From 1 Door to 1,600: The Systems That Scale Property Management | Josh Sterling

How Epic runs 1,600 doors with software and specialists

Josh Sterling built Epic Property Management from one house into a platform managing about 1,600 doors by treating midsize scattered-site rentals as a systems problem. Buildings of 20 to 100 units cannot support on-site staff, so he built custom software and a specialist staff to run them like larger properties. Turnover is the metric that decides profitability, and with Midwest costs rising faster than rents, efficiency and automation will separate winners in the next cycle.

Takeaways

• Turnover is the metric that matters most. Sterling tracks it above everything. Epic hit 18.2% in 2025 against an industry average of 45-55%. Each turnover costs at least $3,000, typically $3,000 to $4,000. Heavy rehabs reach $10,000 to $15,000.
• Custom software broke the 300-door plateau. Every system filtered up to Sterling at about 300 units. Spark, a custom back office named after an original developer, tied the subsystems together. Work orders that were printed on paper now run on iPads with photos, cutting turnover time nearly in half.
• Midsize scattered-site is hard and valuable. Buildings of 20 to 100 units cannot support on-site staff, so mom-and-pop owners mismanage them. Epic built systems to run them as professionally as a 300-unit building. That difficulty is exactly why the deals carry value.
• Specialists replace the manager-per-doors model. Epic runs about 40 staff across four offices plus a 10-to-12-person trades arm for plumbing, HVAC, painting and flooring. Instead of one manager per few hundred doors, specialists handle accounts payable and maintenance dispatch. Project managers can approve an $8,000 roof without escalation.
• Midwest economics squeezed property management margins. Sterling says Midwest inflation rose 50 to 60 percent while rents climbed only 10 to 15 percent over five years. He calls property management in 2026 multiples harder than 2019, and says rents cannot outpace income growth over the long term.
• Automation plus efficiency wins the next cycle. Sterling's favorite tool is Spark and his book recommendation is The E Myth. He argues efficiency gets too little attention in the industry even as automation arrives. He may license Spark to other management companies once credentials and permissions are separated.
• He started with one house in 2009. Sterling used 0% credit card balance transfers to buy a single-family house. His ownership portfolio now holds about 1,200 units, with Epic managing another 400. The original tenant stayed 16 to 18 years, and he says he would not take that risk today.

Epic's turnover playbook