Peter Lohmann's Podcast

Peter Lohmann
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Helping Property Managers Streamline & Grow Their Businesses Peter Lohmann shares candid interviews and actionable insights from top operators, entrepreneurs, and industry experts in property management. Whether you're managing 100 doors or 10,000, this is your playbook for building a smarter, more scalable property management business.

  1. 1D AGO

    The Owner's Dilemma: Should You Build with AI or Let Go? with Sam Eddinger

    Should you, the owner, be the one going deep on AI and vibe coding? Or is that a trap that pulls you right back into the work you spent years trying to delegate? In this episode, I'm joined by Sam Eddinger, owner of Ironclad Property Management in Connecticut and a former nuclear engineer. Sam built hundreds of LeadSimple processes himself, then realized he'd become the bottleneck. Now he's wrestling with the same temptation all over again, this time with AI. (00:00:00) - Intro(00:01:08) - Introducing Sam(00:05:12) - The AI journey as a PM owner(00:09:33) - Vibe coding as a solve for constraints(00:14:10) - The AI impact on great employees(00:17:36) - Don’t be just a consumer(00:19:51) - Sponsor - Appfolio(00:21:19) - Closing thoughts on AI(00:23:04) - Ironclad’s org structure(00:38:25) - Sponsor - Haven AI(00:39:55) - Process focus(00:58:44) - Sam’s 3rd party investing(00:02:06) - Getting in touch with SamWe get into Ironclad's "single-person departmental" pod structure (5 people, 300–400 units, one client success manager per pod), why he switched from annual to monthly performance reviews, how he runs a nearly fully remote team, and what he's doing differently in a Connecticut market that had zero rent growth from 2002 to 2017. If you're an owner-operator under 1,000 doors trying to figure out where to spend your attention, this one's for you. Learn more and connect with Sam here: Sam on LinkedInIronclad Property Management Crane – Private PM Owner Community → Join a private network of property management owners and operators: https://joincrane.co/Free Weekly Newsletter → Property management insights, strategies, and industry updates direct to your inbox: https://peter.beehiiv.com/subscribeRL Property Management → Learn more about Peter’s company and services in Columbus, Ohio: https://rlpmg.com/Disclaimer: 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.

    1h 3m

  2. MAY 7

    Why Column Built a Real Banking API for Property Managers w/ George Cheng

    What if your bank was also a technology company that actually understood property management? In this episode, I sit down with George Cheng, GM of Vertical Solutions at Column - the bank powering companies like Ramp, Bill.com, and Wise behind the scenes. Column is unusual: they are a nationally chartered, FDIC-insured bank AND built their core banking software from scratch (the founder also started Plaid). That means real APIs, real-time data, and a level of integration that legacy banks running on FIS and Fiserv simply can't offer. We discuss: (00:01:48) - Column’s work for property managers(00:05:22) - How banks differ from companies like PayPal, Stripe, and Venmo(00:09:04) - Banking APIs(00:18:27) - What Column is providing tech-forward PM companies(00:31:54) - How PM companies are taking advantage of Column(00:41:45) - Corporate accounting and trust accounting(00:46:41) - AI predictions(00:51:46) - Closing thoughtsGeorge also shares why accounting is the area of PM most ripe for AI disruption (and why nothing has happened there yet), what it looks like when one of his PM clients built a CEO-level dashboard pulling from both their PMS and their bank in real time, and his take on how agentic AI is reshaping the SaaS landscape. We also get into earnings credits, the state banking laws still tripping operators up, and the future of outcomes-based pricing in software. Learn more about Column: https://column.com/property-management Connect with George: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgecheng7/

