Blog_Page_Hero-3

Triple Win Property Management Blog

Featured Blog

Introducing the Resident Experience Platform

Today, Second Nature takes a step into the future. We’re announcing the first Resident Experience Platform (RXP), changing how property managers orchestrate and deliver personalized onboarding experiences that guide residents through lease terms, move-in tasks, and resident benefits. Our goal is to give residents the experience they expect while also saving property managers countless hours in administrative work. RXP creates happier residents who stay longer, pay on time, and drive better business outcomes for property managers like you. What is the Resident Experience Platform? The Resident Experience Platform is the only platform powering personalized experiences that residents pay for and stay for, from onboarding to move-out. It’s a single platform to shift property management from traditional transactions to a dynamic experience for residents, leading to more Triple Wins throughout their residency. The Resident Experience Platform consists of two key components: Resident Onboarding, a new way for residents to understand and sign their lease, customize benefits, and complete move-in requirements. Resident Onboarding turns the most stressful part of renting—moving in—into an opportunity to build trust, increase resident compliance, and differentiate your properties. It drives personalization at scale, giving every lease, property, and resident a tailored, mobile-first experience without adding complexity for your team. The Resident Benefit Package, a curated collection of lease-enrolled services that help residents build their financial wellness, protect themselves, and improve their living experience. From Air Filter Delivery and Credit Building to Identity Protection and On-Demand Pest Control, you can deliver benefits that residents actually want. When you combine the two, you get comprehensive management of the resident experience from move-in through move-out. Plus, Resident Onboarding makes it easy for residents to enroll in and understand their Resident Benefits Package. Why has Second Nature added Resident Onboarding to the RXP? With the addition of Resident Onboarding to our offering, Second Nature is no longer just an RBP provider. We’re expanding our impact to encompass the full resident experience, creating a true Resident Experience Platform. Starting resident relationships off on the right foot The resident flow from approved to moved is not only an opportunity to make a great first impression, it’s also the time when you have the most interactions with residents. It’s the perfect chance to build trust, set the relationship up for success, and develop a positive rapport. In fact, according to AppFolio’s 2025 Resident Preferences Report, residents who are satisfied with the move-in process are 86% more likely to recommend their property manager, and 29% more likely plan on renewing. Resident communication is a challenge First and foremost, Resident Onboarding is a communication tool. It increases clarity for your residents, helping them better understand both the value you provide and their responsibilities as outlined in the lease. Say goodbye to static, 30-page leases that your residents probably don’t fully understand—if they’re even reading them. In our upcoming State of Resident Onboarding Report, we found in a survey of 500 residents that only 37% read their entire lease. That communication gap hinders resident compliance, increases friction, and eats up valuable time from your team. Personalization yields resident satisfaction Personalization at scale is one of the biggest challenges for property managers, but in the modern experience economy, residents have increasingly come to expect it. By creating personalized leases based on resident, property, and market, you can deliver unique leasing experiences without increasing your team’s time investment. Plus, if you need to change something in your standard lease terms across your portfolio, you can do it in just a few clicks. No need to dig up every single lease template and manually update it. Combining our industry-leading Resident Benefits Package with tailored onboarding is the perfect way to close the gap between what residents expect and what they experience. Get started Want to start delivering a superior experience to your residents? Sign up for a demo now and speak to an RXP expert in your local market.

