The Top Floor

To ensure property management success, making data-driven decisions is essential. After all, the numbers don’t lie, and they can reveal insights and hidden issues that can help teams fine-tune processes, communication, marketing, and much more.

However, the 2023 AppFolio Property Manager Benchmark Report revealed that many organizations aren’t getting the level of data and insights they need. In fact, “greater customization” was cited as one of the biggest reporting needs for property management businesses today.

In this episode of The Top Floor, we dive into the many ways organizations can solve their reporting dilemmas and better collect, interpret, and leverage data for their businesses’ benefit. Joining this episode are Neil Cadman — President of Cadman Group — and Matthew Kaddatz — Sr. Director, Product, SMB Market at AppFolio — to share their insights and advice.

Key points:

• Why data is essential for property management
• How data can help you make better business decisions
• How data can improve the resident experience
• How data can improve the employee experience
• Why property management teams struggle to utilize data
• What data property management teams need to focus on
• Neil shares his unique property management data perspective
• How often property managers should look at data
• Why custom property management reports are more valuable
• Why you need to take action on data quickly
• How data can help property management teams drive business

Key links:

• 2023 AppFolio Property Manager Benchmark Report: https://info.appfolio.com/APM-CD-ASSET-2023BenchmarkReport_etb_content_download_form_lp.html

Now more than ever, renters value financial flexibility.

With flexible payment options like “buy now, pay later” and mobile payments becoming a standard part of consumers’ everyday lives, the pressure is on for property management companies and the rental housing industry to offer greater flexibility, too.

To dig deeper into what this looks like, we welcomed two AppFolio experts to The Top Floor to discuss the rise of flexible rent payments, security deposit alternatives, and how both can help meet residents’ shifting expectations.

In the first half of our conversation, Adam Feinstein, VP of Product – Payments, explores the rise of flexible rent payments across the industry. And Sean Saxena, Senior Director of FolioGuard™, rounds out the episode by discussing security deposit alternatives.

Listen to the full episode now to learn more about how financial flexibility trends and changing resident expectations are impacting the entire rental housing industry.

Key points:

• Why financial flexibility is important to consider
• How consumer trends have changed resident expectations
• The benefits of flexible rent payments

• How to choose a flexible payment solution
• Predictions on the future of flexible rent payments
• The current state of security deposits
• How security deposit alternatives work
• Why security deposit alternatives are rising in popularity
• The benefits of security deposit alternatives
• The future of security deposits

Key links:

• 2022 U.S. Resident Motivations report: https://info.appfolio.com/APM-CD-ASSET-MetroMotivationsNational_2021_etb_content_download_form_lp.html
• AppFolio Accelerates Platform Innovation with New Security Deposit Alternative Solution, Smart Accounting Tools and PropTech Integrations: https://www.appfolioinc.com/news/appfolio-accelerates-platform-with-new-security-deposit
• FolioGuard™: https://folio-guard.com/

What does 2023 have in store for the residential real estate market?

We’ve all seen the headlines about inflation, recession, and labor shortages. But we wanted to dive deeper into the top trends, challenges, and opportunities for the year ahead. That’s why we surveyed nearly 5,000 property management employees for the 2023 AppFolio Property Manager Benchmark Report to hear their thoughts on property management in the year ahead.

To get a closer look at the findings and get his expert insights on what's in store for property management this year, we welcomed Dror Poleg, Economic Historian, speaker, and author of the book, Rethinking Real Estate: A Roadmap to Technology’s Impact on the World’s Largest Asset Class, to The Top Floor podcast.

Key Points:

• How the remote work trend impacts property management
• Why we’re seeing a convergence between hospitality and multifamily
• Finding meaning in property management
• The top property management industry risks and challenges in 2023
• Opportunities ahead for property management companies
• How to improve company culture

• How tech can maximize resources and improve employee happiness

Key Links:

• Dror’s website: https://www.drorpoleg.com/
• Connect with Dror on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drorpoleg/
• 2023 AppFolio Property Manager Benchmark Report: https://info.appfolio.com/APM-CD-ASSET-2023BenchmarkReport_etb_content_download_form_lp.html

Since we started The Top Floor podcast almost three years ago, the property management industry has gone through an incredible amount of change in a very short amount of time.

As we head into a new year, we wanted to reflect on a few of our favorite moments from The Top Floor podcast. In this special episode, we’ll hear from four members of the AppFolio Property Manager team. They’ll share some of their favorite moments from The Top Floor so far and talk about why they find these insights from past guests just as meaningful today.

Together, we’ll explore the importance of company culture, finding meaningful work, using technology wisely, and how to attract and retain top talent.

