Dirk Wakeham and L.D. Salmanson

For the last year, the direction of Realpage, a multibillion-dollar giant providing software and management platforms to the multifamily sector, has been, in large part, dominated by data. 

It was consumed by the string of settlements with the U.S. Justice Department and various states around accusations of misusing nonpublic data for price-fixing and collusion, claims which were settled over the course of the last year. That allowed the company, in a November statement from CEO Dirk Wakeham, to move forward “with clarity, with confidence.”

It was energized by its July acquisition of Cherre, an institutional portfolio intelligence firm that helps manage $4 trillion in assets. (Yes — trillion with a “t.”) The combined firm offers significant heft and a database of multifamily performance information unmatched in the industry, which Realpage hopes gives them pole position in the ongoing AI race.

“Whoever wins data wins AI, clearly,” said L.D. Salmanson, former Cherre CEO and now a Realpage executive. “As an organization, I really appreciate a company that embodies that adage and that persona. You can’t win by being slightly better operationally. You can’t win by having a slightly better agent. Sitting on more multifamily data than anybody else in the world — more units, more buildings, more interactions — that’s just a treasure trove that allows us to do things that nobody else can do.”

The link-up of Realpage and Cherre has been “a powerful catalyst” in terms of revenue growth, and the pace of product development and deployment, said Salmanson. 

In August, the newly merged company introduced Lumina, a suite of AI tools to help simplify operations, lift manual tasks from operators and owners, and provide more up-to-date institutions intelligence for portfolio managers. The company’s vision is to use its data to the advantage of clients — and its own performance.  

“We’re part of an incredible team right now that’s really aggressive — kind of unapologetically aggressive, as they say, and really proud of that,” said Salmanson.