The Stacey Salyer Show: Buying & Selling Property Management Companies

This episode is a little different! We're recording from Las Vegas during the NARPM National Convention, and instead of me interviewing a guest, my sales director, Erin Lindstrom, is turning the tables and interviewing me.

We're pulling back the curtain on my journey in property management, the lessons I've learned from buying and selling businesses, and why I believe acquisitions should be part of every property management owner's growth strategy.

I share how I went from leaving a six-figure job as a single mom of three to building my own property management company, acquiring nearly 400 doors during COVID, and eventually transitioning into teaching other owners how to grow through acquisitions.

We also get into some of the things I wish I'd known before my first acquisition, why local property management owners have an advantage over private equity buyers, and how I'm approaching my next chapter as both an acquisition strategist and an active buyer.

Plus, we're talking about what's ahead in 2027, including AI, changing industry dynamics, and why I believe the next few years will be pivotal for property management companies.
If you've ever thought acquisitions were too complicated, too expensive, or simply something other business owners do, this episode might change your mind.

What You'll Learn in This Episode:
✔️ Why I believe every property management owner should consider acquisitions as a growth strategy
✔️ How acquiring nearly 400 doors during COVID allowed me to triple the size of my business overnight
✔️ Why buying a property management company requires specialized due diligence and a clear strategy
✔️ How to overcome the fear and operational overwhelm that often prevent owners from pursuing acquisitions
✔️ Why defining your acquisition "buy box" is one of the most important first steps
✔️ How retiring business owners, private equity activity, and AI are changing the property management landscape
✔️ Why local operators may have a competitive advantage over larger, better-funded buyers
✔️ How seller financing and other creative deal structures can make acquisitions possible without significant upfront capital
✔️ The biggest mistakes I made during my first acquisition and what I'd do differently today
✔️ Why due diligence, employee relationships, seller agreements, and non-compete provisions matter
✔️ How my experience as a visionary and builder influences the way I approach acquisitions and coach business owners
✔️ What I've learned about leadership, delegation, and building businesses as a single mom and entrepreneur
✔️ Why I'm actively acquiring again and how I'm applying the same strategies I teach my clients
✔️ How agentic AI could fundamentally change the operational capacity of property management companies
✔️ Why understanding acquisitions can also help you build a more valuable, sellable business, even if you never buy another company

Ready to Grow Through Acquisitions?
Enrollment is open for Stacey's next Slayer's Built to Acquire™ cohort, starting in November! This three-month program is designed to help property management owners define their acquisition strategy, identify the right opportunities, and confidently source, evaluate, and close deals.

Enroll, learn more, or book a call with Stacey's team: https://www.staceysalyer.com/built-to-acquire

Connect With Stacey
Website: https://www.staceysalyer.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/the.stacey.salyer/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stacey.salyer/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stacey-salyer-39254012

In this episode, I’m joined by Tim Wehner and Blake Mohseni of Rising Tide for a conversation about a different approach to buying and growing property management companies.

Traditional acquisitions often involve rebranding, consolidating systems, and integrating teams into a larger organization. But what if there were a way to grow through acquisitions while allowing local operators to keep the businesses, relationships, and systems they’ve already built?

Tim and Blake share the vision behind Rising Tide, why they’re focused on partnering with owners who want to continue growing, and how they’re using AI and shared infrastructure to help property management companies scale without losing their local identity.

