Bri Leichliter sold her Cincinnati property management company, 215 to 220 doors and $750,000 to $800,000 revenue, without a broker.
The sale was a four-payment installment deal with no clawback, closing October 10 and transferring management November 1.
Bri says the systems transition was hardest and she would have delayed switching staff from Buildium to AppFolio and TurboTenant by 90 days.
A property manager sells her company without a broker
Bri Leichliter built a Cincinnati property management company to roughly 215 doors and sold it without a broker. The deal was an installment sale timed for taxes, with low churn but a painful systems transition. The emotional side of exiting a small business rarely gets discussed, including the loneliness of running it and the loss of control after the sale.
Takeaways
Bri sold her PM company without a broker. At sale the Cincinnati business had around 215 to 220 doors, seven staff, revenue of $750,000 to $800,000 and no debt. She skipped a broker because the size did not justify giving away a piece.
The sale was mostly about money. Bri faced a choice between hiring an expensive leader or exiting. She had no regrets and treated continuing to run the business as her fallback, which gave her leverage in negotiations.
Churn stayed low after the handoff. Only one client declined to transition and one off-boarded to another manager. The rest left because they sold their property. Joint communication and Bri's retained sales-client relationships helped, unlike the high churn Peter saw on Columbus portfolio acquisitions.
Closing did not bring immediate relief. Bri felt no relief at closing and only reached a new normal in January when her workload dropped. She had one meltdown over feeling helpless and still manages six renovation projects for the buyer because handing them off felt unfair.
Deal paid in four installments. The first two payments were based on door count at closing and later ones on a true-up. There was no clawback. She and her CPA timed payments for taxes, so the first wire landed January 5 and the final payment comes in 2027.
Running a business is lonely and stressful. Bri says the property management industry does not talk enough about how difficult and lonely running a business is without a partner. Peter wants people to understand the struggle is normal and not a personal failing.
How the sale unfolded
Bri drafted an NDA in advance so it was ready when she decided to sell.
She texted three brokers over Labor Day weekend that she had decided to sell, with no price and a decision planned by month's end.
Preliminary conversations and data sharing led to due diligence and an LOI that took about two weeks to negotiate.
An attorney drafted the purchase contract and the assignment of contracts.
The deal closed on October 10. Management transferred on November 1, when the buyer took all staff and both revenue and expenses.
What she would do differently
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On this episode 2
Show 1
Keep the same systems for 90 days while the buyer's people train on their new system.
Then plan to offboard from one system and onboard to the other.
Delay implementation of system changes, which she sees as a huge piece of staff retention.
Learn more about how the buyer's operations functioned so handoffs could be better.