Property Management Growth with DoorGrow

You finally find time for your first vacation in seven years, so you leave your property management company in good hands with a long-term employee. Just as you’re feeling relaxed, having fun, and enjoying time in the sun, you get a text message from your worker, “I quit.” There goes your vacation. It’s time to head back to the office! After experiencing the same situation, Mark and Anne Lackey decided to start HireSmart Virtual Assistants, which helps property managers and companies find, train, certify, and outsource full-time dedicated virtual assistants. You'll Learn... [04:22] Definition of a virtual assistant (VA) via 3 segments. [07:55] Why get a VA and how to prepare for one. [12:03] HireSmart’s 10-step hiring process to source the perfect person. [13:05] Criteria and Assessments: Why HireSmart has a 97% success rate. [17:47] Changing the Landscape and Lives: VAs are in top 1% of remote workers. [21:05] Difference between a dedicated staff and productivity. [23:14] How to start the VA search process with HireSmart. [27:03] Local vs. international hires; don’t treat them any differently. [30:25] Benefits: Save time, energy, money, and become better business people. [32:45] Basic things to consider (i.e., language, education, availability) Tweetables What isn’t getting done because you’re too busy, don’t want to do it, or not good at it? Criteria and Assessments: Why HireSmart has a 97% success rate. Changing the Landscape: HireSmart’s VAs are in the top 1% of remote workers. Resources HireSmart Anne Lackey’s Email Alex Charfen (Business Coach) DoorGrowClub Facebook Group DoorGrowLive

Do you work for or regularly spend your money at Subway, McDonald’s, or Starbucks? Did you know that if you combine all their locations in the United States, there’s still more self-storage facilities? Today, I am talking with Paul Moore, a real estate entrepreneur, author, and podcast co-host. He’s made a lot of fun moves and money over the years, but a lot of mistakes, too. He shares how self-storage management offers a lot of opportunities. You'll Learn... [01:44] Paul’s semi-retirement pain from not having a plan in place. [04:09] Entrepreneurs know things that work, that don’t, and how to lose money. [04:21] What makes self-storage appealing and useful to property management. [06:10] Passive real estate investment with a lack of optimization and systemization. [06:54] Ways to juice returns, increase income and value. [08:00] Where and how to find self-storage opportunities. [10:25] Biggest financial leaks to generate revenue; know renters’ motivations and income levels, add U-Haul and ancillary services/fees, and restructure units. [14:00] 7 ways to get into self-storage when you don’t want to do self-storage. [15:42] All about Wellings Capital and branching out from multifamily investments. [17:46] Paul’s property management tips (Apartment Life, ACH, and staging)./p Tweetables Retirement feels like death to most entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs know things that work, that don’t, and how to lose money. If you build self-storage facilities, customers will come. Resources Paul Moore on Twitter Paul Moore on LinkedIn The Perfect Investment – Create Enduring Wealth from the Historic Shift to Multifamily Housing How to Lose Money Podcast BiggerPockets Wellings Capital Apartment Life Scott Meyers DoorGrowClub Facebook Group

