Multifamily Unpacked

When was the last time you bought a car? If it was more than a couple of years ago it might have gone like this: 

A local dealer sells a big, expensive, important product, without much transparency, to a customer and proceeds to never talk to them again. 

This is changing. The EV disruption is shaking up car buying to sometimes eliminate the need for the dealership entirely and instead transact direct-to-consumer sales through showrooms. 

This evolution parallels the disruption of the new operating model in multifamily. Listen to Tyler’s Take to understand what’s different — and what it means for multifamily. 

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

Johnny Hanna is a multifamily proptech legend with over two decades in the real estate industry. He’s the co-founder of Entrata where he grew their revenue from 0 to over $100M in annual recurring revenue. After 12 years at Entrata, Hanna co-founded Homie, to disrupt and streamline the home-buying process. Overall, Hanna’s long-term focus is on helping real estate industry professionals solve longstanding challenges, and provide modern e-commerce experiences to delight customers and teams. 

Hear more about his industry-changing journey, and what brought him to Funnel.

About Johnny

Johnny Hanna brings over 20 years of real estate experience to Funnel including co-founding two proptech companies. Hanna was co-founder and president of Entrata, where he spent 12 years changing the face of the apartment industry by building market-leading real estate software. Johnny helped grow the company’s revenues to over $100M in annual recurring revenue and over $1 billion in monthly rent payment processing. He led sales, client services, and human resources for Entrata. Hanna also co-founded Homie a tech-first brokerage building software to streamline home buying and selling with a mission to eliminate unnecessary fees and commissions. Hanna’s focus is on helping multifamily operators solve long-standing industry challenges, delight their teams, and provide renters with a modern ecommerce customer experience. He is a graduate of BYU Idaho and lives in Utah with his family.

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

Dom Beveridge is one of those rare thought leaders in the multifamily industry who goes directly to the forward-thinking sources and asks multifamily leaders what they think, what’s important to them, and what initiatives they’re taking on, rather than reading and repeating other people’s opinions.

He’s afforded a unique, front-seat and candid position to learn honest truths.

Dom’s held leadership roles in consulting, technology, journalism, and marketing for more than 25 years.

He created the iconic 20 for 20 series in 2018.

It’s become the multifamily industry’s leading survey of operations and technology, and a publication that I look forward to each year.

Join us as we talk about the new operating model, third-party managers' growth in multifamily market share over REITs, and what leaders in the industry are actually saying and doing to change renter and team members' experience.

About Dom
Dom Beveridge has held leadership roles in consulting, technology and marketing for more than 25 years. He created 20 for 20 – the multifamily industry’s leading survey of operations and technology in 2018 while working as a Principal with D2 Demand Solutions.

Before joining D2 Demand Solutions, Dom spent five years working with multifamily companies in a variety of roles with the Rainmaker Group. Most recently, he was their CMO, responsible for all aspects of marketing and lead generation until its sale to RealPage, Inc. in December 2017. During his spell at RealPage, Dom oversaw the integration of Rainmaker and was responsible for delivering and improving the annual user conference: RealWorld 2018 – the multifamily industry’s biggest and most diverse educational content program.

Dom started his career in the travel and hospitality sector, where he implemented, designed and ultimately sold enterprise revenue management systems and consulting projects across Europe. He then worked for several years as a strategy consultant for Capgemini Ernst and Young in Australia before returning to price optimization with JDA Software, Inc. in the USA. In June 2019 US Patent 10332134 was awarded for “Travel Price Optimization,” a pricing solution that Dom co-invented a decade earlier during his time at JDA.

About 20 for 20
Multifamily Consulting. Connections. Content.
We learn what is top of mind in multifamily through the work that we do. The work that we do builds relationships with the leaders of our industry. Our industry insight gives us a unique and constantly-changing perspective, and we can’t stop writing about it!

Relevant links:
https://20for20.com/about/
In praise of non-obvious content mentioned in episode:https://www.multifamilyinsiders.com/multifamily-blogs/in-praise-of-non-obvious-content

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

This week we did something a little differently than we usually do–we go deep on a short topic on the podcast. 

Tyler debunks three of the most common myths about the new operating model. 
The myths are: The new operating model is only for companies with geographic densityThe new operating model isn’t for third-party operatorsThe new operating model is too hard.

Change takes work and we’re glad to share best practices we’ve learned from multifamily pioneers. 