Calendar icon October 15, 2025

Read more

Property managers looking at KPI papers

Top 20 Property Management KPIs to Track

Property management KPIs (key performance indicators) are critical, quantifiable metrics that measure your PMC’s performance over time and help you evaluate the success of your objectives, projects, or team members. PM KPIs can be divided into three broad categories: Financial performance KPIs: These measure the financial performance the the property management company Operational performance KPIs: These measure the effectiveness of the property management company’s operations Property performance KPIs: These measure the performance of the rental property that is being managed A narrow focus on KPIs isn’t a magic pill for company growth or stability. By nature, KPIs are very transactional. They tend to focus on short-term goals like maximizing rent/fees/etc. at a specific point in time. While those point-in-time metrics are critical to success, they need to be contextualized with the view of maximizing customer lifetime value. Build your KPIs with two overarching questions: “How do we create experiences so good residents never want to leave?” “How do we create investor experiences that are so good that they generate organic referrals?” These questions helps you to keep a “Triple Win” mindset – that we can grow the pie for ourselves, for our residents, and for our investors. Meet the Experts: Matthew Tringali, CEO of BetterWho, and Daniel Craig, CEO of ProfitCoach Matthew and Daniel are both experts in their respective fields, helping PMCs drive greater productivity and profits. We asked Matthew and Daniel to share insights and help us review the most important things to know about property management KPIs. 1. Net Income/Profitability Net income and profitability (which is net income expressed as a percent of total income) is what you’re making after you subtract your operating expenses from your earnings. PMs also track “profit per unit,” so they can break down exactly how much each unit is making – or costing – them. Related: Property Management Profitability: Tips to Maximize Revenue PMC valuations are typically done as a multiple of revenue or a multiple of EBITDA, so tracking your revenue and net income can help you keep an eye on the value of your business as a sellable asset too. When it comes to net income, one of the leading strategies to “grow the pie” is to build opportunities for ancillary income. Ancillary income is anything outside of the core service of rent collection. Enterprising PMs have found ways to generate more value for their investors and residents by offering supportive services like a Resident Benefits Package. With that extra value comes the opportunity to charge what it’s worth and create more net income. Adding value to the resident experience eliminates preventable vacancy costs for investors, keeping them – and your business – happy. KPI Formula: Net Income(Profitability) = Earnings - Operating Expenses 2. Labor Efficiency Ratio Labor Efficiency Ratio (LER) tracks how effectively you are deploying labor in your company. It certainly plays into improving company financial performance, but it’s also about helping your team members hit their individual goals and perform better – so they and you end up more satisfied. According to Daniel Craig: “LER is the most important driver of profitability. There are only two ways to increase profitability in any business: charge more for what you do, or spend less to get the job done. LER takes both aspects into consideration. There are three key levers to improving LER – we call them the three P's of LER: Pricing (how effective you are with client pricing as defined by your Revenue Per Unit), Pay (how effective you are in compensating your team), and Productivity (how effective you are in enabling a high-performing team).” Improving LER starts with making sure you have the right people in place. Find people who embrace your core values, who believe in the triple win, and in the importance of the resident experience. Look for people with initiative who understand that proactively seeking success for others is the way to achieve success for themselves. Matthew Tringali’s secret sauce for a better LER? Global remote team members. Tringali says: “I used to tell people that utilizing global Remote Team Members (RTMs) can be your unfair advantage against your competition. Now I tell people that if you aren't properly leveraging global RTM's, then you are going to get left behind. Top property management companies have 65% of their direct labor comprised of global RTMs. Companies who have six or more global RTMs on their team have a 7% higher profit margin, on average, compared to companies not yet using RTMs. LER is a master KPI that captures right people, right seats, revenue, efficiency and payroll. These type of A-players add value, nail performance metrics, and keep residents and real estate investors around. KPI Formula: LER = Gross Profit / Direct Labor Cost Related: 10 Property Management Goals to Set for the Year (with examples) 3. Resident Acquisition Costs Some may track this as “tenant acquisition costs" or customer acquisition costs. But, again, our focus should be on the resident experience to generate value for a triple win. That’s why we call this KPI “resident acquisition costs.” Language matters! You can calculate resident acquisition costs by totaling your annual sales and marketing budget and dividing it by the total new units you acquired in the same date range. As you track this benchmark year over year, you will see how effective your Biz Dev strategies are. The objective of both the PM and investor is to lower acquisition costs while not sacrificing the quality of the resident match. One of the best ways to reduce the cost of resident acquisition is to focus on building an attractive experience – particularly one that attracts the best residents in the applicant pool. A resident benefits package or another value-add can draw in residents without much effort on your part. KPI Formula: Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) = Total Costs of Acquiring Customers / Total Number of New Customers Acquired 4. Average Maintenance Costs Tracking average maintenance costs is tricky as an SFR property manager. The properties you manage can be far apart and vary greatly in their needs and resident requirements. Plus, repair and maintenance costs are a huge chunk of expenses for PMs and investors. One great way to build value for yourself and your investor is to take a proactive approach to maintenance. Offer services like an HVAC filter delivery subscription, comprehensive renter’s insurance, and other features of a resident benefits package. With Second Nature’s filter delivery service, property managers saw a 38% reduction in HVAC-related ticket requests. This saves hundreds of dollars in maintenance costs a year. For more advice on using your KPIs and data to drive value, check out this video from BetterWho featuring Ray Hespen of Property Meld. KPI Formula: Average Maintenance Costs = Total Maintenance Costs / Total Number of Units 5. Average Arrears Every property manager’s approach to arrears is some form of: “MINIMIZE!” Arrears – otherwise known as the unpaid debt owed by residents – can have a massive effect on your company’s cash flow. Tracking average arrears helps you see who is paying rent on time vs. who isn’t. These metrics can also include delinquency rates (paying late and how late) and eviction rates (never pays and must be removed). Here are a few examples: Offering credit building as part of an RBP – reporting on-time payments to credit bureaus can have a huge impact on residents’ credit scores. Offering rental rewards programs through an RBP – turning rent day into rewards day. Identity protection – this guards the resident’s financial security and ability to pay rent. The triple-win approach here is working to prevent delinquency and eviction before they happen. The best way to do that is to incentivize on-time payments and continue to add value to the resident. KPI Formula: Average Arrears = Total Amount of Overdue Payments / Total Number of Tenants 6. Occupancy and Vacancy Rates We all know vacant properties come at a high cost. They require upkeep and payments, but they aren’t generating any revenue. That’s why occupancy rates are one of the most important metrics that a property manager can track. Your turnover rate or average days vacant can tell you a lot about your company. A higher occupancy rate than the market average can be a huge selling point for your property management company, signaling to potential investors that you provide a better experience for residents and, therefore, have better retention. (Or it could signal you aren’t charging enough!) One of the best ways to drive that coveted retention is to offer experiences that residents will pay for and stay for. That means identifying services that offer long-term value, not just a fancy one-time “shiny toy.” An example of this in the multi-family housing space is the apartment complex that invests in a $15k pool table. Sure, it’s great for tours. But 99% of the time, it isn’t used, and a pool table is never the reason someone chooses to stay in their home. Professional PMs know better and take time to think about what’s attractive in the sales process vs. what’s going to make people stay. For example, a better benefit than the pool table might be co-working phone booths so people can more easily work from home and save money. Finding ways to add value like that in the SFR space will go a long way to boosting this metric. KPI Formula: Occupancy Rate (%) = (Number of Occupied Units / Total Number of Units) x 100 KPI Formula: Vacancy Rate (%) = (Number of Vacant Units / Total Number of Units) x 100 7. Maintenance Request Response Time It’s important for PMs to know how long it takes for maintenance requests to be solved. When we’re talking about resident expectations, a reasonable response time for maintenance is one of the most basic things residents need and want. When requests take too long, residents can quickly become unhappy with their experience and decide to leave. Tracking this metric helps you understand how well your team is doing and if you need more resources to ensure timely responses. An online maintenance request portal can help streamline this process, and an RBP with services like air filter delivery can help reduce maintenance problems in the first place. KPI Formula: Maintenance Request Response Time = Total Time Taken to Response of Requests / Total Number of Requests (this gives you an average overall) 8. Property Inventory Property inventory is the metric tracking the number of properties you’ve acquired successfully and the number of properties lost. It’s also important to consider whether you’re acquiring properties that really support your business. Is your team burning out? Do your investors fit with your property management niche? One of the best ways to get more doors and keep them is to build resident experiences that are the best on the market. By offering more value than your competitors, you can attract more of the kind of business you want. KPI Formula: Track the total # of properties at the start and end of a period. Subtract Properties Lost from Properties Acquired. 9. Average Time to Lease Tracking the average amount of time to lease helps show the cost to your investor when a property hits the market. Property managers and investors both want to reduce the average time to lease. The best way to do that? Build experiences that stand out. When someone sees your listing – beyond the property and rent price, do they see a different experience and set of benefits by renting from you as a professional PM? Are you offering benefits that residents will pay for and stay for? Other things that help with this metric: Measure traffic and conversion from listings to showings Provide attractive photos, 3D or virtual images, and clear pricing, etc. Provide and track the availability of showing times, self vs. guided showing experience, etc. Track incomplete applications, qualified %, time to approve/reply, etc. All of these impact two critical business metrics: "days on market" and "days vacant,” which are key to this KPI. KPI Formula: Average Time to Lease = Total Days on Market for All Properties / Total Number of Leased Properties (during the same period) 10. Revenue Per Unit Tracking your profit goes beyond simply adding up revenue and expense. Not all revenue is created equal. Tracking revenue per unit is a key KPI to increase profitability. Revenue per unit does just measure whether you have enough doors. It also assesses whether those doors are worth your time. What if the doors are unprofitable? According to the 2022 NARPM Financial Performance Guide, “it’s worth noting that a 10% increase in RPU can easily lead to a 100% increase in profitability.” We’ve said this before, and we’re saying it again – the most innovative way that professional property managers are generating greater revenue for themselves is through building better experiences. According to Eric Wetherington at PURE Property Management, “Revenue is all about providing a service.” You can increase your RPU by adding more value that investors and residents are willing to pay for. With the right tools, you can add that value without increasing your cost too significantly. That’s where services like an RBP and other value adds translate directly into revenue growth. KPI Formula: Revenue Per Unit = Total Revenue / Total Number of Units 11. Unit Churn Churn is one of the leading KPIs for any business. After all, what’s the point of all your sales effort if you’re losing as much (or more) business each month as you gain? According to NARPM’s Financial Performance Guide, “Cutting your churn rate in half will double your average lifetime revenue per unit.” Some churn is out of your control and subject to market changes. But for the most part, churn is a direct result of customer satisfaction. PMs should find out why customers are leaving, where they would like to see improvement, etc. And, of course, that’s where resident and investor experience comes into play. Figuring out how to make the experience so good that your best clients never feel the need to look for another manager. KPI Formula: Unit Churn Rate = (Number of Units Vacated / Total Number of Units) x 100 12. Ratio of Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) to Lifetime Value (LTV) of a Client The Ratio of Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) to Lifetime Value (LTV) of a Client is a crucial metric in property management and business, as it evaluates the cost-effectiveness of acquiring new clients relative to the value they bring over time. Nothing feels better than letting a bad client go. This metric can help you put numbers behind that decision and helps property management companies understand the long-term financial impact of their marketing and sales strategies. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) is a key metric for any business dealing with clients and customers. This is the total cost of acquiring a new client, including marketing and sales expenses. It’s calculated over a specific period, and you can use the following formula: CAC = Total Cost of Sales and Marketing / Number of New Clients Acquired. Customer Lifetime Value is another common metric in business, and it’s calculated by adding up the total revenue you expect to earn from a client throughout their relationship with your business. You can calculate it as LTV = Average Revenue Per Client x Average Client Lifespan. A lower ratio between these two indicates a more cost-effective client acquisition strategy relative to the value the clients bring. Typically, a healthy CAC to LTV ratio would be below 1, indicating that the lifetime value of the client is higher than the cost to acquire them. KPI Formula: CAC to LTV Ratio = Customer Acquisition Cost / Lifetime Value of a Client 13. Executed Renewals This is a measure of how many lease renewals have been successfully completed within a specific time frame. This will help you understand your tenant retention rates and the stability of your income. A high number of renewals is the goal since reducing turnover can help cut costs and improve income and revenue. A low number of renewals could be a signal that resident satisfaction is on the decline or issues with property conditions, market competitiveness, etc. KPI Formula: Executed Renewals = Total Number of Renewed Leases within a Given Period 14. First Call Resolution & Number of Unanswered Calls The "First Call Resolution" KPI is essential in property management as it measures the efficiency and effectiveness of your customer service team in resolving tenants' or clients' issues during the first interaction. This metric indicates the quality of service and the ability to address concerns promptly. Essentially, you’re tracking how effective your team is at resolving an issue right away – or escalating it to the right person or process. You can also track the number of unanswered calls that come to your team to know if too many are getting missed. If you track days and times of unanswered calls, you can better understand where your team may have gaps or how to communicate to residents and clients the best way to contact your team. KPI Formula: First Call Resolution Rate = (Number of Issues Resolved on First Call / Total Number of Calls) x 100 15. Average Hold Time Average Hold time is a common KPI in any customer service or customer management role – but is just as important in property management. The metric helps assess the efficiency of your team’s call handling and refers to the average length of time callers are put on hold before speaking to someone. Longer hold times, as we all have experienced ourselves, generally lead to frustration and dissatisfaction, while shorter hold times can indicate your team is more efficient with service and your residents are happier. Reducing AHT is key to boosting resident experience and operational efficiency. KPI Formula: Average Hold Time (AHT) = Total Time Callers are on Hold / Total Number of Calls 16. Number of Overdue Tasks This KPI is critical for tracking the effectiveness and productivity of your team members. It tracks how any scheduled tasks or maintenance jobs are past their due date. Prioritizing this metric helps ensure that your team is tracking tasks in a way that drives efficiency and resident satisfaction. Obviously, a high number of overdue tasks can indicate workflow bottlenecks, staffing issues, or inefficiencies in task management. If this number is increasing, it’s a red flag (or maybe a beige flag?) that you should open up the hood and evaluate your operational effectiveness. KPI Formula: Total Tasks Scheduled - Total Tasks Complete on Time (it’s key to track deadlines for tasks) 17. Average # of Units Per Client While most SFR property managers work with clients who have one or two properties at most, you may want to consider this if you have any multifamily units or clients with a uniquely high number of units. The average # of units per client can help guide your business strategies and service offerings. It can also help you identify if your business is niche-ing down in the right direction. What kind of client do you want to work with? KPI Formula: Average Numbers of Units per Client = Total Number of Units Managed / Total Number of Clients 18. Average Google Review Rating While residents in single-family homes aren’t a great referral source, their reviews of your company can go a long way toward building your reputation and bringing you to the attention of new clients. Google reviews are a great way to track how your reputation is faring in your area. It may feel like moving this average up is out of your control, but you can influence it if you don’t like the direction it’s going. First of all, the baseline is to provide excellent service and resident benefits to boost your resident satisfaction. But beyond that, you can also give perks for filling out a review, simply ask good residents if they’re willing to give you a rating, etc. KPI Formula: Total Sum of Review Ratings / Total Number of Reviews 19. Number of Tenant Delinquencies This metric tracks how many of your residents are behind on their payments. It’s crucial for assessing the financial health of your rental portfolio and the effectiveness of your rent collection processes. If the number is higher than you’d like, you should look for a few culprits. Maybe you have several residents who aren’t able to make the payments, and you need to consider being more clear in your rental requirements at the application stage or your tenant screening process. Or, maybe it’s difficult for residents to figure out how to pay, and your payment system needs an update. KPI Formula: Ensure your property management system tracks the total number of tenants with overdue rent payments 20. Client Net Promoter Score (NPS) In SFR property management, residents don’t tend to make referrals, but you know who does? Clients. Your clients can be your best promoters if you’re looking to grow. And you can track how well you’re doing in that area by keeping track of your Net Promoter Score (NPS). NPS is a widely used metric to gauge customer loyalty and satisfaction. To get it, you need to conduct a survey. Ask your clients how likely they are to recommend your property management services to others on a scale of 0-10. Categorize responses like this: Promoters (score 9-10): These are your most satisfied and loyal clients, who are likely to recommend your services. Passives (score 7-8): Satisfied but not enthusiastic clients who are unlikely to actively promote your business. Detractors (score 0-6): Unhappy clients who might not only refrain from recommending you but could potentially damage your reputation through negative word-of-mouth. Next, calculate the percentages of respondents who are promoters and detractors. Subtract the percentage of detractors from promoters: the result is your NPS. KPI Formula: NPS = (% of Promoters) - (% of Detractors) How 1,000s of Property Managers are Creating Triple Wins with Savvy KPIs Property management KPIs are critical to success in the property management industry. Tracking metrics like these eleven KPIs also set professional property managers apart from hobbyists or amateur landlords. The key to all of it is building metrics around the idea of incredible resident experiences – all aligned in such a way that we’re creating new value. When we’re focused on driving success in that arena, the resident does better, the investor does better, and our team and talent do better. Creating triple-win experiences for everyone involved allows a more rewarding relationship focused on lifetime value. Through value drivers like a Resident Benefits Package, property managers are building those wins across the industry.

