Property Management Service

This is the business for someone who likes juggling a thousand balls at one time, pulling many different pieces together, and keeping track of the people and data that go with the projects. If you’re good, you’ll become indispensable to the owners of the properties you manage, and you’ll have a well-established enterprise that will keep you busy and well rewarded indefinitely. Why are good property managers so valuable? You maintain all the financial records for each property, which include income and expenses, bills, and taxes. Skill at auditing bills is extremely valuable just by itself. The ability to keep repair and maintenance schedules up to date is essential, so you will need to be able to pay great attention to detail and also have the people skills required for relating to the individuals who carry out the work on your buildings. Collecting rents is another central piece of this puzzle.


Your own office needs to support you well, especially in communicating to building owners, repair personnel, and tenants. A cell phone will be handy as you travel from site to site. Your computer, which will cost around $3,000 to start, will be the tool used most for tracking all the financial information related to the properties. Depending on your location, you should make at least $25,000 annually.


The owners of properties—your clients—will need to place great responsibility on your shoulders. Things can degenerate very quickly in a poorly managed building. Once the financial records become tangled, it can be very difficult to bring them into order or even to learn if the expenses are exceeding the income. You are asking your clients to have a large amount of confidence in you, and marketing these services successfully may depend on how well you can engender that sense of trust. It may be, however, that you will only need a few clients. This is one small business where constant marketing may not be necessary.

Approx. cost of start-up: $3,000 to $6,000


Approx. potential earnings:$25,000 to $50,000


Typical fees: $25 per hour or a monthly retainer of $500 to $2,500


Where to promote: Classified ads, referrals, memberships in community and business real estate groups


Qualifications: Experience in the field, related degree helpful, outstanding management skills, good ability to communicate and work with people, knowledge of basic bookkeeping, understanding of building maintenance issues


Things needed: Office furniture, computer with Internet access, suite software and possibly specialized property management software, cell phone, printer, fax, business cards, letterhead, envelopes


Required staff: No


Hidden costs: Insurance