Our guest today is Kathleen Richards, President of Portola Property Management and ThePropertyManagementCoach.com. Our interview is geared towards a newer Property Management company that may need help establishing their pricing and hiring people. However, this interview contains plenty of useful advice for both newer and seasoned Property Management business owners.

The Property Management Show is brought to you by ‪@Fourandhalf‬ . Fourandhalf helps property management business owners create and implement marketing plans that attract, nurture and close owner leads.

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Transcript of the Podcast:

Hello and welcome to The Property Management Show. I am your host, Alex Osenenko. My day job is serving as the CEO of Fourandhalf, a marketing company working exclusively with feebased property management companies. I have spent the last seven years of my life helping property management companies become more successful by improving sales, marketing and operational efficiencies. In this show, we’ll deconstruct success down to its key components and invite subject matter experts to help you improve every facet of your business.

The topic today is starting a property management company, and how much to charge for your services and how to build a team. To help me talk about this is Kathleen Richards, the CEO and President of Portola Property Management and the founder of ThePropertyManagerCoach.com. She has journeyed from property manager to property management coach.

Q: Kathleen, thanks for being with us. Why don’t you introduce yourself and tell our listeners what you do.

Q: So when someone is starting a property management business, how do they determine their fee structure and how do they create it for future growth? Most new managers want to make sure they can help their company grow, and be competitive without giving away too much. Do people change their fees very often?

Q: They have to win the business somehow. A new property management company needs a price point that is low enough to attract a buyer. So maybe they can also have auxiliary services where they make money. Some successful property management companies have contracting business as well. They do remodeling and they lead with that service, providing rehab services for investors. So that’s an incredible opportunity for new companies to charge a flat fee and then have additional revenues. It comes down to strategy, doesn’t it?

Q: So the people who are just starting out with no experience can’t say they’ve been doing this for 20 years. So how do they set up a price matrix?

Q: So you charge a general management fee, you have a pet program, a preventative maintenance walk through; what else do you charge for?

Q: So this is a different product? You have a management product and lease up product.

Q: So you have a competitive management fee. Then, depending on the level of involvement or service, clients can buy other services from you. Or, they can just pay the management fee and opt for nothing else.

Q: So location is important and so is the makeup of your clientele. That’s the beauty of property management. You have a territory or region that you know. When you understand the socioeconomic makeup, whether there are students, high tech professionals or retirees or factory workers in the area, you can get ahead of the curve, review competitor pricing and be innovative with your pricing strategy.

Q: That’s a good framework for people who need a pricing matrix. Let’s talk about building a team. Now, we have pricing and a website and still just one person running the shop. With momentum, business is looking good and gaining properties, how do you build a team? Where and when do you start?

Q: So you hire an assistant, and they shadow you. Did that person become a property manager?

Q: There are a few struggling Realtors willing to augment their careers.


Q: It also means you have a happy tenant who may be willing to give you a 5star review.

Q: Maybe our next conversation will be to invite someone who is proportfolio models. There are property managers who think that’s the only way to scale the business. You are departmental and I can see both systems working, but each structure fits certain people better. Would you agree it depends on personality, the amount of time you’ve invested in the business and how fast they want to grow?

Q: We really appreciate your time, Kathleen. If property managers want a coaching session, where can they find you?

And if you need help with marketing for property management companies, please contact us at https://fourandhalf.com/. Thank you for listening, and we’ll see you next time.