Kalahari Resort in Round Rock. It's a cool resort, and they treat us really well there, so.  [00:18:45] Sarah: Yeah, and it's a great experience for people. Because that's really frustrating when you go into any kind of hotel and you're like, "Oh. Why is this where I'm at? I guess I'll be here because the conference is here, but outside of the conference being here, I would never book here." And this is not that at all. Like people like to book here for sure. I think now let's do our little demo and then we'll get back into it.  [00:19:08] Jason: Got a little sponsor for today's episode, KRS SmartBooks. [00:19:13] Jason: Do you have properties to manage and zero time for bookkeeping headaches? KRS SmartBooks is your secret weapon. They specialize in finances for busy property managers like you with 15 plus years of real estate know how and skills in Appfolio, Yardi, and more. Imagine monthly reports magically appearing and zero accounting stress. [00:19:35] Jason: Sound good? Head to KRS Books. At K as in Kansas, R as in Roger, S as in Sam. Books. Sarah's already dying. She's like, you didn't do the right military phonetically.  [00:19:46] Sarah: I really am dying inside.  [00:19:47] Jason: KRSbooks. com to book your free discovery call. Integrity, quality, and a dash of bookkeeping brilliance. That's KRS Smart Books. [00:19:58] Jason: Alright, how should I phonetically do KRS?  [00:20:00] Sarah: K like Kilo, R like Romeo, S like Sierra.  [00:20:04] Jason: Alright, Sarah, by the way, is Becoming a pilot. She's taking pilot flying lessons.  [00:20:11] Sarah: I've known the military code for years  [00:20:13] Sarah: because I used to work in a casino and that's how they would communicate in slot machines.  [00:20:20] Jason: Yeah, alright. [00:20:21] Sarah: But now it's also handy being a pilot.  [00:20:24] Jason: Okay.  [00:20:24] Sarah: Alright, so if that sounds good, I think it sounds really great. Because I know a lot of property managers struggle with bookkeeping, and that's usually not something that's fun for property managers. It's definitely necessary, but it, oh man, it's not fun, and it's really draining. [00:20:38] Sarah: So if you can find someone that's great at what they do, and you can allow them to handle that, and just kind of check in and make sure things are going well, then, whoo, man, life gets a lot easier.  [00:20:51] Jason: Yeah if you're not paying attention to the finances or the financial health of your business or your accounting You're probably getting stolen from it's just I've seen it happen so many times. [00:21:01] Jason: So get a great bookkeeper. Yeah have people you trust to take care of that. Okay.  [00:21:07] Sarah: So speaking of finances, let's talk a little bit about what kind of goes into an event. So for example, we have our DoorGrow Live coming up in May this year. So we have been working on this event now since, so our last one was in May, and then I think we started working on the new one in like July, June or July. [00:21:31] Sarah: So things that have to kind of happen just to be able to have the space, obviously, you have to look into venues, you have to, you know, look at the space, make sure it's going to work for the size of your group, which means you kind of have to estimate a little bit what it's going to look like, and then make sure that the room can. [00:21:48] Sarah: fit more or less if needed.  [00:21:51] Jason: You've got to negotiate with the hotel.  [00:21:53] Sarah: Yep. You've got to negotiate what the rates would be. You know, am I paying for the space or am I paying for the room block and the food? Because there's different ways to do it. So you've got to figure out, you know, how many rooms in the room block do I need? [00:22:09] Sarah: Because if you overestimate that, if you go, "Hey, I think I'm going to have a thousand people come" and 100 people come, it is not going to be a good time for you because every room in the room block that is not sold, you are financially on the hook for. So you get to pay for that. And it's like, it's a certain number of nights. [00:22:28] Sarah: So it's not even so much how many rooms it's, how many nights someone will book. So you want to track that along the way. And then you want to start looking at a lot of the tactical things that go into it, like, well, who is going to speak at the event? So you want to start looking at speakers and when you're looking at speakers, you start to think about, you know, who would our audience resonate with and what kind of value would they provide? [00:22:55] Sarah: And, you know, is this strategic and tactical stuff or is this like mindset and empowerment stuff? Because you kind of want to get a mix of both at each event because everyone who comes to an event They're looking for a different thing. So it's really impossible to satisfy everybody make sure everybody, you know is super happy with everything sometimes people say, "oh, I wish there was more of this and oh, I wish there was more of that," but you kind of have to do like this balance and mix to make sure that everybody gets something out of it. [00:23:25] Sarah: And that they have a great experience. You also want to build a little bit of fun into it. So that it's not just, "hey, show up to this conference, sit down, learn something, take some notes and walk out of the room." You know, we've been to events like that before. Where it's like, "okay, that was a lot. But also, man, it would have been really cool to like, do something fun and you know connect with people," so you want to you know start to build in some time so that people can connect with other people, you know, so are you going to do a mixer? [00:23:52] Sarah: Are you going to do some sort of networking event? You know, are you going to you know go do kind of some fun event before like the night before? Are you going to, you know, send them off to lunch together? What is that going to look like? So that they can really connect with each other especially when you've got a room full of people who are in the same sector, in the same industry, there's so much knowledge in that room. [00:24:15] Sarah: So just talking to other people in the room is really valuable and making connections. So there's got to be some room for that as well. And then you want to think about well, are we going to have any vendors or sponsors? Yeah, and are those vendors or sponsors people that have services that are valuable and that we trust? Because there have also been times where, you know, someone had wanted to sponsor us and we did not want them to be a sponsor. [00:24:43] Sarah: Because if they don't provide a great service, you know, can you throw some money and be in the room? Yeah, but if it's not the right person to be in the room, then that matters. That matters a lot. So we have turned down money. We've turned down sponsorships. So then you also have to think about all of the tactical things. [00:25:05] Sarah: Well, you know, am I doing round tables? Am I doing classroom style? Are we doing full circles? Are we doing semi circles? Like what is the front of the room? And what's the back of the room? And where are the vendors going to be? And what doors do people walk in and out of? And as soon as they walk in, what is the first thing that they see? [00:25:20] Sarah: In what direction do we want to go in? And are they crossing over our equipment? Is somebody going to trip and fall on all the 10,000 chords that we have like taped down and. Then you have to also think about things like your AV. So does the room have internet? Is there power in the room? And I know that seems like a silly question to ask, but guess what? [00:25:40] Sarah: Sometimes they charge you for power. So you would think, hey, there's power in the room, obviously, because like it's at a hotel. They obviously have electricity. Yeah, but do you have to pay for it?  [00:25:49] Jason: Yeah, AV is expensive. Like we rented it initially and it was so costly.  [00:25:54] Sarah: Yeah.  [00:25:54] Jason: For the price you could rent it for it made sense to just buy it. [00:25:58] Sarah: To buy it.  [00:25:59] Jason: And so we eventually bought all our own equipment, but that means now we have to set it up and we have to figure it out. And so, yeah, so there's always a challenge.  [00:26:08] Sarah: Before the actual conference, like before anybody even steps foot like on property, Jason and I and several members of our team are there setting things up. [00:26:18] Jason: Sometimes my kids. Yeah,  [00:26:19] Sarah: sometimes the kids, sometimes an assistant, sometimes Madi comes on in.  [00:26:22] Jason: We're hooking up lights, we're plugging in audio equipment.  [00:26:25] Sarah: So we like pack everything up in Jason's SUV. We drive it over, we unload it. I'm doing this in stilettos, mind you, because I'm a stubborn  [00:26:33] Jason: You do everything in stilettos. [00:26:33] Sarah: Yeah, that's what I am. Right, so we like, we get there, we unpack it, we have to set it all up. You know, we're making sure that, like, all the lights are working, a sound system has to work, because there's no point in having a microphone if it's not going to work. There's always technical errors, and I'm horrible with technology, so Jason is our tech person, and he is the only tech person that we have. [00:26:54] Sarah: So he gets to figure everything out. And then it's like, you know, is the screen working? And can people see it? And is the laptop connecting to the screen? And is it blurry or is it too big or too far? Like there's always these weird little issues that happen and I don't know how to solve any of them. [00:27:10] Sarah: Yeah, so Jason knows how to do that. And then there's the other things like well. What about swag? And you know, are we doing a registration table and who's going to be there to, you know, check people in and make sure they know what to do and they know where to go? And, you know, is there like just kind of first come first serve seating? [00:27:27] Sarah: Or is there like a separate section for, you know, special clients or VIP clients or speakers or the team? And there's also things like, "Oh, well what about name badges?" You know, are we doing, like, are we doing name badges? Are we, you know, making sure that everybody kind of knows who everybody else is? Is there anything special or is it just like a bunch of people walking into a room and then hopefully they figure out that they're in the right room? Like there's so much that goes into it and then there's the scheduling. So well, you know, who's going to go in what order, what day and time are certain speakers available? Because just because they commit to an event doesn't mean, "oh, I can speak at any point during the event." [00:28:11] Sarah: So, you know, it's putting the agenda together and how long do you give them for lunch and where are they going for lunch? And are we doing lunch? Are we, you know, letting them facilitate it on their own? Are we doing breaks? How do we get them back from breaks? Are we, it's crazy. Like it's so, there's so much. [00:28:28] Jason: If you give people a break at an event, it's like 30 minutes of downtime. Oh yeah. It's really hard to get people to like get to the next thing or come back right away. And they all start talking to each other, which is cool. They want to network. Yeah, so getting people back from lunch.  [00:28:43] Sarah: Yes, absolutely. Yes. [00:28:45] Sarah: And then it's, you know, who kicks off the event? Who opens it? Who closes it? Who's going after lunch? Because we all know most people, what happens to them after lunch? They're tired. I'm fine. But a lot of people, they're tired after lunch. So you can't have a, you know, more mundane or quiet or low energy speaker after lunch. [00:29:06] Sarah: You just can't. Because you'll lose everybody. So there's a lot that goes into the scheduling as well. And then there's things like, you know, who's going to MC it? Who's making announcements? Who's making sure that everybody knows where to be? And what time? And what to do and when to come back? And who's doing the intros for speakers? [00:29:26] Sarah: Are you doing music for every speaker that comes up? If so, like, are they picking it? Are you picking it? What happens? Like there is so so so much that goes into it, and then after you like run the event then you got to break it all down if it's your equipment. Yeah, so then it's like pack it all up and put it away and make sure nothing gets damaged or lost and repack the car and unload it again, and like there is so much that goes Into it. [00:29:53] Sarah: And I would say at this point, it's funny because Jason now can show up to DoorGrow Live and nine out of 10 times, he has no idea what's going to happen or when.  [00:30:05] Sarah: I love it.  [00:30:06] Sarah: I just call him up on stage and he's like, oh, okay, because, and I'm like, my team handle most of it. Talking on this go.  [00:30:12] Jason: Right now. I still just have to make sure the tech stuff all works. [00:30:15] Jason: But yeah, other than that, yeah, I don't. I don't have to do as much which is nice, but because it's stressful enough. It's stressful enough So yeah, so it's a lot. There's a lot that goes into it, but it's been worth it to have you know to see people's lives change to see people impacted. We've noticed there's some sort of magic that happens that when people come to something in person with us even if they've been a client for years, they start to get different results. [00:30:40] Jason: They start to see things differently. They start to absorb all of our content, our information, our training material, our ideas more effectively. Everything just magnifies. There's something about in person. You can't get the same sort of benefit in your business. If you think, "all I need to do is read books and watch videos and show up to zoom calls to grow my business. [00:31:04] Jason: Look, there's a lot of benefits in all of those things. I do all those things, but we still go to in person things. There's something different about in person that I don't know if it's the energy of being in the same space as the people you're learning from. If it's the group energy and that group mind that makes you able to like learn and faster. [00:31:23] Jason: There's, but there's some, I don't know if maybe there's some quantum physical magic, magical stuff, but there's something different about it in person. It's happened too many times for me to like believe otherwise or to dismiss it. I've had too many clients that I've been working with for years, go to their first in person thing with us, and then they have some breakthrough. And I'm like what? And they tell me about it, and I'm like, "I've been teaching you that for years!" Like "I know but like but it's just hit differently." [00:31:51] Jason: Yeah, "I just got it." [00:31:52] Sarah: It hits different. It feels different and you just absorb things. [00:31:57] Jason: And because we've seen this pattern, we've seen this pattern, we now make it part of our onboarding of every new client to come hang out with Sarah and I in person for a one day with usually a small cohort and like, and just get some things figured out and dialed in their