We also get into the challenges of buying and integrating property management companies, why the people side of an acquisition is often harder than the numbers, and how trust, communication, and change management can make or break a deal. Plus, Blake shares how Rising Tide's free AI implementation program, The Lab, is helping operators streamline workflows and create more capacity for their teams.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
✔️ Why Rising Tide is taking a different approach to acquiring property management companies
✔️ How their federation model allows local operators to maintain their brand, team, and existing systems
✔️ Why Tim and Blake are particularly interested in partnering with owners who want to stay involved and continue growing
✔️ How shared infrastructure and AI can help smaller property management companies scale
✔️ Why Rising Tide doesn't believe every acquired company needs to move onto the same technology stack
✔️ What Tim has learned from participating in dozens of property management acquisitions
✔️ Why finding the right acquisition opportunity is becoming increasingly competitive
✔️ Why the people side of an acquisition is often the most difficult part of the process
✔️ How employee and owner retention can impact the success of an acquisition
✔️ Why trust, transparency, and communication are essential during the acquisition process
✔️ Why buyers should consider the mindset and readiness of key employees during due diligence
✔️ How Rising Tide's free AI program, The Lab, helps property management companies improve workflows
✔️ How AI agents can work across existing property management software to reduce repetitive administrative work
✔️ Why using technology to free up employees for higher-value relationships can create a stronger business

More About Tim
Tim Wehner is Head of Acquisitions at Rising Tide, bringing extensive experience in property management operations, growth, and mergers and acquisitions.

He spent more than a decade helping grow Dodson Property Management from approximately 118 units to more than 7,000 before its merger with Evernest in 2022. He later led acquisitions at Evernest, gaining firsthand experience with the challenges of integrating companies, teams, and cultures.

A former National President of NARPM, Tim brings an operator-first perspective to acquisitions, with a particular focus on building trust, retaining talent, and creating successful long-term partnerships.

More About Blake
Blake Mohseni is the Founder and CEO of Rising Tide, a company focused on acquiring and partnering with independent property management firms while preserving their local brands, teams, and relationships.

With a background spanning business operations, consulting, technology, and AI, Blake has spent his career helping organizations build the systems and infrastructure needed to scale.

Through Rising Tide, he is bringing that experience to property management, combining shared resources, AI-powered solutions, and a partnership-focused acquisition model to help operators grow while maintaining what makes their businesses successful.

Connect With Tim and Blake
Rising Tide Website: https://www.risingtidehq.com/index.html
Apply to The Lab: https://www.risingtidehq.com/the-lab/index.html
Tim’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tim-wehner-rmp-mpm-36292925/
Good Operators Podcast: https://www.risingtidehq.com/good-operators/index.html

Connect With Stacey
Website: https://www.staceysalyer.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/the.stacey.salyer/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stacey.salyer/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stacey-salyer-39254012

In this episode, I’m joined by two returning guests, Jordan Coleman with Live Oak Bank and Patrick Hurley with PM Broker Group, for a conversation about what buyers and sellers need to know about today’s property management M&A market.

There’s more conversation than ever around buying and selling property management companies, but that doesn’t mean every buyer, seller, or deal is actually ready to move forward. Realistic expectations, clean financials, the right buyer-seller fit, and a clear understanding of what a business can actually support all play a major role in whether a transaction gets to the closing table.

Jordan, Patrick, and I talk about what they’re seeing in the market, why buyers are becoming more discerning, and why knowing your buy box matters before you start looking for an acquisition. We also get into valuations and multiples, why SDE is more useful than gross revenue when evaluating a business, what sellers should have organized before going to market, and why waiting too long to sell can ultimately work against you.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
✔️ What Jordan and Patrick are seeing in the property management acquisition market right now
✔️ Why finding the right buyer-seller fit matters beyond simply being able to afford the deal
✔️ Why buyers need a clear and realistic buy box before pursuing acquisitions
✔️ Why finding the right property management company to buy takes more than waiting for a great deal to appear
✔️ Why buyers and sellers need realistic expectations around valuations and multiples
✔️ Why Patrick recommends looking at Seller’s Discretionary Earnings (SDE) instead of valuing a company based on gross revenue
✔️ Why clean, organized financials can make or break a transaction
✔️ What sellers should have prepared before bringing their business to market
✔️ How standardized accounting and clean books can make it easier for buyers and lenders to understand the business
✔️ Why overpricing a business from the beginning can hurt a seller later
✔️ Why sellers shouldn’t start stripping down their business before putting it on the market
✔️ Why preparing your business before a sale can help you get more value on the back end
✔️ What Jordan and Patrick believe buyers and sellers should keep in mind heading into 2027

More About Jordan
Jordan Coleman is a Loan Officer on the property management team at Live Oak Bank. She began her career at Live Oak Bank in 2016 as a Loan Closing Specialist, working closely with businesses across more than 13 industries throughout the country.