Calendar icon April 10, 2023

Read more

How To Ensure A Smooth Resident Benefits Package Rollout

Rollout is a high stress time for any new program, but it doesn't have to be. One of the leading concerns for property managers any time they seek to roll out a new program is resident pushback. In the property manager/resident relationship, there’s a narrative that’s persisted for too long that the two parties are at odds with each other and playing some sort of zero sum game. Oftentimes, this is internalized by residents who have been exposed to said narrative or have had a bad experience themselves, and the natural inclination is to push back on any advances from their management team. Related: State of Resident Experience Study Having to battle this is one of the main concerns property managers have when it comes to introducing a resident benefits package. This includes Kyle Hendricks, Vice President of Hendricks Property Management in San Antonio, Texas. “It was ours. For a couple years, we were like ‘I don’t know if that's going to work, you know?’ But it’s the same with a lot of programs that we’ve rolled out. Our fears are never really founded. The pushback is usually pretty minimal if at all, and it was the same here.” ‍Read more about why pushback on RBP is minimal ‍So how did Hendricks Property Management deliver such a seamless rollout? Well, it’s pretty simple actually. It’s all in the communication. Hendricks was quick to note that open communication and transparency are big keys to minimizing pushback and easing the path to successful rollout. The actual logistical rollout of an RBP is handled by Second Nature, so there’s very little for the property management company to actually physically do, making acceptance and adoption by residents and investors their primary concern. Hendricks Property Management nailed this part with clear and concise communication. Second Nature's resident facing flyer “The flier that Second Nature provided was a pretty clear point of communication. It says on there that you’re being enrolled in this program and the charge is this much. It’s just simple like ‘welcome to Hendricks Property Management, we give you a resident benefits package, here are the things you get with the resident benefits package.’ Because of course the question is ‘what am I paying for? You’re saying this is a benefit package, what are the benefits?’ So that just clearly outlined what they were, and did everyone love it? Not necessarily, but the amount of pushback was definitely minimal." Beyond the reality that most residents simply don’t object to a resident benefits package, clear and open communication is part of a great resident experience anyway and will certainly ease any fears you have about rollout, as well as any fears residents or investors might have. It's another part of delivering a triple win. “Be ultra transparent and get it done in the beginning, just saying, we're not hiding anything. This is what you're being enrolled in. This is what it is. I think that helped the adoption rate a little bit. And if people did call in with questions, we were happy to answer them and talk to them about it. So ultimately, it was fine. But I don't think we did anything special. I think just making sure we had that transparency up front was crucial.” ‍A resident benefits package creates a triple win. Everyone benefits. The purpose of clear and open communication is to establish those benefits within the perception held by the resident and owner parties. They may not know much about this, they may have never heard of a resident benefits package, so you have the opportunity and responsibility to show them the value it creates for them and how you are committed to ensuring it remains a mutually beneficial undertaking. Hendricks touched on how team buy-in has affected Hendricks Property Management’s ability to do this. “For me and anything that we adopt, we believe that if it's not something I can stand behind and competently tell a tenant or owner ‘this is good,’ then I'm probably not going to do it. I was easily able to do that with this program. So get your team on board. If they can't confidently tell a tenant or an owner, this is what it is, this is why, and this is how it benefits you and your tenant, then you're going to run into trouble because they can tell if it's kind of lackadaisical, if it's just this thing that the owner of the company wants to do. We try not to go ‘well it is what it is, so just deal with it.’ We try to explain in a positive way what the benefits are. So kind of getting that script together, you don't have to be like a robot or anything like that, but just have the main talking points available to your staff about what the benefits are.” At the end of the day, ensuring a great rollout of your RBP with minimal friction isn't too hard. It's just about positioning the services as the mutually beneficial programs they are and always being up front and willing to communicate. From there, the sky is the limit with resident experience.

Calendar icon March 21, 2023

Read more

Topics

The Pod System Defined by Phil Vera

The Pod System helps Auben Realty provide an excellent resident experience at scale. ‍ Auben Realty CEO Phil Vera joined us on The Triple Win Podcast to discuss a number of topics in the property management industry, including the innovative Pod System. The Pod System is a management technique Auben instituted in recent years that’s helped them to focus on long-term benefits of a great resident experience while building meaningful relationships with investors to create a triple win where all parties benefit. This triple win is also the concept behind Second Nature's Resident Benefits Package. Related: State of Resident Experience Study What is the Pod System? As Vera explains, most property management companies employ traditional property managers who serve as a jack of all trades for the properties they are tasked with managing. This is portfolio-based management. They handle everything from leasing, to maintenance requests, to communication with the investor and the resident for their portfolio of properties. The end of the spectrum opposite a portfolio-based company structure is a departmental structure, where employees handle a specific piece of the management channel for many different properties. Neither is necessarily a wrong way to do things, and both work well for certain companies, but Auben was convinced there had to be a better way. Enter the Pod System. The Pod System is innovative because it has hybridized portfolio with departmental, creating teams of people to manage a portfolio of properties, with each person serving in a specific role. This structure allows Auben to provide excellent and reliable communication as part of its resident and investor experience while not sacrificing the advantages of an effectively scaled property management company. How does it create a Triple Win? Within each team, Auben employs an Investor Account Manager. These roles are designed to foster a great working relationship with investors and create open and accessible communication channels. “They are the investor’s main point of contact,” said Vera. “They build a relationship with the investor, provide updates, communication flow, all those things. If an investor has a question, they pick up the phone and they call their investor account manager and they have a direct line.” This is a differentiating experience for Auben, as most PM companies don’t offer a direct line of contact for investors. Auben employs a resident experience manager as well, which Vera touches on, noting the value it’s created for Auben. “We kind of went outside of the norm and we created the resident experience manager. So traditional property management, we’re focused on the investor. That’s our client. The resident pays rent. If you don’t pay rent, we’ll find someone else who can. We wanted to kind of think outside the box there and say ‘okay, the resident is important in investing because if we can decrease vacancy and reduce turnover and keep the residents happy, they’ll stay in our properties for long periods of time and ultimately increase the investor’s return as well.’” The innovative company structure used by Auben is a perfect example of creating a Triple Win. Auben has built itself around the importance of the resident and investor experience, and the satisfaction those parties receive as a result directly benefit Auben in the long-term. Experience is the key term there, as that's what property management companies need to start delivering to stay ahead of the curve in an evolving industry. Being part of the first wave of companies to transition their offerings from service to experience creates an opportunity to grow and thrive that isn't otherwise available in the SFR space, and that's the reasoning behind Auben's innovative pod system. Have you thought about implementing a Pod System in your PMC? Do you think it could work for you, too?

Calendar icon March 21, 2023

Read more

What is the Triple Win in Property Management

What is The Triple Win?

