What is RPM?

Welcome to Canada's Property Management podcast, your number one resource for investing, managing, and maximizing the value of your real estate assets. And now here's your hosts, Carla Browne and Adrian Schulz, Canada's rental property experts.

Adrian Schulz (00:19):

Carla, I'm hot and ready to go and that's because of the sunshine on my back.

Carla Browne (00:25):

Spring has sprung.

Adrian Schulz (00:26):

Spring has sprung. Oh yeah. That's why I'm wearing my Easter shirt. Today, we're going to talk about what the heck is RPM. We have been talking about it for months on this podcast, but we've never really talked about it. So what is RPM?

Carla Browne (00:47):

Real Property Management is RPM. So don't Google RPM to find out what RPM is actually, because that will not get you to where you need to go. Realpm.ca or realpropertymgt.ca. Real Property Management is a franchise system that specializes in that real estate residential rental market. I'm not sure exactly what the answer is that you're looking there, Adrian, for because I could really go on for a really long time and you'd probably have to put me on pause, but yes, we are a company that is from one edge of the country to the other and growing and we serve as those small to medium size investors who are looking at creating wealth through the real estate asset.

Adrian Schulz (01:34):

Carla, we're going to treat this episode like our first date. Okay?

Carla Browne (01:41):

Why do we always bring dating into these things? I mean-

Adrian Schulz (01:44):

I don't know.

Carla Browne (01:45):

I mean we are not dating. We are both-

Adrian Schulz (01:47):

No, I know.

Carla Browne (01:47):

Both long married and-

Adrian Schulz (01:50):

Well, you've been married a lot longer than I have I think.

Carla Browne (01:53):

I certainly have. I certainly have.

Adrian Schulz (01:54):

Yeah, but we're not going down that rabbit hole. So let's start with the basics. The pandemic has taught us a lot of things. For example, that working at home can be enjoyable, working for yourself might be enjoyable. Maybe you don't want to go back to that corporate office or that business office working for somebody else. And a lot of people have had the opportunity maybe to save up a little bit of money during the pandemic. Others, not. We're not going there, but why is this a great time to think about starting a business?

Carla Browne (02:36):

Yeah. So the pandemic definitely has played a role in that, we're seeing that when people are coming to talk to us. But I think any time is a really good time to start a business. But you do have to be business minded and this is part of going through the processes that you go through when you might be interested with RPM or with Real Property Management, is that you would actually sit down and well not sit down, I mean virtually obviously, and have a call with our business development team to walk you through what it takes to be in business and what it takes to be in this type of industry for business, because it is not meant for everybody. But essentially when you become a business owner within a franchise organization, you are in business for yourself, but not by yourself.

Carla Browne (03:24):

You are a local business owner. You are servicing your local community. You are getting involved with the local business associations, the chambers and whatnot. You are employing local employees. You are a local business owner and this is where people sometimes get this vision that you buy a franchise and now you're part of this great, big, big conglomerate. And that's not really what it is. You are a business owner. We're here to support you as the franchise [inaudible 00:03:52] but the franchisee themselves is the one that's actually building the business in the community so that whole shop local theme that was going on since COVID started, and I truly believe in it, but franchise companies are local businesses in their community.

Adrian Schulz (04:07):

We've both been self-employed for a long time in various different ventures. And I'm sure we've both had successes and failures, right? What is the difference between being self-employed as an independent business versus being self-employed with a franchise business?

Carla Browne (04:32):

So being self-employed on your own without being part of a franchise, you are doing a lot of the leg work, a lot of the backend stuff all by yourself. So you've got to create your marketing plan. You've got to create the marketing assets. You've got to figure out how you're going to get your name into your community. You have to figure out the different processes. You have to figure out what vendors to align yourself with, what kind of software you're going to put into your company. And I think it could be very much sitting on a lonely island. When you are part of a franchise system, you already have people surrounded by you that are like-minded who that you can share from, you can learn from right from the get go. In fact, part of the process of... I keep going back to this, we have six stages in becoming a franchise with RPM, because we really want to make sure this is a really good fit for the person who's coming on.

Carla Browne (05:24):

It's not about just, do we want you? It's do you want us and do we want you? We have to make sure that that entire fit is there. And one of the things is validation is what we call it. And we actually ask the perspective individuals looking at our business model to go out and talk to other franchisees that we've brought on, ask them about our systems and processes, ask them about what our home office really is like as far as support, ask the questions that are important to them so that they can make sure that it really does align with what they want.

Carla Browne (05:56):

You don't have that when you go into business by yourself for the most part. And I mean, there are so many... In my mind, I mean, I'm very biased I guess Adrian, but there's so many advantages as far as vetted vendors, discounts on vendors and programs and pricing on different things, having a website completely set up for you the minute you open up your doors with RPM. All of these things that people think are exciting to do, but when you have to do them by yourself, they can be super daunting tasks.

