Property Management Business Plan [Sample Template]

Are you about starting a property management & maintenance company? If YES, here’s a complete sample rental property management business plan template you can use for FREE.

Okay, so we have considered all the requirements for starting a property management company. We also took it further by analyzing and drafting a sample property management marketing plan template backed up by actionable guerrilla marketing ideas for property management businesses. So let’s proceed to the business planning section.

It is one thing to own properties, it is yet another to have them properly managed. This is because of the need to adequately put attention on these properties so that in the long run they turn out well and yield profit.

However, that might not be the case all the time as there are times when one wrong decision about a property might cause a decline in profit. Good news is that there folks who are vast in the management of properties. As such property owners can just relax and expect that all goes down really well.

Starting a property management business just like any other trade requires that one draws up a plan that will help with the immediate as well as the future projections of the business. This is where the business plan comes in. Below is a sample property management business plan to help you tweak yours.

A Sample Property Management Business Plan Template

1. Industry Overview

Property management which is a subset of the real estate industry is perhaps one of the easiest and affordable real estate businesses to start. It is basically about lease contracting or accepting rent using legal documents approved for the area in which the property is located.

In a nutshell, property management companies are responsible for taking care of and managing buildings and other real estate properties for individuals (landlords) or for groups of owners.

In the united states, states such as Texas, New York, and Colorado, make it mandatory for property management companies to be licensed real estate brokers, if they are going to be involved in collecting rent, listing properties for rent or helping negotiate leases and doing inspections as required by their business.

Although a property manager may be a licensed real estate salesperson, but generally they must be working under a licensed real estate broker.

A few states, such as Idaho, Maine, and Vermont do not require property managers to have real estate licenses. Other states, such as Montana, Oregon, and South Carolina, allow property managers to work under a property management license rather than a broker’s license. Washington State requires property managers to have a State Real Estate License if they do not own the property.

Landlords who manage their own property are not required by the law to have a real estate license in many states; however, they must at least have a business license to rent out their own home. It’s only landlords who do not live close to the rental property that may be required, by local government, to hire the services of a property management company.

Interestingly, the minimum educational requirement for any one that wants to start his or her own property management business is a High School Diploma and hands on job experience. It is one of the many businesses that an individual can start from his or her home and basically with just a business card.

Since property management business is all about managing property/properties on behalf of your clients, and then you may not need a huge financial base to be able to launch the business except you just want to start pretty big.

As a property manager, your core business responsibility is to liaise with landlords, tenants, and in some case various contractors and for you to effectively conduct your business, you are expected to have a full grasp of the law when it comes to landlord and tenants relationships et al.

As a property manager, it is your responsibility to create efficient and effective protocols that will make you relate well with your clients (landlords, tenants and contractors).

For example; you are going to be responsible for the full and proper screening or testing of an applicant’s credit, criminal history, rental history and ability to pay his or her rent when due. If you can get that aspect of your job/business right, you will sure enjoy your business.

Property management companies are also involved in mitigation and remediation regarding any maintenance issues, generally within a budget, with prior or conveyed consent via a Limited Power of Attorney legally agreed to by the property owner.

In fact, there are numerous aspect of the profession and some of them include helping their clients in managing the accounts and finances of the real estate properties, and participating in or initiating litigation with tenants, contractors and insurance agencies.

No doubt, if an aspiring entrepreneur who intends starting his or her own property management business has the right connections, networks, managerial skills, and takes delight in managing real estate for clients, then he or she is going to find property management business very rewarding and lucrative.

2. Executive Summary

Hillary Tyson and Co Property Management Company is a licensed property management company that will be based in Atlanta, Georgia, but will operate in all the states in the United States of America. We are in the business of property management to be able to help our clients meet their needs and achieve their goals with little or no stress on their part, because our role is to take the stress off them and deliver to them what they want.

We have been able to build a robust list or landlords and property owners in the whole of the United States and we look forward to helping a larger percentage of them manage their properties in any part of the US.

Hilary Tyson and Co Property Management Company will ensure that every property that is kept within our care is properly managed, because we are in business to deliver excellent services to both landlords and tenants. We have been able to acquire all the relevant trainings and certifications in the field of property management so as to enable us perform excellently well.

