Shawn Austin Johnson

Own some companies, own some rental properties, have a 🚁, and an overall amazing life.

[Shawn Austin Johnson @ShawnAJohnsonX]

@theryanjamesmil @grok lol. Very valid!

[Shawn Austin Johnson @ShawnAJohnsonX]

@theryanjamesmil @grok That's a stellar compliment! Nice!

[Shawn Austin Johnson @ShawnAJohnsonX]

The average PM gets excited over another $4-$8/month from a rent increase.

Then refuses to increase their management fee by $20.

Make it make sense.

[Shawn Austin Johnson @ShawnAJohnsonX]

Great property managers build systems.

Average property managers build routes.

If rent collection requires someone getting in a car...
your process is broken.

[Shawn Austin Johnson @ShawnAJohnsonX]

Rent collection should run like lights and clockwork.

Not:
"Thanks for letting us know you'll be late."

Regardless of what the tenant says...
the collection process should be exactly the same.

Because you're either training the tenant...
or the tenant is training you.

[Shawn Austin Johnson @ShawnAJohnsonX]

Hot take:

Rent increases are one of the least effective ways to increase a property management company's profit.

The question is, are you actually charging for the value you provide?

[Shawn Austin Johnson @ShawnAJohnsonX]

Every time you lower your price...

you tell the market your service wasn't worth what you originally asked.

[Shawn Austin Johnson @ShawnAJohnsonX]

You should charge the highest price the market will happily pay.

Then obsess over delivering so much value your clients think they got a bargain.

[Shawn Austin Johnson @ShawnAJohnsonX]

The most expensive words a landlord says:

"I didn't want to upset a good tenant."

Five years later, they're $400/month under market rent.

[Shawn Austin Johnson @ShawnAJohnsonX]

Every grace period tells tenants:

"Rent isn't actually due on the 1st."

Then landlords wonder why people keep paying on the 5th.

[Shawn Austin Johnson @ShawnAJohnsonX]

@willcurtisccim That is one way to create value for the owner, yes.

[Shawn Austin Johnson @ShawnAJohnsonX]

The biggest mistake property managers make:

They raise rents...
...but forget to raise their own pricing.

Your job isn't just to increase the owner's income.

It's to build a profitable property management company.

[Shawn Austin Johnson @ShawnAJohnsonX]

@HowardRoark90 @NetNetData Okay, thanks for the education but I’ve been doing this for 15 years. But, you can keep your limited mindset and I’ll take the profit.

[Shawn Austin Johnson @ShawnAJohnsonX]

@HowardRoark90 I think a better question is, what is the value a great PMC provides? Any other company when value is provided (whether perceived or direct) it’s priced accordingly.

[Shawn Austin Johnson @ShawnAJohnsonX]

This is great and exactly why I posed the thought. There are many ways a PMC can earn more outside of the management fee. In fact, the most successful PMCs earn the majority of revenue from things other than the management.

I have run countless revenue increases and clients actually don’t leave if done correctly. Only when perceived value reduces less than the fee.

Why is it that every other business on the planet has free rein to increase prices and it’s shunned when PMCs do it?

[Shawn Austin Johnson @ShawnAJohnsonX]

@NetNetData @HowardRoark90 Why not own both? Owning a PMC is like inside trading of REI. Clients who signal selling are ripe for buying off market.

[Shawn Austin Johnson @ShawnAJohnsonX]

@HowardRoark90 Yes, but that is a passive way to grow revenue/profits in a management company.

[Shawn Austin Johnson @ShawnAJohnsonX]

If you're driving around collecting rent...

you're solving a problem the tenant should solve.

[Shawn Austin Johnson @ShawnAJohnsonX]

Every time you make an exception...

you teach tenants that your policies are negotiable.

Policies only work when they apply to everyone.

[Shawn Austin Johnson @ShawnAJohnsonX]

Your goal isn't to charge less than everyone else.

Your goal is to become so valuable that price becomes a secondary consideration.

Premium pricing isn't arrogance.

It's the byproduct of premium value.