Jordan graduated from East Carolina University with a degree in Financial Services and is dedicated to building long-lasting relationships and helping small business owners pursue their goals.

Connect With Jordan
Website: https://www.liveoak.bank/business-loans/property-management/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordan-coleman-5b916059/

More About Patrick
With more than two decades of experience in real estate and property management, Patrick Hurley brings an operator-first perspective shaped by building, acquiring, and operating property management companies, along with real estate brokerages and a property and casualty insurance agency.

Through PM Broker Group, Patrick focuses specifically on property management mergers and acquisitions, helping owners think through growth, succession, and successful exits. He brings an industry-specific, straightforward approach with an emphasis on professionalism, execution, and long-term value creation.

Connect With Patrick
Website: www.PMBrokerGroup.com

Connect With Stacey
Website: https://www.staceysalyer.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/the.stacey.salyer/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stacey.salyer/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stacey-salyer-39254012

In this episode, I’m joined by David Normand, Chief PM at Vendoroo, to break down what agentic AI actually means for property management and how it’s already changing the way maintenance teams operate.

David has spent 20 years in the property management industry, and his experience spans everything from growing a small property management company to overseeing large-scale maintenance operations. He brings an operator’s perspective to the conversation around AI, and we dig into the difference between chatbots and true AI agents, why introducing an AI teammate isn’t as simple as plugging in new technology, and why the way you hire, train, and manage people matters just as much when you’re working with AI.

We also talk about what this shift could mean for staffing, customer experience, response times, maintenance operations, and scalability. David shares real-world examples of property management companies using AI to reduce repetitive tasks while freeing their human teams to focus on higher-value work, from resident experience and vendor performance to larger maintenance projects.

If you’re curious about agentic AI but still wondering what it actually looks like inside a property management company, this episode is a practical look at where the technology is today and how operators can start thinking about using it.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
✔️The difference between traditional chatbots, AI-assisted workflows, and agentic AI
✔️ Why David thinks of an AI agent as a teammate rather than simply another piece of software
✔️ How agentic AI can learn the unique policies, preferences, and customer service standards of your property management company
✔️ Why you shouldn’t add an AI teammate on top of broken processes or unclear roles
✔️ How to approach onboarding and training an AI agent similarly to onboarding a new employee
✔️ Why business owners need to understand their company identity before they can effectively train AI to represent it
✔️ How AI can preserve the “tribal knowledge” property managers often keep in their heads
✔️ Why David says response times of 15 to 90 seconds and 24/7 availability are becoming new benchmarks in property management maintenance
✔️ How AI can help teams move away from repetitive maintenance tasks and toward resident experience, vendor performance, and higher-value work
✔️ Why David believes AI can help operators manage by exception rather than constantly managing every task
✔️ How one company with 800+ doors is operating with one human maintenance coordinator alongside AI
✔️ Why AI doesn’t need to be perfect to create meaningful operational value
✔️ How identifying resident frustration earlier can help property managers improve the customer experience
✔️ Where David sees humans continuing to add the most value, especially on large projects and high-stakes decisions
✔️ What Vendoroo is building next, including new AI personas for maintenance management and dispatching

More About David
David Normand is Vendoroo’s Chief PM and a 20-year property management industry veteran, with 15 years focused specifically on property management maintenance operations. Previously, as CEO of RentVue, David automated maintenance services completing 100,000 work orders.

Throughout his career, David has worked across property management operations and maintenance logistics, giving him an operator’s perspective on how technology can support property management teams without losing the judgment, empathy, and customer experience that humans bring to the work.

