Real Estate Broker-Turned-Property Management Inc. Corporate Team Member Invests in the Brand as a Franchisee

Neither Dan Berry nor Gabe Chadsey are strangers to the real estate industry. Both were brokers for over 25 years, and they couldn’t imagine doing anything else, given their passion and love for the industry as a whole. However, when the Great Recession hit in 2008, both Berry and Chadsey knew that something needed to change in order to have more consistent revenue coming in.

That’s when Berry was introduced to Property Management Inc. He was hired to be a broker for a franchise owned by the brand’s co-founder and CEO, Steve Hart. As Berry became more engrained in the business and learned what advantages the model had to offer, he decided to look into becoming a franchisee himself.

“What prompted me to begin the whole process of looking for something new was that in 2008, when the real estate market crashed, no one was buying real estate anymore. I owned a software company as well that was geared toward the real estate community, but no one was buying that at the time, either,” said Berry. “When I learned more about Property Management Inc.’

s business model, I loved the residual income streams. When you have those income streams coming in once you build your portfolio, you can weather hard times. If I had owned a Property Management Inc.

franchise in 2008, I wouldn’t have suffered so much.”

Recognizing the potential for both a great business ownership opportunity and a way to diversify his revenue, Berry shared the idea with his longtime friend and colleague, Chadsey.

“When I brought the idea of owning a Property Management Inc. franchise to Gabe, he was in the same boat as me. He had been a broker like me for 25 years, and we both went through the economic downturn saying that we’d never go through that kind of situation again where we had no cash flow coming through. That’s when we decided that property management was the best direction to go in,” said Berry. “We could have decided to go it alone, but why would we reinvent the wheel? We bought into a Property Management Inc. franchise because they already had the business model in place.”

Chadsey immediately saw what drew Berry into the business model, and having had experience in the property management industry before, saw a clear path to growing his portfolio at a much faster pace than he would have been able to do alone.

“The thing that was most appealing to me with Property Management Inc. as a platform was how advanced it was. I was used to managing properties the old-fashioned way, which involved a lot of Excel sheets and phone calls. And that was advanced. But it certainly meant I could only do so much,” said Chadsey. “Property Management Inc. appealed to me because joining the franchise gave us the ability to automate things to a degree that growth could be exponential. Now, I’m not spending my time dealing with the minutiae. I’m focused on growing the business, and it’s been a game-changer.”

Currently, Berry and Chadsey’s Property Management Inc. franchise oversees more than 300 doors, with about 15 to 20 doors being added each month. In addition to that success, Berry continues to work with Property Management Inc.’s corporate team as a franchise development realtor and broker.

“My main job with the corporate team is in franchise development. I’m helping other people see Property Management Inc.’s vision the same way I do. We work with a lot of existing property management companies, and they’re all using outdated systems like Gabe was. That’s why we have a conversion program where they can convert their existing companies to become a part of Property Management Inc.’s system to make more money with less effort. My job is to help them understand how the brand can help them in growing their business,” said Berry.

One of the biggest ways that Berry and the Property Management Inc. team help new and existing property managers expand their business is by offering four different pillars, or areas of property management. These pillars are ultimately what allows Property Management Inc. to stand out in the crowded industry.

“When I first started with Property Management Inc., we were only in residential property management. Since then, we’ve expanded to offer our commercial, association and short-term rental pillars. That allows our franchisees to tap into new markets and bring in business that they wouldn’t have had in the past.”

As Berry explained, “Most property managers today have about four or five revenue streams available to them. We have over 50. The reason we can do this is that our systems, tools and processes are all integrated. It allows one person to do more with fewer resources.”

*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