Hilary Tyson and Co Property Management Company will strive to minimize the risk of litigation and the risk of damage to rental units and also we have perfected strategies to maximize profits by simply slashing vacancy rates and repair and maintenance costs of all properties under our care.

Much more than renting our properties out to tenants, we intend to build a loyal customer base and part of the plans that we have put in place to realize this is to offer incentives to law abiding tenants under our care.

Part of what we intend doing is to offer lower rent for tenants who agree to enter a long – term lease agreements with us and also to create a system where points will be awarded to loyal tenants – a point-based systems for redeemable rewards.

As a property management company, we are going to be both proactive and reactive when dealing with our issues as it relates to our tenants. We are quite aware that most issues can be cleared up easily if addressed immediately, but when they are left to fester they can result in lawsuits, damaged rental properties, and payment defaults et al.

As a property management company, we are going to abide by the Fair Housing Act, which means not singling out one particular demographic group when sourcing for tenants for our properties. We will leverage on all available means to advertise our vacant properties and will not restrict our properties to any group of tenants but to anyone who is qualified and can afford the rent.

Hilary Tyson and Co Property Management Company is owned by Hilary Tyson and his immediate family members (His Wife and Son). The company is fully financed by Hilary Tyson and his son Robert Tyson is the chief operating officer of the company.

Robert Tyson has a degree in Estate Management and his has over 5 years post degree experience in property management prior to taking the role of Chief Operating Officer of Hilary Tyson and Co Property Management Company.

3. Our Products and Services

Hilary Tyson and Co Property Management Company is a company that looks forward to deliver excellent services in terms of help landlords and property owners effectively manage their properties and also providing conducive apartments and facility to tenants at an affordable rate. Our business offering are listed below;

Facilitating a Purchase—guiding a buyer through the process.
Facilitating a Sale — guiding a seller through the selling process.
FSBO document preparation — preparing necessary paperwork for “For Sale by Owner” sellers.
Property Maintenance
Exchanging property.
Auctioning property for our clients.
Preparing contracts and leases.
List the property for sale to the public
Provide the seller with a real property condition disclosure (if required by law) and other necessary forms.
Prepare necessary papers describing the property for advertising, pamphlets, open houses, etc.
Hold an open house to show the property.
Serve as a contact available to answer any questions about the property and schedule showing appointments.
Ensure that tenants are pre-screened and financially qualified to rent / lease the property
Selling of Fully Furnished Properties
Selling of Landed Properties
Property Management Consultancy and Advisory Services

4. Our Mission and Vision Statement

Our Vision is to become the preferred choice of landlords and tenants when it comes to property rentals in the whole of the United States of America.
We are a company that is established with the aim of helping tenants (people and businesses) get the properties of their choice and to help property owners (landlords and group owners of properties et al) effectively manage and maximize their properties in the United States of America.

Our Business Structure

Hilary Tyson and Co Property Management Company is going to be structured in a way that every employee will be actively involved in the growth of the organization and employees who have worked for a period of time for the company will part owner of the company.

We intend starting the business with a handful of full time employees and some of the available roles to be handled by contractors but strictly under the supervision of our staff. Adequate provision and competitive packages has been prepared for all our employees. Below is the business structure (Operations) of Hilary Tyson and Co Property Management Company;

Chief Operating Officer
Project Manager
Company’s Lawyer/Secretary
Admin and HR Manager
Head of Assets Management
Head of Acquisition and Disposition
Business Developer
Sales and Marketing Firm
Accountant
Front Desk Officer

5. Job Roles and Responsibilities

Chief Operating Officer:

Responsible for providing direction for the business
Creating, communicating, and implementing the organization’s vision, mission, and overall direction – i.e. leading the development and implementation of the overall organization’s strategy.
Responsible for the day to day running of the business
Responsible for handling high profile clients and deals
Responsible for fixing prices and signing business deals
Responsible for signing checks and documents on behalf of the company
Evaluates the success of the organization at regular interval

Project Manager

Responsible for the planning, management and coordinating all projects on behalf of the company
Supervises projects
Ensures compliance during project executions
Provides advice on the management of projects
Responsible for carrying out risk assessment
Uses IT systems and software to keep track of people and progress of ongoing projects
Responsible for overseeing the accounting, costing and billing of every project
Represents the organization’s interest at various stakeholders meetings
Ensures that project desired result is achieved, the most efficient resources are utilized and different interests involved are satisfied.