business. [00:32:14] Jason: And that's been magic for our business. Like it's been magic for our clients, magic for us. So we give them that in person experience early on. And then DoorGrow Live allows them to connect with others, which is there's just something different about the people at DoorGrow. The property managers at DoorGrow are different. [00:32:30] Jason: I've been to a lot of conferences. A lot. Like in various industries, but especially in property management. And there's something different about the people that we attract and the clients that we attract. They're growth minded, they're positive active in mentalities, which means they're not like the skeptical, negative Nancy's that are grumpy about the industry and the business. [00:32:51] Jason: That there's this positive growth minded, healthier sort of personality that we attract at DoorGrow. And maybe that says a little bit about who we are, because that's what I tried to be. But we attract amazing people and the connections people make, when you're connecting with other people that are like you, that are growth minded and you both share an industry and a share a business model, like it really helps you grow. [00:33:15] Jason: Your business is the sum of the five property management business owners you as a business owner are most connected to or that you're most influenced by. So look at those property managers if you've got coaches or mentors, and they're not people that you really like that maybe you think they're smart, but you don't really want to be more like them, then maybe you're around the wrong people. [00:33:34] Jason: Maybe you have the wrong coach, and I'm not the coach for everybody. Sarah's not the coach for everybody. But you should have a coach. Otherwise, you're selling yourself short if you're not accountable to anybody, you're definitely getting less results than you could or should be so come to DoorGrow Live come check us out. This DoorGrow Live, [00:33:52] Jason: I want to open our playbooks up if Sarah lets me. I want to just reveal some really amazing stuff that only our clients get to see because I want to show anyone that shows up that's not part of our DoorGrow ecosystem. Our clients know the magic's there. We have more case studies or testimonials than anyone else in the industry, but if you're not a DoorGrow client, and you want to come to DoorGrow Live I'm going to give you some gifts for sure, some magic. We're going to make some significant changes in your business. They're going to help you make a lot more money a lot more easily and keep a lot more of your profit and so come hang out with us. [00:34:29] Jason: You're not going to be disappointed for sure So there you go.  [00:34:33] Sarah: Yeah. This event we've got some really awesome things planned. We can't let too much out of the bag at this point. But we always have some really great things planned and every event we do, like we always learn from it. [00:34:46] Sarah: And we always do like a little team meeting afterwards and we get feedback from people. We're always looking to make it better and better. And this year is absolutely no exception to that. So the things that we have planned for this year, like I know that if you come to this event, it will change your business and it will change your life. [00:35:12] Sarah: And I know that's a really bold statement and we're ready to back it.  [00:35:16] Jason: Yeah. And maybe that could be a later podcast episode as we get closer to the event. But we can tell you a little bit more about what's going to be happening there, but hopefully this was interesting to get behind the scenes at all that goes into DoorGrow Live and we meet on this you know, we're talking about it weekly, monthly in our planning meetings, like and quarterly. [00:35:37] Jason: And so, and that's it for today's episode. So if you are interested in that, go check it out at DoorGrowLive.Com and get your tickets and get things booked and get ready to come have an amazing experience in May at DoorGrow Live. So, and until next time to our mutual growth, bye everyone. 

Another season of UCSB Baseball begins this weekend as the Gauchos play host to the Campbell Fighting Camels, the return leg of last years opening series with the foes from Buies Creek.  Bob Brontsema joins us to preview the upcoming season as we recap the thrilling Alumni Game, discuss the Gauchos 53 game schedule, the new BigWest Conference Tournament, the vaunted UCSB pitching staff led by aces Tyler Bremner, Jackson Flora & Cole Tryba, as well as the collection of talented position players who will take the field this weekend. Gaucho9 is sponsored by Kyle's Kitchen & Yardi, who will introduce the new Yardi Youth Pass this season allowing all youth 6th grade or younger free entry to all Baseball & Softball games. 

Interest in self-storage has increased in over 75% of the top metropolitan areas, according to the latest annual survey of self-storage preferences conducted by StorageCafe. This nationwide self-storage search website is part of Yardi. As of 2024, Millennials constitute 25% of all self-storage renters, whether current or prospective.   Compared to StorageCafe's 2023 annual report, there have been slight shifts in generational differences among renter demographics. The percentage of Millennial self-storage renters rose from 21% to 25%, marking the most significant year-over-year increase among the generations. Gen Z and Boomer renters saw an increase of one percentage point, now at 12% and 22%, respectively. In contrast, the Silent Generation decreased by three points to 13%, while Gen X remained stable at 23%.   According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average American employee changes jobs every 4.2 years. However, individuals may change jobs 10 to 15 times throughout their careers.   Sean Graham is the founder of Maven Cost Seg. As a real estate investor and a registered CPA, he understands the tax benefits of cost segregation studies. Sean initiated his real estate journey by investing in small multi-family properties before launching a commercial real estate syndication company called Maven Equities.  He did so because he started his career as a CPA in public accounting. He soon realized a traditional corporate path wasn't for him, so he began exploring real estate. His first property was an FHA-financed house hack. After experiencing the challenges of residential rentals, he moved into self-storage facilities drawn by less tenant turnover and streamlined management. He continues managing his portfolio of residential rental properties while investing in and developing self-storage facilities. With a background in public accounting, tax, and private equity, Sean leverages his expertise in scaling teams and maximizing tax benefits through cost segregation studies.   As Maven Equities expanded, he began hiring virtual assistants to help with scaling. After learning the best practices for finding quality overseas talent, he founded Maven Success to assist other entrepreneurs in doing the same.   Most recently, Sean launched Maven Cost Seg to help real estate investors access cost segregation benefits at an affordable price. He remains involved in managing his residential rental portfolio while also focusing on self-storage facility development.   Find out more: https://mavensuccess.com/conversation  Email: sean@mavencostseg.com  Discount code: https://mavencostseg.com/conversation/ 

The Shred is a weekly roundup of who's raised funds, who's getting acquired and who's on the move in the world of recruitment. The Shred is brought to you today by Jobcase.

