Category: Press

Why Key Performance Indicators Are Powerful

Featured in the July/August 20222 issue of Western Multifamily & Affordable Housing Business. Click here to view the full article.

By Alexis Vance, Chief Marketing Officer

KPIs, also known as key performance indicators, play a crucial role in multifamily. KPIs are measurements of specific activities that directly influence strategy. When leveraged correctly, they provide invaluable data and insight that can positively affect property performance and ultimately inform strategy, allowing you to make thoughtful business decisions.

A KPI is simply a measurable value that evaluates performance. For example, conversions from a digital ad source is one of several KPIs that may indicate effectiveness of an overall strategy. KPIs provide a combination of data points that are then used to create a unique strategy to achieve a set of identified goals. KPIs present a piece of the picture that must be viewed in relation to the whole picture. When applied correctly, KPIs are extremely powerful tools that have a direct and timely impact on property performance and NOI goals and objectives.

Start With Strategy

Before determining which KPIs are right for you and your property, it’s important to first understand your strategy and business objectives. Strategy informs the types of KPIs to use by taking into consideration the specific asset, asset type, client portfolio, marketing channel, timeframe, market and business goals. What works for a luxury high-rise lease-up in downtown Chicago in January will be different than a stable student-housing community in rural Florida in August. When you understand your strategy, you can then determine and measure the KPIs that best align.

RPM Living owns and manages the 227-unit **Atlantic on Main** community in Summerville, SC. By adding starting-rent prices to its digital ads, Atlantic on Main saw a 35% increase in conversions to signed leases.

Leading and Secondary KPIs

To start, determine the type of leading KPIs that have the biggest impact on performance related to your goals. Typically, these leading KPIs are at the bottom of the marketing funnel — a term that measures a the customer journey, from the point they hear about you to the point they complete a sale. These last-mile KPIs typically focus on conversion rates and cost-per-acquisition or revenue.

To truly have an impact, a thoughtful marketer understands there are also secondary KPIs that are important to measure as they influence performance and work with leading KPIs. For example, impressions, click-through-rates and conversions would be considered secondary KPIs to digital performance while various conversion KPIs would be primary. The use of leading and secondary KPIs will ensure comprehensive performance evaluation and proper calibration of your strategy.

Let’s look at an example using a digital pay-per-click (PPC) campaign. PPC means an advertiser, in this case a multifamily operator, pays to have a property ad appear above other search results on websites like Google.

If we exclusively looked at cost-per-lease as the KPI, and we did not meet our goal, does it mean the campaign for this asset in this market didn’t work? Not necessarily. The secondary KPI, something like number of click-throughs to a website, may provide more insight into the role this marketing tactic plays in performance. Looking at a comprehensive set of leading and secondary KPIs allows us to make the best tactical decision in this scenario, saving time and money.

RPM Living owns and manages **Altitude** in Atlanta. The 327-unit property was built in 2016. By incorporate relevant keywords in its ad copy, Altitude experienced a 54% increase in click-through rates. This rate is a ratio of ad clicks compared to the number of times the ad is shown.

Multi-Touch Attribution

Considered the gold standard to determine the level of effectiveness for prospect touchpoints, multi-touch attribution gives us an understanding of how different channels (property website, social media, digital ads, etc.) in our media mix contribute to the ultimate conversion action of a signed lease, which is typically our leading KPI.

Multi-touch attribution determines the value of each customer touchpoint that leads to a conversion. According to Nielsen, multi-touch attribution is a marketing effectiveness measurement technique that takes all of the touchpoints on the consumer journey into consideration and assigns fractional credit to each so that a marketer can see how much influence each channel has on a sale.

Using the aforementioned scenario, if we measure multi-touch attribution, it may tell us that PPC is essential to converting organic website traffic, which accounts for people who land on your website without using paid clicks. Without PPC, we may learn that our lease conversions from the website drop significantly. Measuring traffic referrals - visits to your site from links that appear on a different site - to the property website is a secondary KPI that has now provided critical details in measuring the overall performance of the marketing campaign.

