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Show Summary
In this episode of the Real Estate Pros Podcast, host Michelle Kesil interviews Ryan Mueller, founder of Plexa Housing, a tech platform focused on midterm rentals for people displaced due to insurance claims. Ryan explains how Plexa Housing matches displaced families with available properties in under a minute, streamlining the process for insurance adjusters, relocation companies, and landlords. The platform is currently operational in Las Vegas, with plans to expand nationwide. The discussion covers the creation process, key differentiators, challenges in building the tech, benefits to landlords, insurance companies, and tenants, and plans for scaling the business.
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Ryan Mueller (00:00)
the east side of Las Vegas, 1600 square feet, nothing special. When it was renting long term, it was making annually $17,500.We switched to this midterm rental model and working with insurance companies. And last year we did $67,000, which is nearly a 300 % increase. And then it was vacant for about a month and a half. And then we just signed a $55,000 contract for one year. And that type of return is fantastic.
Michelle Kesil (01:32)
Hey everybody, welcome to the Real Estate Pros podcast. I’m your host, Michelle Kesil and today I’m joined by someone I’m looking forward to chatting with, Ryan Mueller who has created a tech platform for midterm rentals, supporting people needing housing. So excited to have you here today, Ryan. Yeah, of course. I think that you’re building something unique, so let’s dive in and share that.Ryan Mueller (01:52)
Thanks for having me.Michelle Kesil (02:00)
First off, for those who are not familiar with you and your work yet, can you share what your main focus is?Ryan Mueller (02:07)
Yeah,so I’m the founder of Plexa Housing and Plexa Housing is a tech platform that’s meant to bridge the gap between insurance claims. So when someone has fire, water damage in their primary residence and they need to find a house, we have a platform that matches that need with available properties in less than a minute. ⁓
Michelle Kesil (02:30)
Awesome. And is this available nationwide?Ryan Mueller (02:34)
Currently we’re operating just in Las Vegas, but the goal is to get this to be a nationwide platform. And this is really filling the need where, Michelle, when I started doing this about three years ago, and even to today, I get a call or an email if someone needs housing.And then, you know, back in the day, we would rifle through our portfolio, see what houses were available. And we started working with other landlords. I’m a licensed property manager and agent. And we’d look for what other units were available that would fill the need because it’s like by like. Right. So you someone has a three, two and there’s damage. They would get replaced with a three, two. They’re not going to get moved into a five, four or even like a one, one. Right. So it’s like like like by like and kind like and kind. So what we’ve done, though, is instead of
manually trying to find available properties. Now, when an insurance adjuster or relocation company is looking for housing, they can simply input the criteria that they’re looking for on our website and it instantly sends them back availability and all the pricing and details needed to be able to book that home because insurance housing is different than, you know, short term rentals and it’s different than long term rentals. The price point, the fees, the term, the availability, all that stuff is different. So
Our platform is geared just for that placement. And when an insurance company or adjuster looks for an available product, again, like to like and kind to kind, we have that available inventory back in a minute. Less than a minute, the system will fire off a response.
Michelle Kesil (04:04)
Awesome, how did you come up with this concept?Ryan Mueller (04:08)
Yeah, we came up with the concept because again, as I said, I was manually doing this. So like we’d get the claim and it’s all about speed to lead, right? So if someone needs housing for a fire, water damage, they want to stay in a hotel zero days, but hotels are always available quickest because you know, there’s always inventory in hotels. So when the insurance company has placed the family in a hotel, now they’re looking for housing to place that family as fast as possible.So speed delete is super important. And if you don’t get answers back to or availability back to the insurance adjuster or relocation company, they will go look for other opportunities, other houses. So when we were doing this manually, it was like we’d scramble to try to find the unit, get the unit and information back to the adjuster or the relocation company. And it was like, this has got to be a better way to do this than like literally rifling through all these different files.
So we created a platform that has basically a database of available properties that are willing to do the midterm rentals. And then we can fire that response back in seconds now with the system. So it’s really just try to alleviate the manual labor strain that we were experiencing at my company.
Michelle Kesil (05:24)
Yeah, awesome. And what do you feel are some of the main keys that have made the biggest difference in allowing you to create this platform and having it run smoothly?Ryan Mueller (05:38)
⁓ you know, I think that the, the clarity of how we wanted it to work was important, right? So when we’re building a tech product, it’s, you know, it’s important that you have the vision and you’re clear about what you want to create. So that was the number one thing. And then the second one is we have a great development team that was able to take what we’re envisioning and bring it into the actual material experience on the tech side. yeah, the vision in the team to be able to implement is the, is the winning formula there.Michelle Kesil (06:08)
Yeah, absolutely. What would you say, like, differentiates your platform from others?Ryan Mueller (06:14)
I think there’s a lot of platforms out there that have like a listing site. You like put in some information. It like shows up a bunch of different, you know, properties. You kind of got to sift through and find out which one would work for the family. Whereas the way that we operate is we curate the response. So it’s not like find your own property. It’s like put in what you’re looking for and we give you back exactly what’s needed. And that’s one of the other things is that a lot of timesAt least the feedback that we’ve gotten is that when someone is responding about an available property, they won’t include all the details. So then there’s this back and forth to confirm and shore up detail here, detail there about the property. But when we send out our responses, they literally get about 25 different lines of information about that property so they can take that and instantly get it approved for their insurance claim.
