Profitable Powerhouse Properties with the AHI Group pppwithahigroup

Episode 32: Market Data with Nishant Phadnis
 
In today’s episode, hosts Jonathan Cook and Bryan Jenkins talk to Nishant Phadnis. Nishant leads the digital transformation of Rentals.com, a leading single family rental homes online marketplace. Rentals.com is part of the RentPath network of sites that also includes Rent.com and Apartmentguide.com. In April 2021, RentPath was acquired by Redfin.
 
 
Episode Highlights: 
 
Bryan says, “The success of management of a rental asset always starts with the success of having a good resident in the property paying the rent, taking care of the property, and once we have that catalyst in place and the rest, we just manage that piece of it.”
Sharing a brief about the marketplace, Nishant says, “Unless you are living under a rock right over the past year and a half, clearly things have changed, and the dynamics of how the pandemic impacted our marketplace is probably well aware with everyone.”
Nishant further adds, “On the demand side, we saw a ton of renters just kind of didn’t know what to do. They didn’t know, so everything was stopped, and then as that shutdown kind of started to reopen right after the three weeks, we saw a tremendous demand spike, particularly in the asset class that is the single-family rental marketplace.”
“A lot of renters, particularly the ones that are able to work from home, got introduced to a new problem, which is where in their house are they going to work consistently for 40 hours a week?”, says Nishant
While sharing some stats, Nishant says, “In a single-family rental, there is a lot more space than there is in multifamily. About 60% of single-family renters of rental properties have three or more bedrooms, and that is compared to 8% in multifamily, so you have 60% that have three bedrooms or more and you have 8% in the multifamily.”
Jonathan inquiries from Nishant “What is the average home in your area? Is it really all three bedrooms? Is this by default?”
Bryan says, “We are down in the low 20s across five different locations, so it is definitely an indicator of the market and everything going on with the restriction of the supply side.”
Talking national numbers again, Bryan asks Nishant, “We talked about occupancy, so do you have any numbers based around the market on a national average we see on rentals?”
Highlighting the demographic shift, Nishant says,” 59% of all new single-family rental home residents relocated from our urban residential area to a server room residential area.” 
Bryan points out, “The shift in strategy, everybody is focused on building rent. You push out to the boundaries so your returns are better, and you kind of balance out how far out can I go and still have the demand their right to ensure that I have success with my investment. But now we’re starting to see a different strategy. People are coming in smaller parcels that have been passed over for one reason or another.”
Highlighting about eviction moratorium, Nishant and Bryan discuss the nearly 7.8 million evictions in the pipeline. Bryan predicts a pretty high number out of the 7.8 million would be owners that are actually ready to get out of the rental. 
Nishant shares his concern about the affordability crisis. He says,” You have increased rent prices, you have more capital to spend, a lot of investors looking for limited supply, and a lot of these homes are all the new constructions are A-class properties.”
He further adds, “We have class B&C properties that don’t exist. No new supply coming on that market.” “You have an individual renter who can afford, you know, the significant price increases, so you might have more roommate style affordability structures.”
Jonathan inquires, “Let’s talk about how do we increase rents and yet still not make something so unaffordable that we can’t put a tenant in place and we can’t find a resident if it isn’t just about adding value?”
Nishant says, “If a

Why we do what we do and the Triple Win!
In today’s episode, it is just the hosts Jonathan Cook and Bryan Jenkins. Today they go back to the basics – “The concept we work with daily basis, why they matter, why we do what we do?”
 
Episode Highlights: 
 
Jonathan says, “Recently, we worked with many industrialists and presentations during consulting with several people. But the thing we both keep bringing up, and we have a lot recently, is the Triple Win Philosophy.”
Bryan says if we discuss tenants and landlords, it is important to create stickiness to keep tenants to stay longer.
He also talks about creating an environment where the owner wants to take a longer period for a triple win policy. Herein all three client, resident, and property management companies are getting benefited. 
Bryan talks about the 450 work orders that his company manages.
Jonathan talks about their team members and how capable they are in staying top of class.
When talking about his company (AHI Properties), Jonathan says it is very solid. 
“Our team is incredible when we look at every aspect of it.” says Jonathan.
Jonathan points out if investor adopts the philosophy of triple win, it will help them to meet their expectations and answer “Why are we doing this?”
Jonathan answers, “What happens when someone places a tenant in an overpriced home?”
Bryan says, “If a property is overpriced, a well-qualified candidate is not going to apply for it.”
Jonathan and Bryan give specific examples on the importance of adhering to the triple win philosophies.
Jonathan gives details about the resident benefit packages that AHI offers. 
A good tenant is no longer looking for a house; now, tenants are just looking for a house in a general area that gives good value. 
Bryan talks about the idea of all three-party wins. He also says that AHI has always been fair to its customers.
Jonathan talks about the reason why tenants get angry when rent is increased. 
Good tenants are better profit; they make more money for homeowners. Jonathan calculates the value of a good quality tenant.
If you are an average investor, a tenant pays for the property, and for a month or two, everything looks great. 
The tenants sign the lease, but they sight monetary problems after a month because of security deposits and other expenses. According to Jonathan, this does make sense.
Jonathan and Bryan discuss the stories that tenants tells for late payment of rent.
Jonathan and Bryan talk about the bad management side of the business for late or irregular payment of rents.
Bryan talks about the reasonable benefits between owners, tenants, and property managers.
There are many things that is not someone’s job, but still one can do it if it is not a lot.
Bryan talks about the difference between a proactive and a reactive manager.
Bryan says the answer to “Why we do, what we do?” is because we love what we do.
 