Consider the Market

Awareness of all factors influencing KPIs will allow you to set them appropriately in any given scenario. The market you’re in will influence how you define your KPIs the same way the asset type or marketing channel influences KPIs. At the individual market level, we set KPI benchmarks that provide relevant insight into performance. An example of a market-level KPI would be determining how demographic segments within any given designated market area (DMA) interact with marketing strategies and communication channels. Analyzing demographic-specific needs and habits will have an impact on where KPI benchmarks land.

The pandemic, which noticeably affected every market, is a great example of how different needs require different KPIs. When the pandemic took place, our marketing KPIs shifted to accommodate various sales experiences, like self-guided tours and virtual tours, thus widening the bottom of our marketing funnel. Now, we’re measuring a variety of tour types, which has opened an entirely new set of sales KPIs and benchmarks around each type of tour.

**Olmsted Savannah**, located in Savannah, GA, was built in 2021 and contains 163 units. RPM Living, which developed, owns and manages the property, experienced a 44% increase in the property's website clicks by adjusting its bidding strategy on specific keywords. Bidding refers to how much a property manager is willing to pay when a customer searches a specific keyword and clicks on the property's ad.

Dive into the Data

Equally as important is how you engage and apply the findings from your KPIs. Successful marketers relentlessly deepen their resources and insights and leverage data to continuously test their efforts.

There is no KPI that is set it and forget it. The frequency and cadence for how often to assess performance will depend on the channel and KPI. For example, you likely want to review PPC KPIs on a more frequent weekly basis because this type of marketing tactic yields immediate impact as opposed to search-engine-optimization (SEO), which can be looked at less frequently because the impact is demonstrated through longer lead times.

As marketers, it is our responsibility to proactively manage efficient ROI through strong performance. KPIs do just that. It’s important to note that if something isn’t working, it doesn’t mean you need to completely pivot. KPIs provide us with key intel to finely tune our strategy and determine which levers to pull and when. Sometimes simply adjusting spend level, messaging or creative is enough to make a big impact. When something’s not working, take pause, watch it more closely and tweak as needed.

Being agile is a critical differentiator in the multifamily industry, where unknown factors and changes are bound to occur. This, paired with a thoughtful strategy with long-term goals in place, is an invaluable combination.

Alexis Vance is the chief marketing officer with Austin, Texas-based RPM Living, a multifamily management company active in approximately 35 markets. She can be reached at alexis.vance@rpmliving.com.

For the latest news, visit RPMLiving.com/blog.

RPM Living Ranks No. 4 on Multi-Housing News’ List of Top Multifamily Property Managers of 2022

RPM Living continues to gain national recognition, being named No. 4 on Multihousing News’ (MHN) list of Top Multifamily Property Managers of 2022, an annual ranking of industry leaders.

Instead of being based solely off unit count, MHN’s list of Top Multifamily Property Managers, which utilizes self-reported data, uses a weighted formula based on a variety of factors including property operations (both owned and managed), presence across property sectors, and total units under management. The result is a balanced representation between firm growth, market share and property diversity.

The recognition adds to RPM’s growing list of accolades including most notably, being ranked the seventh largest multifamily manager on the National Multifamily Housing Council’s (NMHC) Top 50 list earlier this year after experiencing its largest year of growth. In 2021, the firm added more than 47,000 units to its portfolio. Currently, RPM manages a diverse portfolio of 112,000 units across 35 markets and employs over 2,500 associates nationwide.

The accolade compliments other recent awards including RPM’s Chief Executive Officer Jason Berkowitz and its Transition & Due Diligence Team both being named 2021 Multifamily Influencers by GlobeSt. in 2021 and RPM’s Chief Marketing Officer Alexis Vance and Division President Cynthia Miller both being named 2022 Women of Influence by GlobeSt.

To view the full list of 2022 Top Multifamily Property Managers visit multihousingnews.com/top-multifamily-property-management-firms-2022.

For more information about RPM and its national portfolio, visit RPMLiving.com.

For the latest news, visit RPMLiving.com/blog.

