Riley manages 48 rental properties in Texas.
That's not a side hustle, that's a full-time juggling act with paperwork, inspections, and all the headaches that come with being a landlord at scale.
"I found the rental inspection process of paper forms to be antiquated and the current inspection apps to be bloated and cumbersome to use," Riley explains. "So I decided to build PropertyLenz to make the process effortless and easy for landlords of any technological background."
The Problem: Move-In/Move-Out Hell
PropertyLenz tackles something every landlord knows too well: rental property inspections. We're talking about those mind-numbing move-in and move-out forms that somehow still exist on paper in 2025.
"PropertyLenz helps landlords and property managers eliminate the headaches associated with rental property inspections. Think move in/move out forms," Riley says.
It sounds simple, but when you're managing dozens of properties, these inspections become a paperwork nightmare.
Riley isn't some Silicon Valley outsider who had a "brilliant insight", this is someone drowning in the exact problem they're solving.
Current Traction: Honest Numbers
When asked about traction, Riley doesn't sugarcoat the reality: "Slow! I've got 2 users at $35 MRR. Looking for traction. About to launch a cold email campaign."
Two users. $35 monthly recurring revenue. A cold email campaign that Riley's betting everything on. It's refreshing honesty in a world of inflated metrics and hockey stick fantasies.
The journey hasn't been smooth.
"Building this app was not the 'field of dreams' I had anticipated," Riley admits. "From overshot build dates (6 month build turned into a 1 year ordeal) to getting burned twice on Freelancer, I've had a few frustrations. The app was supposed to be complete by then but is currently an MVP with a laundry list of features yet to be built."
The reality check hit hard:
- 6-month build became 12 months
- Got burned twice hiring freelancers
- App is still MVP with missing features
- Classic "build it and they will come" didn't work
The Freelancer Lesson That Cost Thousands
Riley learned the expensive way about cutting corners: "Freelancer is one of those things where everyone sounds like an expert but only a few are. I circled back around to the first company I had contacted and they have been a big help... I wish I would have gone with them the first time but was unclear if it was worth the investment for only the promise of a few users."
The lesson? "Don't go with the cheapest option just because it's the cheapest."
Riley eventually went back to the original, more expensive company that actually knew what they were doing. It's startup wisdom that probably cost thousands to learn.
Cold Email
Setting up cold outreach turned into its own odyssey: "The cold email campaign setup was just complete. Its been a roller coaster of hoops we have had to jump through to get Go High Level set up and automated. We also had to warm emails, etc. So there has been a slow burn for the past month but I'm eager to see how this next month turns out once things are going out consistently."
Cold email isn't just "blast some contacts" – it involves:
- Go High Level configuration
- Email warming protocols
- Automation setup
- Month-long technical grind
Here's the weirdest challenge Riley discovered: "The hardest thing about building for landlords as a landlord is that surprisingly many landlords don't want to open up to you about their processes. If I come across as someone developing software they think I just want them to buy something. If I lead that I am a landlord too, at least locally, they shy away from providing too many company details for fear that I may attempt to steal their processes."
It's like trying to do market research within your own secret society. Lead with being a developer, and they think you're selling. Lead with being a fellow landlord, and suddenly you're competition.
Riley's solution? "That's why I'm going the cold outreach route in an attempt to put the product in front of them and then let them decide if it's worth their time."
September Deadline: Make or Break
The timeline is tight: "July is around the corner. So my goal for the next 3 months is to get 50-100 paid users. I think that will be enough to validate my product and give me enough motivation to move forward. My runway will run out in September unless something changes so I'm hopeful that my email and sms campaigns will garner some interest."
The math is stark:
- Current: 2 users
- Goal: 50-100 users
- Timeline: 3 months
- Runway: Ends in September
No pressure, right?
PropertyLenz represents something we don't see enough of in startup land: a founder solving their own real problem with serious skin in the game. Riley isn't building some theoretical solution – this is 48 properties worth of firsthand frustration channeled into code.
Whether PropertyLenz becomes the inspection tool that landlords have been waiting for or joins the graveyard of "scratch your own itch" startups remains to be seen.
But Riley's in the arena, grinding through cold email setups and freelancer disasters, betting everything on the idea that other landlords are as frustrated with paper forms as they are.
The next few months will tell the story. Riley's cold emails better hit harder than those paper forms they're trying to replace.
Find PropertyLenz at propertylenzapp.com or follow along at facebook.com/propertylenz
