Deb Newell has worked with some of the largest property management operators in the U.S., helping them streamline operations, scale sustainably, and prepare for mergers, acquisitions, and exits. With over two decades of experience, Deb shares how she helps real estate businesses focus on people, process, and technology to achieve growth and long-term success.

In this conversation with Peter Lohmann, Deb opens up about her career journey, the why behind business ownership, and how companies can get ready to sell (or scale) without making common structural mistakes. She also shares wild stories from the consulting world and dives into how mindset and leadership shape a business’s trajectory.

👉 If you’re a property management entrepreneur, real estate investor, or business owner planning for growth or sale, this episode delivers actionable insights from one of the industry’s top consultants.

joincrane.co | Free PM Newsletter | RL Property Management
🔗 Connect with Deb Newell

LinkedIn | Real-Time Consulting Services

In this episode, Peter Lohmann talks with Binsi Das, Managing Director at Sagan Passport, about her incredible journey from virtual assistant to executive leader. Together they unpack what most American business owners get wrong when hiring global talent—and what it actually takes to build high-performing remote teams.

Binsi shares candid insights about communication challenges, cultural barriers, and the overlooked importance of mentorship and context. She also explains why the key to success isn’t “finding your Binsi”… it’s building one.

Whether you’ve worked with remote team members or you’re just starting to explore it, this is a must-listen conversation for anyone leading in today’s global workforce.

Timestamps:

03:12 – Binsi’s background & early career

10:22 – Scaling global talent with Sagan Passport

18:00 - Sponsor: Appfolio

19:38 – What great global employers do differently

24:59 – Using ChatGPT for leadership feedback

27:31 – Recruiting talent through content

34:39 - Sponsor: EZ Repair Hotline

36:24 – Sagan’s internal content challenge

39:49 – Building teams (and assistants) from scratch

44:07 – Cross-cultural communication

50:03 – Supporting remote team members effectively

57:05 – Navigating accent bias in hiring

Learn more & connect with Peter here:

• ⁠Crane⁠, the private community for property management business owners.
• ⁠My Free PM Newsletter⁠
• ⁠RL Property Management⁠

Learn more and connect with Binsi here: 

• Binsi on LinkedIn
  

The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. I may have consulting agreements with, or financial interests in, companies mentioned in this podcast. Additionally, some of the links included may be affiliate links, meaning I may earn a commission if you purchase through these links. Always perform your own due diligence before making any financial or business decisions.

What separates a good operator from a great one?

In this episode, Peter talks with Cathy Gainer, a strategic coach and former RL Property Management team member, about the mindset, discipline, and decision-making skills that define high-performing operators. Cathy shares lessons from her time inside the business, what she’s learned from coaching other leaders, and how great #2s support founders in meaningful ways.

They also explore mindset training, leadership blind spots, and what most owners get wrong when trying to scale a property management business.

⏱️ Timecodes

00:00:00 – Intro

00:02:20 – Cathy’s background and career

00:06:17 – What is PM like relative to other industries?

00:10:13 – Cathy’s first impressions of RLPM

00:17:56 – Sponsor: MX Summit

00:19:20 – Peter’s first “Crane break”

00:26:45 – The desire to be a great #2

00:31:15 – Mindset training

00:35:58 – Sponsor: CRANE

00:42:04 – Cathy’s reflections on semi-retirement

00:50:24 – What are the most common mistakes you see owners and operators making?

🔗 Connect with Peter:

Crane – Private PM Owner Community
Free PM Newsletter
RL Property Management

🔗 Connect with Cathy Gainer:
LinkedIn

__

The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. I may have consulting agreements with, or financial interests in, companies mentioned in this podcast. Additionally, some of the links included may be affiliate links, meaning I may earn a commission if you purchase through these links. Always perform your own due diligence before making any financial or business decisions.

In this episode, I am joined by Dr. Julie Gurner, Executive Performance Coach.

Dr. Julie Gurner is a doctor of psychology and executive performance coach compared to Wendy Rhoades from 'Billions' by The Wall Street Journal. She provides high level coaching services and is the founder of the Ultra Successful Newsletter on Substack.

