You may not be familiar with the world of residential property management. Maybe you rented an apartment or a house back in the day. For most reading this, it was a long time ago. You probably dropped a check off at some random office each month. Think back, was there paper stacked on desks everywhere? Maybe there were seemingly random keys everywhere? Did it seem chaotic? Were the people friendly?
Maybe you remember dealing with a repair when you were renting. If you remember dealing with a repair it can only be that it was a frustrating experience of unreturned calls, delays and promises broken, and a process that was ultimately drawn out far longer than needed.
That’s how most people think of (or recall) property management and property managers. Overworked, underpaid paper-pushers who never try the right key in the lock the first time and who hate their life and don’t make much money. On top of that, they’ve gotta deal with 2 am burst pipe emergencies, no heat emergencies, lockouts, etc.
Phew. This top 10 list better be good then, right?! Looks like I have my work cut out for me. Read on if you have the courage! I’ll sweeten the deal – I added an 11th reason and ended with a super-inspirational quote. You’re welcome.
- Money. You had to know this was going to be on the list. Might as well list this one first. After all, studies show that 100% of people work in order to make money. Look it up – but not right now. Right now you need to keep reading. Mental note: Google “why people go to work” after reading this article. But here, in this context of starting an RES property management franchise, I’m talking about money that you probably aren’t even imagining. Real money. Now I’m not going to lie, most property managers do “ok”, but they’re not making the kind of money they would brag about if bragging were ok (which it’s not, so definitely don’t brag. Unless you’re also posting a blog on your website, begging people to share and like the blog, and you’re trying to get people to buy your franchise. I mean, if that’s you, I think you have to brag at least a little. Really, I see no alternative.) In all seriousness, the money is definitely there, in property management. Most PM (can I say PM and you’ll know I mean property management?) companies don’t know how to find the money in what they do for a living. 30% of Americans rent. Someone needs to manage those doors. If you average only $120/month per door managed, and you had very little overhead, how much money would you make if you managed just 100 doors? $12,000/month. That’s with 100 doors. What about when you hit 300 doors? 400? What if I told you 400 doors could be effectively managed by 2-3 employees? Like I said, money.
You can tell this guy is working too hard.
2. Time. Anyone who knows a successful lawyer, doctor, hedge fund manager, etc. knows they work a lot of hours. In fact, working more is still (for some unknown reason) celebrated in American culture. If you ask me, working as little as possible and still making great money should be celebrated! They say that if you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life. Well, I don’t know about you, but I love doing nothing sometimes. It’s hard to monetize that. My point is that there are very few businesses in the world where you truly build a book of business that provides you with passive income. That is, income that exists whether or not you lift a finger. To a large extent, that’s property management (when done the right way – something most companies don’t understand.) The value of your time cannot be overstated. With a RES franchise, you will start off by working your figurative butt off. The first year, and probably couple of years, will be an example of you giving it your all. That’s not to say you’re putting in over 40 hours a week – but you’re making those 40 count. Once you get the doors to the level you want/need them to be, you can simply manage the book of business. Add enough doors to offset the ones you lose, but have the comfort to know your passive income is very secure, very predictable, and those doors will give you a great deal of free time.
3. Do good in the world by doing well. When you run an RES franchise and you have enough doors under management, you have an economy of scale. You will make rental properties safer and cleaner for the public. Your clients realize that the value you bring to them far exceeds the price you charge, and they openly go along with your policies as a result. This gives you leverage to effect real and meaningful change – which is exactly what we do with our power. Society is always cheering on the teachers, firefighters, police, doctors, etc. but usually not the property managers. Well, they should start cheering on the property managers, at least if they are of the RES variety. Why?
We actually save lives and make the world a better place. Don’t believe me?
Take note of this – we work with hundreds of landlords, now clients of RES, who previously managed their own properties. Most of these “private landlords” managed their properties for years. Do you think these landlords made sure their homes had working smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors? Do you think they changed locks between tenancies? Do you think they tested for Radon Gas and mitigated it if present? Do you think instances of mold were handled properly? I think you can see where I’m going with this, but I’m on a roll so I’m going to keep going. Do you think private landlords sent licensed and insured vendors out to perform electrical and plumbing work? Do you think landlords cared if work was done to code and permitted? Do you think landlords made fair and honest assessments at move out and returned security deposits? Do you think landlords cared about efficiency and energy savings with updated windows, doors, and weatherstripping to save their tenant’s money and reduce the carbon footprint of their rental home? Do you think homes were always spotless and carpets professionally steam-cleaned between tenancies? Spoiler, the answer to every one of those questions is a resounding “NO.” These are all areas where an RES property manager has either direct or indirect control over the outcome. Our size and power (the doing well part) allow us to quite literally make the world a better place – and a safer place – one rental property at a time (the doing good part.)
4. The hard work has already been done. Most businesses fail. By the fifth year, it’s 50%, and by the 10th year, it’s 70%. Keep in mind, this is flat out failure – this doesn’t take into account the small “mom and pop” shops that haven’t technically failed yet but are barely hanging on. You know the businesses we’re talking about. They are in your neighborhood. The small salon. The local Chinese food place. The small sporting goods store. These places, even if they haven’t failed, struggle each day to pay their bills and eke out a profit. With RES, you have well over a decade of proven success and a strong support system with you every step of the way. The struggles and uncertainty have almost entirely been replaced with proven, tested and successful systems and processes. Opening an RES property management business means focusing on techniques that we KNOW work, and systems that we have PROVEN to be effective – and which are nonetheless improved upon every day, every week, every month, every year. The RES franchisee plugs themselves into our system and gets to work without wondering if what they are doing will yield results.