 
3 Key Points:
 
Jonathan and Bryan discuss the triple win philosophies. It is as if someone is looking at a new procedure or rolling out a new system to create stickiness to keep tenants staying for a longer period. When it comes to triple win philosophies, the client, resident, and property management company all gets the benefit.
Jonathan talks about the resident benefit package and what it does to the homeowner.
Jonathan gives insights on “Why we do, what we do?” As per Bryan, it has always been a focus on maximizing long-term benefits for the clients.
 
 
Tweetable Quotes:
 
“If we use the triple win philosophy to measure what we are doing, we will be more successful.” - Bryan Jenkins
“If a property is overpriced, a well-qualified candidate is not going to apply for it.” - Bryan Jenkins
“Our team is incredible when we look at every aspect of it.” - Jonathan Cook
“A good tenant definitely matters.” - Bryan Jenkins
“If you are reasonable with a resident, the resident is going to be reasonable with you.” - Bryan J

Hosts Jonathan Cook and Bryan Jenkins welcome Lily Liu and Jimmy Quintana. Lily is the Co-founder of Pinata, and Jimmy is the account executive.
 
 
Episode Highlights: 
 
Pinata is a rent reward platform designed for renters and property management companies in mind. 
One of the best features of Pinata is the real-tangible rewards that renters get.
In addition to that, Pinata has recently started reporting red payments to credit bearers.
Jonathan shares, he always stays a step ahead when it comes to positively speaking about Pinata.
Those of you who don’t know Pinata has really grown as a company in the last few years. 
Lily talks about Rent Rewards - When a user notifies that rent has been paid on time every month, Pinata gives them a series of rewards. The renters are the end-users of the application.
When a new tenant sign-up they also get rewarded. The rewards range from $25 to $30 gift cards. 
Renters also get Pinata Cash – an in-app currency that renters can use in the reward center. 
Pinata’s product team is always looking to introduce fun and delight in the app, so that it becomes user friendly. 
Bryan points out that the concept of Pinata is refreshing. The app is easy to implement and user-friendly.
Jonathan and Bryan are currently working on the tenant benefit programs. 
Not just tenants, Pinata also has programs to benefit homeowners.
Lily lists the top three unique, customizable rewards.
Renter lease signing, replacing air-filters, snapping a photo of the property, maintaining the lawn are some of the customizable rewards that Pinata offers to its users.  
Initially, Pinata started with the single-family space, but this year Lily’s target is to get to the multi-family space as well.
Jonathan talks about the geographical spread of Pinata in the US. 
Lily points out that “There is no area in the US that Pinata doesn’t cater to.”
Jimmy explains, “The beauty of the system is - it not only rewards the tenants, but it also brands Pinata and rewards the homeowners. “
As a final note, Jonathan shares that he has not come across any other company like Pinata. It is such a stepping-stone about what anybody else is offering.
Jonathan and Bryan joke that they are not getting any Pinata cash for promoting the company. 
What Pinata offers is unique, and one can earn rewards following some simple steps. 
 
 
3 Key Points:
 
Jonathan Cook and Bryan Jenkins talk about the trajectory of Pinata and how positively the company has grown over the years.
Lily explains in detail about “Rent Rewards”, as it does not exist anywhere else in the market as a class of service.
Lily talks about “How easy it is for tenants to sign-up for Pinata?”
 
 
 
Tweetable Quotes:
 
“Pinata is focused on creating stickiness not only with the tenants but also with home-owners.” - Jimmy Quintana
“Pinata’s app is not only intuitive, but it is also fun for the users” - Lily Liu
“Pinta’s app is technology-enabled and cutting-edge; signing-up is really easy.” - Jimmy Quintana
“Pinata benefits all parties involved bet it homeowners, tenants or the brand itself.” - Jimmy Quintana
 
 
 
Resources Mentioned:
 
Pinata
Email Jonathan and Bryan at Podcast@AHIProperties.com
PPP Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/PPPwithAHI/
PPP Twitter: https://twitter.com/PPPwithAHI
Podcast Editing

In Episode 29 of the Profitable Powerhouse Properties Podcast, Jonathan Cook and Bryan Jenkins welcome DD Lee of Skyline Properties in Atlanta. They discuss the differences between the Birmingham and Atlanta markets, how COVID has impacted operations and the markets, what has stayed the same, and the value of a NARPM membership.
 
