Standing on Diamonds

My younger brother runs a law practice in town with an unusual business philosophy. He told me the goal of his business is to have 5% more fun every day. Some of the correspondence they send to opposing counsel makes them laugh so hard they can barely contain themselves, and they're constantly trying to raise that bar. He said if he ever writes a book about his business, he'll call it "5% More Fun." It's their only metric.

They're not obsessing over margin, payroll, or client satisfaction scores. Their measuring stick is how much fun they, as attorneys, are having on a regular basis. His profit margins are consistently strong, and his turnover is remarkably low. It's not my vision for my business, but Stephen has always valued humor and authenticity, and I love how he's channeled his hilarious self into a successful, profitable law practice.

What are we actually doing in property management? What is this business really about? Is it worth our very best efforts?

A friend I know was told by another thought leader in our space, “This industry doesn’t deserve you. I truly mean that.” Can that be said of anyone in any industry? Is this industry washed up, tired, beat down into a “thankless job”?

For those of us taking ourselves too seriously (relative to my brother), what vision gets you excited to hop out of bed each morning?

When I sat down to draft the Vivid Vision for Mark Brower Properties 18 months ago, a single line came to me:

To me, that means something. It means the impact of my team can be huge. It means if we do our work well, with enthusiasm and great purpose, the lives we can touch and influence for good can be nearly limitless.

Helping good people do more good is our worthy purpose. We enthusiastically put our best efforts into helping responsible property owners build generational wealth with real estate. How is this best done? How do we empower our team members to build meaningful relationships with ‘good people’ one on one? This is the only way we can foster the trust needed to help good people do more good. Task completion guided by inflexible policies won't accomplish that.

Check out the exchange I had with Todd O about policy in this post where someone poured a $4000 bottle of liquor down the sink.

Also, check out this post highlighting the type of policy needed to foster maximum human connection. Let me know what you think of these ideas please.

With a worthy purpose as your foundation all kinds of ‘good’ is possible. Let’s examine some of the opportunities I see ahead.

The Frontier: Where Property Management Is Headed

What are the biggest opportunities in SFR property management? What is our current frontier of value creation?

Over the last decade, we've made significant progress on several frontiers:

• Remote and international team members

• Unaccompanied showings

• NARPM accounting standards

• Operational standardization (ongoing)

• Evolution from portfolio to departmental to POD structures

• Recognition that resident experience drives meaningful ROI for both owners and property managers

Along the way, Big Tech spent hundreds of millions confirming what we already knew: you can't automate around the trust between property manager and owner.

There's an old story about an African farmer who sold his land to chase his dream of prospecting for diamonds elsewhere. The man who bought his farm later discovered a large, clear stone while plowing. That farm turned out to contain one of the richest diamond deposits in the country.

We have an opportunity right now to mine the diamonds right under our feet.

The most valuable opportunities aren't "over there" somewhere—they're in the relationships and potential we already have. Here are the five biggest diamonds I see:

1. Unlock Existing Client Growth Potential

The Opportunity: Educate and guide current clients to access latent equity for portfolio expansion. Goal: 20% of existing clients buy one more property over the next 24 months Revenue Impact: This would generate $1,000,000 in commission revenue for a 500 client PM firm and increase door count by 15-20% without any new client acquisition costs.

2. Develop Value-Add Asset Management Services

The Opportunity: Offer strategic property optimization services beyond basic management. Goal: Offer this optional service tier for a 20% premium in revenue per unit for opted-in clients Revenue Impact: Even 30% adoption could increase company profits by 20%.

3. Transform Owners Into Strategic Business Partners

The Opportunity: Shift clients from reactive property owners to proactive real estate entrepreneurs. Goal: Reduce inbound owner calls per property by 30% through proactive education and communication.

4. Master the Critical Owner Conversations

The Opportunity: Train property managers in the key discussions that prevent problems and build trust. Goal: Reduce service escalations by 70%, drop churn to 10%, and achieve 4.6+ star average online rating (currently industry average is 3.2 stars) Business Impact: Higher satisfaction drives lower churn and more lead flow.

5. Align Incentives for Entrepreneurial Thinking

The Opportunity: Empower property managers to think and act like business owners within your business. The Vision: Create earning potential that attracts and retains A-players long-term Goal: Develop career tracks with earning potential of $150,000+ annually.

The Revolution Is Already Here

This is an exciting time in property management. The coming transformation isn't just about flashy new technology or dramatic industry disruption—it's about going deeper with existing relationships, obsessing over value creation, and maximizing opportunities that have always been right in front of us.

What about ai? I'm excited about Agentic AI and other emerging technologies, but my Director of Operations is taking a measured approach to implementation. We are ok not being a pioneer on this one. Sometimes the best innovations are the ones that help us better serve the relationships we already have.

Get your pickaxe ready!! Mining these diamonds doesn’t require we go ‘out-there’ for new opportunities. We just need to take a serious look about what is right in front of us!

Which of these opportunities resonates most with your experience? What diamonds are you seeing in your own operation that others might be overlooking?

Thumbnail picture on this post is from a hike I did Saturday in preparation for the Grand Canyon hike hosted by Tony Cline and co. next week! Funny thing about it is I’ve run trails at this location for years but until Saturday I had never looked up the mountain to notice the mine tailings. I hiked up and found two old mines, that had been there all the time but I wasn’t paying attention.

Update on the Plaid:

I got a speeding ticket Saturday 😖. An unmarked police car happened to be driving right next to me when I decided to show my father and sister the acceleration from a rolling 50 mph. I peaked at 90 mph in 2 seconds and then slowed right back down. He only nailed me for 60 mph and I qualify for driving school, so that was a relief. I was prepping to be put in handcuffs. When he walked up to my window he said “You’re EXACTLY the person I’m looking for!”

Needless to say I’ve been in ‘chill’ mode for the past week, except for last night when I tried drag strip mode for the first time to impress my daughter and her friend. I kept it under speed limit, we just got there really quick. The ‘cheetah stance’ is cool…