Company’s Lawyer/Secretary/Legal Counsel

Handles mitigation and remediation regarding any maintenance issues, generally within a budget, with prior or conveyed consent via a Limited Power of Attorney legally agreed to by the property owner.
Responsible for drawing up contracts and other legal documents for the company
Consults and handles all corporate legal processes (e.g. intellectual property, mergers & acquisitions, financial / securities offerings, compliance issues, transactions, agreements, lawsuits and patents et al)
Develops company policy and position on legal issues
Researches, anticipates and guards company against legal risks
Represents company in legal proceedings (administrative boards, court trials et al)
Plays a part in business deals negotiation and take minutes of meetings
Responsible for analyzing legal documents on behalf of the company
Prepares annual reports for the company

Admin and HR Manager

Responsible for overseeing the smooth running of HR and administrative tasks for the organization
Defines job positions for recruitment and managing interviewing process
Carries out staff induction for new team members
Responsible for training, evaluation and assessment of employees
Responsible for arranging travel, meetings and appointments
Oversees the smooth running of the daily office activities.

Head of Asset Management

Oversees the company’s portfolio of real estate assets (which are owned and managed) through acquisitions, dispositions, and day‐to‐day operations, including management of revenue and expense items; works to maximize the portfolio’s performance.
Provides strategic oversight of existing and potential real estate assets within a designated geographic area.
Manages business plans and budgets for properties.
Reviews the condition and maintenance of assigned properties; manages their bookkeeping and cash flow accounting; handles rent reconciliation; prepares property financial reports and annual budget forecasts.

Business Developer

Identifies, prioritizes, and reaches out to new partners, and business opportunities et al
Identifies development opportunities; follows up on development leads and contacts; participates in the structuring and financing of projects; assures the completion of development projects.
Responsible for supervising implementation, advocate for the customer’s needs, and communicate with clients
Finds and qualifies properties for rent/lease based on company’s property requirements; maintains a property search database; initiates discussions with property owners about the possible management of their property
Develops, executes and evaluates new plans for expanding increase sales
Documents all customer contact and information.
Represents the company in strategic meetings
Helps increase sales and growth for the company

Sales and Marketing Officer

Lists the property for rent/lease to the public
Markets space; finds tenants; participates in lease negotiations.
Provides property owners with a real property condition disclosure (if required by law) and other necessary forms.
Prepares necessary papers describing the property for advertising, pamphlets, open houses, etc.
Holds an open house to show the property.
Serves as a contact available to answer any questions about the property and schedule showing appointments.
Ensures that tenants are pre-screened and financially qualified to rent/lease the property.
Negotiates price on behalf of the property owners (Our Clients).
Acts as a fiduciary for the landlord, which may include preparing a standard real estate rental contract.
Leases contracts or accepts rent using legal documents approved for the area in which the property is located.
Responsible for the full and proper screening or testing of an applicant’s credit, criminal history, rental history and ability to pay his or her rent when due

Accountant

Responsible for preparing financial reports, budgets, and financial statements for the organization
Provides managers with financial analyses, development budgets, and accounting reports; analyzes financial feasibility for the most complex proposed projects; conducts market research to forecast trends and business conditions.
Responsible for financial forecasting and risks analysis.
Performs cash management, general ledger accounting, and financial reporting for one or more properties.
Responsible for developing and managing financial systems and policies
Responsible for administering payrolls
Ensures compliance with taxation legislation
Handles all financial transactions for the company
Serves as internal auditor for the company

Front Desk/Customer’s Service Officer

Receives Visitors/clients on behalf of the organization
Receives parcels/documents for the company
Handles enquiries via e-mail and phone calls for the organization
Distribute mails in the organization
Handles any other duties as assigned my the line manager

6. SWOT Analysis

No doubt, property management business is perhaps one of the easiest and cheapest ways of entering the real estate business. As a matter of fact, all that is required to do pretty well in this line of business is a high school diploma, experience in property management and the right network and connections.