Episode Highlights:
The Atlanta market is 3 times as big as the Birmingham market.
DD says that before COVID, if a tenant was late on rent, they would receive a form letter and be charged a late fee, but since COVID happened, they no longer charge late fees and they have a dedicated team member who personally calls each tenant and offers a payment plan.
Both AHI and Skyline have been looking at a tenant’s entire situation and trying to be more flexible.
Skyline’s average property rent is $1600-1650.
Class A properties have been the least negatively impacted by delinquency and Class D has been impacted the most, but Class A has been doing worse with rentals overall.
In Atlanta, the average time a property is on market is only 14 days.
DD thinks COVID has benefitted the southeast US because people who lived and worked in the northeast now have the flexibility to keep their job and work from anywhere.
Skyline has had 111 move-ins this year so far, which is really high for them.
DD has not had to change much as far as Skyline’s leasing operations because they were already using Tenant Turner for self-showings.
If a tenant who’s moving out is uncomfortable with Skyline showing the property while they are still in it due to COVID, they will wait until the tenant moves out.
There are benefits to using technology like Zoom because now more people understand how to use it so it allows property managers to do things more efficiently.
There has been an increase in sight-unseen leases, and DD is adding a lease addendum for that circumstance.
Inventory in Atlanta is still limited.
An average 3BR, 2BA house in the Atlanta metro area will be about $200-250k for early 2000s construction.
Atlanta’s cost is prohibitive for a lot of investors but is still a lot more accessible than other major cities like New York or LA.
Skyline has a set lease renewal increase of 3%, and right now 7 out of 10 are renewing their leases.
They are getting more move-out notices this year, and DD speculates it’s because people want bigger houses and nicer upgrades.
Maintenance requests have increased, seemingly because people are spending more time in their homes to notice issues.
Skyline makes a home truly move-in ready by having utilities already on.
Concierge services like utility activation and the ability to pay bills and do all related things in a single portal will create stickiness for your tenant.
Tenants are willing to pay more in rent for better services and in order to save money on move-in costs.
NARPM allows best-in-class property managers to share ideas and raise the bar for the industry as a whole.
Being part of the NARPM community helps you to find the next service or tool to improve your business, and to problem solve with colleagues.
Something DD found through NARPM is Pinata, an incentive-based, free service to tenants that allows them to earn points every time they pay their rent on time that can be redeemed for gift cards and other rewards.
NARPM members have a level of professionalism that non-members typically do not.
The NARPM community has been even more valuable during COVID.
If you are renting out a property in a state where you don’t live, visit the NARPM website to find a property manager.
 
3 Key Points:
Now that people are able to work remotely, we’re seeing a big move out of major northeast metro areas into the southeastern states.
More people are willing to rent a property sight unseen, and are willing to pay a premium for convenience and other concierge services.
A NARPM membership gives you access to a community of the best in class property managers to learn from.
 
Tweetable Quote

In Episode 28 of the Profitable Powerhouse Properties Podcast, Jonathan Cook and Bryan Jenkins discuss strategies and services they have used to support their operations during COVID. They also share insights about treating your tenants like humans and approaching property management in an empathetic way while still protecting investors.
 
Episode Highlights:
An important KPI is the percentage of rent collected, but that is less useful during COVID.
It’s sometimes better to look at your entire portfolio’s vacancy rate, delinquency rate, etc., instead of looking at individual properties.
Their immediate action when COVID became urgent was to make their operations as safe for themselves, their tenants, and their vendors as possible, including unaccompanied property showings.
Unaccompanied showings made sense as a way to remove friction before the pandemic, and they’re happy they had already started using Tenant Turner to make that happen.
They seek to eliminate financial barriers to entry for tenants.
Simple Bills saves tenants money by eliminating utility connection and disconnection fees.
They’ve started using a photo editing service for property pictures that allows them to put a fire in a fireplace, adjust the lighting, add furniture, etc.
Jonathan and Bryan believe there needs to be some mortgage relief for property owners who are extending human empathy and understanding to tenants who are struggling to pay rent during the pandemic, and while evictions are halted.
They found their leasing rates increased because people wanted to move as quickly and efficiently as possible so they could get into a house and stay there to hunker down.
Not everyone will have the capacity to implement all of these tools, particularly the higher cost tools.
Times change, technology changes, the market changes, and you can’t pretend that isn’t true; you have to evolve and respond to changing conditions.
They charge a lease renewal fee because as property managers they do more than just sign off on a lease.
It is impossible to avoid some pushback from tenants when you raise rent, but you can help alleviate that tension by explaining the reasons and demonstrating how you’re still giving them a deal compared to market value.
They provide essentially a report card to tenants based on how many times they’ve been delinquent on rent, any damages, and other lease violations, to calculate how much of a rent increase should be made for a lease renewal.
Tenants get benefit of the doubt, because it’s physically impossible to live in a house and not, for example, discolor a carpet; that doesn’t mean a tenant is irresponsible. 
Look at all of your operational data and look at what is most easily made automated.
If you have the availability and means to hire a best-in-class property management firm that is focused on technology and processes, Bryan strongly suggests you do that.
 