Key Points:

• Why top talent seeks meaningful work
• How property management companies can articulate value
• Important traits for property management leaders to have
• Why property management companies need to prioritize company culture
• How technology can make work more enjoyable and meaningful
• Tasks technology should and shouldn’t replace
• The challenges of retaining talent in property management
• How a people-first approach can help attract and retain talent
• How the mindset around staffing has changed since the pandemic
• The importance of work/life balance

Key Links:

• Connect with Lisa Horner on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisahorner/
• Connect with Daniel Waas on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielwaas/
• Connect with Sean Forster on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/seanforster/
• Connect with JJ Koski on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jj-koski/
• 2022 Property Management Industry Pulse: https://info.appfolio.com/APM-CD-ASSET-TopChallengesIntegrationsResearch_etb_content_download_form_lp.html

There’s never been a more complicated time to be a leader. The state of the property management and real estate workforce has changed drastically over the last two years, and it continues to shift every day. In fact, HR, Staffing, and Recruitment are still among the industry’s top concerns, especially when it comes to attracting new team members, reducing staff turnover, and improving company culture.

To help guide leaders through these challenges, AppFolio recently led a live town hall-style panel session at the National Multifamily Housing Counsel’s 2022 OPTECH Conference and Expo. That session was specifically designed to cover the new rules for leading and managing the next generation of property management talent. As part of that session, AppFolio interviewed five early-career and emerging property management and real estate leaders to hear first-hand what they think about their careers, what they look for when choosing an organization to work for, and what they expect from their own leaders today.

In this episode, we hear from two of those up-and-coming property management and real estate leaders that were essential to our 2022 OPTECH panel to help you identify the leadership and talent management strategies that will lead your organization and team to success.

Rohit Singh Chauhan, a Graduate Student at the MIT Center for Real Estate, and Kira Goepferd, a student at Portland State University & Property Management Assistant at Schnitzer Properties, share their invaluable insights in this episode of The Top Floor podcast.

Key Points

• How to market roles to young professionals
• Why job descriptions should include future career growth opportunities
• How current employees can become brand ambassadors
• Why company culture is important to potential job candidates
• Why meaningful work is key to talent retention
• Why organizations need to build a culture of upskilling
• Current flexible work expectations
• What people want from a leader
• What people don’t want from their leaders

Key Links

• What Do Property Management Employees Really Want?
• AppFolio Property Manager Hiring and Retention Report 2022: Turn Challenges into Opportunities

What are the top challenges facing property management companies today?

In 2021, AppFolio partnered with National Apartment Association (NAA) to learn about the top challenges facing property management companies. Now, in 2022, a new set of challenges have emerged for property managers, including record inflation rates, increasing wages, and rising costs due to global supply chain distribution issues. So it’s no surprise that in the second edition of the Property Management Industry Pulse, we found that reducing and controlling costs is one of the top challenges facing property management companies.

In this episode of The Top Floor, we sit down with Stacy Holden, Senior Director of Industry Principal at AppFolio, to see how property managers can dial up their operational efficiency by reducing and controlling costs. We also explore how they can lay the groundwork for more effective budgeting and spending in the future.

Key Points:

• What the AppFolio 2022 Property Management Industry Pulse revealed
• Why “operational efficiency” is one of the top challenges
• Why controlling costs is so difficult in 2022
• How reducing costs affects residents
• How property management companies can keep costs low
• Areas property managers shouldn’t reduce spending on
• How to use technology to control costs
• Ways property managers can control spending long term
• The ideal state of property management in 2022
• How to choose which tasks should be automated

Key Links:

Maximizing Efficiency: A Data-Driven Look at What’s Holding Property Management Businesses Back: https://www.appfolio.com/blog/2022-top-property-management-challenges/

2022 Property Management Industry Pulse report: https://info.appfolio.com/APM-CD-ASSET-TopChallengesIntegrationsResearch_etb_content_download_form_lp.html

Connect with Stacy on LinkedIn

Property inspections can be cumbersome and costly, but they’re vital for protecting the bottom line.

Rather than seeing inspections as just another must-do on your checklist, our two guests this week believe that by optimizing your inspection process, you’ll see a multitude of benefits for property management staff, investors, and residents alike.

Michael Brand, Mid-Market Account Executive at HappyCo, and AppFolio Property Manager’s Senior Product Manager, Kelly Dean, join this episode of The Top Floor podcast to explain exactly why. Michael and Kelly explore the benefits of doing inspections the right way, how to streamline operations, and why tools and tech are essential to nailing your inspection process.