Website: https://www.vendoroo.ai/about-us
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidnormand/
Watch The 4-Bucket System on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxB6NUTy7lw

Connect With Stacey
Website: https://www.staceysalyer.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/the.stacey.salyer/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stacey.salyer/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stacey-salyer-39254012

In this episode, my good friend Pablo Gonzalez of Vendoroo is back on the show for a different kind of conversation: our predictions and hot takes for where the property management industry is headed in 2027 and beyond.

We’re talking AI agents, the rise of the “PM in a box,” acquisitions, changing company valuations, and what happens when one person can potentially manage hundreds, or even 1,000, doors with the support of AI. We also dig into what all of this means for the software property managers rely on, the future of industry conferences, and how property management companies may need to position themselves to compete.

Some of these shifts are already happening. Others are predictions we’ll have to come back and check at the end of 2027. Either way, if you own a property management company, these are conversations worth having now.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
✔️ Why Pablo predicts we’ll see a major rise in “PM in a box” solutions by the end of 2027
✔️ How AI agents could change the way property management companies operate and staff their businesses
✔️ Why traditional SaaS platforms may need to evolve dramatically to stay relevant
✔️ Whether one property manager could eventually oversee 800 to 1,000 doors with the right AI infrastructure
✔️ How AI could disrupt traditional referral channels for acquiring new doors
✔️ Why acquisitions could become an even bigger conversation across the property management industry
✔️ How property management conferences could become a major meeting ground for buyers and sellers
✔️ Why sellers should use industry events to meet potential buyers and understand what the market is willing to pay
✔️ How AI adoption and operational capacity could eventually influence property management company valuations
✔️ Why door count may no longer be enough to measure the strength or scalability of a property management company
✔️ Why future PM companies may increasingly compete on either price or advice
✔️ The role “elite advice” could play as more operational property management tasks become commoditized
✔️ Why experimenting with AI now can help owners determine where humans and technology belong in their future org chart
✔️ Why property management conferences may need to bring in more experts from outside the industry

More About Pablo
From green building to community building to rental property investing, Pablo Gonzalez has a track record of spotting disruptive industry trends, building movements around them, and creating massive value for those that follow for 15+ years.

As the Chief Evangelist of Vendoroo, Pablo has a front row seat at watching the collaboration between the greatest minds in maintenance, AI, and product development work with property managers to finally break out of the burnout loop caused by maintenance in property management. His job is to tell that story to benefit property managers everywhere.

Website: https://vendoroo.ai/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/connectwithpablo/

Connect With Stacey

Website: https://www.staceysalyer.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/the.stacey.salyer/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stacey.salyer/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stacey-salyer-39254012

In this episode, I’m joined by Pete Neubig, co-founder and CEO of VPM Solutions and former co-founder of Empire Industries Realty & Property Management, to talk about what it really looked like to build, grow, and eventually sell his property management company.

Pete started Empire at 41 and grew the company from roughly 60 doors to nearly 1,000 single-family units across three Texas markets before selling to Mynd Management in 2019. But the path to that exit was anything but straightforward.

Pete and I talk about what happened when he and his business partner developed different visions for the future of the company, why he ultimately agreed to sell even though selling wasn’t what he wanted, and what he wishes he had understood about life after the transaction.