3 Key Points:
The usual KPIs may not be useful during COVID without added context and a human touch.
It is vital to be open-minded and flexible about changing technology, changing markets, and changing industry standards.
Your goals as a property manager should be to create stickiness for the tenants while protecting the investors’ assets.
 
Tweetable Quotes:
“There’s a reason that we do this podcast, there’s a reason that we do everything that we do—it’s designed to not just grow, but it’s designed to get better, to constantly improve. Because it’s a conscious choice to not improve.” –Jonathan Cook
“Why did a tenant that would have been a 9 out of 10 tenant for the majority of their lease suddenly drop to a 6? Oh, COVID happened, they lost their job… There is some human element that has to be associated with it.” –Jonathan Cook
 
Resources Mentioned:
Check out our website ahiproperties.com
Buy, sell, and own investment properties the way the pros do it with www.roofstock.com
Email Jonathan and Bryan at Podcast@AHIProperties.com

In Episode 27 of the Profitable Powerhouse Properties Podcast, Jonathan Cook and Bryan Jenkins welcome guest Seth Kelly from Blue Ink. They talk about the many benefits of electronic signatures, why you should choose Blue Ink, and more. Learn about their security features and all the ways e-signatures can help your business.
 
Episode Highlights:
 
Blue Ink is an electronic signature provider that is more secure than other comparable software.
Seth used to be a property manager.
In the first demo of the software Seth saw, it had an avatar reading the contract to you as you signed the document, and it impressed him so much he was sold immediately.
During the pandemic, electronic signatures are especially useful as a means of reducing in-person meetings.
Some people who are less comfortable with technology have been hesitant about e-signatures because of their fear of fraud.
Jonathan and Bryan see it as a customer service issue with clients and making them happy and comfortable, but fewer and fewer people are requesting hard copy signatures.
Blue Ink is just as secure as email or online shopping, if not more so.
For investors whose entire full time job is buying and selling homes, especially investors who buy property online, e-signatures are crucial. 
Using e-signatures saves a lot of time and money by eliminating the need to mail documents back and forth.
Other use cases for e-signatures that Blue Ink has seen are human resources, employee onboarding and education.
Blue Ink offers greater cost savings and better customer support than any of the big box competitors out there.
Blue Ink allows you to create templates out of your regular documents.
Blue Ink has an incredible and responsive support team, with an average response time of less than 3 minutes.
When someone signs a document, Blue Ink captures the IP address and geolocation, plus senders have the option of adding up to 3 additional layers of security and verification.
Additional verification includes a two-factor authentication PIN, a selfie, and uploading your photo ID.
In the UK, documents of transference no longer require notarized signatures but will accept electronic signatures. 
The audio narration of the documents on Blue Ink can be set up in any language you need—a university in Toronto uses it for their international student housing complexes.
On an annual basis, Blue Ink does 7 figures worth of signings, with their biggest month being around 320,000 signings.
They’ve seen 250% growth average year over year.
Blue Ink considers it their goal to make electronic signatures as accessible as email.
 
3 Key Points:
Electronic signatures are safe and secure and pose very low risk of fraud.
E-signatures can benefit many different industries, not just real estate.
Electronic signatures should be an accessible technology just as common as email.
 
Tweetable Quotes:
“Electronic signatures really should be a bulletproof opportunity to execute documents, contracts, agreements.” –Seth Kelly
“The power of Blue Ink, and the intention, is to create a notary process that’s done electronically, that’s even more capable and more error-proof because it’s not human.” –Seth Kelly
“Electronic signatures should be like email… We really have embraced that concept. We don’t think that use of electronic signatures should be so prohibitive that you can’t take advantage of that key benefit.” –Seth Kelly
“Clients want that ease of use. They don’t want to come into your office to sign a document, wait for the mail, or any of that.” –Bryan Jenkins
 
Resources Mentioned:
Check out our website ahiproperties.com
Buy, sell, and own investment properties the way the pros do it with www.roofstock.com
Email Jonathan and Bryan at Podcast@AHIProperties.com
PPP Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/PPPwithAHI/
PPP Twitter: https://twitter.com/PPPwithAHI
www.Blueink.com 
Email Seth: seth.kelly@blueink.com