In this video, Andrew Smallwood walks you through the process of the triple win. Property management strategies have historically been focused on a zero sum game: getting the most out of your clients for the least amount of work. But in the end, that strategy doesn't generate more value for anyone. The Triple Win is about a completely different business mindset. It's all about finding a way to elevate the SFR rental experience for everyone - Residents, Owners, and Property Managers. We aim to help build property management products and services that add value for all three. In this video, Andrew talks about how to build programs that deliver wins. That's why we call our podcast the Triple Win Podcast. In it, we talk with property management and real estate experts around the country and outline the best innovations in the SFR property management space. Programs like an filter delivery service, move-in concierge, credit reporting, and more. All of these can be wrapped into a Resident Benefits Package (RBP). These programs help solve for what residents want, and what they'll pay for and stay for. It also helps build the kind of behavior the property managers and investors need. Andrew introduces these concepts in the video below. To learn more, get in touch with our Triple Win Leadership Council, or join the Triple Win Leadership Exchange. ‍ ‍ TRANSCRIPT: Andrew Smallwood: Hey everybody, Andrew Smallwood coming back again. Listen, I wanted to record one more short video because the last one got such great feedback, and I had an idea that I've been talking about to a number of folks and they say has really been resonating with them. Again, I'm just going to move over here for a little visual help. People have been talking about, "Hey, this triple win concept in your podcast and everything like that, what's really going on here?" There's three parties that professional property managers are thinking about anytime they're making a decision or structuring their business. And that's residents, owners, and then you and your team. Here is often what property managers feel stuck with: They make a decision that benefits their owners, maybe in a meaningful way, right? But there's a little bit of a trade-off as far as how it impacts a resident, and then here's their team cut in the middle between these two expectations, right? It feels like everything's kind of going every direction. What we want with a triple win is something more like this, right? You've got your residents, owner, you and your team, and everybody benefits. So you've got this powerful, aligned transformative effect in the business. Everybody going the same direction, everybody impacted in a positive way. When you think about this, it's like, "Hey, when you structure a new fee or a new program or what have you, it's really keeping in mind, 'How do we do this in such a way that it elevates the experience for everyone, and that that story is all lined up, the incentives are all lined up.'" Listen, I'm not telling you this is the only way to do things. Some of you may be saying like, "Of course, it's obvious this would be the way you would do things." But for some property managers, it isn't. For some property managers, there are questions like, "Well, hey, I make so much on maintenance. Do I really want to prevent maintenance?" That's really just a question of how do you want to align your value. Meaning if, yes, you make money from reactive maintenance, maybe there's a benefit here that you can say, "Hey, I'm monetizing all that reactive maintenance." But for property owners, we know that's no good and for residents, that's no good as well. So while it may be a win here, it's a single win and it's a double L, right? Preventive maintenance means a win for the resident, it means a win for the owner, and it means prevented work for your team and you can monetize your preventive maintenance. So it's still a win for your bottom line as well. That's really the takeaway: This lens that we're talking about seeing the world through. Once you put this lens on, it's like you can never see anything the same way again. Just like glasses change your view of the world, or a microscope or a telescope give you a different view of something that you're looking at, so does the triple win lens. Hope this video is helpful. Would love your feedback. Shoot me a comment, email, wherever you're seeing this. Would love to hear your stories of triple wins or how you structured things or what you implemented in order to create a triple win and transform your property management business. With that, until next time, keep rocking. See you.

Calendar icon February 16, 2023

Read more

How Do I Know What Air Filter To Buy?

Pleated filter? Fiberglass filter? Electrostatic filter? Which one is for me? Pop quiz. What is the best way to rid your indoor air of pollutants like mold, pollen, and bacteria? Napalm your entire home Walk around the house waving a disinfecting wipe through the air Vacuum the air with a shop vac Purchase the right air filter‍ If you chose D, you are correct. If you chose any other option, then we need to have a separate conversation. An air filter plays a critical role in keeping the air in your home clean. In fact, it’s the most important item to your home’s air that you can purchase, and since your indoor air can be up to five times more polluted than the air outside (and no one likes breathing pollutants), you need a high-quality air filter. There are a lot of different varieties of air filters that you can purchase. Given that the average person ranks air filters right around different types of cement and how cardboard is made on the list of things that interest them, it’s not surprising that many don’t know what makes a quality air filter “quality.”‍ Luckily, all you have to do is read this one article, and you’ll have the answer to that question. Then all you have to do is sign up for Second Nature once, and you’ll never have to think about some air filters ever again. What type of air filter should I get? Filters can only be made so many ways. For home filters, you have three options. You can buy a pleated filter, you can buy a fiberglass filter, or you can buy a washable reusable filter. Each type has its disadvantages, and two of them have their advantages, so let’s take a closer look at what those are. Pleated Pleated filters get their name from their filter media, which is the material inside the frame that is responsible for the actual filtering. A pleated filter’s media is folded like an accordion to maximize surface area. Previously made of cotton, the pleated filters of today are built with synthetic polymers that allow for effective filtering while minimizing the impact on airflow.‍ The advantages of pleated filters include their high filtering efficiency. High MERV filters are almost always of the pleated variety. The pleated filters work to capture an extremely high percentage of large particles and a much higher number of small particles than competing filter types. ‍ Pleated filters are low effort and high functionality. The only thing you ever have to do is remember to change them out, and they’ll keep pulling gunk out of your air. Fiberglass Fiberglass air filters are the cheapest on the market, sometimes costing less than a single dollar. There is a reason they are so cheap, and it is because they are garbage. Yes, fiberglass filters are garbage. Fiberglass filters are the weakest option and are recommended by the National Air Filtration Association only as “prefiltering” devices because of how ineffective they are. Simply put, they are bad at their job. There’s a myth that fiberglass filters are better for your HVAC system because they allow for more airflow. While they do allow for that, advancements in HVAC and filter technology have made the difference immaterial. The extensive amount of pollutants they allow to flow through can actually make them more dangerous to your system than the pleated variety. The reason why fiberglass is often recommended is that people don’t remember to change their filter. As a pleated filter loads with pollutants, it can eventually decrease airflow to a critically low amount. Fiberglass doesn’t do this because of how woefully ineffective it is at actually catching particles. So as long as you’re regularly changing your filters, there is not a single advantage to the fiberglass option. Washable electrostatic Washable electrostatic filters are metal-frame filters that are designed to be washed and reused instead of replaced. The price range for these is wide, with the most expensive ones entering the $90 range. The advantage with these filters is their longevity. While they do eventually wear out, they can be reused for multiple years before that happens. The disadvantage is that you do need to wash them routinely and let them dry completely before reinserting. This can eat into your busy schedule as they don’t dry instantly, and if your washable filter doesn’t fully dry, mold growth can be a real issue. Washable filters also do a poor job collecting large particles. Because static electricity is really the only filtering mechanism they use, they struggle to attract the larger particles that are more difficult to pull with a charge. Thus, washable filters tend to work in reverse of fiberglass as they let larger particles through and filter out smaller ones. What quality of filter should I get? Second Nature offers two different levels of filter: Energy Efficient and Health Shield. Energy Efficient: The easy choice for the average home, our Energy Efficient filters are pleated MagicFilters made in Wilson, North Carolina. They provide a higher level of filtration than most off-the-shelf filters, while maintaining the same level of airflow. They feature a soft-edge frame, helping to ensure tighter seal within your HVAC unit. That, combined with the finely pleated filter media, captures more harmful particles than standard filters: 97% more of the smallest harmful particles 38% more medium-sized particles 16% more of the largest troublemakers. Health Shield: Our Health Shield filters provide improved performance for homes with pets or people with allergies. They capture everything that the Energy Efficient filters do, but they also capture more microscopic contaminants. They have a denser filter media, but the same metal, flexible-edged frame that creates a better seal and lets fewer harmful particles through. Are you an allergy sufferer? More than 50 million Americans have some type of allergy. Allergies are everywhere, and if you’re among the millions of people who suffer from them, your filter can help you keep those nasty allergens out of your home.‍ The severity of your allergies will help determine just how critical filtration is for your home. If you have a significant allergy to something that is prominent in your area, you’re going to want to increase your indoor air quality with a Second Nature Health Shield filter or equivalent level. More minor allergies or allergies to something that doesn’t exist in massive quantities around your home may mean that the Energy Efficient option is sufficient. Do you own pets? Owning a dog or a cat introduces a whole new threat to your indoor air quality: dander. Dander is small flakes or bits of skin that fall off your furry friend when they shed, and some people are violently allergic to it. If you are among that group, a Health Shield filter is a must. Pet dander is small, and a standard filter is likely not sufficient for you allergy sufferers out there. Health Shield will be more effective versus pet dander. If you’re allergic, get the Health Shield. If you’re not allergic, but you own pets, the Energy Efficient option will work well for you. Do you live in a polluted area? Air outside your home will become air inside your home. It is inevitable. No matter how much weatherstripping you install or how well-sealed your home is, there will be particles floating around outside that will get inside. This is particularly important to remember if you live in areas that see a lot of air pollution from things like smog. Those of you in California, as you certainly know already, can get hit pretty heavily with photochemical smog in the summer. The state is often also hit with smoke pollution during wildfire season, which also runs through the summer and fall. The particles that make up smoke are itty-bitty, smaller than a tenth of a micron. For perspective, you would need at least 3,000,000 of those particles lined end to end to equal one foot. If you frequently encounter smoke or smog around your home, a Health Shield is recommended. Still not sure what filter to get? Take our short quiz! Do you have allergies to pollen, dust, mold, or dust mites? Yes, severe allergies +2 Yes, mild allergies +1 No +0 Do you own a dog or cat? Yes +1 No +0 Are you allergic to pet dander? Yes, and I own a pet +1 Yes, but I don't own a pet +0 No +0 Do you live in a polluted area? Yes, very polluted +2 Yes, slightly polluted +1 No +0 Now add up your score. If your total was more than 2, we recommend Health Shield. If not, Energy Efficient will likely work well for your home. What size air filter should I get? As the saying goes, there are three things you can’t pick: your parents, your name, and your filter size. That’s a real saying that we did not just make up eight seconds ago. Simply, you need the filter size that fits in your air return. You can typically find that size on the side of the air filter that you already have in use. This size will be the nominal size, which means it is rounded from its actual size. This is the size you click on at secondnature.com. If you don’t have a reference point from an old filter, you’ll need to use a tape measure and measure your vent. These measurements will be the exact size, and you’ll need to add ¼” to both length and width to get the nominal size. If you have a filter that is four inches thick or thicker, you have a whole house filter. There is no rhyme or reason to how these filter sizes are rounded. Luckily, all you’ll need at secondnature.com is the actual size of the filter. Buying an air filter isn’t always easy, and knowing what air filter to buy is the hardest part. However, if you have read this far, you’re good. So congratulations! Here’s an air filter gold star. You can print it out and tape it to your shirt if you want. You’ll probably get a lot of strange looks, but that’s not your problem.