Even if you are doing sales, closing business, and adding doors, your life and business can still be a disaster - if you don't know what it means and how to optimize for profit. Today, I am talking with Jordan Muela of LeadSimple and ProfitCoach, which provides third-party fractional CFO advising. They help you take the guesswork out of property management business growth. You'll Learn... [05:10] NARPM Accounting Standard: ProfitCoach provided first set of financial benchmarks for the industry. [06:59] Numbers are not everything, and it's not just about doors; there's a lot that numbers can tell you that we don't know because people don't track their data. [08:36] Lifestyle is a factor when growing companies; make sure you have a business that serves your needs and meets your goals in life. [10:00] Unique ability involves networking and research to develop opportunities and build new businesses around needs; cost and penalty you pay for being a visionary. [12:12] Nobody can validate that your heart's desire is for your business or life; start making decisions and seek clarity. [16:25] Separate work from playtime and sense of isolation/lack of connection; create a life that supports you and gives you what you need - it's not just about making money. [19:09] Growth - a good idea or distraction; greatest determiner of your ability to grow is not the quality of your service offering, but your ability to execute. [25:25] Business and sales happen at the speed of trust; people don't buy what you do, they want to find someone they can trust. [27:45] Businesses establish themselves as leaders and capture more business by expressing and expanding their vision, values, mission, and purpose. [30:48] Content Marketing: Find the most efficient mediums/processes to spread value to target market; people consume content in different ways (i.e videos, conversations). [33:50] Difference between content for the sake of building authority and helping people vs. content for the sake of SEO and SEO-driven context. [41:57] Biggest growth opportunity for business owners who focus on everything outward is to change themselves; business is just a means to an end. [54:00] Growth doesn’t have to be painful; a healthier way of growing and scaling a business is by giving employees meaningful work. Tweetables Future of Business: Giving employees meaningful work. Numbers are not everything. It's not just about doors or money. Lifestyle is a factor when growing companies. Business and sales happen at the speed of trust. Resources Profitable Property Management Podcast ProfitCoach NARPM Accounting Standards LeadSimple PM Grow RealManage Manage My Property DGS 65: The NARPM Standard of Accounting with Brad Larsen Dan Sullivan Myers & Briggs Toastmasters Simon Sinek's TED Talk Alex Charfen (Business Coach) Richard Branson DoorGrowClub Facebook Group DoorGrow Live

Are you tired of chasing doors? Do you need help to define the areas you’re managing? Do you know how much bandwidth is required for those areas? How do you establish rents? How do you predict rental profits? Today, I am talking with Scott Abbey of RentFax, which is a tool that helps you figure out the answers to all these questions. It helps you, as a property manager or investor, grow your business. You'll Learn... [03:25] Each door doesn’t require the same bandwidth, which is a critical metric for determining whether you want a door or not, and how to charge for it. [04:37] RISC Index: Features 15 sub-indices of census data that identify demographics about properties to indicate probability of an income stream and interruptions with it. [08:45] RISC Index weighs comps based on proximity and likeness of the demographic; it considers square footage, number of bathrooms, and other factors to predict rent. [10:05] Cycle of Suck: If you take on bad owners and bad properties, you’re going to get bad tenants and a bad reputation in the market; operational cost is much higher. [12:05] Shift from being a service provider to a consultant to give advice with supportive data that improves customer satisfaction and wins you more deals. [14:09] Areas can change over time; something can happen in the area that materially reduces the demographic forces and causes a decline or absence of improvement. [14:55] RISC Index enhances range of rents that are probable for the address by taking additional algorithms to the data; if the range is too wide, it’s not helpful to you. [15:20] RISC Index is only product that quantifies relative risks of an address for every U.S. neighborhood; when looking at rents, it’s helpful to know the risks. [16:00] Rent affordability is #1 factor for disrupting rents; be sensitive to demographics of the people who are going to be attracted to the property to adjust rents. [17:30] Rent Package includes a risk report, rent analysis, and historic vacancy number. [21:10] RISC Index can be used as an indicator that helps make buying decisions; property manager turns into a deal maker to help existing clients grow their portfolio. Tweetables Each door doesn’t require the same bandwidth. Provide consulting with data as support to win more deals. Cycle of Suck: Loop of high operational cost, not able to scale and grow. Resources RentFax RISC Index Census Bureau - Year 2000 Results Shane Sauer RentRange DoorGrowClub Facebook Group DoorGrow Live

