The Asset Manager's Evolution: Redefining Property Management for Modern Investors

 In today’s dynamic real estate landscape, a fundamental transformation is reshaping how property managers serve their clients. Leading this change is Blanket, a technology company founded by Lior Abramovich, whose journey from naval commander to real estate innovator offers unique insights into the industry’s future.

The Silent Killer: Understanding Property Management Churn

The property management industry faces a startling challenge: an average annual client churn rate of 25%. For an industry comprising 310,000 registered property managers in the United States, this perpetual client turnover threatens long-term sustainability and growth.

“When you have an owner that decides to sell their property, they might be completely satisfied with your service and have a great relationship with you, but life happens,” explains Abramovich, drawing from his experience overseeing $150 million in acquisitions at a single-family rental investment firm. “The traditional response has been generating more leads – essentially pouring more water into a leaky bucket.”

Transforming Property Managers into Asset Managers

This perspective represents a fundamental shift in how property managers view their role. While managers of multi-family, commercial, and office properties are recognized as investment managers, their single-family rental counterparts have traditionally been viewed merely as service providers. This disparity is particularly striking given that 98.5% of the 16-19 million single-family rental properties are owned by individual investors seeking professional asset management services.

Technology-Driven Solutions for Modern Property Management

Blanket’s platform addresses these challenges through two key packages: Retain and Grow. The Retain package includes:

1. An investor dashboard providing real-time performance metrics, property valuations, cash flow analysis, and equity positions
2. An asset management dashboard enabling property managers to monitor portfolio performance and identify opportunities
3. An AI-powered retention manager that predicts churn risk and provides actionable retention strategies

“Without Blanket, property managers don’t know if their client’s property is actually making money or not,” Abramovich explains. “In their property management software, they only see the rental income, the maintenance expenses, and maybe some additional fees that they charge themselves. But they don’t have the mortgage payments, property tax, HOA, insurance – all the property-related transactions that eventually tell you exactly if this property is generating positive or negative cash flow.”

The Grow package further supports property managers by providing:

•  A marketplace for off-market properties
• Tools to facilitate property transactions within their network
• Resources for capturing additional revenue streams

The Future of Property Management

Industry reception signals a broader shift in property management philosophy. “We’re seeing increased focus on net operating income as a key performance metric,” Abramovich observes. “Clients entrust their properties to us with specific financial goals. Our role is to improve their returns through strategic asset management.”

This evolution marks a departure from the industry’s previous focus on fee competition. Forward-thinking property managers now differentiate themselves through enhanced services and data-driven insights, positioning themselves as strategic partners in their clients’ investment success.

Looking ahead, Blanket is developing AI-powered solutions for automated performance reviews and market analysis, enabling property managers to deliver institutional-quality service efficiently. This innovation comes at a crucial time for an industry serving millions of individual investors who traditionally haven’t had access to sophisticated investment management services.

“Our vision extends beyond solving operational challenges,” Abramovich explains. “We’re working to institutionalize this asset class, providing individual investors with the same quality of investment management traditionally reserved for institutional clients.”

The transformation of property management from a service-based industry to an asset management profession is more than just a trend – it’s becoming a necessity for survival and growth in an increasingly competitive market. Through technology-enabled asset management, property managers can now deliver the strategic value their clients increasingly demand.