Monthly Strategies for Improving PM Operations

🍁 October: If It Only Lives in Someone's Head, You Don't Own It

Every month I share what's actually on our plate — not the polished version, the real one. If something we're doing helps you run a tighter operation, steal it. That's the point. In September our maintenance director resigned. That same week I became the maintenance

🐾 We Picked a Pet Screening Partner. Here's the Question That Decided It.

Back in June I told you we run every applicant through a pet vetting platform, and that assistance animal verification is the part that used to keep me up at night. I also told you to build your accommodation workflow with your attorney, because that's the step that

🤖 The 5 AI Prompts I'd Hand a New Property Manager on Day One

It's September. Pre-leasing for next June just opened, and you have 30 units to list by Friday. Half of them share a floor plan. You've written "spacious 2-bedroom close to campus" so many times it's lost all meaning. You can

🦠 "There's Black Mold in My Apartment" — What That Work Order Actually Means

A tenant submits a work order at 11:40 on a Saturday night. Photo attached: a shower curtain with dark speckling along the bottom hem. Subject line: BLACK MOLD. The bathroom has a working exhaust fan. You know that because you replaced it fourteen months ago, and because somebody on

📝 September: Your Renewal Window Already Closed

Every month I share what's actually on our plate — not the polished version, the real one. If something we're doing helps you run a tighter operation, steal it. That's the point. If you're reading this on a Saturday, right when I sent

🦺 Your Workers' Comp Rate Was Set Two Years Ago

Most property managers can quote their management fee to the decimal point. Ask them what their workers' compensation experience modifier is, and there's a long pause. It's one of the most expensive numbers in a property management company that nobody is actively managing — mostly because

🧾 We Never Made It to the Trial We Promised You

Signed in April. Cancelled in June. What we actually learned had nothing to do with Rentvine. Back in the spring we told you we were leaving AppFolio after eleven years, and that we would report back on how the replacement went. Here is that report, and it is not the

🏗️ What Is PM Advisor?

and why we built it... A property manager with thirty years in the business asked me last month what the best maintenance software is, and what the most efficient way to handle maintenance actually looks like. Thirty years. Still asking. That is not a gap in her knowledge. That is

📞 August: Our Phone Bill Was 58% Taxes. Here's What I Found Trying to Fix It

Every month I share what's actually on our plate — not the polished version, the real one. If something we're doing helps you run a tighter operation, steal it. That's the point. Back in June I told you about the phone bill audit that saved

🤝 I'm Drowning in Vendor Meetings. That's the Job Now.

You may have noticed I skipped a beat. No post in a while, no clever excuse. Here's the honest one: three straight weeks of demos, pricing calls, and contract reviews. Every vendor I smiled at in New Orleans—and several I'm certain I didn't—

💳 Your Delinquency Problem Has a Fix. We Already Did the Vetting.

Here's a scenario you know well. A resident pays on the 11th instead of the 1st, most months. You post the notice, send the text, your team eats the hours. And the frustrating part is that it usually isn't about money or character — there's

☀️ July: Raising Rent Is Lazy. Here's What We Do Instead.

Every month I share what's actually on our plate — not the polished version, the real one. If something we're doing helps you run a tighter operation, steal it. That's the point. We're halfway through the year, the books are open on my