5. Earn an honest living. People who work in sales have to sell to put food on their table. It’s all commissions and it’s feast or famine. It doesn’t matter if they believe in the product or service or not, they simply have to close deals to survive. This leads to some unscrupulous activity, as you probably know. Every other property management franchise (that we are aware of) uses a business model of paying property managers commission. This is not the RES way. And we recognize that this might not matter to everyone, but it matters to us. With an RES property management franchise, you’re representing the highest standards in the industry when it comes to ethics, honest dealing, transparency, services offered and pricing. This means that when you are speaking with a landlord about the RES property management system, you’re doing less selling, and more educating and explaining. You’re not really convincing anyone to hire you for property management, you’re really just educating them on the value proposition (and especially how that value proposition compares to the broader industry.) At RES, you will be literally excited about the service you are able to offer – that excitement is real, and it comes through when you are speaking with the landlord/prospective client. They ultimately hire RES because they trust you. And after all, they should. If you become part of the RES property management franchise family, you will be offering the best in property management.
6. Automation is not taking this job anytime soon. RES property management is perpetually on the front lines of new and emerging technologies. We implement the latest tech from drones to smartphones that can run the business from anywhere to self-driving Teslas. That said, there’s no getting around the human element involved with property management. Automation and technology allow us to do more with less, but we’re always going to need humans to answer the questions of prospective renters, work with the vendors going to the properties, evaluate (in a human way and incorporating the context of the property) the strength of rental applications, walk prospective tenants through properties (some companies outsource this, we never will), and much more. It’s feasible that McDonald’s of the not-too-distant future will have zero humans working in them, and this is the trend for retail and delivery services, but we are certain that humans will be needed for a long time to come when it comes to property management.
7. Freedom. This means different things to different people, but here are some great aspects of freedom when it comes to property management. You’re not tied to your desk in a cubicle; much of your day will be spent “in the field”, heading to show properties, document their move in and move out condition, meeting new and interesting people (clients and tenants) and enjoying a variety of scenery outside of the typical office setting. You also have the freedom to generally set your own hours. RES property management offices are not “customer-facing” like a typical retail or restaurant or other service business. In fact, we operate in a secure building where the only people allowed in, have an appointment. If you’re working on something, you won’t be pulled away from it by a random customer walking into the office. When you run an RES franchise, you are your own boss. That’s as free as free gets. And of course, freedom also ties into #1 above – money. Like Bobby Axelrod in the Showtime show “Billions” famously said, “What’s the point of having f— you money, if you never say f— you?” – We are not suggesting you say this to anyone, but hopefully, you get the point. Freedom. 🙂
8. Dress comfortably. Think about anyone – or any profession – where a comfortable six-figure salary is the norm. Now picture what they are wearing to work every day. I bet you are picturing someone in a suit. Accountant? Suit. Attorney? Suit. Stockbroker? Suit. Insurance? Suit. Doctor? Scrubs. Ok, doctors may wear scrubs every day, but everyone else is wearing a suit! With an RES franchise you should be making a very comfortable living (I can’t promise what you’ll make for legal reasons), and you won’t do it wearing a suit. You’ll be wearing comfortable, stylish clothing with the RES logo embroidered on it. Dressing comfortably while making that kind of money is a huge perk if you ask us!
9. See new parts of your city. When you’re an RES franchisee, you will learn your city, inside and out. If you think you know your city now, just you wait. You’ll find out all sorts of new and interesting things about your city. Parks you never knew existed! Restaurants that look like they would be amazing to try! Shortcuts to avoid traffic! You’ll quickly develop a sense of the neighborhoods where you want to take on new doors and neighborhoods where you don’t want new doors. Not only that, but you’ll be getting paid to drive around! Remember, all those doors you have under management are making you money no matter what you’re doing. With our technology, you’ll be able to safely take phone calls while driving as well, so you never miss out on any new business while enjoying the sites!
10. Get paid FIRST. Yes, I know money was #1. I wrote the damn blog! (Bernie Sanders meme – mental note, Google “Bernie Sanders I wrote the damn bill.”) Hear me out – in most/many businesses, you don’t actually get paid before other people get paid. You have to wait to collect your money. Service companies like a plumbing company? Gotta send out the invoices and chase down payment. Retail or food businesses like a pizza joint? Gotta swipe the credit/debit cards and Visa will send your payment after they take out their hefty chunk of the pie. You get the idea. You’re not really collecting payment directly from your customer immediately in other businesses. But in PM, guess who collects the money from the tenants? You do. That means you get paid first. Then you pay out any vendors that did work (you’re paying them from rent, not from your pocket), and you pay the rest to the landlord. So here’s what’s interesting: you’re collecting rent for the landlord – it’s the landlord’s money technically – but you get paid first every. single. time. You’re not going to the landlord/client afterward, asking for them to pay you. If anything, your client, the landlord, will reach out to you asking if they can be paid yet. Yes, that’s how it really works.
11. Do it because it’s hard. Opening an RES franchise costs money. Currently, the IFF (Initial Franchise Fee) is set at $35,000. There are other costs: equipment, company vehicle, branded clothing, marketing, getting a real estate license. It will take months of hard work to add enough accounts to make money. Days will be stressful, especially early on as you are growing the company. There will be days that you question the decision. But you’ll come out on the other side financially independent, happy and successful, and grateful that you read this post on this fateful day, as it was exactly what you needed to hear to push you into action. As JFK said, ” We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too.”