Photo: Revel, an RPM-managed community in Minneapolis, Minnesota

RPM Living Investments Grows Houston Portfolio With San Paloma Acquisition in Energy Corridor

RPM Living Investments (“RPM”) has announced the acquisition of San Paloma in the heart of Houston’s Energy Corridor, the city’s third-largest employment center. The 372-unit garden property was purchased from Blackstone/Livcor through a joint venture with DRA Advisors (“DRA”). The transaction is the second joint venture between DRA and RPM in Texas and is RPM’s 16th acquisition in greater Houston.

San Paloma presents an incredible opportunity with the community’s superb Energy Corridor location, forecasted to maintain its position as one of Houston’s strongest submarkets. The community is surrounded by 22MM square feet of office space, high-end infrastructure, and benefits from its location in the path of Houston’s western-leaning growth and a limited multifamily construction pipeline.

Built by Sueba in 2006, one of Houston’s highest quality builders, San Paloma features an unmatched amenity set, and unique floorplans with an average unit size of over 1,050 square feet that include arched doorways, vaulted ceilings, and built-ins throughout.

“San Paloma is an excellent property that provides tremendous opportunity in one of Houston’s premier locations. We are excited to add such a great asset to our portfolio and to capitalize on its maximum potential,” says Hank Farrell, Chief Executive Officer of RPM Living Investments.

"San Paloma is the perfect addition to grow our successful partnership with RPM. It is a high-quality asset in an A+ location with strong demand in a supply-constrained submarket, and we are excited to execute our business plan alongside the RPM team,” says Brett Gottlieb, Managing Director of DRA Advisors.

The acquisition was financed by Amerant Bank. For more information on RPM Living Investments, visit rpmlivinginvestments.com.

Project Highlights

Owner: RPM Living Investments
Manager: RPM Living
Developer/Builder: Sueba
Location: Houston, TX
Opened: 2006
Number of units: 372
Unit mix: One-, Two-Bedrooms

RPM Living Acquires Brentwood Downs in Atlanta’s Fast-Growing Suburban Housing County

RPM Living Investments announces the acquisition of Brentwood Downs, a 408-unit garden-style community in Lilburn, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta experiencing high demand amongst apartment dwellers. The acquisition marks the sixth asset purchased by the RPM Multifamily Fund I that launched last year.

Situated northeast of Atlanta’s central business district, Brentwood Downs has experienced immense organic rental growth with rates increasing more than 18% over the last year. Located at 500 Pleasant Hill Rd NW, the community boasts spacious units at an average of 1,070 square feet, an attractive feature for those escaping the city and seeking more space.

Brentwood Downs’ rent rate increase is reflective of Atlanta’s overall demand for suburban housing. Gwinnett County, where Brentwood Downs is located, seems to be experiencing it the most with an over 8% YOY growth in employment. The demand is due to rising rents inside the Atlanta loop, which is partly caused by a surge in population growth and supply shortage. This coupled with the rise in remote work has further increased demand for rental housing in the suburbs, where residents are able to choose space over office proximity.

“The suburbs of Atlanta continue to see growth as residents leave the city center for more space. The strategic acquisition of Brentwood Down builds on our plans to further expand our national presence in growing markets,” says Josh Kahn, Chief Operating Officer, RPM Living Investments.

RPM sourced Brentwood Downs through a direct, off-market relationship with the seller who has owned the community since 2007. The acquisition was financed by First Horizon Banks and adds to RPM’s growing footprint in Atlanta and the Southeast region. To learn more about RPM Living Investments, visit rpmlivinginvestments.com.

Project Highlights

Owner: RPM Living Investments
Manager: RPM Living
Developer/Builder: Lane Company
Location: Lilburn, GA
Opened: 1997
Number of units: 408
Unit mix: One-, Two-, and Three-Bedrooms

For the latest news and press, visit rpmliving.com/blog.

Honored for Remarkable Leadership, Cynthia Miller and Alexis Vance of RPM Living Recognized as 2022 Women of Influence by GlobeSt.