The new multifamily operating model is garnering results including: 

Now’s the time to:

https://funnelleasing.com/centralization-role-specialization/

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

Rebroadcast from AIM 2023. Thank you to our friends at the Apartment Innovation and Marketing Conference for allowing us to share this conversation about centralization, and how leading operators are changing the status-quo multifamily operating model. 

Centralizing isn’t just for REITs or the biggest players any longer, it’s an opportunity for everyone to lower costs and improve customer service. 

Panelists

Stephanie Versin

SVP, Head of Marketing and Leasing at Veritas Investments

Heather Wallace

Managing Director at Bozzuto

Tyler Christiansen

CEO at Funnel

Sunny Juneja

CEO at Canopy Analytics

https://www.aimconf.com/agenda-2023

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

John Helm, the founder and partner at RET Ventures created an ecosystem that fuels rent tech product market fit. The involvement of both portfolio companies, and property management companies in the RET ecosystem ensures that RentTech providers create products influenced by end-users to solve the multifamily industry’s toughest challenges. 

Helm shares his background and how that influenced him to start RET and the philosophy behind it. 

About John: 
Prior to founding RET Ventures in 2017, John was a Venture Partner with DN Capital in Munich, Germany. Before that, John ran and successfully exited two venture-backed real estate tech startups, was CFO of Marcus & Millichap, and a consultant at McKinsey & Company. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a B.A. in Economics from the University of Wisconsin, and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School. You can find John on his skis or mountain biking around Park City with his family.

https://www.ret.vc/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/retv/

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

Tim Argo shares about his 21-year career at MAA, a public REIT and the nation’s largest owner and operator of multifamily housing. He shares stories of MAA’s earlier days, and the importance of portfolio diversity by asset type and location within their long-standing sunbelt-focused strategy.

About Tim:
Tim Argo is the Chief Strategy and Analysis Officer at MAA. He joined in June of 2002. Mr. Argo was previously a senior auditor with Arthur Andersen LLP. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Memphis with a BBA in Accounting and earned an MBA with a concentration in Accounting, also from the University of Memphis. Mr. Argo is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in the state of Tennessee.

About MAA:
MAA is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that focuses on the acquisition, selective development, redevelopment, and management of multifamily homes throughout the Southeast, Southwest, and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.

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

Funnel took Multifamily Unpacked on the road, to talk about Tomorrow’s Operating Model with multifamily leaders in the Atlanta Area. 

Learn from Mike Gomes, Chief Experience Officer at Cortland, and Noah Echols, SVP of Marketing and Customer Experience, CARROLL as they discuss their experience changing their operating model to include role specialization to create a better renter experience. 

They share things to avoid, things that worked well, and how each of their companies approached this monumental change. 

Noah Echols, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Customer Experience, CARROLL
Noah Echols serves as the Senior Vice President of Marketing and Customer Experience for CARROLL. He believes that a focus on resident experience is vital to the success of the company and pursues opportunities to align business objectives with resident needs to create measurable value. His primary duties include creating marketing strategies that build equity in our corporate and property brands while allowing for local flexibility to meet the unique challenges within each market. In this role, he serves as an enabler for the corporate marketing team and property teams to execute based on best practices and corporate strategies.

About CARROLL
CARROLL, a privately held real estate company founded in 2004, boasts nearly 29,000 units and has acquired more than $12.1 billion of real state. With headquarters in Atlanta, Ga., and regional offices in Dallas-Fort Worth, Raleigh, Denver, Tampa, New York, and Los Angeles, CARROLL focuses on multifamily communities, including acquisitions, community and asset management services, ground-up development, and fund management. 

Mike Gomes, Chief Experience Officer, Cortland
Mike Gomes, is the Chief Experience Officer at Cortland, and works to develop and implement Cortland's approach to a forward-thinking resident and community living experience. With over 20 years of customer experience leadership with top brands like Disney and AMB Sports and Entertainment, he leads Cortland's marketing, communications, and design teams in bringing Cortland's brand to life across all resident experience touchpoints with the aim creating of creating an industry-leading resident experience and fueling the company's growth.

About Cortland
Cortland was founded in 2005 with a focus on multifamily development in Atlanta. They are one of the largest multifamily firms in the US, the “Top Brand Performer” for online reputation among property management companies (Reputation.com, 2022), and a Great Place to Work-Certified™ Company (2022).