Raj Bhaskar is a successful two-time practical software founder with one exit. In 2000, he started his first software company, VisualHOMES, to provide a comprehensive financial management software to public housing agencies. With no outside funding, the business grew to serve 65 regional providers serving 2 million residents before Yardi Systems acquired the company in 2010.  After he left Yardi two years later, Raj and his brother launched Hurdlr to reach the wider small business market with a simpler accounting and tax management software than Quickbooks. They started selling their online accounting software to small businesses, but eventually they returned to their original vision to build embedded (white label) accounting that works inside other software.  Hurdlr has grown steadily and has served over 1.3 million small businesses in its 13-year history. Raj invested his own money for many years and a little outside investment. The company is now “lifetime profitable” and growing quickly with 25 employees. Raj loves his work and has no intention of selling the business anytime soon. Quote from Raj Bhaskar, cofounder and CEO of Hurdlr “I ran my previous software business for 10 years before I sold it. And Hurdlr is now over 10 years old. These days, I'm talking about the next 10 years and the next 10 years after that. The next decade and two decades from now, because it's relevant and because I think we're just getting started. “I've seen inflection points in markets, and our market is finally ready. That's the part we didn't have any control over. So, in my view, there is no finish line. This is the starting line where we now have all these assets and need to let more people know we exist. “It's crazy to say after 10 years that this is just the beginning. So I could say probably 20 years from now, looking backward, OK, these are the phases, but I'm in new territory and I know this will be a sustainable and growing business for a long time.” Links Raj Bhaskar on LinkedIn Hurdlr on LinkedIn Hurdlr website Podcast Sponsor – Full Scale This week's podcast is sponsored by Full Scale, one of the fastest-growing software development companies in any region. Full Scale vets, employs, and supports over 300 professional developers, designers, and testers in the Philippines who can augment and extend your core dev team. Learn more at fullscale.io. The Practical Founders Podcast Tune into the Practical Founders Podcast for weekly in-depth interviews with founders who have built valuable software companies without big funding. Subscribe to the Practical Founders Podcast using your favorite podcast app. Get the weekly Practical Founders newsletter and podcast updates at practicalfounders.com/newsletter.

Connie Lee is the Founder of Reffie, a centralized leasing platform designed to help Multifamily operators streamline their leasing processes and lease units faster. Reffie helps automate the 'boring', so real estate operators can focus on closing more renters. Before launching Reffie, she served as Strategy & Operations at Mosaic.tech and also managed Finance and Business Operations at ZipRecruiter. Connie is also a Real Estate investor in Los Angeles and an angel investor in various startups.(02:40) - Connie's entrepreneurial journey to Founding Reffie(05:49) - Challenges in Multifamily Leasing(07:24) - Leveraging AI in Real Estate(15:11) - Feature | Berkadia's BeEngaged - Learn more: Ecosystem of founders, industry professionals, and capital providers dedicated to redefining the Commercial Real Estate space.(16:47) - Reffie's Business Model(28:50) - State of the Housing Market(33:52) - Feature | CREtech NY Conference & Expo - Sign Up: Tangent listeners get a 20% discount using code PARTNERTANGENT20 at checkout.(35:24) - Rental Trends & Amenities(39:07) - Collaboration Superpower: Taylor Swift

Remen Okoruwa is a former strategy consultant and product manager, and now Co-founder and CEO at Propexo. His company helps property owners, operators, and proptech companies deliver better resident experiences through the power of data. Propexo provides tools for connecting property management software with other technology in a streamlined way. Propexo is a customer-centric organization that focuses on data strategies that delight residents, improve NOI, and make Multifamily real estate a better place for everyone.(2:06) - Remen's & Propexo's origin story(4:47) - Building the Plaid for Proptech(8:32) - State of Propexo today(12:02) - Propexo's model & ROI in Multifamily(16:04) - Serving diverse use cases & customer base(17:22) - Feature | Berkadia's BeEngaged - Learn more: Ecosystem of founders, industry professionals, and capital providers dedicated to redefining the commercial real estate space.(18:59) - How Proptech VC looks at integratability(24:26) - Building a collaborative & customer-centric product road map(26:54) - RealPage v. US Justice Department(29:27) - Feature | CREtech NY Conference & Expo - Sign Up: Tangent listeners get a 20% discount using code PARTNERTANGENT20 at checkout.(33:42) - Collaboration Superpower: Cyrus the Great (Wiki)

Yardi is value add for multifamily real estate. Period. ‘Value add' and ‘forced appreciation' are usually tied to exterior upgrades, paint, carpets, kitchens, and amenities to drive net operating income (NOI). Yardi is redefining that. You can buy a building where the traditional value add has already been maxed out, implement Yardi's systems, and—Presto!—you've just added more value, boosting NOI. If you're not using Yardi's AI-enhanced systems, you're falling behind. My guest today, Paul Yount, Industry Principal, Residential, shares how Yardi helps you dominate your competition and increase returns for you and your investors. Here's what you'll learn about: Virtual Assistants for Leasing: Yardi's AI chatbot, Chat IQ, automates responses to prospective residents via email, text, and voice. It provides faster, more effective responses than human interaction, helping you lease up quicker, convert more leads, reduce vacancies, and drive profits. Maintenance AI: Yardi's AI doesn't just log maintenance requests; it diagnoses and suggests solutions proactively, cutting maintenance requests by 17%. This streamlines operations, reduces costs, and improves resident satisfaction. Virtuoso Assistant: Designed for internal use, this AI assistant allows property managers to request and analyze performance data—like rent rolls or occupancy reports—via simple commands, optimizing decision-making and boosting management efficiency. Bottom Line: If you're a multifamily operator facing property management challenges, this podcast is a must-listen. ***** The only Podcast you need on real estate and AI.   Learn how other real estate pros are using AI to get ahead of their competition.   Get early notice of hot new game-changing AI real estate apps.   Walk away with something you can actually use in every episode.   PLUS, subscribe to my free newsletter and get: • practical guides, • how-to's, and • news updates   All exclusively for real estate investors that make learning AI fun and easy and insanely productive, for free.   EasyWin.AI  