RPM Living’s Division President Cynthia Miller, and Chief Marketing Officer Alexis Vance have both been recognized among the top female commercial real estate professionals as Women of Influence by GlobeSt. for the significant impact they’ve made on the industry. Both women have been instrumental in leading effective change that has directly impacted the explosive growth and evolution of RPM Living, the No. 7 largest apartment manager on NMHC’s Top 50 list.

As Division President, Cynthia Miller directly oversees operations of RPM Living’s West portfolio of 77,000 units and supervises the Operations team and Analytics and Compliance departments. She has played a key role in several companywide platform rollouts that elevate reporting, people, and workflow to be the best in the business. Additionally, Cynthia has significantly grown the West portfolio. Most notably, in the past year, the Dallas-Fort Worth portfolio grew by 22,100 units and the Houston portfolio by 8,100 units, and her total portfolio’s average occupancy in 2021 was above the industry average.

As Chief Marketing Officer, Alexis Vance plays an integral role in positioning the company as a differentiator with an overall focus on brand equity and has led the company, from a marketing standpoint, through its two biggest years of growth. She has led her team through the launch of multiple key programs and processes, like an industry-leading business intelligence platform, a complete CRM platform, and in-house branding and digital services, all which directly impact performance as well as the resident and client experience.

Cynthia and Alexis’ strong leadership can best be seen in those they lead. Their ability to pivot and be agile has paid off with retention, and their strong support and investment in people is evidenced in their team’s growth and success. In the past year, Cynthia has had the opportunity to promote 17 individuals on her team at the Regional Vice President, Vice President, and Senior Vice President level alone. Likewise, Alexis’ leadership has allowed her to attract high-caliber candidates, even in one of the most competitive job markets, and build out an industry-leading marketing team, growing it from three members to 30 in just two years.

GlobeSt.’s Women of Influence awards recognize female commercial real estate professionals for their remarkable achievements who have personally impacted the market and significantly driven the industry to new heights via their outstanding successes. To view the full list of 2022 winners, click here.

To learn more about RPM Living, visit RPMLiving.com.

RPM Living Earns National Recognition as the 7th Largest Multifamily Manager on NMHC’s 2022 Top 50 list

Amidst national record growth, RPM Living is now the seventh largest manager in the nation, landing at No. 7 on the Top 50 List of Apartment Managers by the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC), up four spots from No. 11 last year. This marks the third consecutive year the Austin firm has been included in the industry’s chief ranking of the nation’s largest managers and the first year they’ve ranked in the top 10.

The ranking is an impressive feat considering RPM debuted on the annual list just two years ago in 2020 at No. 42 and was able to climb 35 spots among the industry’s ever-evolving landscape due to the global pandemic and a highly competitive job market. The quick ascent can be attributed to the firm’s exponential growth over the past few years. In 2021, RPM experienced its largest year of growth, adding more than 47,000 units to its portfolio. Currently, RPM manages a diverse portfolio of 112,000 units across 35 markets and employs over 2,400 associates nationwide.

“It’s an honor to be named the No. 7 company in the country and the achievement is an attestation to our team’s constant dedication and hard work,” said Jason Berkowitz, CEO and founder of RPM. “I am proud of our team's commitment to best practices, innovative solutions and resident-centric service which continues to be our focus and what propels us forward, allowing us to evolve and maintain our upwards trajectory.”

Contributing to the recent growth is RPM’s investment and development arm which successfully closed the RPM Multifamily Fund I, its first LP real estate fund which received commitments totaling more than $100 million. In 2021, the firm acquired roughly 3,600 multifamily units totaling a gross value of over $800 million. RPM Investments now owns a portfolio with a market value of roughly $4 billion, primarily consisting of properties in the rapidly growing South and Southeast.

Further accelerating RPM’s growth are its recent partnerships with industry powerhouses Ron Bonneau as Partner and Managing Director of Acquisitions, and Chase Hill as Partner and Managing Director of Development. The two bring extensive industry experience that will directly benefit the firm’s efforts to grow its platform nationally and further expand on development throughout the South and Southwest.

