Customer Story
Redwood Property Investors got up and running on AppFolio without disruptions and saw their business grow significantly
Redwood Property Investors
Established: 2007\ Location: Oakland, CA\ Portfolio: Multifamily\ Previous Solution: YardiRedwood Property Investors, a family office that acquires and operates multifamily real estate in Northern California, needed a software solution that would allow them to scale efficiently. Fearing prolonged downtime, they were hesitant to switch to a new system. We sat down with Jerry Tanaka, Chief Operating Officer, for a deep dive on how AppFolio put their concerns to rest and why they feel confident they made the right decision.
Units managed
1,300+
Increase in units managed
50%
Increase in online payments
360%
Maintenance requests addressed
5x faster
“AppFolio does it all!”
Jerry Tanaka
Chief Operating Officer
Redwood Property Investors, 1,000+ units
Redwood Property Investors, 1,000+ units
All the tools Redwood needed, in one package
In order to accomplish their goals, Redwood had relied on using multiple point solutions, but they experienced challenges with this approach — their systems did not always work together smoothly, often resulting in glitches that added friction and frustration. Jerry also found these integrations come with a price tag. He explains why adding new tools on top of their old system wasn't a winning formula:
“We kept bolting on other software to our former solution until we realized we were spending $15,000 a year with no end in sight, and there were integration issues. Then we came across AppFolio and said ‘wait, AppFolio has all of this in one package?’"
True partnership makes all the difference
Although Redwood's accounting team was initially hesitant to change their processes, they were fully sold after experiencing the hallmark customer service AppFolio is known for.
“What won them over was the level of responsiveness and just the overall onboarding and hand-holding from AppFolio. It was a great success.”
“What won them over was the level of responsiveness and just the overall onboarding and hand-holding from AppFolio. It was a great success.”
AppFolio’s dedicated, world-class onboarding team
It’s not a platitude when we say that we’re laser-focused on our customers and their success. It’s a mantra that’s backed up with real world results. Onboarding Redwood Property Investors was no exception.
“When it comes to software, change management is so damn hard. But AppFolio is great at it. I mean, who can transition a complete business in less than three months? It was such a well-organized machine. Often, when you ask questions during a new software training session, you get responses that dance around the question: ‘I think this is how it works,’ or, 'I'll circle back with another team.’ But with AppFolio, the training aspect was just dialed in. We hit the ground running. At the same time, AppFolio is so easy to use and intuitive that you don't really need much extensive training. It's so easy to learn.”
“When it comes to software, change management is so damn hard. But AppFolio is great at it. I mean, who can transition a complete business in less than three months? It was such a well-organized machine. Often, when you ask questions during a new software training session, you get responses that dance around the question: ‘I think this is how it works,’ or, 'I'll circle back with another team.’ But with AppFolio, the training aspect was just dialed in. We hit the ground running. At the same time, AppFolio is so easy to use and intuitive that you don't really need much extensive training. It's so easy to learn.”
Redwood Property Investors grew to new heights with AppFolio
Redwood went live on AppFolio Property Manager Plus on March 1, 2020, just a few weeks before COVID-19 lockdowns began. Acquisitions were disrupted, naturally, but the team made the most out of the opportunity to optimize their processes with AppFolio.
“We didn't buy a single property in 2020. That's how much of a nightmare it was buying real estate. But by using that ‘downtime’ to streamline and perfect our internal processes on our new property management platform, we were already rocking and rolling by 2021, which was our biggest growth year. AppFolio is truly a huge key to our success.”
“We didn't buy a single property in 2020. That's how much of a nightmare it was buying real estate. But by using that ‘downtime’ to streamline and perfect our internal processes on our new property management platform, we were already rocking and rolling by 2021, which was our biggest growth year. AppFolio is truly a huge key to our success.”
Customer Success done right
Data migration between two different platforms can sometimes lead to inconsistencies, but the AppFolio Customer Success team was there to eliminate any potential disruption for Jerry and his team.
“Even several weeks after implementation, there was still an AppFolio team making sure that everything worked for us. They were there to iron out any kinks and make the transition as seamless as possible. To me, that's real customer success management.
Solving property management’s talent crisis
Being an AppFolio shop can give property management companies an edge in attracting and retaining team members.
“AppFolio does it all. My team feels more empowered and enabled; they feel like leadership is listening. Redwood is undoubtedly a better place to work now that we’re on AppFolio. Technology is no longer an excuse. It's an advantage for us. It’s even helped us attract new talent. I did notice that on a few hires recently. They said, ‘You use AppFolio? I've always wanted to use that.’ That's a true statement.”
“AppFolio does it all. My team feels more empowered and enabled; they feel like leadership is listening. Redwood is undoubtedly a better place to work now that we’re on AppFolio. Technology is no longer an excuse. It's an advantage for us. It’s even helped us attract new talent. I did notice that on a few hires recently. They said, ‘You use AppFolio? I've always wanted to use that.’ That's a true statement.”
Game changing technology that doesn’t cost a fortune
We know that your success in property management comes down to the bottom line. With AppFolio Property Manager’s transparent pricing plans, you’ll know exactly what you’re paying for and get exactly what you need. No hidden fees, and no overpaying for features you don’t need.
“Our CFO was so impressed with the business results and overall customer service. Being a numbers guy, he kept saying, ‘this must cost a lot more.’ And I'd answer, ‘no, it costs less, actually.’”
“Our CFO was so impressed with the business results and overall customer service. Being a numbers guy, he kept saying, ‘this must cost a lot more.’ And I'd answer, ‘no, it costs less, actually.’”
Space for more connection
The power of purpose driven technology was put on full display after switching to AppFolio, as evidenced by the property management team’s newfound enthusiasm interfacing with residents.
“We were very hands off before switching. If you called our office with a maintenance request, we'd say ‘call this number and they'll help you.’ Now, residents can log into their tenant portal and have more control over maintenance requests. It’s seamless. If they do choose to call, it usually goes something like, ‘is something wrong? Send it through the AppFolio resident portal and we’ll take care of it. Please hold us to our 24 to 48-hour response time.’ We are more connected to our residents than ever.”
Jerry Tanaka Chief Operating Officer
Redwood Property Investors
Why take our word for it?
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