Dana Dunford is the CEO of Hemlane, a venture-backed property management platform with over 28,000 rentals and $1B in payments processed. She is a strong advocate of purchasing properties anywhere, as the best investments are not typically in your backyard. She supports real estate investors in setting up the most intelligent process to manage rentals from a distance, while connecting them with local, licensed professionals.

In 2018, Dana was named one of the top 20 women leaders and influencers in commercial real estate tech. Dana previously worked at Apple on their worldwide financial planning and analysis team and at Nest, the home technology company acquired by Google for $3.2B, in business development. She received her MBA from Harvard Business School.

In this episode, we talked to Dana about the reasoning behind investing in other markets, challenges with third-party property managers, handling outer market real estate, the target investor segment for this market, and much more.

 

Get ready for REWBCON 2025, happening from April 10th to 12th! Use my code JOHN at checkout for 10% off your ticket.

 

Out of Market Investments;

 

02:28 Dana's background;

06:55 Why invest in other markets;

09:10 Third-party management challenges;

12:53 Managing outer market properties;

23:04 Target investors for the market;

29:06 Round of Insights

 

Announcement: Learn about our Apartment Investing Mastermind here.

 

Round of Insights

 

Apparent Failure: Not setting up a high-level security system to combat fraud for Hemlane at the beginning, teaching the team to develop one of the best out there as a result.

Digital Resource: Boomerang & Audible.

Most Recommended Book: Four Thousand Weeks & Billion Dollar Whale.

Daily Habit: Managing projects and scheduling her week with the help of ChatGPT.

#1 Insight for successful property management: Self-management is key, because no one will care more about it then you do.

Best place to grab a bite in San Francisco, CA: Hook Fish Co. & Mister Jiu’s.

 

Contact Dana:

Website | Email

 

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