As such, there are loads of entrepreneurs who are in the industry. But in order to compete favorably in this line of business as a property management we hired the services of Mr. Meclee Johnbull a tested and trusted business and HR consultants to help us conduct critical SWOT analysis for us.

As a company, we look forward to maximizing our strength and opportunities and also to work around our weaknesses and threats. Here is a summary from the result of the SWOT analysis that was conducted on behalf of Hilary Tyson and Co Property Management Company;

Strength:

Our strength as a property management company lies in the fact that we have a healthy relationship with loads of property owners (landlords) in the United States and we have some of the best hands in the industry working both as full time employees and consultants for us.

We can confidently boast that we have some of the qualities that are in high demand in the property management line of business which are trust, honesty and relationship management.

Weakness:

Our weakness could be that we are a new property management business in the United States and it may take us time and extra effort to convince landlords to give us their properties to manage for them.

Opportunities:

The opportunities that are available in the real estate industry are massive and we are ready to take advantage of any opportunity that comes our way.

Threat:

Some of the threats that we are likely going to face as a property management company in the United States of America are unfavorable government policies, global economic downturn and unreasonable tenants. There is hardly anything we could do as regards these threats other than to be optimistic that things will continue to work for our good.

7. MARKET ANALYSIS

Market Trends

The market trends as it involves the property management business are indeed dynamic and at the same time, pretty much easier for a newbie to come in and still make money from the industry.

All that is needed for any property management company to do well in the industry is to have good managerial skills and health relationship with landlords (property owners). Every detail we need to excel is contained in our property management marketing plan.

Some of the factors that count positively in this line of business are trust, honesty and relationship management and any property management company that has this will indeed do pretty well in the industry. Landlords and property owners ensure that they put their properties under the care of someone they can trust.

8. Our Target Market

Our target market as a property management company cuts across people of different class and people from all walks of life.

We are coming into the industry with a business concept that will enable us work with the highly placed people in the country and at the same with the lowly placed people who are only interested in putting a roof under their head at an affordable fee that won’t be so much of a stress to raise..

Although finding tenants is relatively easy, but the truth is that, finding qualified and law abiding tenants can be somewhat challenging.

It is important to note that the target market for those who are into property management business goes beyond those who make use of the internet (Craigslist) to search for properties; some of them only rely on the print media (local daily or weekly newspaper both in English and in Spanish for the Spanish community in the US), some on word of mouth adverts and others on street to street search.

The bottom line is that, the market trend for property management business is indeed a dynamic one. In other words, our target market is the whole of the United States of America and below is a list of the people and organizations that we have plans to do business with;

Families who are interested in renting/leasing or acquiring a property
Corporate organizations that are interested in renting/leasing or acquiring their own property/properties
Land Owners and landlords who are interested in renting/leasing out their properties
Corporate organizations (real estate agencies, property development companies et al) that are interested in renting/leasing out their properties
Foreign investors who are interested in owning properties or leasing properties in the United States of America
Managers of public facilities

Our Competitive Advantage

Hilary Tyson and Co Property Management Company obviously is a newbie in property management business, but one thing is certain; we have done our homework and we have been able to highlight some factors that will give us competitive advantage in the marketplace; some of the factors are trust, honesty, good network and excellent relationship management.

Another competitive advantage that we are bringing to the industry is the fact that we have designed our business in such a way that we can comfortably work with both the highly placed clients and the lowly placed clients.

Lastly, our employees will be well taken care of, and their welfare package is amongst the best in the industry meaning that they will be more than willing to build the business with us and help deliver our set goals and achieve all our objectives.

9. SALES AND MARKETING STRATEGY

Sources of Income

Hilary Tyson and Co Property Management Company’s major aim, is to maximize the profits in the real estate industry via delivering quality and affordable property to our highly esteemed clients and effective property management on behalf of our business partners (landlords and property owners). Below are the sources we intend exploring to generate income for Hilary Tyson and Co Property Management Company;

Developing Properties for our Clients
Renting of Properties/Leasing of Properties; Leasing for a fee or percentage of the gross lease value.
Sale of Fully Furnished Properties
Sale of Landed Properties
Lease of Bare Land
Manage Properties and Facility for Clients
Property Makeover Services
Real Estate Consultancy and Advisory Services; Hourly Consulting for a fee, based on the client’s needs.
Home Selling Kits — guides advising how to market and sell a property.

