Watch this 20-minute conversation where Army Veteran Alice Garcia shares her experience as a Real Property Management franchisee. Real Property Management is part of the Neighborly family of brands.
More about Real Property Management
As part of the Neighborly family of brands, Real Property Management provides comprehensive residential property management services connecting property owners with qualified tenants while handling day-to-day operations, maintenance, and wealth optimization.
Each year, Real Property Management uses the FBR franchisee satisfaction survey to gain unbiased insights into their franchisees, and they have ranked highly on our unbiased awards lists for many years, including:
- Top 200 Franchises
- Most Profitable Franchises
- Top Real Estate Franchises
- Top Services Franchises
- Top Franchises For Women
- Top Low-Cost Franchises
Interested in Becoming a Real Property Management Franchise Owner?
Real Property Management emphasizes its credentials, tech-based systems, and a supportive community of franchise owners, making it an attractive opportunity for entrepreneurs seeking to enter the growing property management sector.
To learn more about the Real Property Management franchise opportunity and get more information, call 833.439.0326 or visit their franchise website.
Transcript
Allison Dudas (00:03)
Hi, my name is Allison Dudas and I work in the marketing department here at Franchise Business Review. Now Franchise Business Review at our heart, we are a market research company. We work with franchises, franchise brands to survey their franchisees to figure out what are the best franchise brands to own. Now one of the things that we’ve done this year is we have chosen the top franchisees, so the Franchisee Excellence Awards.
of 2026 and I am here today with one of those winners, Alice Garcia from Real Property Management, which is a neighborly company. So firstly, congratulations, Alice.
Alice Garcia (00:42)
Thank you very much. It’s humbling to get this award.
Allison Dudas (00:47)
Now we interviewed 26,000 franchisees this past year across 330 brands.
but they were invited to nominate top franchisees and we received over 120 nominations. And Alice is one of the 50 chosen and she is here to tell us a little bit about her story. So I’m so excited to talk to you more, Alice. Firstly, I wanna know, where are you based? When did you begin your franchise journey?
Alice Garcia (01:16)
I’m based in San Antonio, Texas, and I began the franchise in March of 2023 is when I went to Business Week.
Allison Dudas (01:26)
So not even that long ago, honestly. So you’re kind of new into it, and here you are already being nominated for a Franchisee Excellence Award. So that is really, really something else. What were you doing before you owned your real property management franchise?
Alice Garcia (01:29)
No.
in corporate America before and in the army before that. In corporate America I did a little bit of everything from human resources to strategy work, communications, a little bit of marketing and planning type of work as well.
Allison Dudas (02:00)
So kind of a lot of things. So what made you decide, what drew you to business ownership? What drew you to owning a franchise?
Alice Garcia (02:02)
Okay.
So when I was stationed here in the military, I stationed here in San Antonio at Forsytham Houston, and I bought a property when I PCSed here. And when I got orders to move and PCS again, I needed someone to manage the property. Thankfully, there was a tech sergeant in my unit who was retiring and going to manage a apartment complex. And so I was like, oh, I already know you. Here are the keys to my house. We never had a written agreement. It was just built on trust because we’d served together.
and knew each other really well. And so when I moved back and got out of the military and moved back to San Antonio, ⁓ he still managed the property for me until he decided he really actually wanted to retire for real, for real. And I ended up hiring a management company with a contract and vetted companies.
Allison Dudas (02:40)
Sure.
Yep, the more official approach,
yep.
Alice Garcia (02:59)
all the official things ⁓ and it had a management company running it. At that point I was investing in a property and I bought one purposefully and when I went to a management company and said, here’s the property, we’ve already done the work, it’ll be ready on this day, here’s how much it should rent for. They were like, well, don’t think that’s what you’re gonna get, we’re not really familiar with that area. And after we talked through things, they were like, you know what, we can’t manage that property for you. And so I was like, huh, okay, well I guess I gotta find somebody else. And then my friend was like, you.
probably could do this yourself. And so I did and I started reading books and teaching myself how to manage my own property. Thanks to that management company not being able to manage my own and taught myself how to do it, enough to be dangerous. Now looking back, I’m very glad.
always hire a professional property manager. But doing it myself, I learned things, ⁓ how to pick the right tenants, ⁓ the personal conversations and really building the relationship with my residents. And ⁓ so while I was in corporate America, I was doing it on the side and it had always been something I was interested in doing, but I was just happy with my corporate life. And so it really wasn’t something I was interested in pursuing at that point.
Allison Dudas (03:48)
you
So it started out as a side hustle.
Alice Garcia (04:12)
Definitely.
Side gig.
Allison Dudas (04:16)
And
what was the tipping point for you? What made you go, let’s do this full time. And also what made it real property management? What drew you to that brand specifically?
Alice Garcia (04:28)
Yeah.
