Dirk Wakeham

Dirk Wakeham returned to RealPage on Nov. 11 as the firm’s president and CEO during a time when the company is in expansion mode and as it evolves into more than a property management software vendor.

The AI-enabled tech provider already serves more than 24 million rental units worldwide. Wakeham — who previously served a spell as the company’s president — takes the lead after a series of acquisitions and major product launches this year across transaction services, back-office automation and resident experience. The acquisition push underscored RealPage’s strategy to embed intelligence software in the most tedious processes in the real estate industry.

In late July, RealPage acquired Rexera, a firm using AI agents for real estate operations, particularly for real estate transactions. RealPage is combining Rexera’s AI workforce with its HomeWise Docs platform for homeowners associations to automate high-volume tasks like HOA document retrieval, lien searches, mortgage payoffs and compliance workflows. Rexera, prior to the acquisition, already leveraged AI agents to facilitate more than 1 percent of all U.S. residential real estate transactions each month.

Just weeks earlier, RealPage turned its focus to the residential landlord side with the acquisition of rent payment solutions company Livble. Similarly, the deal was absorbed by Loft, RealPage’s resident experience platform, and Buildium, the firm’s property management software. Livble provides residents the ability to split their monthly rent into as many as four installments. And RealPage assumes all non-payment risk.

RealPage also unveiled the Lumina AI Workforce in June, which introduced the multifamily industry’s first AI agent platform that specializes in leasing, operations, finance and resident engagement. The proptech company has built itself into a wide-ranging tech provider for owners, operators and lenders across real estate markets. 

Wakeham is a six-time CEO and president for software and software-as-a-service organizations, with a strong focus in proptech and fintech. He was previously managing director for Vista Equity Partners, and president of RealPage following its acquisition of LeasingDesk, the company he founded. 

“Returning to RealPage feels like coming home,” Wakeham said in a statement. “I’m honored to step into this role at such an important moment for the company and our industry.”