    55 min

  3. APR 30

    EOS, Maintenance Math, and Why RPU Beats Door Count with Matthew Tringali

    What if 80% of your team's time isn't actually being spent in their unique abilities, and you don't even know it? In this episode, Matthew Tringali (BetterWho) is back for an unfiltered debate on EOS, profitability, and what most operators are getting wrong. (00:00:00) - Intro(00:00:44) - Welcoming Matt back to the show(00:02:18) - Matt’s latest on EOS(00:05:29) - The #1 error PMs are making on EOS(00:12:01) - Role Mapping(00:14:53) - Sponsor - Haven.AI(00:16:22) - EOS weak points in role mapping(00:19:24) - Increasing Revenue per unit vs. cutting expenses(00:23:36) - How to know if RPU is high enough(00:24:36) - Where to trim the fat in a PM company(00:28:00) - Maintenance philosophies(00:33:40) - Sponsor - Enterprise Bank & Trust(00:35:04) - Vendor Marketing fees(00:42:18) - Bringing maintenance in-house(00:50:32) - Coaching vs. Consulting(00:52:56) - Remote team philosophiesWe dig into why "right people, right seats" is the foundation most companies fluff over, the three classic EOS failure modes (solving circumstances vs. issues, fluffy core values, and weak role maps), and why you need two org charts - one for today and one for six months from now. Then we get into the spicy stuff: vendor marketing fees, the right billing rate for in-house maintenance (hint: 3x labor, minimum), and whether you should be charging a flat-fee maintenance coordination fee. Plus: when in-house maintenance actually pencils out, RPU vs. door count, and why your next great hire might not live in the U.S. BetterWho Matt on LinkedIn

    1 hr

  4. APR 16

    What Nobody Tells You About Selling a PM Company with Bri Leichliter

    What does it actually feel like to sell your property management company? Not the theory - the real thing. The texts, the negotiations, the meltdowns, the wire hitting your account. In this episode, I sit down with Bri Leichliter, who built a 220-door PM company in Cincinnati from scratch, ran it for four years, and sold it last October. We discuss: (00:00:00) - Intro(00:02:18) - Bri’s business leading up to the sale(00:04:31) - Bri on building the business up(00:07:17) - How Bri ran the sale process(00:13:04) - Sponsor - DoorLoop(00:14:41) - Deal terms, structure, and financing(00:26:49) - Portfolio churn post-sale(00:31:18) - Sponsor - Appgentic.ai(00:33:05) - The mindset behind deciding to sell the business(00:42:15) - Feelings immediately post-close(00:45:13) - What Bri would have done differently(00:56:43) - Reflections on the sale process(00:58:48) - What’s next for Bri(01:02:12) - How to get in touch with BriWe get into all of it: how she ran a scrappy, no-broker sale process (starting with a Labor Day weekend text to three potential buyers), how she structured the deal as an installment sale with a true-up instead of a clawback, and the tax strategy behind timing payments across calendar years. We also talk about the part nobody prepares you for: the emotional weight of handing over relationships you built one by one, watching your systems get replaced, and navigating the transition when the buyer's tech stack is completely different from yours. Bri is refreshingly honest about what went well, what she'd do differently, and why her boyfriend told her he'd be happy if she sold for zero. Learn more & connect with me here: ⁠Crane⁠, the private community for property management business owners.⁠My Free PM Newsletter⁠⁠RL Property Management⁠Learn more and connect with Bri here:  Website Facebook