Want to make your life easier when it comes to property management? Once it’s adopted, try the National Association of Residential Property Managers (NARPM) Standard of Accounting. It’s going to positively change the industry! Today, I am talking with Brad Larsen, who played a major role in the development of the Standard of Accounting. Also, he’s the founder of RentWerx (formerly Larsen Properties) and host of the Property Management Mastermind podcast. You'll Learn... [04:28] Why: Standardize language and charter accounts for industry. [05:15] How: NARPM participation and vendor selection of ProfitCoach. [08:33] Going from General to NARPM Accepted Accounting Practices (GAAP to NAAP). [09:31] System/process to get it adopted; won’t be a perfect solution immediately. [10:38] NARPM’s value add and thank you to industry; training provided at conferences. [12:45] Embezzlement: It’s going to happen to you as your business grows and scales. [14:05] Examples of how to use NARPM Standard of Accounting. [17:56] Goals: Create common language, adopt industry standards,compare metrics. [18:02] Acquisitions: To acquire or be acquired, NARPM standard makes you look better. [18:17] Comparing numbers, data, and metrics; and knowing what to do with them. [20:20] Transition to follow Standard of Accounting is simple. [22:16] 87% of statistics are made up - people believe almost anything; businesses need to be comfortable with numbers. [23:41] Need designation/certification for stamp of approval on Standard of Accounting. [26:51] Concerns about who controls what and how much of standard. [29:10] NARPM standard helps improve property management industry’s reputation. [31:12] Audits are available to build a level of confidence, safety, and certainty. [32:13] Examples of metrics that help your business make the right decisions and compare against competitors. Tweetables Going from General to NARPM Accepted Accounting Practices (GAAP to NAAP) Goals: Create common language, adopt industry standards, compare metrics To acquire or be acquired, NARPM standard makes you look better. Resources Property Management Mastermind Show Property Management Mastermind on Facebook RentWerx NARPM ProfitCoach Intuit QuickBooks DoorGrowClub Facebook Group DoorGrow Live

Are you a renter struggling to find a place? Feeling frustrated? Or are you a property manager/owner who would like to be able to manage, monitor, and show your properties without having to manage, monitor, and show your properties? No problem, you just need self-showing technology. Today, I am talking with Pini Lackner and Edward Gonzales of Rently, which allows prospects to visit rentals themselves when it’s a convenient time for them by using self-showing technology. Rently’s technology helps optimize and systemize the showing process to lower operational costs. You'll Learn... [05:18] Statistics show that 70-80% of people looking online for places to rent tend to be window shoppers; can be frustrating and time consuming for managers to reach them. [06:08] Property management involves building/keeping relationships with prospects. [06:48] After self-showings, Rently performs an application follow up to get feedback on a property without having to rely on an agent. [07:23] Some are concerned that there’s too much risk involved; fear factor fades because of Rently’s reputation and self-policing system based on info from prospects. [10:22] Those interested in Rently’s technology have a growth mentality; there’s no better way to grow your business geographically. [11:17] Benefits include lower operational/staffing costs and shorter lease cycle. [12:05] Considering Rently as best way to optimize business operations while lowering expenses and not losing touch with properties. [12:42] Self-showings are its backbone, but Rently is a fully encompassing platform - not just a bunch of lockboxes. [13:50] Rently Keyless addresses the increased prevalent use of smart homes. [18:02] Regaining control restricting access is instant via Rently after a tenant leaves. [18:55] Rently provides homeowner reporting, metrics, and analytics to know what’s going on with properties. [21:07] Initial reluctance to self-showings has eased, so managers who don’t use it now will lose their competitive edge. Tweetables About 70-80% of people looking online for places to rent are window shoppers. Self-showings create positive pressure to report things. Self-showings are its backbone, but Rently is a platform - not just a lockbox. Resources Rently Rently Keyless Pini Lackner’s Phone Number: 323-375-5773 Pini Lackner’s Email How Technology Is Changing The Real Estate Market NARPM DoorGrowClub Facebook Group DoorGrow Live

