There are 47 steps just to lease one apartment unit.

That’s why most operators are drowning in inefficiency.

Arleen Garza runs a $650M multifamily platform and is doing something different:

👉 replacing back-end operations with AI
👉 reducing reporting from 2 weeks to 2 hours
👉 and turning leasing teams into revenue drivers, not paperwork processors

If you think real estate is about buying deals…

You’re missing where the money is actually made.

📄 DESCRIPTION

Most operators focus on acquisitions.

The best ones focus on operations.

Arleen Garza, founder of REEP Equity and REEP Residential, oversees a vertically integrated multifamily platform with over $650M in assets and nearly 200 team members.

In this episode of The AI Edge Podcast, we break down:

• why operations, not acquisitions, define performance today
• how AI is eliminating inefficiencies across leasing, reporting, and maintenance
• how one process went from 2 weeks to 2 hours
• why retention is the most important driver of NOI
• and how top operators are using data to make faster, smarter decisions

One insight stood out:

👉 There are 47 steps to lease a single unit today

And most of them don’t need to be done by humans anymore.

This is not theory.

This is how real operators scale without breaking their teams.

👤 GUEST INFO

Arleen Garza
Founder, REEP Equity & REEP Residential

Arleen leads a vertically integrated multifamily investment and management platform across Texas, overseeing:

• $650M+ in assets
• 24 properties
• nearly 200 team members

Her focus is on operational excellence, data-driven decision making, and leveraging AI to reduce friction and improve performance at scale.

🔗 LINKS SECTION

Connect with Arleen Garza:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/arleen-garza/