Nicholas Dunlap is in business for two reasons: to solve problems and make people happy.

To be clear, the UCLA grad and senior vice president of property management at Avanath, an owner and manager of affordable and workforce housing in coastal cities, runs a tight ship — recently receiving two stellar ratings from HUD REAC inspections, optimizing marketing and operations across his growing portfolio, and maximizing returns for the company and its investors.

But to Nicholas, the residents come before budgets and pro formas.

“Without residents, we aren’t in business,” he said. “Everything we do is centered on the resident experience — whether it’s customer service, maintenance and follow-up or resident services. It’s going above and beyond to make your residents feel comfortable and at home. When you focus on making your residents happy, the numbers take care of themselves.”

Providing a high quality of living, regardless of circumstances, and making sure people are happy in the place they come home to every day is what makes Nicholas and Avanath #RenterProud™.

The idea gets to the heart of Avanath’s investment thesis. When Nicholas and his team acquire a property, they immediately introduce improvements and upgrades to the grounds, common areas, physical structures and resident services.

He also takes great care in the due diligence process to retain only the best employees and identify operational efficiencies, which can include finding better social services for residents or different nonprofits to connect them to.

“As a housing provider, we’re better able to assist our customers, which is really what it’s all about,” he said. ”What we’ve found in acquiring and improving these properties is that we have a more compelling story for investors. Yes, we talk about returns and investment fundamentals, but there is the bigger picture —the social impact. ”

Nicholas understood the importance of making an impact early. He learned it at age nine when he started helping maintenance crews at his father’s real estate company, which owned and managed apartment communities. He continued his maintenance work into high school and college. He went on to manage and improve the entire portfolio and property management role at his father’s company, but his time as a maintenance tech stayed with him.

He liked the physical aspects of real estate — the different architectural styles, property types and locations. But what he found even more fulfilling was being “associated with helping people and fixing problems for people,” he said.

Fixing problems remains a central component of his business ethos today. When Nicholas gets a call from a resident with concerns or complaints, his go-to line, which he admits is a little “cheesy,” is “Sorry, you’ve got the wrong number. This is the solutions hotline.”

“People usually laugh and it puts them at ease,” he said. “But it’s the truth. When you reduce everything we do to the very basic elements, that’s what we do. We’re in this business to solve problems and make people happy.”