Are you a business owner whose background is focused more on sales than marketing? Do you only have a minimal understanding of property management? You’re not alone, and that’s why Kasey McDonald founded a property management training academy that educates business owners. Today, I am talking to Kasey about business development manager (BDM) growth and marketing strategies. She has 20 years of real estate experience, predominantly in property management. Kasey shows business owners how to set up and structure their property management businesses, as well as what is needed to in terms of BDM to focus on growth and profitability. She’s passionate about property management and wants to do what she can to improve the industry and other people's businesses. You'll Learn... [03:30] Four Doors to Revenue: 1) Deals; 2) Doors; 3) Duration; 4) Dollars. [04:23] BDM is not just about the landlord/investor, but retention with tenants; know importance of a service to consumers. [07:10] Kasey’s education and coaching process focuses on a business’s vision around goals and targets for growth; need to have realistic KPIs for team members. [09:30] Who is a BDM? Prospecting force in property management who has a mindset/skill set to grow rapidly and adapt to strategies. [13:07] BDM Job Description: Prospecting to increase number of doors, and research quality and type of property; building different relationships with vendors. [18:35] Other BDM responsibilities include marketing and understanding their market to be the local expert; you should know everything to pull in your target audience. [20:00] BDMs should make and bank at least 10 connections per day to achieve 20 to 30 new doors a month - 50% conversion of becoming clients. [21:36] Sales Pipeline Stages: Connections, follow ups, appraisal evaluation, research vs. decision, and conversion. [26:12] Lead generation is challenging for salespeople; if they don't have leads, they have to prospect and focus on generating leads by understanding their demographic. [29:05] Batch tasks and use technology to make things easier; different technologies impact and reach different people in different ways. [33:36] ABCs of being a BDM: Personality, attitude, and work ethic; need to be passionate and driven, have conversations, and overcome/negotiate objections. [38:55] Focus on marketing and communication strategies that use video because email is becoming obsolete; text messaging, walking door-to-door, and flyers are still effective. [46:25] Tenants tend to have a negative perception of landlords/managers because they don’t do maintenance or fix things; discuss your procedures/processes with tenants. Tweetables It’s not just about how many doors you manage, but the level of income from each. BDM is not just about the landlord/investor, but retention with tenants. I'm a big believer that not all business is good business. Marketing Strategies: Do more guerrilla marketing tactics or go old school. Resources Kasey McDonald’s Email Property Management Training Academy Close.io LeadSimple DoorGrowClub Facebook Group DoorGrow Live  

Are you an entrepreneur trying to figure out what you’re going to do with your life? Going from company to company to make money and find something you enjoy? During your career journey, you can learn a lot and build a network of people who come to you one day and ask for your help. You may end up with too much demand and work 80 hours nonstop every week. Today, I am talking with Taylor Hou, who faced some of the same struggles. Clients kept coming back to him. Why? He discovered that there is great demand for people to clean up businesses’ financial and accounting books. The majority of property managers aren’t bookkeepers or don’t have accounting backgrounds. So, Taylor realized that if clients were willing to pay him to do their bookkeeping as a service, he could start a scalable company. APM Help now offers several services to more than 25,000 units. You'll Learn... [05:15] Property management industry’s accounting duties are regulated via bank reconciliation (bank recs) where every bank account transaction is in some software. [06:36] 3-way tie out accounts for uncleared deposits and checks, which are liabilities. [08:42] Instead of one bank account per property, property based accounting keeps track of property balances. [10:05] Financial diagnostics report lets you troubleshoot to identify where money should be; transfer money to your account - if you don't, it’s in the wrong place. [11:12] APM Help is currently only available for AppFolio, but offers a level of expertise needed to understand how to do everything compliance related. [13:40] Software makes bookkeeping easier, but bank recs need to be approved by a broker; software companies can’t take on such liability, but APM Help can. [14:19] Humans make mistakes; audit your checks and balances by using Google's Eating Your Own Dog Food methodology or an audit program you create. [15:32] APM Help’s tool goes into your software, grabs necessary data, and crunches numbers related to state compliance requirements. [16:00] Top issues and red flags include security deposits in the wrong bank account, unaccounted for tenant liabilities, prepayments, and commingling of owner funds. [18:50] Don’t do or control everything - prevents growth and ability to scale; outsource bookkeeping, accounting, and compliance audits. [21:42] Accounting and Product Software Expertise: APM Help knows what works and doesn’t to be able to make decisions that move clients forward. [31:45] APM Help provides three main services: On-demand consulting, daily bank recs, and full charge bookkeeping. [35:17] APM Help is a resource for those needing to buy or sell a company; performs an audit to determine the financial health of the business - what it's worth. Tweetables If you're not doing bank recs, you need to do them. Pivotal 3-way tie out is the Holy Grail of where you want to start. Humans make mistakes, but most don't have a gazillion checks and balances. We eat our own dog food. We're always hiring great people. Resources Taylor Hou on LinkedIn APM Help Tripletiedout AppFolio QuickBooks Propertyware Buildium ResMan Yardi AppFolio on Glassdoor Google's Eating Your Own Dog Food Pilot NARPM Rent Manager DoorGrowClub Facebook Group DoorGrow Live