We discuss:

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:03:09) - Mindset advantages over technical/soft skills

(00:05:43) - Cultivating a mindset of belief in yourself

(00:07:52) - Dealing with Failure

(00:15:57) - Sponsor: MX Summit

(00:17:21) - The importance of your environment on your mindset

(00:23:21) - Discipline in routine

(00:27:12) - The moral component behind delegating work

(00:29:41) - Balancing ambition with satisfaction

(00:33:05) - Sponsor: Fyxed.com

(00:35:29) - Composing a vision of your future self

(00:38:59) - Celebrating your wins

(00:42:57) - The process of working with Dr. Gurner

(00:52:14) - The fallacy of Stoicism

(00:58:10) - How high-performers wind down their day

Learn more & connect with me here:

⁠Crane⁠, the private community for property management business owners.

⁠My Free PM Newsletter⁠

⁠RL Property Management⁠

Learn more and connect with Dr. Gurner here:

Dr. Gurner on X

Dr. Gurner’s Newsletter - Ultra Successful: https://drgurner.substack.com/DrGurner.com

The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. I may have consulting agreements with, or financial interests in, companies mentioned in this podcast. Additionally, some of the links included may be affiliate links, meaning I may earn a commission if you purchase through these links. Always perform your own due diligence before making any financial or business decisions.

In this episode, I am joined by Taylor Haas, President of Colorado Realty and Property Management, Inc.

We discuss:

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:01:20) - Colorado Realty & Property Management’s company structure

(00:05:36) - Phone systems

(00:08:51) - The origins of the business and Taylor’s career

(00:09:52) - Having multiple offices in one city

(00:13:45) - Sponsor - Appfolio’s FutuRE Conference

(00:15:21) - Content marketing

(00:17:52) - Taylor’s YouTube approach

(00:21:28) - Lease-only and home warranty strategies

(00:27:09) - Taylor’s journey in sales

(00:31:14) - Sponsor - Property Meld

(00:32:45) - Shifting owner priorities

(00:34:13) - Willingness to switch software vendors

(00:37:11) - Controversial opinions about PM

(00:41:00) - How to keep churn down

(00:47:10) - Taking on partners

(00:49:18) - Market expansion

(00:50:33) - How to relax and unplug in this industry

Learn more & connect with me here:

⁠Crane⁠, the private community for property management business owners.

⁠My Free PM Newsletter⁠

⁠RL Property Management⁠

Learn more and connect with Taylor here: 

Colorado Realty & Property Management

Taylor on LinkedIn

The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. I may have consulting agreements with, or financial interests in, companies mentioned in this podcast. Additionally, some of the links included may be affiliate links, meaning I may earn a commission if you purchase through these links. Always perform your own due diligence before making any financial or business decisions.

In this episode, I am joined by Wolfgang Croskey, Co-Founder of Crane.

We discuss:

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:01:10) - Crane applications

(0:03:53) - Is AI a threat?

(00:09:38) - AI tools available in the marketplace

(00:22:24) - Phones and Phone Systems

(00:31:02) - Crane

(00:42:27) - Churn data and dashboard visualizations

(00:53:41) - 2025 PM conferences

Learn more & connect with me here:

⁠Crane⁠, the private community for property management business owners.

⁠My Free PM Newsletter⁠

⁠RL Property Management⁠

Learn more and connect with Wolfgang here:

Wolfgang on LinkedIn

Wolfgang on X

Links to tools mentioned on this episode:

Crane — https://www.joincrane.co

Zapier — https://zapier.com

Calendly — https://calendly.com

Jotform — https://www.jotform.com

Auto-GPT — https://github.com/Torantulino/Auto-GPT

AutoGen — https://microsoft.github.io/autogen

Microsoft Copilot — https://copilot.microsoft.com

Grok — https://grok.com

Smith.ai — https://smith.ai

ShowMojo — https://www.showmojo.com

AppFolio — https://www.appfolio.com

Buildium — https://www.buildium.com

Notion — https://www.notion.so

Tenant Turner — https://www.tenantturner.com

RingCentral — https://www.ringcentral.com

Zoom — https://zoom.us

Google Looker Studio — https://lookerstudio.google.com

The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. I may have consulting agreements with, or financial interests in, companies mentioned in this podcast. Additionally, some of the links included may be affiliate links, meaning I may earn a commission if you purchase through these links. Always perform your own due diligence before making any financial or business decisions.

