How Navy Veterans Steve Poer and Tara Devine Leverage Their Military Experience With PMI Franchise Ownership

It is no secret that veterans make great franchisees , and Steve Poer and Tara Devine — who recently opened PMI Bluebonnet Realty — are no exception.

Founded in 2008, Property Management, Inc. provides expert property management solutions across the four pillars of residential, commercial, association and short-term rental properties. PMI has assisted hundreds of property managers thrive as business owners, providing the support of an expert team of franchisors and a large network of fellow franchisees .

Going into property management alone typically requires a massive amount of equity, not to mention the time it takes to establish business practices from the ground up. With over 260 locations, PMI provides the resources, systems and national brand name recognition of an established business to bolster the property-management operations of its franchisees.

Veteran franchise owners

Over 20% of those PMI franchises are owned by veterans, and the brand is the highest-ranked property management franchise on Entrepreneur Magazine’s Top Franchises for Veterans 2019 . PMI also offers 10% off of the standard franchise fee for veterans, both out of appreciation for their service and because veterans make for truly reliable and successful franchise partners.

Poer and Devine are both native Texans who were looking for a way to see the world after graduating from college. In 2000, Poer joined the United States Navy as a Surface Warfare Officer (SWO) aboard the USS Crommelin, serving as part of a counter narcotics task force. At one point, he was assigned to the Italian Navy as a part of a NATO contingency. After completing his military commitments in 2007, Poer eventually settled in the scenic Texas Hill Country, where he built his home with his partner, Devine.

Devine joined the United States Navy in 1978 and ended up being on active duty for 13 years before becoming a single parent and leaving active duty to go directly into the reserves in 1991. After September 11th, Devine was reactivated and stationed in Naples, Italy before coming home.

After retiring, Poer and Devine met each other in a military group online and found out they were both stationed in Italy around the same time at different bases, but they had never met each other. The two soon met in person and became partners, which they still are thirteen years later.

After Poer left the military and headed back to Texas, he ended up working in the oil and gas industry.

Soon, Poer realized that he needed a change in his career path. “After going through some downturns with the industry, he decided that he wanted to have more control over his destiny,” Devine said. “So, he started looking at different franchise opportunities and found PMI through a franchise coach.

Pmi franchise experience

To be honest, we didn’t even know that association management and HOA management was a career field, but after doing our due diligence, we thought that it was an opportunity to apply some of our skills that we picked up in the military, whether it be multitasking, time management or organizational skills.”

PMI Bluebonnet Realty opened earlier this year with Poer as the owner and Devine as the operations manager. “The more we looked into HOA management, the more we saw that there was a lot of room for improvement in our area,” said Devine.

As Devine notes, there are several reasons why his and Poer’s military experience positioned them for success with PMI. “There is a commitment and integrity aspect that we bring to the business — one that we learned during our military experience — where we can guarantee clients that when we say we are going to do something, we are actually going to do it,” she said. “Even if we don’t have all the answers right away, we are going to do everything we can to find them. This level of reliability is essential in HOA management, and is the reason that veterans make such great PMI franchisees.”

As part of PMI’s network of property managers, PMI Bluebonnet Realty is able to provide its community the strength and resources of a national corporation while providing high quality customer service that only a local community manager can provide.

“Veterans are prime candidates for PMI's franchise opportunity, and we are proud to have Steve and Tara join the PMI family,” said Danessa Itaya, President of PMI. “PMI’s consistent revenue-generating model has helped hundreds of property managers realize their dreams of successful business ownership and we are excited to watch PMI Bluebonnet Realty grow.”

The startup costs for a Property Management Inc. franchise range from $42,550 to $166,600. The franchise fee ranges from $35,000 to $128,600. To learn more about franchising with Property Management Inc., visit