    1h 3m

  5. APR 2

    Stepping in as CEO at a 6,000+ Door SFR PM Company with Dan French

    What happens when a multifamily CEO with 18,000 doors under his belt jumps into single-family… and says SFR is the bigger opportunity?! Dan French nearly went bankrupt during the Great Financial Crisis, slept in vacant units, ruined his credit for a decade, and used every lesson to eventually scale a multifamily platform from 2,500 to 18,000 doors. Now he's CEO of Northpoint, one of the largest SFR management companies in the country, and he's building something fundamentally different: separate divisions for scattered-site SFR, BTR, and small multifamily - all running on a shared platform. We discuss: (00:00:00) - Intro(00:01:45) - Dan’s background and career(00:08:39) - Northpoint(00:14:54) - Sponsor - Enterprise Bank & Trust(00:16:18) - SFR following in the footsteps of multifamily(00:26:07) - The difference between BTR and SFR(00:30:47) - The division of labor in PM(00:34:28) - Sponsor - Haven AI(00:35:57) - How a PM would implement a BTR community(00:40:51) - Northpoint and their acquisition strategy(00:45:43) - Separating unit churn from revenue churn(00:50:27) - The melting iceberg problem(00:58:19) - Dan’s experience with Crane(01:00:44) - The competitiveness of MF property management(01:04:26) - The lack of ‘scaffolding’ in SFR(01:10:15) - Getting in touch with DanWe get into the "melting iceberg" problem that's killing PM roll-ups (and why most buyers underestimate churn), how to build a trust layer with owners that actually reduces churn, why he thinks tech is not a moat (and what is), and why the Innovator's Dilemma means SFR operators are better positioned to move upmarket than multifamily firms are to come down. Dan also shares his take on NRR vs. logo churn, the talent scaffolding gap between MF and SFR, and why North Point is keeping acquired brands intact instead of rebranding day one. Learn more and connect with Dan here: NorthpointLinkedinResources for Property Managers & Real Estate Entrepreneurs Crane – Private PM Owner Community → Join a private network of property management owners and operators: https://joincrane.co/Free Weekly Newsletter → Property management insights, strategies, and industry updates direct to your inbox: https://peter.beehiiv.com/subscribeRL Property Management → Learn more about Peter’s company and services in Columbus, Ohio: https://rlpmg.com/___ Disclaimer: 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.

    1h 12m

  6. MAR 26

    AI Agents, PM Policy Tracking & the Pod Hybrid Model with Wolfgang Croskey

    🔗 Register for Crane's Access Granted launch (April 2) This week on Peter Lohmann's Podcast:  What if your property management company had its own AI agents?... Ones you built yourself, running on your own server? Crane co-founder Wolfgang Croskey built two custom AI agents (Bruce and Sophia) that triage emails, delegate tasks via Slack, and pull AppFolio data, all on his own server.  Chapters: (00:00:00) - Intro(00:03:09) - Meet Sophia and Bruce(00:04:23) - OpenClaw workflow wins(00:06:03) - Building agents on VPS(00:12:36) - Texting and voice assistants(00:18:03) - Crane HQ origin story(00:24:32) - Data providers and costs(00:29:00) - AI policy email alerts(00:31:33) - Crane launch details(00:36:53) - RL’s hybrid pod structure(00:43:31) - Early results and tradeoffs(00:50:09) - Phone and email setup(00:53:03) - Tech gaps and next steps(00:56:21) - Wrap up and outroWe get into the security scare that changed his approach, why messaging through your normal channels matters more than the AI itself, and what it takes to actually set this up. We also reveal a new Crane member benefit: an AI-powered local policy tracker that monitors city council, school board, and county meetings across your service area — down to cities with 2,000+ people. Then I break down something I haven't shared publicly: RL Property Management's shift from departmental to a pod hybrid model at 750 doors - the owner churn that drove it, how we structured one-person pods with centralized ops, and early results including two saves from churning clients this week. If you're thinking about AI agents, org design, or giving owners the relationship they actually want, this one covers it. 🔗 Wolfgang Croskey on LinkedIn Resources for Property Managers & Real Estate Entrepreneurs • Crane – Private PM Owner Community → Join a private network of property management owners and operators • Free TWICE Weekly Newsletter → Property management insights, strategies, and industry updates direct to your inbox • RL Property Management → Learn more about Peter’s company and services in Columbus, Ohio __ Disclaimer: 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.