We also get into the deal itself, including negotiating terms, payout structures, stock, and clawbacks, and why sellers need to think carefully about how the buyer plans to integrate the company during a transition. Pete also shares why continuing to grow before an exit can increase the value of your business and why knowing what comes next for you personally can be just as important as preparing the company for sale.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
✔️ How Pete grew Empire Industries from a small management company to nearly 1,000 single-family units across three markets
✔️ Why expanding into new markets too early created costly lessons for Pete and his team
✔️ What can happen when business partners no longer share the same vision for the company
✔️ Why Pete ultimately agreed to sell even though exiting wasn’t what he personally wanted
✔️ Why the purchase price isn’t the only part of a deal you can negotiate
✔️ What sellers should consider when negotiating payout terms, stock, and clawbacks
✔️ Why the length of a clawback should be considered alongside the buyer’s integration timeline
✔️ How major operational changes after an acquisition can affect client retention and the seller’s final payout
✔️ Why continuing to grow before an exit can increase the value of your property management company
✔️ Why acquiring another portfolio or company can be a powerful growth strategy when preparing for a future exit
✔️ Why Pete says every owner should know what they want to do next before selling
✔️ How selling a business can affect your identity and sense of purpose even when the transaction is financially successful
✔️ How Pete’s experience after selling eventually led him back to entrepreneurship and the creation of VPM Solutions

More About Pete
Pete Neubig is the co-founder and CEO of VPM Solutions. Before launching VPM Solutions, Pete co-founded Empire Industries Realty & Property Management in Houston, Texas, growing the company to nearly 1,000 single-family units across three markets before selling it to Mynd Management in 2019. After the acquisition, Pete joined Mynd as Vice President of Eastern Operations.

Today, Pete leads VPM Solutions, a platform that helps property management companies find, hire, train, and pay global team members. He is also the host of NARPM Radio and continues to serve the property management industry through education, speaking, and entrepreneurship.

Connect With Pete

Website: https://www.vpmsolutions.com/
Email: [email protected]
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pete-neubig/
NARPM Podcast: https://www.narpm.org/

Connect With Stacey

Website: https://www.staceysalyer.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/the.stacey.salyer/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stacey.salyer/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stacey-salyer-39254012

In this episode, I’m joined by Dylan Scroggins, founder of the Kalmar Group, a recruiting firm that helps property management companies find high-level leaders in operations, business development, marketing, and more.

When we talk about buying or selling a property management company, it’s easy to focus on the numbers. But the people inside the business can have just as much impact on what happens before, during, and after a transaction.

Dylan and I talk about why recruiting should be a forward-thinking strategy rather than something you only think about when someone leaves, how the right leadership team can create value when you’re preparing to sell, and what buyers should consider about the existing team before and after an acquisition.

We also get into why job titles matter more than most business owners realize, what happens when a company grows beyond the capacity of one of its leaders, and why the team that got you here may not always be the team that gets you where you want to go.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
✔️ Why buyers and sellers should evaluate the people side of a business alongside the financials
✔️ How strong leadership can create more confidence and continuity when preparing a business for sale
✔️ Why buyers should plan for potential team changes before an acquisition closes
✔️ Why recruiting reactively can lead to rushed hires and months of lost performance
✔️ Why Dylan believes business owners should always be recruiting, even when they don’t have an immediate opening
✔️ Why job titles matter when recruiting talent and planning for future growth
✔️ Why giving someone a senior title too early can leave less room for future growth
✔️ Why strong candidates may come from outside the property management industry
✔️ Why the capacity of a leader can ultimately become the capacity of the department or business they lead
✔️ How to recognize when someone who helped get your business here may not be the person who can get it there
✔️ Why retaining key employees becomes especially important during an ownership transition

More About Dylan
With over 15 years of experience in the recruiting industry, Dylan Scroggins founded the Kalmar Group to connect great companies with great leaders. Some of Dylan’s first hires were in property management, where he placed multiple leaders at Evernest, then gkhouses.com, including two leaders who are still with the company approximately 10 years later.
Today, Dylan recruits roles including Directors of Operations, Business Development Managers, and Marketing Managers for property management owners across the country who are ready to let go of parts of their business but haven’t found the right caliber of leaders through traditional methods like posting jobs or reaching out to their existing network.

Connect With Dylan
Website: https://www.thekalmargroup.com/pm
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylanscroggins/

Connect With Stacey
Website: https://www.staceysalyer.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/the.stacey.salyer/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stacey.salyer/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stacey-salyer-39254012

In this episode, I’m joined by Jeremy Harbour, entrepreneur, investor, and M&A expert who has completed hundreds of acquisitions over the course of his career.

