Poplar Homes, a West Coast tech-enabled residential property management company, is expanding into Arizona with its addition of 152 rental home contracts in Scottsdale from Arizona-based property management company Venture REI.
The deal is Poplar Homes’ first dip into the Arizona real estate pool.
Chuck Hattemer, co-founder and chief of marketing at Poplar Homes, cites Phoenix’s upturn in new residents and a slowing rental market as the main reason for entering Arizona.
“The folks that built this Venture REI business have tremendous local expertise and experience and we are really excited about building out our team in Arizona,” Hattemer said.
Based in Cupertino, California, Poplar Homes was founded in 2014 by three Santa Clara University students who were struggling to find off-campus housing. Now, the organization manages 15,000 rental properties in 17 states.
Since March 2022, Poplar has raised $110 million to help grow its portfolio.
A key component of Poplar’s business model is the integration of technology to the rental experience. The management company provides everything from 24/7 maintenance to assistance in future home buying all from an app.
Rather than renters having to contact their landlords or repair servicers directly, Poplar schedules all repairs and maintenance using a network of local vendors.
“For every couple hundred properties or so you need some reliable handymen, plumbers, electricians,” Hattemer said. “We have a sort of network, and we don’t build it based on how many doors we have because we’re looking toward the future with these relationships. It’s all about establishing those relationships and then at a certain point we’ll even extend full-time employment offers to some of those vendors.”
Hattemer said that all 152 homes acquired will remain long-term rentals. The announcement said that Venture REI will continue to manage its short-term rentals and investment client property management portfolios, as these properties were not a part of the transaction.
“Poplar shares our commitment to offering unmatched service,” Venture REI founder Dan Noma, Jr., said in a statement. “This, combined with its tech-forward industry-leading platform, offered the best fit for our team and our clients.”
Former Venture REI long-term property manager, Lindsay Shoenfeld, has joined Poplar as its Arizona property manager.
Poplar Homes’ legal business name is Onerent Inc.
The original headline of this article implied that Poplar Homes had purchased rental homes in Scottsdale. The company purchased the contracts to oversee those rentals, not the properties.
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California property management company adds 152 Scottsdale homes for its Arizona debut – Phoenix Business Journal
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