Michelle Kesil (07:05)
Awesome. And so what kind of customers are using this?Ryan Mueller (07:09)
So what kind of customersare doing this? So we work with adjusters in the area. So we know local adjusters that are dealing with insurance claims and we work with them directly. We also work with companies like ALE Solutions, CRS, and there’s a whole handful of corporate housing providers and relocation companies. We work with them and those are the main people that we service. ⁓ And we also occasionally will take care of corporate traveling clients or families relocating to the area from another state.
But the primary folks that we serve are these insurance adjusters, insurance companies, and relocation companies.
Michelle Kesil (07:48)
Awesome. What would you say have been some of the challenges in this creation?Ryan Mueller (07:56)
Yeah, some of the challenges have been, think, you know, building a new tech platform, know, like tech tech is actually like building a house. There’s like architecture and structure and like rules to it. So it’s like you’re literally building something and it’s all on a spreadsheet. In this case, was an eight and but, know, it’s it’s like building that.You think it all makes sense like everything, especially in the day of AI. Everyone thinks that like building tech stacks and tech products is like, you know, the snap of the finger. That’s what they all say. But it still takes a lot of work to be able to refine, test, get outputs, refine, test, get out, but refine, test, get out until you finally get it. So, you know, we were slated to have our product done in a couple of weeks and it ended up taking a couple of months. But, you know, at end of the day, we’re very happy with the product and the response that we get from it.
So yeah, I think it’s just like going from a tech world and thinking you can be able to just put this thing together. But tech is complicated and it doesn’t always fire right. And so it’s much more complicated than I think it was on the onset.
Michelle Kesil (09:05)
Yeah, definitely. It’s another realm.Ryan Mueller (09:09)
Yeah, totallydifferent beast. Totally different beast.
Michelle Kesil (09:13)
Yeah, so what would you say like the biggest problem that this solves is?Ryan Mueller (09:19)
Yeah, the biggest problem that this solves is the the complexity. So from a landlord’s perspective, the complexity of this type of opportunity, that’s what we solve. So if someone wants to get exposure to hire rent revenues, an example is I have a house that’s on the east side of Las Vegas, 1600 square feet, nothing special. When it was renting long term, it was making annually $17,500.We switched to this midterm rental model and working with insurance companies. And last year we did $67,000, which is nearly a 300 % increase. And then it was vacant for about a month and a half. And then we just signed a $55,000 contract for one year. And that type of return is fantastic. I mean, that’s fantastic, right? And so the goal is to try to help landlords get access to the IP…
this type of opportunity without them having to figure out and learn everything that I’ve learned. So when a landlord lists their property on our website, we are automatically marketing that we are already giving an exposure to these higher income opportunities. And so that’s the biggest gap that I think it solves for a landlord is it’s very simple. We take care of all the pricing. We get you the highest price possible. There’s no extra fees we add on top or anything like that to make you price yourself out of a good opportunity because that actually does happen because insurance is paying the bill.
Some people, excuse me, they get greedy and try to put some crazy price tag on it and then they’ll lose the deal. So again, we give it a very good shot of getting rented and make it very easy for the landlord to be able to get exposed to this opportunity. That’s the first problem we solve. The second problem that we solve is for insurance companies that are looking for a speedy response, accurate data, landlords that are agreeable to a midterm lease and understand what they’re up to.
This is what we solve for the insurance company because there’s so many landlords out there and I’m talking to you landlords out there that are afraid of anything but a 12 month lease. Whereas with our model I will make sometimes the full year’s rent roll in six months or less with the midterm rental opportunity. So we help the insurance companies have pre vetted ready to go properties to be able to get access to for their clients that need a place to stay. And we make it really easy.
for the landlords to be able to get access to these higher paying tenants.
Michelle Kesil (00:00)
Yeah, amazing what you’re creating. think short-term rentals are gaining popularity right now as well.Ryan Mueller (00:08)
Yeah, you it’s funny. The short term rentals, I did short term rentals and I did not enjoy the experience we made. We made OK money, but the amount of work, the turnover, the constant questions, the constant nurturing of the client was just really time consuming. that’s I’m glad you brought that up, because what we do with the MTR rentals is you get the same returns. like you get like same returns, but one tenth the headache, one twentieth the headache, one fortieth the headache.because they’re just like a long-term tenant. They still go through the background check, still have a security deposit, and when they move in, there’s questions when everybody moves in. You know, a couple things here and there, what’s happening, da-da-da-da, but after that, we don’t really hear from them. So the amount of strain, cognitive load, know, friction, operational friction that you have to deal with from a midterm rental space is significantly less than a short-term rental. And when I did short-term rentals, it was like, shoot me now. It was death by a thousand cuts.