Jeremy bought his first company without putting any money down and had an immediate realization: instead of spending years building from scratch, you can acquire what someone else has already spent years creating. Since then, he’s built a career around buying, selling, and structuring deals across industries.

We talk about why acquisition entrepreneurship can be such a powerful alternative to organic growth, how to find businesses that aren’t officially for sale, and why buying a company doesn’t necessarily require having a pile of cash sitting around.

Jeremy also breaks down how he thinks about risk, valuation, and deal structure, including why a red flag doesn’t always mean walking away and why, in his words, “the deal is in the structure.”

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
✔️ How Jeremy grew by a year’s worth of sales in one afternoon through his first acquisition
✔️ Why buying an existing business can shortcut years of organic growth
✔️ Why the best acquisition targets often aren’t businesses listed for sale
✔️ How to identify and start conversations with off-market business owners
✔️ Why relationships should come before financials and deal structure
✔️ How to build an acquisition engine alongside your existing sales and marketing efforts
✔️ Why small-business deals often require creative structures rather than all-cash offers
✔️ How buyers and sellers can structure a deal to balance risk over time
✔️ Why red flags can become leverage for changing the valuation or structure of a deal
✔️ Why Jeremy believes entrepreneurs should think about acquisitions, mergers, joint ventures, and exits as part of their growth strategy

More About Jeremy
Jeremy Harbour is a Dubai-based entrepreneur, investor, and best-selling author who is widely recognized as a global expert in small-business M&A. Over three decades he has personally completed more than 250 acquisitions, taken nearly 100 companies public, and advised on hundreds more deals globally. He is the CEO and founder of Unity Group, a private equity firm that helps SMEs scale through consolidation and roll-ups, and the founder of The Harbour Club, where he teaches tactical M&A and 15 no-money-down deal strategies, in a unique 3-day workshop. Jeremy has taught over 2,500 entrepreneurs from 58 countries how to buy, fix, and sell businesses using his proven methods. Known for his no-nonsense approach to dealmaking, Jeremy has also advised Buckingham Palace and the UK Parliament on business and enterprise, and was a three-time runner-up for the Coutts Entrepreneur of the Year Award.

Free Digital Copy of Go Do Deals
Email [email protected] for a free digital copy of Jeremy’s bestselling book, Go Do Deals.

Free 21-Day M&A Course
Jeremy offers a free 21-day email course covering deal sourcing, deal structures, and what you can do with a business once you acquire it: https://www.harbourclubevents.com/email-course/

Website: www.jeremyharbour.com
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jeremyharbour
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/harbour.jeremy/

Connect With Stacey
Website: https://www.staceysalyer.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/the.stacey.salyer/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stacey.salyer/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stacey-salyer-39254012

In this episode I’m joined by Marc Cunningham, CEO of Grace Property Management, a true veteran of the property management industry who has experienced acquisitions from just about every angle.

Marc grew up in the business his father founded in 1978, eventually bought into the company through seller financing, helped grow Grace Property Management through multiple acquisitions, and most recently experienced the other side of the table when the company was acquired by ROAM.

Marc and I talk about what decades of buying, building, and selling have taught him, from creative deal structures and client attrition to due diligence, knowing when to walk away, and avoiding the “deal heat” that can cause buyers to overlook major red flags.

We also get into the decision to sell a successful family business while things were still going well, how Marc chose the right buyer, what the transition looked like for his team, and the identity shift that comes when the company you’ve spent decades building is no longer entirely yours.

