Rainmaker Group has been fielding calls from smaller multifamily owner/operators looking for an introductory path to automated pricing. Unfortunately, the process can be cost-prohibitive in terms of software costs and hiring personnel to focus on pricing.
As a result, when Rainmaker client Laramar Group—the Greenwood Village, Colo.-based third-party property manager—began leveraging its LRO yield management software for smaller firms, Rainmaker was excited about the new business opportunity. [For more on Laramar's initiative, see “Recession Lessons” on page 22.]
Carrollton, Texas-based RealPage has likewise been attempting to create a larger revenue management market in the multifamily industry by providing internal advisory services to smaller firms with constraints and by encouraging owners to seek out and leverage the systems expertise of their fee management companies.
RealPage also offers “revenue advisory services” to clients, providing access to an in-house tactical team of asset managers and YieldStar veterans who monitor daily prices, provide training on an ongoing basis, and share revenue trends.
Roughly 20 percent of the YieldStar client base uses the advisory services to manage approximately 10 percent of the properties on the YieldStar system. “You don't have to hire anyone,” says Janine Steiner Jovanovic, president of the YieldStar unit. “We'll train you; we'll have oversight; we'll even help you find someone to manage it internally.”