10. Sales Forecast

The fact that the property market is indeed a booming market means that investors are always going to be attracted to the industry. No doubt it is difficult to see multi-millionaires who don’t have interest in investing in properties; real estate investment is one business portfolio that is common to all multi – millionaires in the world.

In essence, the more people acquire properties, the high the chances of property management companies will secure business deals. Also as long as tenants are always in search for accommodation, there will always be business for property management companies.

We have perfected our sales and marketing strategies and we are set to hit the ground running and we are quite optimistic that we will meet or even surpass our set target of generating enough income / profits from the first month or operations and grow the business beyond Atlanta, Georgia to other states in the United States of America within record time.

We have been able to critically examine the real estate market and we have analyzed our chances in the industry and we have been able to come up with the following sales forecast. The sales projections are based on information gathered on the field and some workable assumptions as well;

Rent/lease a minimum of 30 housing units to clients (flats, duplexes, studio apartment et al) within the first 6 months of operations
Rent/lease a minimum of 20 office facilities to clients within the first 6 months of operations
Manage a minimum of 20 properties for clients within the first 6 months of operations
Sell a minimum of 20 hectares of land within the first 12 months of operation
Provide advisory and consultancy services for a minimum of 10 client per month
Handle a minimum of 20 building makeover projects within the first 12 months of operations

N.B: Please note that we could not put a specific amount to the projection because the prices and commissions vary for different properties and for different clients. Part of our business strategy is to work within the budget of our clients to deliver quality property/properties, hence it will be difficult to project what we are likely going to make from such deals.

But the bottom line is that we are definitely going to make reasonable profits from any business deal that we execute since we work based on commissions. The property management market is structured in such a way that property managers will always make profits from any deal they handle as long as they conducted due diligence before signing the deal.

Marketing Strategy and Sales Strategy

Networking is an effective way to begin building your clients base and we have plans in place to leverage on all our networks. In view of that, we will continue to find local real estate clubs and connect with them and also we will find local business organizations like the Chamber of Commerce and connect with them as well.

We will also network with real estate brokers who are constantly in touch with landlords and properties owners. We are not going to ignore local lending institutions, we are aware that they are also good sources of leads for property management companies.

The truth is that, they may have properties for which they are responsible and also to outsource such properties to property management companies in some cases lenders sometimes find themselves stuck with rental properties, and are not in the business of property management, so they tend to outsource it to property management companies.

We also enter business partnership with local contractors since they also interface with property owners regularly. Lastly, we will leverage on the power of the media by advertising our services using both online and offline platforms.

For instance; the phrase “property management companies” is searched about 90,500 times monthly in Google in the U.S alone and the phrase “property management firms” is searched about 30,100 times monthly, that is why we will ensure that we run paid search campaign to capture property owners and even potential tenants who are searching on this subjects within the area that we operate.

Over and above, we have perfected strategies to network with people who are likely to refer businesses to the ways of people. Also, check out some non-traditional places and events for networking opportunities. In summary, Hilary Tyson and Co Property Management Company will adopt the following strategies in sourcing for clients for our business;

Introduce our business by sending introductory letters alongside our brochures to stake holders in the real estate industry and also property owners.
Promptness in bidding for contracts
Advertise our business in real estate/properties magazines and websites
List our business on yellow pages
Attend expos, seminars, and business fairs et al
Create different packages for different category of clients in order to work with their budgets and still deliver quality housing/property to them
Leverage on the internet to promote our business
Places a “To Let” sign on the properties under our care with details of what we do et al.

11. Publicity and Advertising Strategy

Any business that wants to grow beyond the corner of the street they are operating should be ready and willing to utilize every available means (conventional and non – conventional means) to advertise and promote the business.

