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

Investors are shifting, they do not just want syndicators anymore, they want vertically integrated platforms.

Steven Ludwig has lived that journey for 23 years, building a full stack platform across investing, property management, construction, materials, and lending.

In this episode we break down what vertical integration really costs, what it unlocks, and what can become a drag if you do it wrong.

Vertical integration sounds clean in a pitch deck, but in the real world it means people, projects, permits, capital, and constant execution pressure.

In this episode of The AI Edge Podcast, Louis Fernandes sits down with Steven Ludwig, Founder and CEO of Coastline Real Estate Advisors, to break down what it really takes to build a vertically integrated real estate platform and why investors are increasingly rewarding operators who control their execution.

Steven shares how the 2008 financial crisis exposed the weakness of relying on third party property management, why he built an in house platform as a lifeline through fee income, and how that decision expanded into construction and building materials to solve real operational problems like renovation cost visibility, supply chain delays, and inconsistent product specs across a portfolio.

This conversation is for operators, founders, and capital partners who want scale without chaos, and who understand that controlling cost, timing, and reporting becomes the game when markets tighten.

If you are thinking about building your own property management arm, launching in house construction, or integrating materials or lending, this episode gives you the real tradeoffs, where it works, where it fails, and what must be true before you add complexity.

Steven Ludwig is the Founder and CEO of Coastline Real Estate Advisors. Over more than 20 years, Steven has built a vertically integrated family of companies across multifamily and industrial value add investing, property management, construction execution, building materials, and lending.

His work is centered on delivering strong risk adjusted returns through tighter operational control, better cost visibility, and faster execution.

• Why 2008 pushed Steven from syndicator to full platform operator
• The real advantage of vertical integration, cost control and time control
• How in house property management created a fee income lifeline
• Why renovation cost tracking is broken in most operators’ models
• How material stockouts quietly destroy operations and consistency
• The hidden risk in vertical integration, spreading leadership too thin
• How investors evaluate alignment across multiple entities and fees
• What to focus on in operating agreements, especially when things go wrong
• Where AI is actually useful today, and where it is still mostly noise

Vertical integration real estate, multifamily operations, property management strategy, real estate private equity, real estate syndication, construction management, value add multifamily, family office investing, commercial real estate investing, investor reporting systems

If you got value from this episode, subscribe for more operator level conversations on scale, systems, and execution.
Comment below, are you building a vertically integrated platform, or staying lean and outsourcing
Want to map your workflows and identify leverage inside your operation, book a 20 minute working session with my team at Edge Partners AI here: https://calendly.com/edgepartnersai/ai-discovery-call

Mike Yantis has led over $2B in civil infrastructure and now develops land across Central Texas.
He breaks down what actually kills land deals, how to deliver lots on time, and how AI is changing land acquisition by turning weeks of engineering work into minutes.

Episode Description
Texas is still one of the most active growth markets in the country, but turning raw land into finished lots is getting harder, slower, and more expensive. In this episode of The AI Edge Podcast, Louis sits down with Mike Yantis, President and CEO of Yantis Land LLC, a third generation operator who has managed over $2 billion in civil infrastructure and scaled a major construction business from 180 employees to nearly 600.

Mike shares the real mechanics behind land development in the I-35 corridor, what makes a deal viable, and the fastest ways projects lose time or money, from utilities and entitlements to municipal rules and carry costs. He also explains how he structures deals today, owner, JV, or fee developer, and why patience and buying right matter more than chasing deals.

Then we go into AI, including the new tools Mike is using to evaluate land, pull zoning and utility data, and even generate early site plans in minutes. If you’re a developer, builder, landowner, or investor who wants a grounded look at how Texas land development works in the real world, this episode is for you.

Guest Intro
Today’s guest has helped shape the growth of Central Texas from the ground up. I’m joined by Mike Yantis, President and CEO of Yantis Land LLC.

Mike has managed over $2 billion in civil infrastructure projects across the region, including airports, military bases, DOT road work, industrial sites, commercial developments, and large scale subdivisions. As a leader at Yantis Company, he helped grow the business more than 200%, scaled the team from about 180 people to nearly 600, and drove major gains in profitability.

Today, Mike focuses on land development and fee development, delivering single family, build to rent, and manufactured housing opportunities for top builders across Texas. We break down what it really takes to move projects from raw dirt to finished lots, how to avoid the mistakes that destroy deals, and where AI is starting to change the land game.