Elizabeth Francisco,
Inhabit
Elizabeth Francisco has been on a journey in her 25-plus-year career in the multifamily industry, but throughout her different chapters her focus has remained on the customer experience.
She started out as a leasing agent; helped launch ResMan, a leading property management platform for the multifamily industry; and now is chief experience officer at Inhabit, a software company serving the residential, commercial, and vacation rental management industries that acquired ResMan in 2021.
“Everything that has made me successful can be attributed back to my teams; I value and prioritize the way I engage with other people,” she says. “You don’t build a business by yourself.”
Francisco relies on her on-the-ground experience and by listening to team members and customers.
She was instrumental in bringing ResMan to market. ResMan was created during the Great Recession to help multifamily operators navigate the market’s uncertainty and protect their portfolios’ financial stability.
“One thing that made the platform successful was learning to listen with intent, whether that was our new product team or our front-line managers. For example, I did not know the first thing about building software when we started; what we did know was property management,” she says. “We had a constant feedback loop with every level of our management team. I had walked in their shoes so there was genuine compassion and respect for the job at hand. But, unfortunately, they were the ones being asked to do more with less due to the recessionary environment. Customers, internal and external, will always will tell you what you need to do to be successful. You just have to listen.”
Francisco says she feels fortunate to have been there for ResMan’s start, taking the platform to market and going through the various rounds of investment, and now still being part of the team at Inhabit after the acquisition.
From a growth perspective, she says you can see how committed Inhabit is to its teams and what it is doing in the space to deliver best-in-class management platforms. The firm, which has grown to 1,100 employees across the U.S. and multiple countries since 2016, serves over 4 million residential and vacation property management units.
While still active in multifamily, Francisco also is working on Inhabit’s vacation platform side and is hoping to bridge the lessons learned.
“From the surface, one can see the similarities between the two divisions— short-term rentals, and we’re long-term rentals. But you also have to understand the nuances of those two spaces. What’s exciting for me is how I think about the future. How can we leverage the best parts of both divisions? Whether you look at the existing technology or individual team members, our product and development teams are very forward-looking. One thing that I love about the vacation rental space is the treatment of the guest experience. Imagine if every resident in the apartment community felt like a valued guest.”
Francisco has been through past cycles and is prepared for the uncertainty in today’s market.
“2023 will be another transformational year for both the vacation and multifamily property industries,” she adds. “I’m looking forward to being in the conversation on both sides to help our teams and customers navigate today’s market conditions. There are a lot of headlines about the economy right now. While we have some headwinds, I know it’s manageable. I remember a time when rent growth projections like we are seeing this year were more the norm. You have to be the voice of reason, take a step back and not overreact, and use the data.”