You know, where’s the blender? Where’s the light switch? How do you turn on the thermostat? The pool’s not working. Where’s the dog at? Like, I don’t know where your dog is. That’s your dog. You know, that kind of stuff like just constant incessant nonstop questions. And then you’re trying to, you know, answer questions for people that are looking at your property. You know, is this available? Is it OK if we have a party there? No, you can’t have a party there. And this is like you get someone in there paying like five thousand dollars a month on normally a two thousand dollar a month rental. That’s furnished options. We do unfurnished as well, but.
It’s just a lot less headache and you make similar returns and I think it’s really great too because you are I call it the quadruple threat. Okay, you’re helping the insurance company place their tenant You’re helping a family that’s in need that’s displaced from fire water damage I’m helping a landlord make some more money or in the case I might make some more money if it’s one of my own properties and then I make some money along the way no matter what Scenarios, so we’re able to help, you know everyone along the way and it’s a win-win. It’s a really great opportunity
Michelle Kesil (02:07)
Yeah, definitely. That’s a cool market to be in. And so how are you looking to scale this out?Ryan Mueller (02:10)
Yeah.Yeah, so right now to scale it out, there’s two sides of it. So one side is the inventory side. So we have units available to provide for the insurance carriers. That’s the number one. And then the other one is increasing and scaling out our lead flow, which is finding new insurance operators, finding new adjusters, finding new relocation companies and getting both of those together. So that’s how we scale. We increase our inventory and increase our lead flow.
And one of the biggest ways that we’re doing that is we partner with other investors. So we have investors that have 50 homes, 80 homes, 150 doors, like all these different levels of property. And then we just add them to our portfolio and start to expand that way. And that typically starts with like relationships that I already have, friends and family that I know that have property. ⁓ And that’s in addition to being a property manager. We look for other property managers that have large portfolios, want to have exposure to this opportunity.
And we partner with them and make sure that they understand and again, do that educational piece so that their landlords are aware of and excited by this higher income opportunity. And then on the flip side, in terms of insurance, that’s just like a slow build, slow burn relationship building, getting to know people in different companies, getting to know people in different industries that might need this midterm housing. And we just slowly build that. And the goal is in the next couple of years, what we’re gonna do is we’re gonna have…
enterprise contracts with insurance providers where we service complete areas for service. And that’s how we also plan to scale is that when we become the go-to housing provider for fast available MTR ready properties for insurance companies.
Michelle Kesil (04:00)
Yeah, amazing. Sounds like you’ve got a great plan.Ryan Mueller (04:04)
Yeah, yeah.Michelle Kesil (04:07)
Awesome. And what would you say, like, are some of the tech pieces, like, do people on the customer side need to get an app or how does, like, the structure work?Ryan Mueller (04:21)
That’s a good question.Yeah, at this point, nothing, nobody needs to get anything. If they want to find a property in Las Vegas, they go to our website and you just click find property matches, fill out the form and you’ll see you’ll get a response in less than a minute. ⁓ And then the for someone that is, you know, wanting to list their property, they can also go to our just our website and you click, you know, submit a property and it just adds it to our list that we instantly start to market.
⁓ And that’s as simple as that. It’s really at this current moment. I should also mention that Right now what we have is this fast matching proprietary software that we use but the goal is and I’m sure that you’re aware of this too is that like a rental is rental and there are similar steps for every single rental which is What’s the available units you see the available units? ⁓ You see I want to select and go see this one. Then you go do a showing then if they want it they proceed. There’s a lease
Then there’s money exchange, there’s key exchange, walk in, you know, move in inspections. And then same thing on the way out is just to check out inspection like that. That stuff is all repeatable. So our goal really is to create again, you know, platform that’s like Airbnb, but just for insurance housing that from tip to tail, someone can find available properties, go see an available property. If they like it, they confirm that lease is drafted. Everything’s kind of done inside of the platform.
from move in to check out and everything’s kind of like, you know, automated, AI driven, software driven. But of course, with the human touch, you got to have people show the property and stuff like that. yeah, that’s it.
Michelle Kesil (06:00)
Perfect, sounds simple enough.Ryan Mueller (06:02)
Yeah, yeah, I think I think it’s funny. It’s like simple. You know, it’s like an idea is dime a dozen, but execution and making reality is another thing. simple enough idea. Yes, it makes sense. And pulling it off from a tech stack perspective, you know, is definitely more ⁓ tedious and time consuming than, know, I think we’d all I’d like to be. But we’ll get there for sure.Michelle Kesil (06:24)
Definitely awesome. Well, before we wrap up here, if someone wants to reach out, connect, learn more about what you’re up to, where can people find you and connect with you?Ryan Mueller (06:36)
Yeah, so you guys can find me on Instagram at Ryan Grahams Muller. That is where you can find me. I do post a lot about the MTR space. I give education about that. I’m also in the business ⁓ consulting world and coaching world. So I do a lot of videos about mindset and how to build business in addition to the MTR stuff. And then if anyone wants to email me directly, you can find me at info at PlexaHousing.com and you can check out our website Plexahousing.com.Michelle Kesil (07:07)
We’ll appreciate your time, your story, your perspective. Thank you for being here.Ryan Mueller (07:12)
Thanks for having me.
