Discovering the need for Tenant Turner

When Morgan Porter founded Byrd Property Management in 2022, his only major property management software was DoorLoop. Growth quickly exposed the limits of this.  

At the time, it was just Porter and a third-party broker doing showings. But when Byrd’s unit count hit 50 units, the work of scheduling showings and handling calls became overwhelming. When they decided to use Tenant Turner and AppFolio, business took off. 

Property management company profile  

Key results 

• Improved owner trust with automated showing reports   
• Saved 30+ minutes of admin time per property setup
• Added leasing capacity without adding staff

With three property managers, a dedicated leasing coordinator, and a maintenance coordinator, the company oversees more than properties throughout the Richmond, Virginia, metropolitan area.  By combining local expertise with a lean, tech-enabled team, Byrd Property Management has grown from zero to over 135 units in just a few years.  

“I learned pretty quickly as we added doors that trying to manually schedule viewings and do all the showings in person — we weren’t going to be able to keep up.”  Morgan Porter, Founder, Partner & Property Manager 

To get ahead of the problem, Porter brought Tenant Turner on. Using Tenant Turner, he outsourced most of the leasing calls and inquiries and made scheduling manageable again.  

And that was even before Porter started rolling out self-showings.  

Making self-showings possible 

Porter was hesitant to adopt self-showings when he first launched. “We were doing all in-person showings before, and I didn’t feel comfortable doing it without the security features,” he said.  

But Tenant Turner’s photo ID upload, location verification, and GPS-enabled options gave Porter peace of mind.  

Perhaps more importantly, it allowed Porter to sell the idea to his owners: “When I talk to owners about self-showings, I explain that prospects have to upload a picture of their ID, they’ve got to have their location turned on, and all of that combined makes sense to owners,” he said. 

In short, these safeguards helped Byrd turn self-showings into a trusted part of their leasing playbook. 

Adding AppFolio to Tenant Turner 

Not long after implementing Tenant Turner, Porter switched from DoorLoop to AppFolio.  

Byrd managed fewer units than AppFolio’s minimum plan, but it didn’t matter. Even though Porter migrated to AppFolio earlier than most firms would, he explained that doing so with more units would’ve made the transition difficult. 

For Byrd Property Management, AppFolio brought: 

• More robust accounting tools for deposits, ledgers, and owner distributions. 
• Better maintenance tracking and invoice processing. 
• Smarter leasing tools.

The switch to AppFolio paid even greater dividends when Porter purchased the full Tenant Turner integration. 

Setting up the AppFolio + Tenant Turner integration 

When the company first started using AppFolio, Byrd Property Management continued to do manual double-entry between AppFolio and Tenant Turner, just as they had with DoorLoop.  

But when they adopted the AppFolio Stack integration, Porter slashed the time he and his team spent on administrative tasks because properties in AppFolio now automatically flow to Tenant Turner. So there’s no need to copy and paste data from one system to another. 

Porter estimates this saves him at least 30 minutes of manual data entry per unit.  

The integration also improves communication by pulling tenant contact info into Tenant Turner for automated showing notifications. 

Transparency and flexibility at scale 

With Tenant Turner and AppFolio working together, Byrd Property Management has unlocked:  

• Flexibility to serve owners and renters on their terms. 
• Transparency to strengthen trust with clients. 
• Scalability to keep growing without a ballooning payroll. 

Operational flexibility 

Byrd offers both self-showings and in-person showings, depending on owner preference. Self-showings are only enabled for vacant units and are always backed by Tenant Turner’s ID and location verification. 

 “I like the combination of self-showings and in-person because it gives us flexibility for our owners and potential tenants.”  — Morgan Porter, Founder, Partner & Property Manager 

Owner transparency 

Weekly Tenant Turner reports automatically keep owners informed on showing volume, feedback, and pricing dynamics. This reduces incoming call volume from owners and builds trust. 

“I always turn the owner's reports on because I don’t have to report back to the owner as much. The report shows them we’re working to get it rented,” Porter explained. 

A scalable foundation for growth 

With just three property managers, Byrd oversees over 135 doors. “Without AppFolio and Tenant Turner, the team would have to be at least double the size to manage the doors that we have,” Porter said. 

For Byrd, Tenant Turner and AppFolio are the backbone of a property management model that’s designed to keep scaling in the years ahead. 

And in those years ahead, you can expect that Porter and his team will find even more ways to make their business more transparent, more flexible, and more profitable.  

Ready to join Byrd Property Management and Tenant Turner on the efficiency journey?