Key Points:

• Why inspections are so vital to property management
• The impact of inspections on NOI
• How to standardize property inspections
• How the pandemic changed resident expectations

• The impact of inspections on business outcomes
• Why you need the right tools and technology in place
• How to make improvements to your inspection process
• Tell-tale signs you need to rethink your inspection process
• How technology can help you do more with less
• Taking advantage of overlooked inspection opportunities

Key Links:

HappyCo: https://happy.co/

AppFolio: https://www.appfolio.com/

AppFolio Stack: https://www.appfolio.com/stack

HappyCo + AppFolio Integration: https://happy.co/integrations/appfolio

Maintenance can be one of the most difficult to control and costly elements of property management. But it’s also vital to resident satisfaction and retention.

Because residents already have high expectations for maintenance, cumbersome processes and delays in repairs can make or break that all-important resident experience.

In this episode of The Top Floor podcast, we’re joined by Ray Hespen, CEO and Co-Founder of Property Meld, and Cat Allday, VP of AI Initiative at AppFolio, to talk more about creating the best possible maintenance experience for your business, teams, and residents.

Key Points:

• Why maintenance affects resident satisfaction
• How resident expectations for maintenance have changed
• The top challenges of property maintenance
• How the right tools can improve the maintenance experience
• Why maintenance teams are key to resident satisfaction
• The role of automation and AI in property maintenance
• What the future holds for property maintenance

Key Links:

• Maximizing Efficiency: A Data-Driven Look at What’s Holding Property Management Businesses Back: https://www.appfolio.com/blog/2022-top-property-management-challenges/
• Property Meld: https://propertymeld.com/
• AppFolio: https://www.appfolio.com/

We’re back to kick off season 3 of The Top Floor podcast! In our first episode, we speak with two experts about the world of CRM tools, property management, and AI.

Demetri Themelis, Co-Founder & CEO of Knock, and Laura Rhoads, Staff Product Manager at AppFolio, are in agreement – CRM tools are a must-have for any growing property management company.

In this episode, they explore the benefits of CRM tools for the business as a whole, the staff, and the customers, and why changing renter expectations should influence your choice of CRM tools.

Knock is a leading performance management platform and CRM for multifamily property owners and managers. Demetri strives to make Knock the most innovative, trusted, and fun performance management platform in the multifamily industry while helping the company achieve its mission of enabling successful communities through technology and customer service.

Laura works with development teams in the Leasing and Marketing space to deliver effective and thoughtful solutions for AppFolio customers. Laura has been doing Product Management for over a decade and enjoys understanding the intricacies of how her customers run their daily operations.

Key Points:

• What a CRM is
• The unexpected benefits of using CRM tools
• How COVID-19 affected the way property management companies operate
• What the future of CRM tools will look like
• What modern renters expect from leasing agents
• How to use CRMs to improve staff training
• The biggest challenges in adopting a CRM
• How AI tools can benefit both businesses and customers
• How centralized leasing can protect your bottom line
• How property management compares to other industries in tech maturity
• What a good PMS looks like
• How AI can help you identify trends and issues
• Why automating as much as you can is a quick win for your business

Key Links:

• AppFolio
• Knock

While we’re getting ready to launch season three of The Top Floor podcast, we decided to revisit two of our favorite conversations from season two.

In our first discussion, we spoke with Paula Munger, AVP of Industry Research and Analysis, and Leah Cuffy, Senior Research Analyst at the National Apartment Association, about today’s hiring and retention challenges in property management.

This talk came off the back of a recent National Apartment Association (NAA) report, sponsored by AppFolio, which surveyed property managers about the biggest challenges they face. The report revealed that 74% said that human resources, staffing, and recruitment were their top three challenges.

Following this, we share our talk with Stephanie Anderson, Senior Director of Content Strategy at Grace Hill, about property maintenance and its effect on your bottom line.

Many property managers could be leaving money on the table by not making their maintenance process more efficient. Stephanie outlines some ways property managers could fine-tune their processes and boost NOI.

Hear our guests discuss some of the top challenges and solutions for some of the biggest issues facing property management companies today.

Key Points:

• How COVID made hiring much more challenging for property management companies

• Why we’re in an employee’s market, and what that means for businesses

• Why companies need to adapt to attract top talent

• What employees are looking for in a role beyond salary

• Why we need to encourage more people to consider construction and hands-on work

• How the maintenance request process affects your NOI

• The challenges of estimating maintenance costs accurately

• 3 solutions for keeping maintenance costs manageable

• How to plan for time, resources, and expenses

• The benefits of making your maintenance request process digital

• Why you need a standardized way of handling maintenance emergencies

• How to avoid leaving money on the table when handling maintenance requests

Key Links:

• AppFolio

• The Top Floor podcast

• Why Today’s Hiring & Retention Challenges Are Different

• How Optimizing Maintenance Boosts NOI