Buying a property management company in Jacksonville and Northeast Florida

• Many owners and associations, with no single client making up much of revenue. An investor with dozens of homes can leave in one phone call.
• Clients who stay for years, and few lost doors (the industry's word for units under management).
• Clean, reconciled trust accounts and owner statements that go out on time.
• Managers who have their own client relationships and plan to stay, so clients don't leave with the departing owner.
• Fees that cover the work, including leasing, renewals and maintenance coordination.
• A reliable network of maintenance vendors who respond quickly, since slow repairs are why owners and tenants leave.
• Software that owners, tenants and association members actually use.
• A reputation with associations for smooth board transitions, budgets and annual meetings.

• The client list: doors or associations per client, fees, how long each has been a client, and clients lost in the last three years, with the reasons.
• Trust account reconciliations for at least a year, matched to bank statements. A shortfall can become the new owner's problem.
• Management agreements: notice periods, fee schedules, and whether they can be assigned to a buyer.
• Revenue by fee type: management, leasing, renewals, maintenance markups, late fees.
• Complaints to the DBPR and any lawsuits with owners, tenants or associations.
• Who manages each relationship, and whether those managers have signed agreements not to solicit clients.
• Who owns the software accounts and data.
• For associations, contract renewal dates and any boards that have recently asked other managers for proposals.

• How many doors and associations do you manage, and how many did you lose last year?
• Who is the broker of record, and would they stay after a sale? Who holds the association manager licenses?
• Who reconciles your trust accounts, and how?
• What are your main fees, and when did you last change them?
• Can your management agreements be assigned to a new owner?
• Which clients are closest to you personally?
• Do you manage vacation rentals, and how is that business licensed and taxed?

This region covers Duval, St. Johns, Clay, Nassau, Baker and Putnam counties: Jacksonville, Jacksonville Beach, St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra Beach, Orange Park, Fleming Island, Green Cove Springs, Fernandina Beach, Yulee, Macclenny and Palatka. Jacksonville merged with most of Duval County in 1968, which makes it the largest city by land area in the lower 48 states.

The economy leans on logistics, the Navy and financial services. Logistics runs through JAXPORT, major rail lines and the meeting of Interstates 95 and 10. The Navy has Naval Air Station Jacksonville and Naval Station Mayport. Insurance and health care matter too. St. Augustine, founded by the Spanish in 1565, and Amelia Island draw steady tourism. Trucking and logistics firms, the building trades, medical practices and home services all fit this market.

Northeast Florida is less seasonal than South or Southwest Florida, with fewer winter residents and more year-round employers. Direct hurricane landfalls have been less common here than on other parts of the coast, but storms still bring flooding along the St. Johns River and the beaches, so check insurance costs and flood zones.

Military families bring skilled workers and working spouses into the labor pool, though they also move on when orders change. St. Johns, Clay and Nassau have added the most new homes, and companies serving those suburbs have grown with them. Georgia is close, and some companies here serve customers across the state line. Work in Georgia may need Georgia licenses, so ask how much revenue comes from there and who holds those licenses.