Most operators blame the market when a property underperforms.

Ken Doble has run 23,000 units, survived 2008, and says that 9 times out of 10, it’s people, process, and discipline.

And the next evolution? Digital employees that outperform human leasing agents.

In this episode of The AI Edge Podcast, Louis Fernandes sits down with Ken Doble, apartment investor and partner at Quantitative Realty Capital, to break down what actually drives performance in multifamily.

Ken started onsite managing 24 units and eventually oversaw 23,000 units across 11 states. He lived through the 2008 collapse, saw $1.5B in valuation shrink dramatically, and rebuilt his operating philosophy around discipline, reserves, and execution.

This is not theory. This is field-tested operations.

Inside this conversation:

• The 5 P’s of Property Management, People, Pricing, Product, Promotion, Process
• Why most owners misunderstand the “management gap”
• How incentives can instantly change performance
• The truth about revenue management and lost-to-lease
• What 2008 really taught operators about leverage and reserves
• The Lotto Principle in value-add investing
• How AI will create digital leasing agents that outperform humans
• Why most AI tools only remove headaches instead of driving revenue
• The coming death of SaaS as custom AI workflows emerge

Ken also breaks down where AI actually works in multifamily:

Collections workflows
Operational audits
Underwriting automation
Inspection systems
Digital employees

And where it still falls apart due to hallucinations, legal risk, and lack of context.

If you operate apartments, this episode will sharpen how you think about:

Execution
Capital structure
Operational discipline
Technology leverage
Leadership under pressure

Ken Doble is an apartment investor and operator and partner at Quantitative Realty Capital based in Atlanta. Over his career, he has been involved in more than 30,000 units and led over $233M in renovations.

He previously served as COO overseeing 23,000 units across 11 states and survived the 2008 collapse, rebuilding his investment philosophy around reserves, discipline, and operational execution.

• The management gap between corporate expectations and onsite reality
• Why 90 percent of underperformance traces back to people and process
• How incentives can triple leasing velocity instantly
• Why you cannot fix a bad market with operations alone
• The real mechanics of lost-to-lease
• Why capital stack mistakes kill good properties
• Digital employees will eventually replace leasing workflows
• AI is powerful, but hallucinations still create risk
• Discipline in boring basics wins cycles

Multifamily investing
Apartment operations
Property management systems
Real estate AI
Digital leasing agent
NOI growth strategies
Revenue management multifamily
Real estate underwriting
Value add apartments
Commercial real estate podcast