Calendar icon February 6, 2023

Read more

Receive articles straight to your inbox

What Type Of Air Filter Should I Order?

There's a lot of options out there, not all of them good. There's a bewildering range of different air filter types out there and it's easy to get confused. We've done the homework for you and simplified the process so you can make the right choice. First things first: Economy fiberglass filters compared to pleated filters There really is no comparison to be made. Cheap fiberglass filters are usually sold in multi-packs for a few bucks and, in this case you definitely get what you pay for... very little quality. They are not efficient for two reasons. The relatively open weave of the fiberglass mesh does not filter out much dirt at all and the micro-particles and contaminants present in your home just get sucked through the filter and into your HVAC system. Over time, the inside components of your HVAC equipment and the air ducts get coated with crud and your system can't work at peak efficiency. This means higher energy bills and expensive sanitizing and repair bills. In short, this cheap type of filter doesn't filter very well at all, and you won't find them here at Second Nature. If you are in the habit of buying them, it's a habit you should break!‍ Pleated filters are the only way to go We only offer reliable, high-quality pleated filters, which are made right here in the USA. They are up to 60% more efficient than fiberglass and have a denser, larger surface area (imagine the pleats ironed out flat) that ensures better filtration. But remember, these higher grade filters are more efficient at capturing the bad stuff, and by doing a better job they get dirty quicker. That's good news … not bad news. They are both more efficient and faster at doing what they are supposed to do. Picking the grade of filter Your filter type depends on a number of considerations. The number of people in your home, whether you have pets, and any allergies will all need to be taken into account. Also, the possible presence of smoke, smog, and microscopic contaminants that may carry odor usually call for a higher grade of filter to trap the smaller stuff.‍ We've simplified your filter choice Second Nature offers two key types of MagiFilters: Energy Efficient and Health Shield. That makes it easy for you or your residents to select what filters are best for your property. Both are high-quality filters manufactured in Wilson, North Carolina. Energy Efficient Our Energy Efficient filter takes care of basic contaminants like dust, pollen, pet dander and virus carriers, while still allowing good airflow through the HVAC system. It's a great all-purpose filter that works well for most homes. With a soft-edge frame that creates a tighter seal, our Energy Efficient option is capable of capturing 97% more of the smallest harmful particles, 38% more medium-sized particles, and 16% more of the largest troublemakers. Health Shield Our Health Shield option traps all the contaminants that our Energy Efficient filter does, but it goes even further, capturing microscopic allergens that can irritate allergies and sensitivities. If someone in your home suffers from allergies or respiratory problems, or if you have pets in the house, the Health Shield filter is a great option. The denser filter surface means that Health Shield filters will get dirtier faster (because they're capturing so many more particles), and will need to be changed more frequently. In return, you will be rewarded with the reassurance of sustained, super-fresh indoor air quality similar to hospital standards. If you're a property manager looking to offer a fully managed, high-quality filter delivery service to your residents, look no further. Talk to a member of our team today to learn how to get started.

Calendar icon February 6, 2023

Read more

What Does MERV, MPR & FPR Mean?

Air filters are rated by several different metrics and systems, depending on a variety of factors. Second Nature makes filters easy by breaking these ratings down and utilizing one standardized metric-MERV. What is a MERV rating? MERV ratings were established by the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) in order to aid consumers understanding of what type of air filter will best fit their home’s needs. ‍ MERV is the worldwide standard rating system for air filter quality. The MERV, or Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value, tells the consumer how effectively a filter can catch household contaminants such as dust, pollen, and pet dander. The higher the MERV rating (anywhere from 1 to 16), the more and smaller particles are filtered from the air. ‍ MERV Ratings. Typical Applications 1-4 Residential Window Units 5-8 Better residential, commercial & industrial 9-12 Superior residential, better commercial, hospital labs 13-16 Hospital, general surgery ‍ It is important to keep in mind that MERV indicates the minimum ability of a filter to catch airborne particles. Over time, a filter begins to fill with dust and dander, therefore increasing its ability to stop contaminants from passing through. However, the higher the MERV, and the more a filter has already caught, the harder it becomes for your system to draw in air. A high MERV rating may seem like a good idea to a homeowner who wants to ensure they are breathing fresh air, but it is important to make sure that your HVAC system is capable of handling the restrictive properties of a high MERV filter. Home air filters with higher MERV ratings also need to be changed at a higher frequency due to their higher efficiency and particle-catching abilities. Simply put, they catch more contaminates over a shorter period of time. ‍Related: What is the resident benefits package? MERV vs FPR FPR, or Filter Performance Rating was developed by the Home Depot, based on independent lab test results comparing MERV ratings. It is used strictly in Home Depot stores and does not correlate directly to MERV ratings. ‍ MERV vs MPR MPR, or Microparticle Performance Rating, was created by 3M to rank their filters’ ability to catch the smallest airborne particles. MPR is helpful when comparing one 3M Filtrete filter to another, but it does not directly translate to MERV. ‍ MPR vs. MERV vs. FPR The chart below shows the associated values for each of Second Nature's filter types. MERV MPR FPR Essential MERV 8 MPR 600 FPR 5 Essential+ MERV 10 MPR 1000* FPR 7* Health Shield MERV 13 MPR 1500 - MPR 1900 FPR 10 *approximate values

Calendar icon February 6, 2023

Read more

How Do I Know What Size Air Filter I Need?

Where do I find my size? Air filter sizes can look a bit intimidating, especially when a great deal of homes have multiple filters of different sizes. Second Nature is here to make filter buying EASY. Once you enter your filter sizes with us just once, not only will you not have to remember when it's time to change them, but you will no longer need to remember those tricky sizes. In order to find the size of pleated filter(s) used in your home, you need to look no further than your existing filters. On the outer frame, you will see at least one set of numbers. If you see two sets of numbers, the filter size needed to order replacements is the nominal size, not the actual size. You can ignore the actual size printed on your filter for this task, as the nominal size is the number set needed to order new filters. Your filter size (again, referencing the nominal size for your filter here) will look something like this: 20" x 20" x 1" or 20" x 25" x 1" or 14" x 20" x 2" The size of your pleated air filter is always presented in a string of three numbers, with the first number representing the length, the second number representing the width, and the last number representing the thickness. ‍ If you’re still not sure what size filter(s) your home needs, feel free to reach out to us.

Calendar icon February 6, 2023

Read more

What is HVAC & What Does it Mean?

