The 2019 NMHC Top 50 Managers List ranks the nation’s 50 largest multifamily management companies by the number of units in their management portfolios. Greystar Real Estate Partners retained the top spot this year, with 451,180 units under management, up from 418,475 in 2018. Lincoln Property Company is No. 2, with 191,669 units managed, and Pinnacle is No. 3, with 172,877.

Over the past year, Des Moines, Iowa–based BH Management has grown its portfolio by more than 14,000 new units under management, moving from just under 80,000 in 2018 to over 94,000 as of Jan. 1, 2019. Mainly active in the Midwest and South, the company’s bumper year of growth has taken it from the ninth- to the eighth-largest multifamily manager on the NMHC Top 50 Managers list, marking the only movement among the top 10 this year.

We asked Joanna Zabriskie, president of BH Management, about the company’s successes, challenges, and the driving forces of its portfolio growth this year.

MFE: To what do you attribute your position in the ranks of the NMHC list?

Zabriskie: Our people. BH has a great culture of being forward thinking and focusing hard on being the best we can be. We empower our people to do the right thing for our residents, clients, and investors. By doing the right thing through various real estate cycles, we have built not only a good track record, but a good reputation in the industry. We are a trusted partner to our long-term clients, and we attract new partnerships, which has created growth opportunities.

MFE: What were two or three successes you had last year?

Zabriskie: With the unemployment rate at a 50-year low, we have been working hard to be the employer of choice. We have expanded our benefit package to include paid short-term disability, created on-call bonuses for maintenance team members, introduced facilities career paths, and provided enhanced training for all team members. Our employees have noticed and, through anonymous surveys, have earned us spots on Great Place to Work’s Best Workplaces for Women and Millennials lists, in addition to Greatest Workplaces in Texas.

We have also spent the past several years creating a single source of truth for all of the data in our platform so that we can build visualizations (dashboards) of actionable operating and financial metrics. These metrics are tailored to the appropriate audience within BH and to our clients and investors, creating transparency and accountability. We call the platform BH Fusion, and it is updated nightly to keep us on the same page with all stakeholders.

MFE: What are your challenges this year, and how will you overcome them?

Zabriskie: This year we are focused on a back-to-basics approach to operations. We have rolled out new technology across the platform, from property-level to accounting. We are now doubling down on pushing the efficiencies and cost savings that the new technology should bring. This means re-examining the most basic of workflows, and adapting and training our team members on how to best use them.

We are continuing to focus on our team members—hiring and retaining great talent. This will be our greatest challenge in the upcoming year. We are also introducing hub-based smart home technology for our residents and also to better control our vacant unit expenses.