In this episode, I am joined by Andrew Smallwood, Chief Customer Officer at Second Nature.

We discuss:

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:02:25) - Special product launch: Group Rate Internet

(00:07:36) - Where in the resident cycle does this get implemented?

(00:14:42) - Sponsor: Second Nature

(00:15:47) - Choosing ISPs

(00:21:17) - Internet speeds

(00:24:25) - Price increases & billing

(00:29:26) - Second Nature’s approach to building this product

(00:45:01) - What PMs can expect in terms of release

Learn more & connect with me here:

⁠Crane⁠, the private community for property management business owners.

⁠My Free PM Newsletter⁠

⁠RL Property Management⁠

Learn more and connect with Mark here: 

Andrew on LinkedIn

Second Nature

Triple Win Property Management Podcast

The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. I may have consulting agreements with, or financial interests in, companies mentioned in this podcast. Additionally, some of the links included may be affiliate links, meaning I may earn a commission if you purchase through these links. Always perform your own due diligence before making any financial or business decisions.

In this episode, I am joined by Mark Brower, Owner of Mark Brower Properties

We discuss:

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:01:18) - How PMs can create the most value

(00:11:58) - Additional revenue streams for PMs through asset management

(00:15:01) - Sponsor: Lineage

(00:23:58) - Gauging performance via metrics

(00:30:11) - Offering “unlimited services”

(00:35:10) -  What’s the closer in this offering?

(00:52:18) - Effective communication with owners

Learn more & connect with me here:

⁠Crane⁠, the private community for property management business owners.

⁠My Free PM Newsletter⁠

⁠RL Property Management⁠

Learn more and connect with Mark here:

Mark on LinkedIn

Mark Brower Properties

The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. I may have consulting agreements with, or financial interests in, companies mentioned in this podcast. Additionally, some of the links included may be affiliate links, meaning I may earn a commission if you purchase through these links. Always perform your own due diligence before making any financial or business decisions.

In this episode, I am joined by Jay Parsons, Principal & Head of Investment Strategy at Madera Residential

We discuss:

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:02:00) - Jay’s background and career

(00:05:06) - The impact of the shift toward professional property management

(00:08:24) - How do large institutional landlords think about property management vs. single-home owners?

(00:10:32) - Have owners become more involved over time?

(00:13:05) - Leasing expectations

(00:16:50) - State & Local regulations

(00:22:21) - Section 8 reform

(00:28:39) - Major takeaways from the PM Trends Survey

(00:31:13) - How can Property Managers put themselves in the best light in the eyes of regulators and the general public?

(00:37:38) - What should PMs expect over the next 4 years?

(00:40:41) - How would you improve the survey for next time?

Learn more & connect with me here:

⁠Crane⁠, the private community for property management business owners.

⁠My Free PM Newsletter⁠

⁠RL Property Management⁠

Learn more and connect with Jay here:

Jay on X

Jay on LinkedIn

Jay’s newsletter

The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. I may have consulting agreements with, or financial interests in, companies mentioned in this podcast. Additionally, some of the links included may be affiliate links, meaning I may earn a commission if you purchase through these links. Always perform your own due diligence before making any financial or business decisions.

In this episode, I am joined by Matthew Whitaker, Founder & CEO of Evernest

We discuss:

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:01:28) - integrating 9k doors into a large management company

(00:04:18) - Communications with property owners

(00:06:44) - Capital deployment plans

(00:09:32) - Scaling challenges

(00:13:09) - Growing into new markets

(00:15:36) - Resources for listeners

Learn more & connect with me here:

⁠Crane⁠, the private community for property management business owners.

⁠My Free PM Newsletter⁠

⁠RL Property Management⁠

Learn more and connect with Matthew here: 

Matthew on LinkedIn

Evernest

The Evernest Property Management Show

Book: No Man's Land https://amzn.to/3Ch9tiz

The PM Trends Report: https://www.leadsimple.com/pm-trends-report

The content of this podcast is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. I may have consulting agreements with, or financial interests in, companies mentioned in this podcast. Additionally, some of the links included may be affiliate links, meaning I may earn a commission if you purchase through these links. Always perform your own due diligence before making any financial or business decisions.