Today, I am talking with Mark Smukler of Bixby about property management and technology. Bixby is a building amenity platform/tenant portal app that helps management be more efficient by streamlining communication, work order management, payments, document storage, and any other component of tenant-related activities. Also, it’s a virtual/mobile concierge for tenants to find services, such as housekeeping, dry cleaning, moving, storage, and public transportation. It’s a win-win for everybody! You'll Learn... [06:40] Bixby’s end-user interface aggregates different tools into a single platform that costs less and is specific to the real estate business. [08:35] Bixby is modular and flexible with features that you can turn on or off. [10:08] Bixby’s development principle is that it doesn’t build anything that it’s not asked to build; every single thing in its product was a direct request from a customer. [11:10] Bixby integrates with smart home devices and creates a world where property managers and tenants have one central hub, instead of multiple apps for a property [12:25] Bixby enhances the property management business, it doesn’t disrupt it. [13:08] New generations are comfortable with new technology, but older ones still use old technology; Bixby works with your current system - if it’s not broken, don’t fix it. [14:20] Manage more with less; it’s difficult to gain economies of scale in property management because it is a high-touch, maintenance-oriented business. [15:25] Bixby cuts down the number of phone calls and time spent communicating with tenants, collecting rent payments, and locating documents. [16:08] Real estate assets can be monetized beyond rental income; providing housekeeping, dry cleaning, and other services to tenants generates revenue. [18:52] Set Up a Bixby Account: Go to livebixby.co/signup; Bixby costs $1 per apartment per month, or, if you have fewer than 20 units, it’s free to use. [20:44] Bixby Branded Application: White-labeled with a client’s logo, color palette, subdomain, hosting, and name. [22:35] Bixby partners with other businesses, including Coord to let tenants find, reserve, and pay for parking, and TransitScreen for information on public transportation. Tweetables Manage more with less Integration is key; Bixby integrates different features into one platform Bixby is much more of an enhancement than a disruption Resources Bixby Buildium Rent Manager RealPage’s ActiveBuilding Zendesk Property Meld Tenant Turner QuickPay PayLease Coord TransitScreen DoorGrowClub Facebook Group DoorGrow Live

Nobody knows the rental market better than a property manager, and nobody better than a property manager who does real estate knows how to help real estate investors. Today, I am talking with Sam Kwak about real estate investing as a property manager. Sam’s philosophy is: I don’t manage anything that I don’t own. He prefers to buy properties and manage them or at least understand how the business works. You'll Learn... [03:35] People who don’t necessarily have anything in terms of wealth can become real estate investors, buy properties, and rent them to create income. [05:25] As a partner, Sam is part of the everyday operation of property management; he’s in the office, sees what’s going on, and does consulting and advising. [05:58] Property managers need to understand their numbers, cash flow aspects, possible expenses, macroeconomics, microeconomics, and the market. [06:35] Property managers have a better understanding of where to invest; if they understand the market, they know what to buy to have a healthy cash flowing asset. [08:09] Education is key; Sam helps new or beginner investors learn a skill set focused on acquisition, negotiation, and understanding business expenses. [08:45] Acquire properties without using your own capital and credit; learn to acquire properties using the concept of owner financing and raising capital for owner financing. [11:35] Different states and municipalities have different rules; find an attorney who understands the creative side of investing and how to work with an installment contract. [14:15] If you understand how to legally, ethically, and morally put together deals, capital finds its way to you; money will come, if you provide value and want to help people. [15:10] Not all partners are made equally; work with a partner who is of sound mind, values what you do, and has the character to backup their integrity and honesty. [18:55] Once successful, don’t be blinded by confidence and think you’re invincible; adapt a coachability mindset and become a student again. [24:10] Some say real estate investing is quick, easy, turnkey money - that pipe dream is oversold and over promised Tweetables Anyone can be an investor, buy properties, and rent them to create income. I’m in property management because I know what goes in it, what goes out. Money will come, as long as you’re providing value. Resources Sam Kwak Sam Kwak Podcasts Sam Kwak on YouTube Sam Kwak on Facebook Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki Mike Michalowicz on the DoorGrowShow DoorGrowClub Facebook Group DoorGrow Live