If you’re considering buying a property management company, thinking about your eventual exit, or simply want to build a business with more long-term value and optionality, this episode gives you a rare look at both sides of the acquisition table.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
✔️ How Marc went from growing up in a family property management business to becoming an owner himself
✔️ What he learned from buying multiple property management companies over the years
✔️ How to structure acquisition deals around retained revenue and expected client attrition
✔️ Why knowing your acquisition Buy Box helps you recognize the right opportunities
✔️ The biggest red flags Marc looks for during acquisition due diligence
✔️ Why “deal heat” can cause buyers to overlook problems they normally wouldn’t ignore
✔️ How to think about sunk costs when deciding whether to move forward or walk away from a deal
✔️ Why some of Marc’s best acquisition decisions were the companies he chose not to buy
✔️ What ultimately led Marc to sell Grace Property Management while the business was still performing well
✔️ How he evaluated potential buyers and ultimately chose ROAM
✔️ What Marc learned about communicating an acquisition to employees and navigating the transition
✔️ The identity shift that can happen when you sell a business you’ve spent decades building

More About Marc:
Marc Cunningham is a longtime property management leader with decades of experience building, buying, and selling property management companies. He grew up in the family business his father founded in 1978 and eventually purchased his ownership stake through seller financing. Over the years, Marc helped grow Grace Property Management through multiple acquisitions before ultimately selling the company to ROAM. His experience on both sides of the acquisition table gives him a unique perspective on deal structure, due diligence, operational growth, leadership, and preparing a property management business for a successful exit.

Website: https://www.rentgrace.com/

Connect With Stacey:
Website: https://www.staceysalyer.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/the.stacey.salyer/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stacey.salyer/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stacey-salyer-39254012

In this episode, I’m welcoming back Jen Ruelens of Hold It With PM Jen for a conversation inspired by our recent trip to the Women’s InvestHER Conference in Scottsdale.

What started as a recap of the event quickly turned into a much bigger conversation about property managers building wealth through real estate, investors buying property management companies, and the opportunities sitting right in front of us that too many people in our industry are overlooking.

Jen and I both believe property managers have a unique advantage when it comes to real estate investing. We already understand the operations. We know the properties. We have relationships with owners. We see opportunities before they ever hit the market.

So why aren’t more of us investing for ourselves?

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
✔️ Why real estate investors are an overlooked pool of potential PMC buyers
✔️ How buying a property management company can help investors scale beyond self-management
✔️ Why property managers have a major advantage as real estate investors
✔️ How your existing owner relationships can create off-market deal flow
✔️ Jen’s five-way payday of real estate: cash flow, leverage, appreciation, tax advantages, and an inflation hedge
✔️ How Jen purchased a property she was already managing using seller financing
✔️ Why knowing a property's tenants, maintenance history, leases, and financials gives PMs an investing advantage
✔️ How removing emotion from ownership can make you a better investor and property manager
✔️ Why property managers should think beyond ancillary fees when building long-term wealth
✔️ How helping your employees become investors can make your entire team better at property management
✔️ Why your property management company and real estate portfolio can become complementary wealth-building assets

More About Jen
Jennifer Ruelens, better known as PM Jen, runs Hold It with PM Jen, a platform built for buy and hold real estate investors who believe they will create financial freedom with buy and hold investing. She's also the founder, broker, and owner of One Focus Property Management, a business she's run for over 13 years across five counties in North Central Pennsylvania.

These days she's speaking and advocating all over the country for buy and hold investors, because she believes they're being set up to fail and somebody needs to show them the hold part is where the money is made. She brings 22+ years in the trenches, a whole lot of opinions, and the receipts to back them up.

Florida State NARPM Conference & Cruise | September 7–11
Stacey and Jen will both be attending and speaking on a panel about building, buying, and selling property management companies. Learn more and register: https://floridastate.narpm.org/events/2026-narpm-florida-state-conference-cruise/

Building Wealth for Property Managers | October 29, Reading, PA
Jen is partnering with LendingOne for a free event focused on helping property managers invest in real estate and build wealth. Connect with Jen on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenniferruelens/

Website: https://holditwithpmjen.com/

Connect With Stacey
Website: https://www.staceysalyer.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/the.stacey.salyer/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stacey.salyer/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stacey-salyer-39254012