Headquartered in Atlanta, Cortland owns and manages apartment communities across the US with regional offices in Charlotte, Dallas, Denver, Greenwich, Houston, and Orlando. Internationally, we operate a build-to-rent (BTR) management and development platform in the UK.

Through their integrated business model, enterprising team, and commitment to placing the resident at the center of our decisions, Cortland is aiming to set a new experience standard for the apartment industry — one community at a time.

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

Scott Wesson shares just how far multifamily technology has come bit by bit and the early days of REITs. He shares UDR’s philosophy behind technology adoption to better understand renter preferences and how they decide which technology to implement to better serve renters.

About Scott:
Scott Wesson is Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer of UDR, with accountability for all digital transformation activities. Previously, he was Chief Information/Technology Officer from 2011 to 2020. He has over 30 years of experience developing and deploying technology and process strategies, with a focus on leading change initiatives and driving valuable process improvements for Fortune 500 companies. Prior to UDR, Mr. Wesson was a partner at RealFoundations, a global real estate management consultancy.

During his career, Scott has been Senior Vice President, Chief Information Office and Chief Strategy Officer for AIMCO (NYSE: AIV) (1997 to 2008) and Vice President of Information System for Lincoln Property Company (1991 to 1997). Earlier, Scott held leadership positions at ADP, 3M Company, and Federated Department Stores.

He holds a B.B.A. from The University of Texas at Austin, with concentrations in Finance and Information Systems. He often speaks at national real estate events, such as RealComm, The National Apartment Association, The Urban Land Institute, and The National Multi-housing council. Scott also lectures graduate and undergraduates at The Leeds School of Business at The University of Colorado, Boulder. Additionally, Scott frequently advises technology and bio-tech start-ups and serves on the board of directors of a software company and the advisory board of three companies.
https://ir.udr.com/corporate-governance/udr-leadership-team/default.aspx

About UDR:
UDR, Inc. (NYSE: UDR), an S&P 500 company, is a leading multifamily real estate investment trust with a demonstrated performance history of delivering superior and dependable returns by successfully managing, buying, selling, developing and redeveloping attractive real estate properties in targeted U.S. markets. As of December 31, 2022, UDR owned or had an ownership position in 58,390 apartment homes including 554 homes under development. For over 50 years, UDR has delivered long-term value to shareholders, the best standard of service to residents and the highest quality experience for associates.
https://www.udr.com/

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

With a unique pedigree of creating customer experiences at some of the best-known brands in the world, including Disney and the Atlanta Falcons Mike Gomes brings a unique perspective to multifamily, on how to think about, and how to create an exceptional customer experience. He shares stories from his time before multifamily, and how it influences his role today at Cortland.

He’s humble and quick to note that he didn’t invent a customer-centric ethos at Cortland, that it’s ingrained in their values.

About Mike Gomes:
Mike Gomes, is the Chief Experience Officer at Cortland, and works to develop and implement Cortland's approach to a forward-thinking resident and community living experience. With over 20 years of customer experience leadership with top brands like Disney and AMB Sports and Entertainment, he leads Cortland's marketing, communications, and design teams in bringing Cortland's brand to life across all resident experience touchpoints with the aim creating of creating industry-leading resident experience and fueling the company's growth.
https://cortland.com/meet-the-team/mike-gomes/

About Cortland: 
Cortland was founded in 2005 with a focus on multifamily development in Atlanta. During the economic downturn in 2008, they decided to shift their focus from developing communities to acquiring and renovating existing multifamily communities – all with a vision to challenge the conventions of the traditional multifamily industry through better living spaces and experiences. By 2011, they owned and managed 5,000 apartment homes and meaningfully accelerated our plans to build a company that could deliver unique value to both our residents and partners.

Since then, they’ve become a global, integrated multifamily investment, development, and management firm focused on delivering resident-centric, hospitality-driven apartment living experiences. They are one of the largest multifamily firms in the US, the “Top Brand Performer” for online reputation among property management companies (Reputation.com, 2022), and a Great Place to Work-Certified™ Company (2022).

Headquartered in Atlanta, Cortland owns and manages apartment communities across the US with regional offices in Charlotte, Dallas, Denver, Greenwich, Houston, and Orlando. Internationally, we operate a build-to-rent (BTR) management and development platform in the UK.

Through their integrated business model, enterprising team, and commitment to placing the resident at the center of our decisions, Cortland is aiming to set a new experience standard for the apartment industry — one community at a time.
https://cortland.com/

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