On today's show we are talking about how to find good data.  Last night I hosted an event and invited the Keynote Speaker from Costar to present to our audience. It was a great presentation and the speaker had lots of relevant statistics that would be of interest to anyone in my local market. There were numbers on multi-family apartments, on office, industrial.  During the informal part of the evening we got into a debate about the best sources of data. Every company that specializes in analytics seems to have their own special sauce for how they gather and validate their data.  Some property management companies like Yardi and Realpage also have data analytics products. Both companies are leaders in property management and they can rely on the vast quantity of data that is hosted in their system to provide an accurate picture of the market, but only for the properties they have viability of.  Companies like Costar and ALN use a more old school approach. They have legions of analysts who will monitor the market and pick up the phone and call property owners when a transaction takes place on a commercial property. They will call the property managers at a property and interview them. It's hard to know whether the property managers are being fully honest in the interview process.  One of the reasons why the reports differ has to do with the methodology.  ---------- **Real Estate Espresso Podcast:** Spotify: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://open.spotify.com/show/3GvtwRmTq4r3es8cbw8jW0?si=c75ea506a6694ef1)   iTunes: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-real-estate-espresso-podcast/id1340482613)   Website: [www.victorjm.com](http://www.victorjm.com)   LinkedIn: [Victor Menasce](http://www.linkedin.com/in/vmenasce)   YouTube: [The Real Estate Espresso Podcast](http://www.youtube.com/@victorjmenasce6734)   Facebook: [www.facebook.com/realestateespresso](http://www.facebook.com/realestateespresso)   Email: [podcast@victorjm.com](mailto:podcast@victorjm.com)  **Y Street Capital:** Website: [www.ystreetcapital.com](http://www.ystreetcapital.com)   Facebook: [www.facebook.com/YStreetCapital](https://www.facebook.com/YStreetCapital)   Instagram: [@ystreetcapital](http://www.instagram.com/ystreetcapital)  

It's been 6 years since we've had TenantCloud join us on the podcast, and a lot has changed since then! In today's episode of the #DoorGrowShow, property management growth expert Jason Hull welcomes Mark DeHaan from TenantCloud to talk about how it can help property managers collect payments, advertise properties, and screen potential tenants. You'll Learn [03:03] TenantCloud update!  [06:46] How does TenantCloud compare? [09:34] TenantCloud integrations  [12:20] Scaling with your software  [15:56] Starting strong with Rentler  Tweetables “A lot of times when you get into rental real estate… you log into a property management system and you're like, "holy smokes, this is so overwhelming like I can't figure this out.” “A lot of property managers have all of these different tools. They kind of build their own Swiss army knife or stack of different tools and software.” “A lot of property managers have a challenge with financials and accounting.” “We love the rental real estate industry and helping people grow and make passive income and that's what we're all about.” Resources DoorGrow and Scale Mastermind DoorGrow Academy DoorGrow on YouTube DoorGrowClub DoorGrowLive TalkRoute Referral Link Transcript [00:00:00] Mark: A lot of times when you log into a property management system and you're like, "holy smokes, this is so overwhelming, like I can't figure this out." [00:00:07] And that's, I think the differentiator that we tried to solve.   [00:00:11] Jason: Welcome DoorGrow property managers to the DoorGrow show. If you are property management entrepreneur that wants to add doors, make a difference, increase revenue, help others, impact lives, and you are interested in growing in business and life, and you're open to doing things a bit differently, then you are a DoorGrow property manager. [00:00:29] DoorGrow property managers love the opportunities, daily variety, unique challenges, and freedom that property management brings. Many in real estate think you're crazy for doing it. You think they're crazy for not because you realize that property management is the ultimate high trust gateway to real estate deals, relationships, and residual income. At DoorGrow, we are on a mission to transform property management business owners, and their businesses. We want to transform the industry, eliminate the BS, build awareness, change perception, expand the market and help the best property management entrepreneurs win I'm your host, property management growth expert, Jason Hull, the founder and CEO of DoorGrow. [00:01:10] Now, let's get into the show. And my guest today is Mark DeHaan of TenantCloud. So Mark, welcome to the show. Good to have you.  [00:01:19] Mark: Yeah. Thanks Jason. Nice to meet you. Appreciate it.  [00:01:22] Jason: So we haven't had TenantCloud on the show for like six years. Back then, Joe Edgar was CEO. I had to look it up because I'm like, "I know, that they've been on the show before." [00:01:32] So I'm guessing a little bit's changed since then. So why don't we start by getting into a little bit about Mark. Tell us, tell everybody like, who are you and how'd you get into your entrepreneurial journey and then what led you to being at TenantCloud?  [00:01:46] Mark: Yeah, great. Yeah. So I'm based here just outside of Salt Lake city, Utah. [00:01:50] And I was a co founder of Rentler. And we partnered with TenantCloud, merged with them about five years ago with Joe. And when he exited, I ended up taking over as a CEO and running both Rentler and TenantCloud. And it's been a big journey by then, but yeah, my history was rental real estate. [00:02:13] And being an entrepreneur and really sacrificing and so forth. And it's been really exciting, and I love your audience because I think they can relate to, you know, being an entrepreneur and trying to grow in the real estate business.  [00:02:25] Jason: So for sure. I'm looking up Rentler right now, cause I don't know what it is. [00:02:30] What's Rentler? [00:02:31] Mark: So Rentler primarily focuses on listings and filling vacancies for landlords, small mom and pop landlords. Yeah. It does some payments and screenings and a few other tools and syndicates out your leads. And then TenantCloud is a lot more robust. It does the accounting, the maintenance, a ton of things that you can track with service professionals and your owners and reporting. [00:02:53] And so they came, they come together really nicely. And we just try to really focus on. landlords and property managers and using technology to make their lives easier.  [00:03:03] Jason: Got it. So what's what's been going on at TenantCloud since in the last six years? Like what what are you guys doing lately? [00:03:12] And you know, why should people use TenantCloud? Like, let's get into it.  [00:03:17] Mark: Yeah. So the last bit we've been growing tremendously. We're processing over a billion dollars in rent payments a year. Well over that. And TenantCloud really as its core is to help the rental life cycle and help owners, service professionals, tenants, and landlords really come together and leverage technology to run the business and the way we built it was with that in mind to really make things seamless and easy. And you can pay your rent with, you know, ACH, credit, debit, Apple Pay, Google Pay. We have a lot of things that we're working on to just make life easier there. We do screenings, have a ton of different bundles, options for you to do screenings and to protect your investment. And that's been really good to help people with income verification and criminal and background checks and of that nature. [00:04:11] Yeah and we do a lot of accounting. We will even file your Schedule E for you automatically. So the cool thing about TenantCloud is you don't have to have a degree in accounting. You can really log into our software and we're, we'll lead you along that process. And we'll do a lot of the tax reporting team management and you know...  [00:04:33] Jason: Can you explain what a schedule E is for those that might not be familiar with it. [00:04:38] Mark: Yeah, absolutely. So schedule E is you know, to report income or loss on your rental real estate. And that's one thing that you'll have to do. You'll get a 1040 form and, you know, the government will want you to file that. And sometimes that can be tough to do, but with our system we will track all of your expenses and all your income and so forth and help you file that form on your behalf.  [00:05:05] Jason: So for property managers, they're doing this third party for owners, this then becomes a resource for the owners that they're managing properties for. It will do it for them as well? [00:05:15] Mark: Yes, and we do have like an owner portal. So what's great is you can have your owners log in instead of having that back and forth. [00:05:24] We give them a login where they can have some view access to see their portfolio as well. So it just makes it easy for those property managers to work with their owners.  [00:05:35] Jason: Got it. Okay. Now what's different between a property manager using this tool or like owners just going direct and getting TenantCloud and bypassing the property manager? [00:05:46] Mark: Well, yeah, I mean, some owners can do that, but I mean, then they have to deal with a lot of the heavy lifting with the maintenance and managing all the units. And so with the property manager using our system, we make it easy for the owners to have access and you can send your distributions to them and so forth. [00:06:05] But it really comes down to the ease of use and being able to manage all your leads. Manage, you know, all your contracts, all your communications with your tenants and with it, it's such a affordable option. Like our lowest plan is 17 bucks a month and we don't do a lot of unit restrictions like other competitors where you can add a bunch of units on the system. And really make it affordable for you as a property manager. So, yeah, hopefully that answers your question there.  [00:06:36] Jason: Got it. Okay. So you would say TenantCloud's probably a lot more affordable than some of the competition that exists for property managers out there. So how would you say TenantCloud kind of compares to some of the big names in the industry like Appfolio, Propertyware, there's a bunch of these You know, and then I know Bodia just came out with RentVine and then Rent Manager, you know, these tools. So we've got clients using all these different tools. [00:07:03] So how does TenantCloud sort of fit into the mix and how do you kind of stand out among all these different tools because there's so many of them now.  [00:07:11] Mark: Yeah. So we started with the end user in mind where it was more of a business to consumer platform where you didn't have to do a heavy integration and you could just quickly create an account and more of a self service where it would be really intuitive. [00:07:28] If you were, you know, if you had one property up to, you know, 50 units, you could easily log in. And it was way more affordable than those bigger players. They have monthly minimums, and you'd have to spend months to integrate your stuff. Everything we built was to make it so, boom, within a couple days, you could get set up, and we would help you add your accounts, add your units, add your tenants data. And so we really tried to make it cutting edge where we used a lot of the technology to help you get set up a lot quicker. And so one thing that people really, they come over to us is. You know, they're like, "man, your platform is a lot easier to use because of the way you built it. It's just really quick to get it. I don't have to hire an accountant or get an implementation manager to help me use your software" because a lot of times when you get into rental real estate, you're an entrepreneur or you have a day job and then you log into a property management system and you're like, "holy smokes, this is so overwhelming, like I can't figure this out." [00:08:35] And that's, I think the differentiator that we tried to solve is that you don't have to have a professional help you use our software. You can just go ahead and get started and it will help you from day one.  [00:08:46] Jason: So basically, you're kind of one of your unique differentiators is since you started with the consumer in mind, instead of maybe a property manager in mind, you focus really on maybe the tenant and the property owner's experience being you know, really great, which once you started focusing on property managers, probably made a lot easier for the property managers. They're probably getting less questions. Maybe the reports are a little more clear. It's a little bit easier for them to figure out what they need, which has been a frustration. I've heard from a lot of software, you know, the owners find it confusing. They find their statements confusing. The tenants are like feeling things are confusing. Now a lot of property managers have all of these different tools. They kind of build their own Swiss army knife or stack of different tools and software. [00:09:34] How are integrations with TenantCloud or which things do you guys do really well that they might not need? You know, some of our clients might, for example, be using TenantTurner, even though they use Appfolio in order to get properties leased out and, or they might be, or to do self showings, or they might be using we've got a lot of clients getting going on this new AI maintenance coordinator called Vendoroo, or in the past, they might use PropertyMeld, you know, for maintenance coordination. [00:10:01] So they're stacking all these different tools because usually there's better stuff than what the property management software has internally. How does TenantCloud sort of go with this?  [00:10:11] Mark: Yeah, that's a great question. So TenantTurner is an awesome company and we have an integration with them. [00:10:18] Jason: Okay.  [00:10:18] Mark: And so we feel like we're a platform and we're doing more and more integrations with companies like you mentioned with maintenance. There's others out there that solve that problem. I mean, we have a maintenance portal, but we love to integrate other tools and make it so it's seamless and easy that you can do a show in coordination like a TenantTurner and so forth. [00:10:39] And so, yeah, that's a big thing for our users and we love to work nicely with other companies that will help benefit them.  [00:10:47] Jason: Great. So, TenantCloud has an open API that some of these companies can connect with? Yeah. Okay. Awesome.  [00:10:54] Mark: Absolutely. I mean, we have a partnerships team and they can reach out and we can, you know, when our users request certain things, we say, you know, that makes sense. [00:11:04] So absolutely. We love that.  [00:11:06] Jason: Is there a scenario or a situation in which you think. TenantCloud' s maybe not a good fit for certain property managers or certain types of management.  [00:11:18] Mark: Yeah, that is sometimes like multifamily or you're getting really a ton of units. You're going to probably need something a little bit more robust. [00:11:27] Now, we just launched reconciliation and some other features more reporting tools to help as we move up market because primarily we were focused on ones that, you know, had under 10 units and then we started growing. Now we have people that use us that have a few hundred doors and they love it. [00:11:46] They love the ease of use. They love the cost. They love that it's not restrictive, but some of that trade off is like, "Hey, you don't have some of these other customizations that you know, maybe a Yardi or some of these bigger players have." And so I would say if that's the case, you know, you'd have to wait a little bit as we continue to add more of those robust features for the upmarket bigger players. [00:12:08] Jason: It sounds like TenantCloud is a great place for a property manager. And it's small to start, especially when they're getting pushed back from places like Appfolio or Buildium, saying you have to have a 200 door minimum stuff like this. Is TenantCloud something that can scale with them up to maybe a thousand doors? Are they going to run into some capacity issue or some challenges if they continue? Because switching software is hard.  [00:12:31] Mark: Yeah, it is. And we do have some that have a thousand doors and some bigger ones and they love it. And I think it's just the way you approach your business and how you can adapt. [00:12:41] I mean, you'd save a ton of money and the way that every property manager is different. You know, I wish there was a standard in how accounting worked in the industry and how things did with money in, money out and so forth. But so sometimes people say, "well, I'm just so used to how these older systems work," and that's fine. [00:12:59] But if you want to be more innovative and more customer facing and adopt, you know, the latest technologies on how payments are being transferred and so forth, then I think you'll fit in really good, you know, with what we have going on.  [00:13:13] Jason: Got it. Yeah. I know that's been an industry issue for a long time is they're not being sort of a standard in accounting and NARPM then released the NARPM sort of chart of accounts and the NARPM accounting standard that hopefully is starting to get people a little more on the same page. [00:13:30] It has kind of been an adoption challenge, I think, and some people are starting to get going on it. And then there's definitely some businesses that have been capitalizing on it financially to like help businesses get that dialed in and get their QuickBooks like mapped out. Related to that, a lot of property managers have a challenge with financials and accounting. [00:13:51] They've got the accounting they've got to do for the client, right? Which is usually done by their property management software. But then there's their internal accounting, their own books. And some of them try to run that through their software, which I think is a little crazy. Or some of them tried, like, will have QuickBooks or something else. [00:14:07] I've noticed this it is a common problem in the industry is like people having this accounting mess and not being focused on it. Some outsource it and I've had clients come to me that say they found out their bookkeeper or accountant wasn't doing things right for like three years. And then one of my clients was suing their accountant and won and like, but it's still a mess that has to be cleaned up. [00:14:31] And so, maybe you could touch on TenantCloud. I know you help with the owners and their properties and the accounting. I'm sure. How do they help with their business accounting? Is there any connection to like maybe quickBooks, or is this something that the tool helps with or how would this work? [00:14:50] Mark: Yeah. So we have an integration with QuickBooks and that helps. And then everything we do with the reporting and with all your financials, we just try to make it really easy between the owners and the property managers so that, you know, it's seamless, but I do feel like, you know, QuickBooks could help. [00:15:09] And, you know, primarily we're trying to do property management software. But you know, personal finance is a big part of that. We just are launching a cool product with our banking partner where we can now loan some capital to folks that want to grow some doors. And so with our payment system and our banking partner, people can quickly get a loan directly through our system and they could use it to then go buy their next rental property. So we're looking at more innovative ways. That just kind of reminded me on the personal finance, like, "Hey, I really want to go buy this next door, but I don't have some money." We can help loan that money to help you grow your business. [00:15:51] And that's going to be coming out here at the end of this year.  [00:15:54] Jason: Cool. Very cool. So how does how does this relationship with Rentler and TenantCloud benefit, maybe property managers that are looking to use your software. And this, your shirt has on it. So then you've got this relationship going there. [00:16:08] So how did these kind of work together? I'm curious.  [00:16:11] Mark: Yeah. So Rentler doesn't have a subscription. It's free to use. And so if you're just like one unit. And you're just barely getting in. Let's say you're moving and you just need to rent out your basement apartment or you just have one property, you can use our payment system, do screenings and you can list your property, syndicate, get your leads, fill vacancies. And it's like super light. I mean, it would probably be very similar to like a Cozy back in the day, or like a Zillow Rent Manager just something there to just boom, do that. And then as you graduate, as you go, "Hey, I really want to do more accounting or actually property management software." [00:16:51] Then you graduate up to TenantCloud and when you list with TenantCloud, it will post on Rentler, but Rentler was primarily, you know, a listings and filling vacancy. So that's how that works.  [00:17:02] Jason: Is there an easy upgrade path from Rentler to TenantCloud or?  [00:17:06] Mark: Absolutely. Yeah, there is. [00:17:07] Yeah, we have a fantastic support system. Pretty much 24 seven support. We have chat, we have people you can call and we'll help you. Most all of our support have been in property management and ran their own property management companies. And so they're really helpful to. to guide you and what you need for your business. [00:17:26] Jason: Got it. Okay. Very cool. So, well, this is very helpful. Anything else that people should know about TenantCloud if they're working on making this decision right now between all these different software that exist out there?  [00:17:38] Mark: Yeah, I'd say we have a free trial and give us a shot and there's a lot of great things coming down the pipe. [00:17:44] So just ask our team, you know, Hey, if we don't have something that we probably will have it coming soon, but yeah, give us a go and you'll love it and we'll make your life a lot easier.  [00:17:56] Jason: Very cool. Awesome. Well, Mark, how can people find out more about TenantCloud? How can they get in touch with y'all? [00:18:04] Mark: Yeah, they can log on TenantCloud. com. We do a webinar every Thursday and they can learn about our system. And they can sign up for that on our website, TenantCloud. com. They can reach out. We have a great sales team, account management team that will give you a demo. You know, We'll do a consult free consultation on your business and help you out with that. [00:18:25] So we're happy to help we love the rental real estate industry and helping people grow and make passive income and that's what we're all about.  [00:18:34] Jason: Awesome mark. Thanks for coming on the DoorGrow show giving us an update on TenantCloud and everybody check them out at TenantCloud. com. Thanks for coming, Mark. [00:18:43] Mark: All right. Thank you, Jason. Appreciate it.  [00:18:45] Jason: You bet. All right. So if you are a property management entrepreneur and you are either struggling to get leads or to add doors to your property management business, reach out to DoorGrow. We might be able to help you and we've been able to help lots of our clients add hundreds of doors to their portfolios to help them scale their businesses. [00:19:09] And we would love to see if we might be a fit for you to help you scale as well. So check us out at doorgrow.Com. And if you are a fan of the podcast or you follow us on YouTube. Make sure to like, and subscribe and make sure you're plugged in and make sure to join our free Facebook community by going to DoorGrow club. com. If you go to doorgrowclub.Com, it will redirect you to our Facebook group so that you can join. Make sure you answer the questions clearly because we're really careful about who we let in. We reject 60 to 70 percent of the people that apply to join that group every month. It's for property management, entrepreneurs, property management business owners. [00:19:54] That includes those of you that are starting a property management business, just let us know that in the questions. So answer the questions. Join that and make sure you're asking questions inside the group and you'll by joining the group. We will also send you a series of free gifts to benefit you including a fee bible and some other resources that I think would be really useful to your business. [00:20:18] And you can also then schedule a call with our team. So check that out doorgrowclub.com. Until next time, everybody. To our mutual growth. Have an awesome week. Bye everyone [00:20:28] you just listened to the #DoorGrowShow. We are building a community of the savviest property management entrepreneurs on the planet in the DoorGrowClub. Join your fellow DoorGrow Hackers at doorgrowclub.com. Listen, everyone is doing the same stuff. SEO, PPC, pay-per-lead content, social direct mail, and they still struggle to grow!  [00:20:54] At DoorGrow, we solve your biggest challenge: getting deals and growing your business. Find out more at doorgrow.com. Find any show notes or links from today's episode on our blog doorgrow.com, and to get notified of future events and news subscribe to our newsletter at doorgrow.com/subscribe. Until next time, take what you learn and start DoorGrow Hacking your business and your life.

Is now the time to be bullish or bearish on real estate? In this episode of REady2Scale, host Jeanette Friedrich, Director of Investor Relations at Blue Lake Capital, sits down with Paul Fiorilla, Director of US Research Editorial for Yardi Matrix. Paul brings a wealth of knowledge from his extensive background in real estate research and editorial roles, including his time as Editor-in-Chief of the CRE Finance Council and VP at Prudential Real Estate. Key Takeaways: -Market Trends and Forecasts: Paul shares his insights on where the real estate market is headed, particularly focusing on multifamily properties. He discusses the varying performance of different property types, such as the challenges faced by the office sector versus the booming industrial and resilient retail sectors. -Multifamily Market Analysis: The episode delves into the multifamily market's performance post-pandemic, highlighting significant trends in household formation, migration to the Sunbelt, and rent growth. Paul provides a detailed analysis of current trends and future predictions for rent growth and occupancy rates across various regions. -Impact of Economic Factors: Paul discusses how economic factors, such as job growth, immigration, and supply chain issues, influence real estate markets. He explains how these factors contribute to the current market conditions and what investors can expect moving forward. -Comparing Financial Crises: A comparison between the 2008 financial crisis and the current market situation is made, with Paul explaining why today's market is not headed for a similar systemic crisis. He highlights the differences in leverage, economic performance, and the health of the banking sector. -Geopolitical and Macroeconomic Impacts: The episode touches on the potential impacts of geopolitical events and macroeconomic trends on real estate investing. Paul provides insights into how global trade, political changes, and exogenous events can influence real estate markets. -Investment Strategies: Paul emphasizes the importance of having a well-defined investment strategy. He shares examples of successful investment approaches, such as those used by large operators like Blackstone, and offers advice on identifying and capitalizing on emerging trends and niche property types. Connect with Paul: Listeners can connect with Paul Fiorella through the Yardi website, via email at Paul.Fiorella@yardi.com, or on LinkedIn, where he regularly shares his research and insights. Watch the full episode here. Read the transcript here. Timestamps 00:00 Introduction and Guest Welcome 01:07 Paul's Insights on Real Estate Market Trends 02:52 Deep Dive into Property Types and Performance 21:33 Comparing 2008 Financial Crisis to Today 36:16 Geopolitical Impacts and Future Predictions Are you REady2Scale Your Multifamily Investments? Learn more about growing your wealth, strengthening your portfolio, and scaling to the next level at www.bluelake-capital.com. To reach Ellie & the Blue Lake team, email them at info@bluelake-capital.com or complete our investor form at www.bluelake-capital.com/new-investor-form and they'll connect with you. Credits Producer: Blue Lake Capital Strategist: Syed Mahmood Editor: Emma Walker Opening Music: Pomplamoose Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices