Customer Story
Established: 1986
Location: Santa Barbara, CA
Portfolio: Single-Family, Multifamily, Investment Management
Units Under Management: 978+
Equity Under Management: $135M+
In 1986, Fuller Apartment Homes got their start managing one small unit in Ventura, California. Now, nearly 40 years later, this vertically integrated real estate management business does it all — including property management and investment management — throughout Kern, Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo counties. Will Harryman, Development and Operations Manager at Fuller, shares how unifying their business with AppFolio has completely transformed not only the way they work but also how they drive real performance.
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Will Harryman
Development and Operations Manager, Fuller Apartment Homes and Presidio Capital Partners, 978+ units, $135M+ EUM
As both Fuller Apartment Homes and Presidio Capital Partners grew, so did the complexity of managing both physical assets and investor communications. The legacy software they were using for investment management simply wasn’t cutting it.
“It wasn’t easy for our investors to use. At the end of the day, our investors are our customers. If we’re not giving them the best experience — if they can’t easily find their K-1s, quarterly reports, or track distributions — we’re doing them a disservice. And then on our end, we were dealing with constant support issues. When we saw how much time was being spent chasing down fixes, we knew we had to make a change.”
That realization led them to AppFolio Investment Manager.
“Now, with the AppFolio Investor Portal, our investors really feel like they’re being taken care of. They can go in and see everything, including their contributions, distributions, tax documents, and quarterly reports. And it’s super easy — for our investors and for us. Take uploading K-1s, for example. With AppFolio, you upload a batch of K-1s, and 90% of them get tagged to the right contact. You just do a little bit of manual checking.”
So while the investment management arm of the business switched to AppFolio Investment Manager, the property management arm continued with its previous software. However, the team quickly recognized the value of consolidating both property and investment management onto a single, powerful platform.
“For a long time, we juggled separate, disjointed systems. But now, we’re using one system for everything. The way Property Manager is set up is very similar to the way Investment Manager is set up. Having one cohesive interface makes it really easy to find issues, find information, and make sure that all the data is visible to the whole team.”
Like flipping a switch, the results were instantaneous.
“Immediately, it just became so much easier to find things with Global Search. We have more visibility into the business, more transparency, and more clarity. Dashboards, tenant records, texting — we can do everything faster and with less friction.”
And the list goes on:
Investor Payments
“The biggest thing is we’re able to make distributions straight from AppFolio Investment Manager, and with the push of a button, they sync back into AppFolio Property Manager and our general ledger. That used to be a lot more complicated. Now, it’s easy to get our investors paid and make sure they’re paid on time.”
Reporting
“With all the data in one spot, it’s easy to create and share reports. We use custom templates to generate income statements and balance sheets every quarter, then upload them directly into the investor portal. It’s kind of a full loop: Start with a distribution in Investment Manager, sync it into Property Manager, generate reports, and share them right back with our investors.”
Work Orders
“Any internal project, we’re able to put into a work order, track correspondence and notes, and then create purchase orders to track costs. That’s been really helpful.”
Purchase Orders/Vendor Management
“If there’s a big project — say a $30,000 landscaping overhaul across multiple buildings — we can create a PO, approve it, and then apply partial payments as invoices come in. The system will automatically draw down against that purchase order. It helps us track exactly how much we’ve paid and what we still owe instead of juggling random invoices and possibly overpaying.”
Internal Communications
“Our ops calls are a lot more streamlined because we’re able to stay in constant communication about work orders throughout the week. The approval process feels really easy since it’s all baked right into one system.”
Leasing
“The whole move-in workflow is just so straightforward, and it’s really easy for residents to submit applications. The easier we can make it to receive applications, the quicker we can get them through our approval process and the faster we can fill vacant units.”
Maintenance
“The biggest game changer is Smart Maintenance because it feels like we’ve been able to reduce the amount of time it takes to complete work orders and we’re able to be notified about emergencies really quickly. It feels like more of a white-glove service than what we were doing before.”
With multiple high-profile projects underway, the team at Fuller Apartment Homes and Presidio Capital Partners is leaning into their vertically integrated model — developing, managing, and raising capital for projects entirely in-house, all powered by AppFolio. They just broke ground on Park Center in Bakersfield.
“It’s going to be 520 units — the biggest apartment complex ever built in Kern County. It’s in the nicest area in the county, and it’ll be the best product on the market. We’re super excited about it.”
What makes their model even more unique is how deeply aligned everyone is around each project’s success:
“There’s only one class of shareholders — so whether someone invests $50K or $5 million, they’re getting the same deal. There are no waterfalls, no preferences. As long as the property performs, everyone’s returns move up and to the right.”
That simplicity and alignment have helped attract a wide range of investors — from local executives to the project team itself:
“Our general contractor invested money. Bolthouse — the largest carrot grower in the world — contributed the land and invested money, our legal team invested, our architect invested. Even the mechanical and electrical subcontractors put in money. Everyone believed in the project — and because of how we structure the deal, everyone benefits together.”
Another project, San Marcos Ranch in Santa Barbara, will include 750 market-rate and 250 affordable units — making it the largest apartment complex in Santa Barbara County history.
“AppFolio helps us manage the full stack — development, loans, property management, investor communication. It supports every part of our business.”
When switching to AppFolio, Fuller Apartment Homes and Presidio Capital Partners were able to tap into their own dedicated AppFolio onboarding team at every step and stage. For additional expertise and an even smoother, quicker transition, they tapped into a trusted AppFolio Stack™ Solution Partner.
“We hired Balanced Asset Solutions, who helped with a lot of the data migration, and Eric on the AppFolio side was really solid throughout the process.”
As with any new system, there was a learning curve — but the team was prepared. His advice to other firms preparing to make the move?
“Once you commit, just go all in. Stay positive, find champions in your organization to help drive the change, and trust that even if it’s bumpy at times, it’ll absolutely pay off in the long run.”
With AppFolio supporting their operations from end to end, the team is confident in their ability to keep scaling while delivering great outcomes for both investors and residents. And as the company scales, AppFolio is helping them grow efficiently.
Will Harryman
Development and Operations Manager, Fuller Apartment Homes and Presidio Capital Partners, 978+ units, $135M+ EUM
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