Multifamily Unpacked

Greystar’s Sr. Managing Director of Brand and Customer Experience, Scott Berka discusses branding the “first place” people call home. Scott shares the strategy behind some of Greystar’s unique brands, as well as how they’ve approached customer experience with those brands. 

Tune in for a deep dive into the future of multifamily housing and what it means to build a brand renters trust.

About Scott:
Scott Berka is a Senior Managing Director and leads Brand and Customer Experience for Greystar. Scott is responsible for setting the consumer and property brand strategy for Greystar and our global portfolio of brands. He also provides strategic oversight for innovation and continuous improvements to our customer experience, all in partnership with operations and technology teams. In addition, he oversees Greystar's consumer technology product strategy, including Greystar’s consumer website, resident app, and other supporting technologies. Scott is also a member of the Greystar Executive Committee.

Before joining Greystar in 2019, Scott was an Associate Partner and a leader in the Marketing and Customer Experience Practice at McKinsey & Company. While there, he advised Fortune 500 clients in the financial services and retail sectors to improve their marketing and customer experience capabilities. Prior to that, he worked in advertising to lead branding and marketing strategy across a variety of companies and sectors.

Scott is an active member of the National Apartment Association.

About Greystar:
Greystar is a leading, fully integrated global real estate company offering expertise in property management, investment management, development, and construction services in institutional-quality rental housing, logistics, and life sciences sectors. Headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina, Greystar manages and operates more than $300 billion of real estate in 249 markets globally with offices throughout North America, Europe, South America, and the Asia-Pacific region. Greystar is the largest operator of apartments in the United States, manages more than 893,600 units/beds globally, and has a robust institutional investment management platform comprised of more than $78 billion of assets under management, including over $35 billion of development assets. Greystar was founded by Bob Faith in 1993 to become a provider of world-class service in the rental residential real estate business. To learn more, visit www.greystar.com.  

To stay up-to-date follow Funnel on Linkedin and connect with Tyler there, too. 

In this edition of the report we cover: 

Listen wherever you get your podcasts. 

To stay up-to-date follow Funnel on Linkedin and connect with Tyler there, too. 

Bridging numbers and people through data

Johnny Hanna, CRO at Funnel, sat down with Donald Davidoff, CEO, or REBA (Real Estate Business Analytics. Davidoff is an industry veteran, and brought revenue management to multifamily.

Key highlights include:
- Merging mathematical precision with human insight in pricing strategies.
- The role of "purple people" in bridging technical and business roles.
- Ensuring innovation and investment during economic downturns.
- Real-world stories illustrating the vital connection between headquarters and field operations.
- Tips for business-led technology projects and effective change management.

Discover how data and empathy can drive smarter decision-making and sustainable success in real estate. Whether you're a numbers person, a people person, or both, this episode offers valuable lessons on making analytics work for you.

About Real Estate Business Analytics (REBA)
Real Estate Business Analytics is on a mission to change the way the multifamily industry uses data. REBA helps multifamily leaders ask insightful questions about their business by giving them access to all their data in one central location. We do this by offering a suite of business intelligence, budget and pricing and revenue management solutions that gather data & deliver insights so you can unlock your aha moments and make better decisions, faster. With REBA, you can eliminate Excel hell, bad data, legacy systems, and analysis paralysis with tools built by multifamily for multifamily. 


About Donald Davidoff: 
Donald is known as a thought leader in the rental housing industry, particularly in places where technology and people meet. Perhaps best known for leading the development and implementation of Lease Rent OptionsTM (LRO), the industry’s first automated demand forecasting and price optimization system, he is equally accomplished in the areas of sales performance improvement, digital marketing and marketing analytics, and business intelligence. Donald is highly sought for “C suite” consulting on technology and operational issues that drive significant ROI, and by technology vendors for product design and “go to market” strategies.  A former Senior Vice President with 10 years at Archstone, and a former Executive Vice President with Holiday Retirement, Donald works with clients to assess their operational and technology platforms and implement complex, highly impactful projects.

To stay up-to-date follow Funnel on Linkedin and connect with Tyler there, too. 