Adrian Schulz (06:25):

Yeah. You mentioned home office and our home office with RPM includes a business development team, a marketing agency team, a technology team, an operations team. And if you're starting a business on your own independently, there's no way that you could possibly have all of those professional resources alone. Right? And with a franchise that's instantly available to you and you're out the gate running, which I think really improves your chances for success and lessens your possibilities for failure.

Carla Browne (07:12):

A hundred percent. I always say these three words, you've probably heard me say them before. I probably said them on this podcast before because I say them so much. Visibility, credibility and profitability. So you need as a business owner to get out and be visible, right? To be successful, you have to be building business in your local community. The credibility piece, you as a new business owner don't have that yet necessarily. The franchise backing can give that to you. With our North Americans connections, we have over 35 years in this business. Right away, you have that going along with you. Every time you're talking to somebody, you have that home office staff experience behind you. So you are not just going at it all by yourself, which automatically would lead then to that profitability piece and gaining business which is really... I mean, you go into business to gain business, right? We're not a nonprofit. We want our franchisees to be profitable.

Adrian Schulz (08:07):

I think there's something very unique about the Real Property Management franchise. So not only is it the leading property management franchise. I think at least in North America, potentially globally, but also in Canada, we are part of the Charlwood Pacific Group, which is a company that actually owns the rights and operates the CENTURY 21 brand in Canada as well as the [inaudible 00:08:41] financial mortgage brokerage brand in Canada. So we are part of a, what do you call it? That we are a circle of...

Carla Browne (08:53):

Success.

Adrian Schulz (08:53):

Yeah.

Carla Browne (08:54):

The investor circle of success.

Adrian Schulz (08:56):

Yeah. So not only is it a franchise in a growing market space, it is part of a North American conglomerate that is very well recognized, respected and doing well. And we are part of a highly respected, stable, value driven, family owned company called the Charlwood Pacific Group.

Carla Browne (09:22):

Yes. Thank you for adding that. I'm just going to add that I've been a part of the Charlwood Pacific Group for, oh, I'm really going to age myself now, almost 29 years.

Adrian Schulz (09:31):

And how long have you been married?

Carla Browne (09:35):

It'll be 32 years in September.

Adrian Schulz (09:38):

Wow.

Carla Browne (09:39):

So this organization, I feel like I know so closely and they are a family and this is the one thing that is super important to me as being part of the Real Property Management organization is that we are creating a community and a family feel so that people never ever feel like they're on their own. If there's a challenge that they're having in business, I want to know about it. If there a success that they're having in business, I want to know about it. But if they're getting married, I want to know about it. If they're going through a rough patch, we want to know about it. And this is what you get when you join an organization or a franchise system like this is you get people supporting people and Adrian, I will say it's not for everybody.

Carla Browne (10:22):

And that is something that is important to recognize. But for a lot of people, this is one of the reasons why they come to us, is that they want to get into this business. They understand that single family and the property management space in Canada is such a growing industry. Rental housing is an essential service, and that was definitely recognized through COVID and it has become so important for people to realize that they can lean on a property management company that is able to both help on the investor and the tenant side that has the proven systems and processes and can overcome some of those hurdles and pain points that we normally had seen in property management. And this is what you're going to get when you come to an organization like ours.

Adrian Schulz (11:05):

I want to tell you a quick story in closing. And that is, I was recently speaking with a lawyer here in Winnipeg, he'd be in his sixties. And when I mentioned my role with some of our real estate brands at Charlwood Pacific Group, he said that he was one of the first CENTURY 21 franchisees in Portage Le Prairie at decades ago.

Carla Browne (11:32):

Oh, really?

Adrian Schulz (11:33):

And he said that to this day, Mr. Gary Charlwood remains in his mind, Gary Charlwood of course being the founder of the Charlwood Pacific Group. And I said, I get a real family feeling in this business. And he's now a lawyer, extremely successful lawyer. I think [inaudible 00:11:57] retired, but I think he spent 10 or 20 years as a franchisee with the group and with the brand. And he said to this day, he feels that he owes his entrepreneurial and business success to the mentorship and leadership and guidance of the Charlwood Pacific Group. And it's extremely rare to hear that sort of a testimony from a franchisee generally speaking. But I think that story exists over and over and over again in this group of companies.

Carla Browne (12:39):

I will guarantee that story exists. I would say that Gary Charlwood and the Charlwood Pacific Group, it's like a best kept secret quite honestly. They have grown into, I think, such a successful business organization, but they are very humble about it. I mean, that's obviously a sign of great leadership as well. They have a direction of where they're going, they are not stopping. Adrian, you and I both know that, that they have a vision of where they want to take their organization next. And it is so exciting to be part of that. So, yeah. Thanks for doing this little interview today with us because I think it was important because now we're getting enough listeners that it's kind of like Real Property Management, Real Property Management. What are these people all about? So I really wanted to take some time to explain that.

Adrian Schulz (13:27):

And of course, if people want to be part of the circle of success, they can reach out and of course explore realpm.ca. Thanks for listening.

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