Modern Multifamily

Grotto AI's Nick Deveau on leasing as sales, why coaching beats scoring, asking for the application twice, and Hillpointe's 27% conversion lift.

Summary Dom Beveridge, Founder of 20for20, returns to Modern Multifamily for the eighth edition of his annual white paper, built on 20 structured, open-ended interviews with multifamily executives. Host Mike Wolber, Chief Sales Officer at Apartment List, digs into the word that kept surfacing this year (exhaustion), why a balance sheet industry finds three years of P&L focus so draining, and how centralization now looks settled for owner operators while third party managers still depend on their owners to roll it out. The conversation then turns to tech bloat: community managers with more than 40 logins, the third of operators now running tech freezes and shedding applications, the VC funding model that quietly drives over-buying, and the 6 companies Dom calls AI first, who are configuring their organizations around automation instead of buying widgets. Dom closes with his early read on 2027: a possible peak in the proptech VC wave and a push to simplify the resident application process. For multifamily operators, marketers and anyone selling technology into real estate. Chapters 00:00 Why a digital leasing assistant isn't an AI strategy 00:46 The 20for20 thesis after eight editions 03:15 Owner operators versus third party managers on centralization 05:36 Exhaustion becomes the word of the year 09:39 Tech bloat, tech freezes and cutting 40 apps to 20 14:50 Shifting sands for proptech vendors 17:52 The VC model and the tech bloat trade-off 20:18 AI first operators versus widget buyers 26:27 Conversion rates when AI nurtures every lead 32:06 The 2027 outlook: peak VC and simpler applications Takeaways - Exhaustion is structural: a balance sheet industry has spent 3 years focused on NOI while also changing how it operates, and the same second-half recovery has been predicted 3 years running. - Community managers routinely carry more than 40 logins, and getting rid of technology is at least as hard as acquiring it. - About a third of operators now treat shedding tech as a formal initiative, with tech freezes and one large owner operator cutting from the low 40s to under 20 applications. - The VC model that gives startups access to LP operators creates an incentive to roll out software most portfolio companies will never grow into. - AI first operators configure the organization around automation and ask software to tell them how to improve, while most of the industry still reflexively buys widgets like a digital leasing assistant. Connect with the Guest Dom Beveridge LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dombeveridge/ Company Website: https://20for20.com

Summary In this episode of Modern Multifamily, Mike Wolber brings the show back with Dana Pate, Founder/CEO of Stitched Marketing and former marketing leader at RangeWater through its growth from four properties to 400. Dana explains why so many people who go independent quietly return to a W-2 within two quarters (you report to more people, not fewer), why both large and small property management companies still move slowly on marketing decisions, and why "we just need more leads" is the same question the industry was asking ten years ago. The conversation closes on proptech go-to-market: why the obsession with the NMHC Top 50 starves companies of the mid-market partners that actually keep them afloat. For multifamily marketers, proptech operators and anyone thinking about going out on their own. Chapters 00:00 Bringing Modern Multifamily back with Dana Pate 01:22 Launching Stitched Marketing after 15 years on the PMC side 04:12 Saying yes to everything, then learning to be choosy 06:36 Working with competitors and keeping the client list at five or six 11:24 What makes people fail when they go out on their own 16:11 Building the plane at RangeWater, from 4 to 400 properties 19:46 Two camps of slow PMCs and the "we just need more leads" trap 25:59 Crowded categories and a dashboard for your dashboards 29:30 Stop obsessing over the NMHC Top 50 31:27 Who should call Stitched Marketing Takeaways - Going independent means answering to more people, not fewer, and losing the title, the authority and the team. - Large PMCs stall on red tape while small PMCs stall on fear of change, so both move slowly for opposite reasons. - "We just need more leads" is the same question the industry asked a decade ago, and the same question gets the same answers. - A signed contract is not buy-in; technology that the on-site team never adopts goes dusty and gets canceled. - Proptech companies obsessed with the Top 50 should win fast-deciding mid-market partners first and move upmarket with proof. Connect with the Guest Dana Pate LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danagrazianopate Company Website: https://stitchedmarketing.com

I had a blast sitting down with Alex Roudi, the CEO of Interwest Capital Group on the podcast. The conversation started with digging into Alex's history as a founder. He built a very successful global cleaning business in the 90's - and hearing about this

Each year, I look forward to hosting Dom Beveridge to discuss the the 20for20 white paper. Every year, Dom sits down with 20 executives to uncover what's top of mind and what's driving their strategy over the coming year. This year, we hit on a few topic