    57 min

  7. MAR 19

    AI, Fraud, and Tech Bloat in Property Management with Dom Beveridge

    AI, fraud, and tech bloat are quietly reshaping property management… most operators just haven’t connected the dots yet. In this episode, I sit down with Dom Beveridge (20for20) to break down what’s actually happening inside large multifamily portfolios - and what it means for single-family operators. We discuss: (00:00:00) - Intro(00:02:23) - The 20for20 annual report explained(00:04:44) - Deep vs wide research(00:05:51) - Multifamily vs scattered-site differences(00:07:47) - Maintenance operations deep dive(00:15:52) - Sponsor - DoorLoop(00:17:28) - Cross-learning between SFR and multifamily(00:34:14) - Sponsor: Enterprise Bank & Trust(00:35:38) - Tech consolidation(00:42:00) - AI impact on property tech(00:43:54) - AI-first vs AI-enabled software(00:48:53) - PMS vendors heading toward irrelevance(00:53:04) - Data as the ultimate moat(00:56:23) - Accessing the report and speaking engagements(00:57:22) - Closing remarks We get into why fraud isn’t really about “bad actors," it’s a bad debt problem hiding in plain sight. And why a lot of screening processes (yes, even yours) are more guesswork than science. We also unpack how tech stacks ballooned to 30–40+ tools, why that’s creating operational drag, and what companies are doing to fix it. Then there’s AI. We talk about the shift from “AI-enabled” to truly AI-first software, and why that distinction is about to matter a lot more than people think. Along the way, we compare multifamily vs SFR (especially in maintenance and leasing) and where each model is ahead (and behind). Learn more and connect with Dom here: Download the new edition of the 20for20 Annual SurveyLinkedInWebsite__ Resources for Property Managers & Real Estate Entrepreneurs Crane – Private PM Owner Community → Join a private network of property management owners and operators: https://joincrane.co/Free Weekly Newsletter → Property management insights, strategies, and industry updates direct to your inbox: https://peter.beehiiv.com/subscribeRL Property Management → Learn more about Peter’s company and services in Columbus, Ohio: https://rlpmg.com/__ Disclaimer: 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.

    58 min

  8. MAR 5

    How PMI Built a 475-Location Property Management Franchise with CEO/Co-founder, Steve Hart

    What does it take to build a national property management franchise? In this episode, I sit down with Steve Hart, CEO and co-founder of PMI, a franchise network with nearly 500 locations and 35,000+ doors under management. We unpack how PMI grew from a startup during the 2008 financial crisis into one of the largest property management platforms in the country. We discuss: (00:00:00) - Intro(00:01:25) - Meet Steve Hart(00:05:09) - Building a franchise platform(00:07:22) - Five pillars explained(00:13:21) - HOA margins and revenue(00:16:00) - Sponsor - appgentic.ai(00:17:48) - Who should franchise(00:24:20) - Brokerage as bridge(00:29:21) - Multi-location franchise growth(00:30:08) - Acquisition engine explained(00:35:11) - Aligned incentives model(00:37:13) - Sponsor - Rentvine(00:38:19) - Breaking the 100 door plateau(00:41:31) - Stop competing on price(00:43:53) - Guarantees that build trust(00:46:21) - Churn trends and fixes(00:52:36) - Saying no to PE offers(00:55:47) - Consolidation and multi-unit owners(00:58:53) - Protecting the brand(01:01:13) - Final wrap and where to followSteve explains PMI’s five-pillar model (residential, multifamily, HOA, commercial, and short-term rentals), why HOA management is growing 60% year over year, and how their franchise partners are acquiring millions of dollars in PM portfolios annually. We also dig into some practical operator questions: Why so many PM companies stall around 100 doorsWhen to stop competing on priceHow acquisitions are changing the industryAnd why Steve has repeatedly said "NO" to private equityIf you’re thinking about scaling, franchising, or buying doors, this one’s worth a listen. Learn more and connect with Steve here: PMISteve on LinkedInLearn more & connect with me here: ⁠Crane⁠, the private community for property management business owners.⁠My Free PM Newsletter⁠⁠RL Property Management⁠

    1h 2m
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About

Helping Property Managers Streamline & Grow Their Businesses Peter Lohmann shares candid interviews and actionable insights from top operators, entrepreneurs, and industry experts in property management. Whether you're managing 100 doors or 10,000, this is your playbook for building a smarter, more scalable property management business.

Information

  • Creator
    Peter Lohmann
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2026
  • Episodes
    123
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Peter Lohmann
  • Show Website
    Peter Lohmann's Podcast

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