By Steve Lefkovits

The complexity of contracts and property sales mean that as an industry, we are always contriving new ways for the revenue-share payments from telecom to go unpaid, or underpaid. Megan Jackson, Senior Accountant at RealtyCom Partners has turned into a bit of a telecom revenue share detective. Here are a few high-dollar examples from recent experience:

• An upfront payment check for $25,000 goes uncashed because it was made payable to the wrong entity in the signature block;

• A 500-unit property is underpaid for seven years by a provider because the provider’s records incorrectly show the property as only 180 units. The revenue-share payments for 320 units were unpaid for the entire time the ownership group was in control;

• An upfront payment for more than $45,000 on a new development project goes unpaid during the internal transition from development to property management;

• A property owner submits a W-9 form whose taxpayer identification number is incorrectly formatted. $30,000+ goes unpaid for more than a year.

In any given quarter, 30-40% of the revenue share payments reviewed by RealtyCom are flagged for review. Catherine Ratté, Vice President of Accounting at RealtyCom calls Megan “eagle-eyed” for her ability to sort through the points […]

By Steve Lefkovits

Multifamily technology and innovations drive new revenue. As technology increases in complexity and scope, the need for a cross-functional sponsor that can advocate for the entire organization and anticipate the competing demands of the enterprise is becoming a requirement. Responsibility for profitable innovation is shifting to dedicated senior executives and new roles like Chief Experience Officers, Innovation Officers and Vice Presidents of Strategic Initiatives. These roles open up new responsibilities beyond simply implementation, but thoughtful consideration on impacts to the organization when making a change.

Consider some of the new revenue being driven (or projected to be driven) by new-ish tech. Unlike the point solutions of the last decade, today’s tech touches most or all departments in a company, and impacts core operations:

• Amenity services like dog walking, catering, laundry outsourcing, and retail experiences may soon earn a portfolio $5-10 per unit per month. In order to achieve this, the management company and its service provider must coordinate access (operations), setting up an app (marketing), marketing to residents (legal, vendor), insurance (risk management) and resident engagement (operations again.)

• Smart home upgrades from companies like Stratis and SmartRent promise operational savings (reduced staffing, self-guided tours), enhanced monitoring of […]
  

Written by Steve Lefkovits

In the future (according to “futurists”), we will be served by myriad robotic helpers orchestrating every aspect of our busy lives while we catch up on GOT and other bingeable shows. Seriously, if you listen to trendsetters like Fast Future’s Rohit Talwar, who developed various industry projections with China-based telecommunications company Huawei, there’s no doubt that 5G is the digital future. From entertainment to driverless cars, education and science, 5G, which is 10 times faster than current 4G LTE, is expected to expand the lifestyle capabilities of every home, workplace and community.

Back to the Future?
The four major telecommunications companies operating in the U.S. – AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint – have plans to roll out 5G in urban areas. Deployments are expected to take place in select cities with commercial building applications up to three years out, with early launches in large areas (like stadiums).

But if you’re getting that “déjà vu all over again” feeling, you’re not wrong. In fact, owners whose memories stretch all the way to 1995 will recall the giddy, wild west atmosphere surrounding “blazing fast 1 MB Internet.” History reminds us that the transition from 3G to 4G presented a lot […]