Starting a property management company

[Trevor Naumann]

Hello BP. A partner and I are starting a property management company. We have various reasons for this decision, including our existing experience managing properties for ourselves and others. We believe it's wise to transform it into a real business instead of just a side gig. In preparation for this, I'm wondering if the community could provide advice/resources for scaling, coaching, and marketing to attract more property owners.

I imagine it's not too different from my work in advertising my investor agent business, but when I research available courses and training programs, it's challenging to find honest feedback from third parties who have achieved substantial growth in today's property management market. Our goal is to make it a reliable income source within two years, aiming for around $8,000 per month, split equally between us. More would obviously be better but this seems like a realistic goal. 

What advice do you have for a newbie looking to start on the right foot and avoid wasting money on an ineffective approach? Thanks in advance.

[Ben Russell]

My wife and I started a PM company this year. A few ideas for marketing that have been working well for us:

-Network everywhere you can. RE meetups have provided several clients. 

-Go and meet with realtors at all the brokerages. 

-Every week look at the new rentals on Zillow. Find the owners info on the assessors website and send them a mailer.

-check Facebook marketplace for any private owners advertising rentals. Send them a message. 

-Get a list of out of town property owners with 2-5 units. Start at 1k names and send 250 mailers a month, hitting each name at least 3 times. 

-what makes you different from other managment companies?  Most of the people calling will be looking at leaving the PM they are with for a reason. What do you offer that they dont?  This is a big question you need to have an answer for. 

good luck!