Building your property management empire in 2013

One of the benefits of working in real estate is that there are several pillars where you can serve clients and make a nice living to boot. One of those is property management. It offers you the chance to supplement your traditional real estate income, or you can make it your full-time business.

That’s one reason I’ve decided to add a new program to my company designed specifically for agents and brokers interested in adding property management to their repertoire. It’s called, aptly enough, Increasing Profits with Property Management.

Many say 2013 is the year of the investor, so now is the perfect time to explore property management. This new program will offer a series of coaching calls over several months with one of our premiere coaches, Wendy Harris, a national, well-respected expert in property management.

She’ll cover: setting up your very own property management division; establishing a pipeline of future sellers and buyers; increasing your income and bottom line; implementing systems proven to work; and recruiting and hiring a strong team.

To give you a more extensive preview of the program and some practical tips, I asked Wendy to share some of what you’ll learn in the program.

1.  Have a business plan and a vision – Anytime you begin a new venture (or add more to your existing one) it’s a must to sit down and think everything through on paper. How many properties do you want to take on? What will make your services different (and more saleable) than the current competition? How will you advertise? Who do you really need to know? I often meet agents who jumped into the water before testing the temperature. Sometimes they end up blue and washed up. Plan. Then plan some more to create a firm foundation. I’ll be sharing a mission, vision, and philosophy worksheet that’ll help you get started on solid ground.

2.  Understand the value of the services you bring to your clients, and how you’ll be compensated for them - It sounds all nice and profitable to say you’re going to add property management to your portfolio, but it only counts if money is exchanging hands. Following the water metaphor above, think of yourself as a beautiful lake on a mountainside. What are the streams (of revenue) that will keep you full and beautiful?  I’ll be covering how to price a property, investment details, tax implications, reserves and much, much more.

3.  Have your procedures and policies in place from day one – Believe me, forms and disclosures are a property manager's friend. You’ve likely come to appreciate them in traditional real estate. Well, in property management, they’re vital.  Policy, procedures, disclosures, bookkeeping, software, forms – they’re all essential and you need to take time to get familiar with them all before you open your doors for business.

4. Have a servant’s heart and a thick skin. If you think these two qualities are important in traditional real estate, well, they’re doubly needed in property management. I’ll be honest, property management can be a headache if (and this is an important if) you don’t get the right foundation in place at the start. I’ll be covering all the details to ensure you get it right from the beginning. And when that happens, you can indeed build a property management empire in your community.

Wendy would love to hear from you about this article or the new program or both. E-mail her at Wendy@CorcoranCoaching.com call her at 1-800-957-8353. I also invite you to e-mail or call me about another new program we’re unveiling called Building a Real Estate Empire that focuses on how to add broker profitability systems and tools to your current business. E-mail me at Article@CorcoranCoaching.com or visit http://www.facebook.com/CorcoranCoaching to learn more.

Bob Corcoran is a nationally recognized speaker and author who is founder and president of Corcoran Consulting Inc. (CorcoranCoaching.com, 800-957-8353), an international consulting and coaching company that specializes in performance coaching and the implementation of sound business systems into the residential or commercial broker or agent’s existing practice.