The Newest Innovation In PM Isn’t Tech

Community Is Coming To Property Management

The industry of SFH property management is quickly evolving right in front of our eyes.

But sometimes the biggest disruptions are not technological.

They are social.

That’s why the word “community” has become such a buzzword across industries from SMB to venture backed SaaS… 

And it officially becoming a hot topic in property management thanks to two guys-

Peter Lohmann and Wolfgang Croskey.

Do We Really Need More Communities?

But before I get to what Peter and Wolf have built, let’s establish why this trend of community building is happening in the first place-

No one went to school for property management (and there definitely isn’t a masters program for it).

That creates a massive gap between the demand for education and the reliable supply of it.

Communities like NARPM have done a wonderful job of filling it, but the demand has only increased while the supply has stayed relatively constant.

On top of that, NARPM’s charter is to do much more than just educate the space-

They’ve lobbied for it.  They’ve sponsored the creation of standards for it.  They organize and support a massive army of volunteers for it.

That’s really hard to replicate and compete with, but you don’t have to be so ambitious to want to replicate NARPM to be able to fill a need in the market when it comes to education.

This is where the visionaries step in..

The Vision and the Gamble

Peter had already built an audience of property managers and SMB enthusiasts interested in the space.

He knew there was demand for property managers that already had the basics down, but were looking for more:

• How do you keep growing beyond that 500-600 threshold when you are definitely beyond your capacity to bring it all together?
• What should you think about the latest technology, and how to use it?
• How do you take time off when it feels like you’re in a forever firefight?

Peter and Wolf bet  they could create a curriculum to answer these questions, but PMs would want more context than an online course. 

That’s why they launched a community. 

They took a gamble, betting on using community software (instead of a Facebook Group).  They committed to being present inside that platform over all others.

This was a risk.  Betting on people coming off the platforms they are already using while simultaneously reducing their own presence of said platforms is not an easy bet to make.

But it worked. 

40 people prepaid for Crane (the name of the community) to get an early access, a year before it was created, and it is right now kicking off year two with a full subscription of happy members.

And as someone who has studied the craft of community building for business development  for the last 10 years, I can tell you-

They Are Onto Something

Property managers  aren’t just craving more nuanced education.  In a business where you are constantly being taken for granted-

You want to feel supported. 

You want to feel validated.  

You want psychological safety in hard times..

And there is no tool for that… except community.

I, personally, figured out the value of community when 1,200 people showed up to my brother’s funeral 10 years ago.  

It hit me that there was nothing that could’ve helped my entire family cope- from the beginning of his two year battle with pancreatic cancer all the way through the hardest single moment of our lives- like the community we had at our parish.

So well designed communities can DEFINITELY help property managers fight through the long, thankless journey of balancing the needs of real estate investors, residents, and vendors in order to build a profitable business.

But let’s take a look at what a successful community looks like.

‍The Value Of A Private Experience.

There’s a saying in the field of community management (yes, that is actually a field- I was surprised too!):

“To be inclusive, you first have to be exclusive.”

This is why the one thing that is clearly working is that Peter and Wolf figured out they couldn’t just let everyone that wanted to join into Crane.

Instead they have created a carefully curated room of people that are in the same stage of their entrepreneurial journey- established, but seeking more.

Inclusion created through exclusivity ✅

The Value Isn’t The Content.  It’s the Connection.

Peter told me that while he was proud of the educational content he and Wolf created, he keeps hearing from members the same thing-

The members of Crane were fed up with the public forums and FB groups, where, instead of exchanging valuable information, most property managers brag about their doors under management.

Here, they could actually share their exact struggles and get concrete advice & feedback on how to solve for them.

They can actually talk about vendors and their lackluster performance, without worrying that they’ll ruin their reputation.

It was the chance to open up and share your struggles with others who know exactly how you feel.

All of this done in a safe, private environment.

The combination of having a private platform, well-curated group, and generous, open leaders of community made vulnerability the norm…

And if you are familiar with the work of Brene Brown you know that vulnerability drives connection.

And that connection is what keeps people engaged in the community after they’ve gone through the initial content.

The 1 Pillar It All Stands On

While exclusivity lowers the defenses that encourage the vulnerability that drive connection, there is one thing that needs to be clear.  For a community to work well, every member must easily be able to answer the question-

“What do we get here that we don’t get anywhere else?”

For Crane it’s simple: there is no other place where ONLY successful property managers can feel like they are surrounded by people exactly like them with similar problems at similar scale.

Similarly, NARPM provides a watering hole for ALL things property management from news to certifications to activism that no one else can offer.

By understanding this, I hope you take away a couple things:

1. It’s useless for you to start a similar community to Crane or NARPM unless you want to play for their table scraps
2. There are endless possibilities for new communities if you are disciplined enough to create exclusivity around another need that has yet to be met

Here are some suggestions for what other communities could be about:

• A community  for only  female property managers that want to be in a space where they don’t have to worry about the 1 creep in the room 
• A community for PM business owners that want to be focused on family first and business second (like Front Row Dads, but for PM)
• A community for AI & Tech geeks that want to push the boundaries of tech in their company

(Between you and I, I heard Jay Berube is already working on that last one, and we plan to fully support that effort 😉)

But you get the point-

As long as you differentiate and focus on serving a unique need, these communities don’t have to compete with each other.

Just like your favorite Italian neighborhood restaurant doesn’t necessarily compete with your favorite sushi fusion restaurant, each community will have a role to play for you depending on what your goals are for the year.

In the meantime, a gentle reminder: 

If you can’t figure out a way to get yourself out of the forever firefight of maintenance emergencies, you will have a hard time taking advantage of the benefits of these communities.

This is why at Vendoroo, we didn’t stop at solving one part of your maintenance issues, but instead taking the entire headache of maintenance off your hands.

If you’d be interested in a conversation about that, you can book a demo here

P.S. This is only part #1 of our conversation with Peter Lohmann. Stay tuned for part #2 very soon where we’ll dive deep into how & why property managers should update their software stack

In the meantime, you can watch the full recording HERE.