In addition to national growth, RPM has received recognition for its outstanding culture and leadership, having been named a Best Place to Work for 2022 by GlobeSt. The list highlights organizations that achieve outstanding performance, stay on top of workforce trends, strive to accommodate staff, and offer transparent communication methods and thoughtful employee engagement programming. The accolade compliments other recent awards including RPM’s Chief Executive Officer Jason Berkowitz and its Transition & Due Diligence Team both being named Multifamily Influencers by GlobeSt. in 2021.

The NMHC Top 50 is the industry’s chief ranking of the nation’s 50 largest apartment developers, 50 largest apartment owners, 50 largest apartment managers, 25 largest builders and 10 largest syndicators.

For more information about RPM and its national portfolio, visit RPMLiving.com.

RPM Living Appoints Longstanding Outside Counsel Kasi Moeskau as Chief Legal Officer

RPM Living announces the appointment of Kasi Moeskau as Chief Legal Officer for RPM Living, its subsidiaries, and affiliates. Moeskau has served as outside counsel for both RPM Living and F&B Capital for nearly 15 years, representing the latter on over 100 transactions with an aggregate value in excess of $1.5 billion. As Chief Legal Officer, Moeskau will provide legal and strategic guidance for RPM’s nationally recognized management platform and continue assisting with its investment endeavors.

With over 20 years’ experience practicing law, Moeskau most recently was a shareholder at esteemed Austin firm Sneed, Vine & Perry, P.C., and a member of its Legal Opinion Committee. Her experience includes the representation of a wide variety of investors and other owners and operators of commercial real estate assets in the acquisition and disposition of real property, financing transactions, and organization and negotiation of joint ventures. Moeskau also routinely advised clients in a wide range of operational and corporate compliance matters. She graduated summa cum laude from Texas Tech University with a bachelor’s in Political Science and earned her J.D. from The University of Texas School of Law. Moeskau has been a member of the State Bar of Texas since 2002.

“Kasi has been instrumental in many of our past transactions, and we are thrilled to strengthen our team by welcoming her to the RPM family. With two decades of experience, Kasi brings the expertise and knowledge needed as RPM accelerates its growth nationwide and executes its long-term objectives.” says Jason Berkowitz, CEO and Founder of RPM Living.

Over the past few years, RPM has achieved exponential growth despite the industry’s uncertain landscape due to the global pandemic. In 2020, the Austin-based firm debuted on the NMHC Top 50 Managers list at No. 42 before making the biggest jump of the year and soaring to No. 11. Continuing its strategic national expansion, RPM experienced its largest year of growth in 2021, adding more than 47,000 units to its portfolio. Currently, RPM manages a diverse portfolio of 112,000 units across 35 markets and employs over 2,400 associates nationwide.

Five RPM Communities Awarded Apartment Ratings' Top Rated for 2021

We are thrilled to share that multiple RPM communities have been awarded Apartment Ratings’ Top Rated for 2021. The annual awards recognize properties with outstanding resident satisfaction on ApartmentRatings.com. Of the many properties on their site, just 5% are awarded this recognition, making it a major achievement.

To qualify for this award, communities had to meet several criteria including:

An epIQ Index community grade of A- (80.00) or better: epIQ is the most comprehensive and insightful performance metric index which combines verified Apartment Ratings and SatisFacts data to generate a reliable and up-to-date rating. It’s calculated based on average renter ratings, reviews per unit compared to other communities, percentage of reviews with a manager’s response, and average response time.
A minimum of 5 reviews in the 2021 calendar year

Congrats to our RPM communities who earned this amazing accomplishment:

Cashel Springs
Oakbridge Apartments
The Avery at Deer Park
The Mill
Whispering Winds Apartments

View the entire list of 2021 winners by visiting: apartmentratings.com/top-rated-awards

RPM Living Focuses on National Expansion by Adding Industry Veterans Ron Bonneau and Chase Hill to Team

RPM Living, (“RPM”) announces the addition of industry powerhouse Ron Bonneau as Partner and Managing Director of Acquisitions to RPM Investments’ team and a newly formed partnership with accomplished real estate developer Chase Hill. The two moves further build upon the firm’s national growth strategy.