We intend growing our business beyond Atlanta, Georgia which is why we have perfected plans to build our brand via every available means. Below are the platforms Hilary Tyson and Co Property Management Company intend to leverage on to promote and advertise her property management business;

Place adverts on both print and electronic media platforms
Place our flexi banners with our company’s logo and contacts in every property we put up for sale or lease.
Sponsor relevant TV shows
Maximize our company’s website to promote our business
Leverage on the internet and social media platforms like; Instagram, Facebook ,Twitter, LinkedIn, Badoo, Google+ and other platforms (real estate online forums) to promote our business and list our properties for sale and for lease.
Install our Bill Boards on strategic locations
Distribute our fliers and handbills in targeted areas from time to time

Attend landlord and residence association meetings with the aim of networking and introducing our business.

12. Our Pricing Strategy

Part of business strategy is to ensure that we work within the budget of our clients to deliver excellent properties to them.

The real estate industry is based on commissions and properties are valued by professionals based on the area the facility is located, the type of facility and other factors. Since we are not directly in control of the pricing system in the real estate industry we can only abide by what is obtainable when it comes to pricing structure.

Part of what we intended doing that will help us cut cost is to reduce to barest minimum all maintenance cost by renting/leasing any property under our care to responsible tenants who won’t cause damage to our facility.

Payment Options

Our payment policy is all inclusive because we are quite aware that different people prefer different payment options as it suits them. But at the same time, we will not accept payment by cash because of the volume of cash that will be involved in most of our transactions.

Real estate deals usually involves huge amount of money. Here are the payment options that Hilary Tyson and Co Property Management Company will make available to her clients;

Payment by via bank transfer
Payment via online bank transfer
Payment via check
Payment via bank draft

In view of the above, we have chosen banking platforms that will enable our tenants pay their rents and bills without any difficulty. Our bank account numbers will be made available to tenants who may want to deposit cash.

13. Startup Expenditure (Budget)

The Total Fee for incorporating the Business in New Jersey: $750.
The budget for Liability insurance, permits and license: $2,500
The Amount needed to acquire a suitable Office facility with enough space in Atlanta, Georgia for 6 months (Re – Construction of the facility inclusive): $40,000.
The Cost for equipping the office (computers, printers, fax machines, furniture, telephones, filing cabins, safety gadgets and electronics et al): $5,000
The Cost of Launching our official Website: $600
Additional Expenditure (Business cards, Signage, Adverts and Promotions et al): $2,500

Going by the report from our research and feasibility studies, we will need about $60,000 to set up a property management company in Atlanta, Georgia, US.

Generating Funding/Startup Capital for Hillary Tyson and Co

The Founder Mr. Hilary Tyson is the sole financier of the business and he has been able to generate the start – up capital from his personal savings Please note that as it stands, the start – capital of $60,000 is already available for the business.

14. Sustainability and Expansion Strategy

We are set to take on new business territories in the United States of America; which is why we have hired some of the best hands in the real estate industry to help us lay a solid foundation for growth and expansion of the business.

Part of the sustainability strategy that we have adopted is continuous training of our workforce (both fulltime staff and freelancers working for us) so as to provide them with the capacity to perform effectively in the highly competitive property management business in the United States of America. In other to be in business for a long time, we will not in any way comprise our integrity and trust.

Check List/Milestone

Business Name Availability Check:>Completed
Business Incorporation: Completed
Opening of Corporate Bank Accounts various banks in the United States: Completed
Opening Online Payment Platforms: Completed
Application and Obtaining Tax Payer’s ID: In Progress
Application for business license and permit: Completed
Purchase of All form of Insurance for the Business: Completed
Renting of Office Facility in Atlanta, Georgia: Completed
Conducting Feasibility Studies: Completed
Start – up Capital Generation: Completed
writing of business plan: Completed
Drafting of Employee’s Handbook: Completed
Drafting of Contract Documents (Tenancy Agreements, and freelance agreements et al), and other relevant Legal Documents: In Progress
Design of The Company’s Logo: Completed
Graphic Designs and Printing of Packaging Marketing / Promotional Materials: Completed
Recruitment of employees: In Progress
Purchase of the Needed furniture, office equipment, electronic appliances and facility facelift: In progress
Creating Official Website for the Company: In Progress
Creating Awareness for the business (Business PR): In Progress
Health and Safety and Fire Safety Arrangement: In Progress
Establishing business relationship with key players in the industry (networking and membership of relevant real estate bodies): Complete