HVAC stands for Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning. Whether it’s the dead of winter and the elements are as harsh as your mother-in-law’s criticism or you’re a walking puddle in the middle of August, a home’s HVAC system is what ensures your family is provided with a temperate, pleasant refuge from the great outdoors. Your HVAC system is critical to the comfort your home provides. HVAC stands for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, and it simply refers to the system that heats, cools, and ventilates your home. HVAC systems vary and there are various manufacturers, styles, and types. The HVAC (generally) includes the heating and cooling unit itself, lots of ductwork through the home, air returns, and air filters. ‍Related: What is the resident benefits package? Types of HVAC systems There are three main types of HVAC systems: split and window AC, packaged heating and air conditioning systems, and central AC systems. ‍ Split and window air conditioning systems Split ACs are used in larger areas than window ACs. The split AC focuses on splitting the cold from the hot side of the system. The cold side has the cold coil and the expansion valve. This is usually placed inside a furnace or any other form of air handler. The handler blows air over the coil and the cooled air is distributed to various rooms in the building through the air ducts. ‍ Window air conditioners work by fans blowing air through the coils, improving how they separate the heat and cold. Heat gets lost the outside air and is replaced with cool air for the room. ‍ Packaged heating and air conditioning systems Hence the name, this type of system is the total package, they possess both heating and cooling equipment in a single unit. Users can place them in mechanical rooms, on the rooftop or at a grade close to the conditioning space. The package AC has all the components in one unit, unlike split systems in which the cold and hot units are separate. These elements have a centrifugal fan or blower that helps distribute the air throughout the elements of the structure. ‍ Central air conditioning Most of the air conditioners in residential buildings are in the form of split systems. The compressor and condenser are combined as a single condensing unit mounted outdoors. The evaporator, a finned coil, is mounted in a section of ductwork within the furnace blower. Two flexible refrigerant lines, one for gas and one for liquid, connect the components. When the furnace is electric, a blower is included in the system. The compressor uses electricity as its source of power to pump the refrigerant across the system collecting indoor heat and removing it from the home. The heat dissipates outdoors by the coil in the condensing unit. ‍ Warm air indoors gets blown through the indoor coil (cold) to remove moisture and heat. The heat in the air transfers to the coil and thus the air cools. The water vapor condenses on the coil and collects inside a drain pan. It goes outside through the condensate drain. The heat, after flowing to the evaporator coil, pumps outdoors while the now cooled air inside the room circulates through the fan on the air handler. Thus, the indoor temperature is maintained. ‍ Give your HVAC system a big thank you When all is working as it should with an HVAC system, it is a silent soldier for the home's comfort. However, if your HVAC system has ever malfunctioned or broken in the middle of the winter or summer, it’s likely you have developed a deep love and appreciation for the essential service your HVAC system provides. So, take care of your system; baby it, even. Be sure to change your filters frequently and on a regular schedule, as well as get your system cleaned, inspected, and serviced annually!

Calendar icon February 6, 2023

Read more

Does Higher MERV Rating Restrict Airflow?

How will a higher-quality filter impact the airflow to my HVAC unit. ‍ The short answer is that it can, but it's not really an issue except under extreme circumstances. Most modern HVAC systems have no problem working with higher MERV filters, which is why millions of homeowners depend on them. The primary risk with high-efficiency air filters comes from them being left unchanged for long periods of time. If you stay on top of changing your filters, It's unlikely you'll experience any filter-driven issues with your HVAC system. ‍ Try Second Nature You want to achieve a nice balance Like everything in life and nature, we want to strive for an ideal balance. In this case, you want to have your air as clean as possible without restricting the airflow to your HVAC unit and wasting energy. Some could compare the situation to the fairy tale of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. This home has less than clean air but is energy efficient, this home has fresh air, but an inefficient HVAC, and this home is just right! Although it is not that straightforward and there are other factors to consider, do not worry! We are here to help you make the best decision for your home! ‍ Get to know a filter's quality Before making any choices, one must first understand the quality of a filter. Any air filter you purchase will have a grade on it as a tool to show its quality. The most common measurement scales that you will find are MERV, MPR, and FPR. For this blog, we will be referring to the MERV (Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value) rating scale but it can easily translate to other measurement scales that you may see used. The higher the rating of the filter is, the smaller the particles that it will capture as well as the higher the percentage of particles captured. Low-efficiency filters typically lie within MERV 1-4 and high-efficiency filters are MERV 13 and beyond. The scaling of MERV is not linear; the difference between a MERV 6 and a MERV 8 is nearly double in the percentage of particles captured. Be aware that as the MERV rating increases, the filter gets more restrictive and it will take more pressure and energy to push air through. ‍ Low-efficiency filters These filters will maximize your airflow but will do very little when it comes to cleaning your air. Filters in this category can sometimes be referred to as "rock-catchers" because their job is to make sure that nothing too significant and devastating gets sucked up into the HVAC unit as the bare minimum. They will stop the large debris, but the majority of other particles will be free to enter your HVAC unit. The dust and dirt will either land somewhere in the system or circulate back into the house. Dust and dirt on critical parts of your HVAC system will increase demand on your system, which can lead to repair and maintenance bills that you’re not looking to pay. Also, particles being circulated back into your home is just plain unhealthy. These filters are certainly better than no filter at all, but that is not saying much. ‍ Ironically, the effectiveness of low-efficiency air filters increases as the filter loads up with dirt and dust. There are two problems, though. First, it takes time for the filter to be loaded enough to get a beneficial effect so that everything that gets by the filter ends up either in your system or back in your home. Second, eventually, the filter can become so dirty that the system experiences a pressure drop which can burn out the fan motor. To prevent this, you have to change the filter, which takes you right back to the first problem. For the brief time that you get a small benefit from your low-efficiency filter is far outweighed by the problems it creates. ‍ So why use them? The main reason is that some older units can only handle these filters. A couple of decades ago, filters of lower quality were nearly the only kind used for homes. Technology for HVAC units has progressed since and most modern units of the last few years should be capable of a MERV 8 filter at the least. But older units may not be capable of enough air pressure to force air through a higher efficiency filter. Trying so could cause significant issues as well as a need for repairs. ‍ Some HVAC technicians have a preference for these low-efficiency filters due to their low resistance to airflow. When these filters get dirty and need to be changed, air will still be able to flow through them and not clog as easily. Some technicians are anticipating that people will forget to change out their filters and using low-efficiency filters regularly could help minimize damage to a neglected HVAC. Filters of this category are recommended to be changed every two to four weeks, which can be challenging to maintain for some. It may be comforting to know that your overdue filter is not as bad as it could be, but it is not doing anything else for you until it is replaced. ‍ High-efficiency filters A more efficient filter will be more effective at removing particles from the air as they enter your HVAC system. They will improve the air quality in your home as well and keep your lungs happy. Since the filtration is more thorough, it will take more energy and effort from your HVAC unit to use them. How much more can vary by home and HVAC system, but with modern technology, the increase in airflow resistance that you get with a high-efficiency filter is typically marginal. This is important to note, because many homeowners believe the relationship is simply linear, meaning as filtration efficiency increases, so does resistance to airflow at the same rate. This is not accurate, though, and it's the reason why millions of homeowners use high-efficiency filters with no concern. For example, Second Nature's Essential filter is roughly 450% more effective at capturing particles than a cheapo low-efficiency fiberglass filter, but its resistance to airflow is only about 20% higher, a marginal difference. ‍ An important note with a higher MERV filter is that you need to remember to change it. A consequence of a very effective air filter is the speed with which it can load with pollutants and begin to increase pressure drop. This is just fancy talk for "the filter catches more stuff so it clogs faster." If you leave a clogged filter unchanged for a long time, that's when you can start to see issues with resistance to airflow. This is, of course, a very easy issue to prevent. Just remember to change the filter and you're good to go. In summary So which filter should you consider? If your unit is older and/or very sensitive with airflow, use a filter that ranks from MERV 1 up to possibly MERV 6. If you want your air to at least be cleaned and handle dust, mold, pollen, and bacteria, then a MERV 8 will do the job. Having pets would require a MERV 10 to manage their dander, which tends to have smaller particles than the pollutants previously discussed. Air filters that are MERV 13 and higher are recommended for those that prioritize air quality and may have to handle asthma, severe allergies, and other similar circumstances. Try to not go beyond what you need for your situation. Otherwise, it would be a waste of energy, money, and give unneeded stress to your HVAC system. The factors of every home can vary, so you can always contact a local HVAC technician if you are ever unsure and want a second opinion. ‍ The cost-benefit equation is simple: For a few extra dollars, you can ensure that your HVAC system is as clean as possible and the air in your home is effectively filtered just by using an efficient air filter that is changed regularly. It's an easy task that Second Nature makes even easier.

Calendar icon February 6, 2023

Read more

Introducing Second Nature, The Preeminent Home Wellness Brand

In today’s modern world, it’s easy to neglect your home. That’s why we developed a convenient subscription delivering home wellness solutions direct to your door. Rebranding What's in a name? Shakespeare would seem to argue not a whole lot given his infamous "a rose by any other name..." quotation. But, as I can personally attest, names are a big deal (just ask any soon-to-be parent...or someone leading a rebrand for a company). For anyone who might be curious, changing the name of a company isn't something that occurs overnight. Nor is it something that transpires without a hearty discussion...or fifty. There can be so much history, so much emotion, so much pride tied up in a name. And, of course, everyone has an opinion they firmly believe is the right opinion. ‍ So, why and how does a fast-growing company determine whether it should change its name and then embark on the daunting journey to rebrand itself? You might imagine a bombastic owner or a dogmatic CEO banging her fist against the table, proclaiming she's bored of the company's name and has a brilliant idea to revitalize the company's image. Or, maybe you envision a youthful, energetic start-up holding a naming contest among its employees, drawing a final name out of a hat during a happy hour. These scenarios may very well transpire at some companies, but they could not be further from how we arrived at the decision to rebrand our company from FilterEasy to Second Nature. ‍ Truth be told, we never set out with the explicit purpose to change our look...or our name. Rather, we began by challenging ourselves to think long and hard about how we could create more value for our customers—how we could surprise and delight them with every interaction. We knew we needed to be smarter, more strategic, and more laser-focused if we were to broaden our company's ambitions, and we agreed building a beloved brand would be the best way to win with customers. At that point, everything was put on the table for evaluation, including the name FilterEasy. ‍ The FilterEasy Era Our company has experienced an incredible journey since 2012, and it began when two North Carolina State University students harnessed their passion for entrepreneurship and honed in on an opportunity to create a better experience for homeowners who struggled to stay on top of an important but out-of-sight, out-of-mind home maintenance task: changing out dirty air filters. The idea was simple yet brilliant—make it impossible to forget to change air filters by automating delivery direct to homeowners' doors on a customizable schedule. The solution was so obvious to them and made conquering a simple household chore so easy, they almost immediately decided to name the company FilterEasy. ‍ The company's history follows the classic storybook start-up success story. Two passionate and ambitious students drop out of college to pursue a business idea, set up operation in a garage, live off of ramen noodles and peanut butter, move locations countless times, and, through hard work, grit, and determination, scale up a super successful business servicing hundreds of thousands of customers. The chronology follows the happy path so tightly, one might infer nearly all start-ups experience the same success story toward "making it". In reality, the start-up scene can be trying and tumultuous, and our company has proven to be a diamond in the rough. While a little luck is always involved in any start-up breakthrough, our success has directly correlated to our ability to solve a clear and present customer pain point and our resolute focus on doing right by our employees, our partners, and, most importantly, our customers. In fact, our passion to create real value in the market has been our guiding light and is purely what prompted our journey to rebrand to Second Nature. ‍ The Decision to Rebrand So, why would we make the decision to change our company’s brand if we had achieved a number of successes in a relatively short period of time, all under the banner of an intuitive brand name that communicated our offering? Well, the answer to that question is simple but long-winded. And, it’s centered on some tough questions we asked ourselves as we reflected on a successful 2017 and looked forward into the future: Did we fundamentally understand our market and the opportunities that existed within it? Did we understand our customers’ needs, wants, desires, dreams? Did we know how they wanted to spend their free time? What stressed them out? What kept them up at night? And, most importantly, did we understand why we fit into our customers' lifestyle and where we could provide even more value? ‍ In early 2018, we invested in some prudent market research to better understand our customers and the broader market, as well as to evaluate our business challenges and opportunities. As we peeled back the layers of the proverbial onion, we defined our target audience and learned some fascinating insights about our existing customers. Still, we wanted to learn more, so we conducted interviews and focus groups to gather additional insights that would help us better contextualize our target audience. In short time, we began to comprehensively understand our target’s lifestyle and need-states, and new business opportunities lit up our radar. As we refined our strategy in light of the market insights, we developed a more unique and compelling market positioning. We saw an opportunity to harness our existing platform, centered on delivering convenience to busy professionals and families, and expand it to help customers tackle home maintenance tasks that were oft-forgotten but could impact the health of the home environment and potentially cause costly repairs and replacements. Ultimately, we decided we wanted to help our customers take better care of one of their most valuable assets, their home, and we knew that convenience was the vehicle to facilitate our refined purpose. ‍ Through the lens of our newly articulated brand purpose, we scrutinized the name FilterEasy. We questioned whether the name would continue to intuitively communicate our value proposition or whether it would potentially water down or confuse our vision for the future of the company. Through multiple ideation sessions, concept tests, and analysis, we determined the best, most strategic option was to rename the company and relaunch the brand. We developed a number of viable strategic brand names we thought would provide a great runway for us, and we tested them with our target audience. Time and again, Second Nature outperformed the other options. The answer was clear: we had found our new name. ‍ Introducing Second Nature Second Nature is the synthesis of a lot of smart market research. The name embodies our brand’s mission to empower the modern-day homeowner to be master of his or her household, never forgetting to stay on top of all of the out-of-sight, out-of-mind to-dos. It also provides a great strategic base on which we can bring to life and grow our brand and continues to evoke the ease and simplicity of our convenience model. We aim to transform people’s home habits so that important home wellness tasks become second nature and never go neglected. Additionally, the secondary, almost subconscious, meaning of the name allows us to pursue products that are eco-conscious and help our customers do their part in restoring nature to its purest state, and, in a way, bring about a second nature. We know it’s hard to keep up with everything related to health and wellness these days, but with us, our customers are able to make home wellness a habit. As we move forward on our journey, we will empower our customers to better care for their refuge from the busy, chaotic world. In doing so, we hope they’ll see that good home wellness habits lead to a better sense of personal wellness. ‍ With Second Nature, we have developed a new identity system that includes illustrations, iconography, packaging, web design, and photography art direction. The identity should evoke a fun-loving and optimistic personality that is compassionate and empathetic in its approach. We want our customers to view Second Nature as a brand that selflessly puts others a mile ahead of itself and is willing to help out family and friends when they need someone they can count on. By the same token, we want customers to view Second Nature as a colorful brand that knows how to have a good time and gets along with other people effortlessly. Think of us as the zany yet responsible friend who implicitly knows when you need a good laugh, when you need a shoulder to cry on, and when you need a helping hand because you’re feeling overwhelmed in the moment. ‍ Our new logo takes the shape of a spiral floral pattern inspired by the Fibonacci Sequence, which is a mathematical pattern found everywhere in nature and throughout time. It explains the natural order of our world. All around us are rhythms and cycles we hardly notice, but without which we wouldn’t be able to function. The bloom reflects patterns of growth spirals such as those found in pine cones, sea shells, seeds, and flowers. And, like the healthiest of flowers, proper home wellness is dependent on a cyclical influx of the right elements. For fields of daisies, we’re referencing sun, soil, and rain. But, for the homeowner, it’s the products Second Nature dependably, continuously provides. ‍ We will continue to push our brand in new and exciting directions in the months and years to come, and we’ll be guided by our customers. We plan to release several new products and services over the next twelve months, including a refrigerator water filter product coming this winter. We aim to provide easy solutions to common problems, and we’ll always be enthusiastic about sharing. We’ll also upgrade our experiences and create surprise and delight interactions that provide a moment of relief for our busy, time-starved customers. We want everyone to feel encouraged and energized after an interaction with us or our content. Drop our Customer Care team a note if you have any comments you’d like to share—we’re always open to feedback and want to know how we can better serve our customers. ‍ Parting Thoughts So many people think a rebrand simply involves locking a handful of designers and copywriters in a room so their brains can conjure up all sorts of interesting colors, patterns, typefaces, etc. While contemplating these types of artistic elements is certainly part of the process, there are so many other activities and conversations involved when reimagining a brand. We truly think we got it right in developing Second Nature. And, our excitement for our new brand is held with conviction because we listened to our customers and asked all sorts of insightful questions that got us to where we are right now. Second Nature isn’t the brainchild of one or two people at our company; it is the brainchild of a collaboration with our customers and our target audience. ‍ This rebrand has, by far, been the most exciting, the most rewarding, and the most fun business endeavor I've had the honor of leading in my career. I hope each and every customer falls in love with Second Nature to the degree the team and I have throughout the process of developing it. I'm confident it will quickly become one of your trusted, beloved brands because our company is obsessively focused on creating meaningful value for customers by helping homeowners maintain a healthy home environment for themselves and their loved ones.