As Partner and Managing Director of Acquisitions, Ron Bonneau will be responsible for the implementation of RPM Investments’ national acquisition strategy along with developing new capital partner relationships. Bonneau has capitalized over $35 billion of real estate during his career and most recently served as Managing Director of Pacific Coast Capital Partners (PCCP) where he oversaw debt and equity originations for the Southeast and Texas. He has also served as Fund Manager at PCCP and previously spent time at Lehman Brothers in the Real Estate Private Equity Group, and as Asset Manager for TriMont Real Estate Advisors.

As Partner and Managing Director of Development, Chase Hill will marry RPM Investments’ management and investment presence and deep relationships with Hill’s experience to expand on development throughout the South and Southwest. Hill is the Founding Partner at Sable Partners and has been involved in the sourcing, capitalization, and execution of over 3,000 multifamily units totaling nearly $700 million in total project costs. Prior to Sable Partners, he spent nearly nine years as Principal and Partner at Cypress Real Estate Advisors (CREA) where he oversaw all aspects of multifamily development, and Senior Analyst for the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS). There, he assisted with a $278 million programmatic joint venture investment with Wood Partners to develop 25 apartment communities totaling over $1.3 billion in project costs.

“We are pleased to welcome Ron and Chase to the RPM Living team, I look forward to their insight and perspective as they help grow our platform across the country.” Hank Farrell III, CEO and Co-Founder RPM Living, Investments.

RPM employs over 2,400 team members and maintains a presence in 21 states of which both Bonneau and Hill have extensive experience and knowledge transacting within.

The partnerships with Bonneau and Hill will accelerate the recent growth experienced by RPM Investments. In 2021, the firm successfully closed the RPM Multi-Family Fund I - its first LP real estate fund, which received commitments totaling in excess of $100 million. RPM acquired roughly 3,600 multifamily units in 2021 totaling a gross value of over $800 million during the same period. Last year’s transactions included 13 communities located throughout six different cities across the Sunbelt region and into both Texas and Arizona. RPM Investments now owns a portfolio with a market value of roughly $4 billion, primarily consisting of properties in the rapidly growing South and Southeast.

Multiple RPM Living Communities Ranked Among the Top 1% Apartments Nationally for Online Reputation by J Turner Research

Five RPM Living properties have been recognized among the Elite 1% properties in the nation with the best online reputation for 2021 by J Turner Research, the leading market research firm exclusively serving the multifamily industry. Of the 128,000 plus properties J Turner monitors, 1,564 properties earned the Elite 1% distinction in the eighth annual Elite 1% ORA™ Power Ranking, published by Multifamily Executive.

Developed by J Turner Research, the ORA® Power Ranking is based on monthly online reputation research of over 128,000 properties’ lifetime reviews across multiple review sites and Internet Listing Services (ILSs). Based on a statistical model, J Turner assigns an independent Online Reputation Assessment Score (ORA®) to each property on a scale of 0-100 which determines a property’s rank in the Elite 1% ranking. The national average ORA® Score as of December 2021 was 62.62. Of the 1,564, five RPM communities earned this distinction, including:

Residence at the Oaks: Rank 16, ORA Score 99
Addison Place: Rank 964, ORA Score 94
Hebron Trails: Rank 1,075, ORA Score 94
The Mill: Rank 1,264, ORA Score 94
One Oak Grove: Rank 1,401, ORA Score 94

To be eligible for the 2021 Elite 1% ranking, a property had to register a minimum ORA® Score of 94 as of December 2021. For properties with the same ORA® score, the property with the higher number of reviews ranked higher.

J Turner Research developed the ORA® Score to simplify how online reputation is measured, and it serves as the multifamily industry standard to measure a property’s online reputation. Each month, MFE publishes a ranking of properties and management companies based on their ORA® scores. A property or a management company does not have to be a J Turner Research client to qualify for this ranking. To learn more about ORA®, please visit jturner.us/ora.