So You Married a Property Manager? How to Run a Property Management Business with Your Partner or Spouse
The Property Management Show - A podcast by The Property Management Show

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Do you know any successful, married property managers? We do. Hoffman Realty is one of the most successful property management companies in the country, and as you’ll soon learn, the owners of that company have a marriage that most of us would envy. Why is everything working so well? We’re going to find out on today’s episode of The Property Management Show. Our guests are MaryAnn Hoffman and Andrew Dougill from Hoffman Realty, a Tampa property management and real estate company. MaryAnn founded the company in 1998, right after she graduated from the University of South Florida. There were a lot of investors who wanted her to manage their properties, so she started the company. Later, she met Andrew and got married. Now, these married property managers work together and they’re going to share some tips for success. If you’re a listener who is thinking about going into business with your partner or spouse, you’ll want to pay attention. The advice you hear will help you decide if it’s the right time. It will also help you plan for the potential rewards and challenges. How Did These Married Property Managers Get Started? MaryAnn was already in real estate when they got married, and Andrew was working for a large corporation as an engineer. He had a nice corner office downtown and even his own parking spot. Then, he got laid off in 2000, during the burst of the dot-com bubble. This was scary for MaryAnn who wondered if her business could support the both of them while he looked for a new job in his field. They created something good from a bad situation. MaryAnn needed a website and a lot of technical support. So, she suggested that Andrew work for her company while he looked for his next job. She was concerned that he was giving up some huge potential career opportunities, but after 20 years as an engineer, Andrew stopped looking for a new job and really became involved in Hoffman Realty. They realized they were having fun working together. So, they took the plunge and officially went into business together. Establishing a Routine and Setting Boundaries as Married Property Managers In his former job, Andrew did a lot of traveling and when he would return home, it was difficult for him and MaryAnn to fall back into the routine of being together. Now that they work together, there’s a lot more harmony around the house. The couple is really in sync and everything runs a lot smoother. There’s more of a connection within their professional and personal relationship. If MaryAnn is having a bad day, Andrew gets it. There’s a lot more intimacy when you know what each person is going through and what they’re dealing with on a daily basis. They help each other, and they rely on their own individual strengths to keep the company – and the relationship – on track. Setting boundaries is also important. Married property managers bringing in their spouse to work with them might be concerned that their partner will try to take over and change everything. That’s not what you want. Andrew and MaryAnn decided that they would separate which parts of the company they were each responsible for running. MaryAnn is the people person and makes routine decisions about the business. Andrew handles the technology and the high level decisions and everything related to their marketing systems and processes. In 20 years, these married property managers haven’t stumbled, and it’s largely because of those clear boundaries. MaryAnn says she admires Andrew’s ability to handle what he handles, and she loves managing her end of the business. She doesn’t flinch when angry owners yell, but she has no interest in figuring out why a computer isn’t working. Their strengths are much different, and they use those differences to make their company run better.