Calendar icon February 6, 2023

Read more

Property Management and The Experience Economy

What is an experience economy and why is it relevant to single family rental property management? There are 3 questions driving the future of value creation in professional property management. How do we create an experience so good, residents never want to leave? How do we create an experience so good, investors never want to sell? How do we create an experience so good, talent wants to be in this business forever? The word experience is key. Whoever creates the best experiences will create the most economic value as the service side of property management becomes commoditized. In Joe Pine’s book, The Experience Economy, he reveals a critical insight that transcends real estate to other industries. It’s about the staging of value creation through the lens of commoditization and customization. In today’s highly competitive world, companies often focus solely on process improvement, optimization, cost-cutting, and driving efficiencies. While these are critical to remain competitive and improve margins, they are the playbook of a game that ends with operating a low-margin commoditized business. Some business leaders even talk about their industries being commoditized as a badge of honor. Interestingly enough, that thinking is self-fulfilling; by not focusing on creating higher-value offerings, they are riding the train to commoditization.History contains many examples of innovations so groundbreaking they captivated people and led the way for economic prosperity. Artificial light, telecommunications, automobiles, to name a few. While these were all once higher-margin innovative offerings and the most attractive businesses to be in, they have grown to be stale and competitive industries, forced to compete on price, leading to lower profits and company value relative to size. For example, Ford and GM, once praised as innovators in manufacturing goods, are now in a sea of competition and worth a mere 0.4x revenue at the time of this writing. The Experience Economy dives into these macroeconomic trends and shows the change over time in their Progression of Economic Value chart. The macroeconomic trends demonstrate how we have gone from extracting commodities to making goods to delivering services to, finally, staging experiences as the current primary driver of economic growth. One of the many great examples included in the book is the staging around birthday party: A birthday party at home that consisted of a cake and celebration requires the commodities, flour, sugar, butter etc.. to make at a cost of <$0.10. Then companies began offering “cake mix” which was more convenient that cost $1.00, followed by bakeries making the whole cake as a service for $15, and now, people outsource the whole birthday party to a venue like Dave & Busters or a party planner. There’s a party, invitations, custom napkins, entertainment, and yes, a cake is part of it. So someone can be in the pennies for cake materials business, the quarters for cake mix product business, dollars for a fully-made cake, or thousands of dollars for a full birthday or wedding or celebration event experience. That’s the commoditization to customization journey. Many property managers have correctly said, “We’re in the service business.” However, looking at where the most economic value will be created, today’s industry leaders have already started the shift to “We’re in the experience business.” They’re seeing different opportunities, which lead them to different choices that yield different results, and they find themselves in differentiated businesses. Professional property management is fast approaching a “hotelification” phase, where premium amenities and hospitality-grade service are creating a rental experience so good that more people choose the rental experience for longer periods of time. Hotel staff are called upon to enhance the experience of a proposal, an anniversary, a birthday celebration. And the great ones answer and emotionally connect. They are “moment-makers'' who create enduring loyalty, allowing them to drive more economic value. Consider how many of life’s meaningful and memorable moments are created at home. But how many people can name the owner of the apartment they lived in as easily as the hotel that elevated that special moment? So what are property management leaders doing today, and talking about doing tomorrow to create the #1 resident experience? The occupied experience is being defined by the “Resident Benefits Package”. From conference events like IMN, to NARPM, to PM XChange and PM Grow, it is hard to find an agenda that doesn’t include it. It’s a hot topic. Property managers and service providers have figured out how to turn persistent problems into a suite of proactive solutions that residents will pay for. Some of these services have been amenitized, like 24/7 maintenance coordination, vetted vendor networks, home-buying assistance, multiple payment options, and more that have become standard practice in professional firms. But there’s also a list of emergent ancillary services that are making their way from initial adoption to the definitive standard in the professional management experience. Move-in Concierge - Getting utilities and home services set up is a hassle for residents. Instead of 4 phone calls to get water, energy, internet, and TV services set up after researching who services the address, now residents can make one phone call and speak to a concierge who has looked up the discounts and promotions available and can confidently guide them through the process. In the future, this service likely expands to moving itself, deals on furniture with offers to assemble it, coordinated home cleaning, and landscaping. Air Filter Delivery - HVAC has been the #1 maintenance line item in SFR in most markets, second to plumbing in more temperate markets. And it has been a persistent problem of getting residents to change their filters on time. A 2020 HVAC Data Study that looked at over 7,900 SFRs in 4 markets, over an 18 month period, showed a 38% reduction when comparing a scheduled filter delivery program over the status quo of leaving a stack at move-in or hoping the resident remembers to go to the store. Every 2-3 months, residents are getting a box on their doorstep, where convenience makes it easier to do the right thing than to forget or ignore the responsibility entirely. Credit Building - every month that residents are paying rent on time, they get the benefit of that activity contributing to their credit file. A Goldman Sachs study showed a 42 point average increase in credit scores over 4 months. The credit bureaus also allow for up to 24 months at the same address to be back-reported which can provide a meaningful boost. Property managers are able to incentivize on-time rent payment and help residents build their credit over the course of their lease. Rewards - Residents are used to getting points and rewards for their loyalty with hotels, airlines, their credit cards… why not on their largest monthly expense? And while a rewards platform offers residents a unique benefit and savings on both everyday and luxury items, it is an incentive platform for the property manager. Rewards points allocated for on time payments, timely renewals, and ticky-tack maintenance like flipping a circuit breaker or resetting a GFI outlet mean more of the resident behaviors property managers want. Leveraging it for concessions and leasing incentives also means savings over cash offers, or higher perceived value at the same cash expense. Washer/Dryer Rental - Some properties may have these appliances installed or the residents come with their own, but we’ve seen the impact on prospective applicants choosing homes due the convenience of having the washer/dryer available. Smart Home - From thermostats to keyless entry to water leak detectors and more, there is hardware and technology alike growing more popular each year. Not only are they appreciated by residents, but they provide critical operational efficiencies to the management team. In addition to these, there are many more innovations that are going to dramatically improve the experience of renting and raise the bar on what’s expected. The companies that architect the best experiences will be the market leaders and capture the most upside in this future economic environment. We constantly are asking ourselves, what might the professional property management industry look like in 2030? The shift from transactional services to transformational experiences is one of the surest bets on the table. The big winners will be the players who embrace the new discipline of experience design. We believe the future belongs to the professionals, the trusted, the innovative… the people dedicated to changing the way people live forever.

Calendar icon October 25, 2022

Read more

A CEO's Thoughts on the Evolution of the Property Management Industry

Keeping one eye down the road is critical in a changing industry. ‍ Matt Whitaker, CEO of Evernest, was kind enough to join us on The Triple Win podcast and share some interesting insights about the future of the property management industry. Whitaker has been a CEO since 2008 and has no shortage of experience managing a major player in the industry. His company is rapidly approaching 5,000 doors managed and now exists in 13 markets including Birmingham, Detroit, Nashville, and Atlanta. One of the topics of discussion between Whitaker and host Andrew Smallwood was the increasing polarization within the PM industry. Now, polarization as a word typically has a negative connotation to it, but it’s not necessarily a bad thing for the professional property manager in this case. ‍ Boutique vs. Scaled “I see the property management industry breaking into two worlds. I do believe there is still a place for the boutique manager in the future,” said Whitaker, who noted that some people may disagree with this assessment. But the personal relationships, nimbleness, and communication offered by a small-scale handful-of-doors property manager is hard for a large company to replicate. Not everything can be scaled efficiently and the value created by the smaller business’ ability to do those things well will continue to create opportunities for boutique property managers to thrive. “On the opposite end of that spectrum, I think there are going to be platform businesses that provide value to investors in other ways. So the boutique manager is the partner and the platform business, let’s call it, is going to provide an ecosystem of everything from property management, perhaps brokerage, perhaps maintenance, all these other verticals that are driving value for their clients.” Whitaker continued, “What I would be afraid of is getting caught somewhere in the middle, where you’ve got a big enough company that you don’t know all your clients, but you don’t have a big enough company that you can drive scale and give your clients and customers the benefit of that scale." Scale is certainly where Evernest is headed if it’s not already there, and Whitaker’s prediction is based largely on how companies like his and companies on the opposite side of the size spectrum create value for clients in two very different ways. This is the concept of differentiation, which is not achieved by the companies “in the middle.” Those companies are simply not going to be able to offer anything in the market that somebody else isn’t doing better. The spectrum Whitaker discusses can be warped to some degree, and some companies are attempting to do that by scaling aspects of the business, like personal relationships, that have not traditionally been scalable (see Auben Realty’s Pod System). But a general understanding of how a good property management company creates value for its investors and clients would lead you to the conclusion that, barring a major disruption, Whitaker’s polarization prediction is probably going to be right. “Begin with The End in Mind,” as Stephen Covey once said, is a concept that always applies in business, but is especially relevant now in the property management industry. Having a defined vision for your company can help you set meaningful goals and stick to them. Knowing what space in the industry you want to be occupying in five years can protect you from “getting caught somewhere in the middle.”

Calendar icon September 9, 2022

Read more

A Sales Person's Review of Giftology by John Ruhlin

When I was first introduced to the book Giftology by John Ruhlin during a Second Nature sales kick-off a few years back, I didn’t really know what to expect. Andrew Smallwood and Scott Stollwerk wanted the team to read the book so that we could gain a better understanding of the impact of being intentional with gifting. I didn’t realize then how much this book would change me. Giftology is all about strategic and intentional gifting - gifting with a purpose. This book aims to change the way we look at giving gifts. Too often gifting is seen as something habitual and unintentional. But Giftology really provokes you to think about how we can turn a gift into not just something we give….but to really make it into a lasting moment. The book talks about strategic business gifting as well and how we can stop giving gifts to clients and prospects that are meaningless, have our logo on them, and have very little thought or intentionality behind them. The goal with strategic business gifting is to turn a prospect into an active loyalist. Meaning, they love your business so much that they’ll be a huge advocate for the business and will naturally talk about it with others without prompting. When I think back to Andrew’s introduction, I see exactly how Giftology fits with the way we do business at Second Nature. We are all about making a positive and lasting impact. We always ask ourselves how can we be better? How can we up our game and standards, and truly stand out from other organizations? Giftology fits in with each one of our core values at Second Nature. Relentlessly Resourceful: How can we be better at gifting? Especially at trade shows. Can we have intentional swag versus the standard items people typically grab and then forget about right away? Drama Free Zone: Giving a gift shouldn’t be about us…it should be about the recipient. How will they feel receiving something so thoughtful? Bias Towards Action: How can we use strategic gifting to not only gain clients but active loyalists? Performance Mindset: Strategic gifting helps close business. Humility In All That We Do: It takes a lot to truly take ourselves out of the gifting picture and learn about the recipient so that the gift serves its intended purpose. Integrity First: We need to think about the gift and thoughtfully consider what our purpose is for sending it. Will the recipient feel valued? Shatter the Status Quo: Nothing goes further with a client than a super thoughtful gift John Ruhlin’s book has really made me think about the ways I select and give impactful gifts, and has helped me to understand the true power of making a gift into a lasting moment. Have you read Giftology yet? Or have you received a gift that’s made an impact on you? Let me know what you think in the comments below!

Calendar icon May 19, 2022

Read more