From 15 tools to one platform: Harold from Neybor on scaling smart and staying lean

We’ve grown to 400 units and 105 houses, and that growth has been exciting. But it also came with serious operational challenges.

In the early days, our approach to technology was simple: use off-the-shelf tools. That worked fine when we were small. But as we grew, those tools ballooned.

By the time we first spoke with Powerhouse, we were juggling at least 15 different systems. Every department had something different, and we were constantly trying to make them talk to each other.

The result?

• Disjointed workflows that slowed down day-to-day tasks.
• Too much time managing vendors and pushing for roadmaps that didn’t align with our needs.
• Innovation stalled. We had a clear vision of where we wanted our tech to go, but we weren’t getting there.

Our technology should have been serving our customers, making their resident experience effortless. Instead, it was holding us back.

That was the tipping point. We realized enough was enough, either we’d need to overhaul our approach or risk falling further behind.”

Build or buy?

The obvious question was: should we build our own platform?

The problem is, building in-house requires a huge tech team and major investment. We’re a real estate company, not a tech company. Our focus is on creating great homes and communities, not managing an engineering department.

So building wasn’t realistic. What we needed was a platform that could do two things:

1. Cover the operational basics extremely well.
2. Give us the flexibility to customize and innovate.

That’s the context in which we found Powerhouse.

What Neybor built with Powerhouse

Powerhouse gave us 90% of the structure, and we built the 10% custom design layer on top of it. In practice, that meant:

• Contracts and leasing workflows standardized across our portfolio.
• Rent management and payments streamlined into one system.
• Maintenance tracking that finally tied into resident communication.
• Custom workflows aligned with our internal processes, without the need to code everything from scratch.

And now, because it’s all on Salesforce, we can layer on new functionality like AI agents without having to start over.

Looking ahead: AI and automation

From the moment we signed with Powerhouse, we already had AI and automation in mind.

Here’s how I see the market: in residential living, services have historically focused on short-term stays. But residents increasingly expect those same services in mid- and long-term living too.

The companies that deliver the best customer experience will win. That’s how you keep occupancy rates high and get strong referrals.

But you can’t just hire an enormous team to make that happen. Unless you have unlimited funding, it’s not sustainable. If you want to stay lean, you need to leverage technology.

That’s why we’re so focused on AI. With Salesforce, with Powerhouse, and with AI agents, we’ll be able to provide that level of service without ballooning headcount. We’re six months into implementation now, and the next six months will be all about bringing that vision to life.