Listen to a candid fireside chat between Jesse Stein, Airbnb’s Global Head of Real Estate, and Scott Berka, Sr. Managing Director of Brand and Customer Experience at Greystar, recorded live at the Forum. In this conversation, Jesse and Scott discuss the evolving landscape of rental accommodation, exploring topics such as Airbnb's innovative approach with Airbnb-friendly apartments and Greystar's introduction of the Ltd. brand. From the blurring lines between short-term and long-term renters to strategies for enhancing customer experiences and navigating industry challenges, this is a must-listen for anyone in multifamily. 

Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

To stay up-to-date follow Funnel on Linkedin and connect with Tyler there, too. 

If you’re gearing up for AIM this is a must-listen episode. 

Mike Whaling, President and Founder of 30 Lines shares low-hanging fruit, and often overlooked opportunities to help multifamily marketers to thrive in the current headwinds. 

Listen wherever you get your podcasts. 

To stay up-to-date follow Funnel on Linkedin and connect with Tyler there, too. 

Tyler Christiansen and Dom Beveridge discuss the five top takeaways from the inaugural Forum: 

1. Community and how this event helped leaders in the industry share ideas and solve problems. 
2. How to cash out on centralization workshop that Dom led. 
3. The new operating model
4. The new operating model and what it means for third-party managers. 
5. Artificial intelligence. 

To stay up-to-date follow Funnel on Linkedin and connect with Tyler there, too. 

This month Alex Howe and Tyler Christiansen discussed:

— FORUM

— NMHC top 50 list

— Blackstone acquisition of Apartment Income REIT (AIR Communities) 

— Rise of multifamily delinquent loans

— YIMBYism

— Credit card fees

— Insurance rates

Johnny Hanna, Funnel CRO, made a guest appearance to discuss: 

— NAR settlement

Listen wherever you get your podcasts. 

To stay up-to-date follow Funnel on Linkedin and connect with Tyler there, too. 

Steve Lefkovits created many of the most beloved events in multifamily including OPTECH and the AIM conference. Johnny Hanna, CRO, Funnel talked with Steve about the importance of skill development, and adapting to market changes. 

Steve shares how things have changed over the years and what he thinks is ahead in this real estate cycle. 

Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

About Steve:

Steve is a veteran multifamily executive, advisor, and investor. 

He serves as:

• Partner and executive producer at Joshua Tree Conference Group and Joshua Tree Consulting. JTCG provides content-rich executive education for the multifamily housing industry. Its events include the Apartment Internet Marketing Conference (AIM Conference - aimconf.com.

• (Retired) Partner in RealtyCom Partners, LLC. RealtyCom (realtycompartners.com) is the multifamily housing industry’s largest telecommunications consulting firm

Steve previously served as a Senior Vice President for Technology Initiatives for a publicly-traded REIT - BRE Properties and as Vice President for Finance and Technology of the National Multi Housing Council (nmhc.org) in Washington, DC.

While at NMHC, he pioneered the NMHC Technology Forum, a new business practice area devoted to the efficient, profitable adoption of technology in the multifamily industry. While there, he started the NMHC OpTech Conference, which is still the industry’s leading gathering on technology for multifamily owners.

Steve is an advisor or investor in a dozen proptech and multifamily investment companies, and a board member of Real Estate Business Analytics (REBA, Inc.).

Steve earned a master’s degree from the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton, and an undergraduate economics degree from Yale University.

In 2014, Steve was appointed by Governor Jerry Brown to the San Francisco Region Water Quality Control Board, serving through 2019. He currently serves as an alternate commissioner on the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission. Steve has served as Vice Chair of the Mid Peninsula Housing Coalition, the leading low-income housing developer in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Steve is also a professional landscape and nature photographer with a gallery located in Emeryville, CA. His work may be seen at www.pacific-landscapes.com or Instagram.com/stevelefkophoto.

To stay up-to-date follow Funnel on Linkedin and connect with Tyler there, too. 

Welcome back to the February report - today we’ll cover: 

Let’s get into it. 

To stay up-to-date follow Funnel on Linkedin and connect with Tyler there, too. 

Johnny Hanna sat down with Jennifer Staciokas the President of Western Wealth Communities and Vice President, People and Technology at Western Wealth Capital. 

They talked about the importance of raising your hand and saying yes to opportunities to grow your career and impact in multifamily. 

Jennifer shared her unique perspective on the blurred line between people and technology.

To stay up-to-date follow Funnel on Linkedin and connect with Tyler there, too.