Episode #153: Starting Your Own Property Management Company with Colin Douthit

Why would someone start their own property management company instead of just hiring a third party? Today’s guest, Colin Douthit has some answers. Colin is the founder and owner of Atlas Property Management, has been in the real estate space for just three years, and already manages over 360 doors, with another hundred in the pipeline. In this episode, we talk about why Colin decided to start his own property management company, and the pros and cons of doing do versus hiring a third party. He explains some of the challenges, standard operating procedures, and tools he uses, as well as some tips about what owners can do to partner with property management companies to make it a little easier for both parties. Don’t miss this episode!

Key Points From This Episode:

• Colin introduces himself and explains how he got into real estate as an investor.
• The pros and cons of starting your own management company versus hiring a third party.
• Inversely, why someone would hire a third party versus starting their own company.
• Some challenges with owning a property management company, like investors and tenants.
• Dealing with the balance between the goals of different customers, particularly disparities in desired rent and maintenance pricing.
• Standard operating procedures when running a successful property management company.
• Colin talks about using Buildium property management software and why it is a great service.
• The three top skills one needs as an investor before starting a property management company: Understanding investors, organization, and business acumen.
• The number of doors necessary per property manager to start a profitable company.
• The specialized approach that Colin takes to focus the work that property managers do.
• Colin talks a bit more about the role his leasing agent plays and the commission she takes.
• What owners can do to partner with property management companies to make it easier.
• How COVID-19 has impacted Colin’s business and projected long term implications.
• Why Colin can’t do without G Suite, and why you should always take out a construction loan.

Tweetables:

“There’s a certain number of doors that you need per property manager to, at least in our analysis, every company’s going to run it differently, but to be profitable, right?” — Colin Douthit [0:10:53]

“As much as we wanted to give as much attention to the owners is we can, once we hit 30, 40 owners, you might not always remember all the plans that you had set forth. So like, ‘Hey, what was the goal on this one again?’ Just be understanding that we’re trying to execute your goal. We want it to be as successful as possible.” — Colin Douthit [0:15:28]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Colin Douthit on LinkedIn

Atlas Property Management

Atlas Property Management on LinkedIn

Atlas Property Management on Instagram

Atlas Property Management on Facebook

Buildium

G Suite

APT Capital Group

Passive Income Through Multifamily Real Estate on Facebook

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