So the economy was changing, the market was changing in corporate America and they were starting to be, ⁓ I was starting to feel like I wanted to be more challenged in my work and wanted to see what else was out there. So I actually started looking outside of the company for the first time and ⁓ had been there over a decade and that was, it was hard for me to consider somewhere else. But as I was looking at other companies and going to hiring ⁓ events, I really wasn’t, I didn’t want to work for someone else. So I found that I was a little bit skeptical of the man and like these big companies.
and the Promises and there happened to be a session that Neighborly was hosting on franchising 101 and so I wandered in and in my head I was thinking that it was all retail or restaurant type of franchises like Chick-fil-A or McDonald’s or something and I like don’t have the money for that but I thought you what you might as well go and listen to what they have to say and so the owners went down the line one of the owners now who I call a mentor
Allison Dudas (05:15)
Sure. Yep. Great.
Alice Garcia (05:29)
talked about his property management franchise and I was floored. Didn’t know it existed. Didn’t just figured everybody, you know, started their own franchise or started their own property management business. Cause I had started thinking then maybe I should do this for myself. I’m already managing one property. By then I was managing two of my properties. Maybe I should do it for other people and had not thought of it as a franchise opportunity. So I immediately bombarded him to the side.
that session and asked him a litany of questions and got his phone number and started texting him questions and that’s kind of started the journey into it.
Allison Dudas (06:05)
That’s so cool. have heard that one of the parts of my job is getting to talk to franchisees like you. And it really is true that there’s so many franchises that people don’t even know exist. Because people think of, the certain Subway or McDonald’s. Like we have these franchises that we think of, but the reality is it’s such a giant world.
and franchising is available across so many industries and while that you were already in that industry of property management and then thought, ⁓ now what’s the, so I just wanna be clear that Neighborly is your parent brand of real property management. And what did you feel like was the benefit for you when you signed on with real property management, that being under the umbrella of Neighborly, how do you see that as being a plus or a minus, I suppose?
Alice Garcia (06:31)
Thank you.
you
Yes.
It’s definitely a plus. again, didn’t realize the hierarchy or how things were structured. And so when I heard about him from the session, I didn’t understand that. So it is good to clarify that they are part of a bigger family. And that’s really what drew me in was not just am I a part of one franchise family, but it’s really a larger network of families. And especially in property management, it is helpful to have peers than other businesses and other vendors to be able to reach out to.
In San Antonio, we have a full litany of, or full range of franchises that are here from a Mr. Appliance to a Mr. Handyman. You talk about them, they’re here, junk keying, and so I’ve been able to build relationships not just within my real property management family, but the larger neighborly family. So it’s definitely been a plus.
Allison Dudas (07:45)
Well, and so many of the neighborly brands can work together so seamlessly. mean, it’s pretty valuable to know a, you know, a Mr. Appliance if you’re in property management. There you go. There you go. So that’s pretty nice. I kind of haven’t thought about that, but I’m like, holy cow, have those things work together. Okay. Was, what was the onboarding like? Like when you decided, okay, I’m all in, I’m doing this.
Alice Garcia (07:48)
Yes.
Yes.
We’re at one of our properties today, so yes.
Yeah.
Mm-hmm.
Allison Dudas (08:13)
What was the initial training, the discovery day? What was that all like for you?
Alice Garcia (08:21)
Discovery Day, yes, so that happened before I signed up, but it was my development, the man I was working with for development and teaching me through, teaching me all the things about franchise and that I didn’t know and helping me learn and discover that process was outstanding. He answered, I had a ton of questions and he answered questions or got answers to questions if he didn’t readily have them. Cause I was asking details about strategy and planning and what does neighborly do? does what does real property management do? What am I responsible for?
who does what and he was really fantastic at answering and not getting annoyed or visibly annoyed with all of my questions. But I had a lot of them. so after discovery, the process, the meeting the team in at headquarters, that’s really was my final thing. I wanted to get to meet the people. Everything had been, you know, virtual discussions or phone calls. And I really wanted to like a job interview, interview them as much as they interview me and make sure that it was the right fit and that.
the words that were coming out of their mouth, I could really feel that there was action behind them. And that sealed the deal. I was ready to sign after, and hoped that they were good with me. After that Meet the Team day at the end, I was waiting for my email. They said, we’ll be back in touch with you in two days. I was like, oh my, this is gonna be the longest two days of my life waiting to find out if I was gonna be awarded a franchise. And so…
They did a good job from then moving us into onboarding with a coach to get the business set up, get my office and all the things. I love a checklist. So was very helpful to just have someone there to guide you on like these are the next things you need to do answering questions and pointing me in the right direction or providing some guidance. Because again, just picking the name for this business took me quite a bit of time and like the thought process behind it and checking out what names are already.
Allison Dudas (09:53)
you
Alice Garcia (10:11)
⁓ What do I want to be the face of my business? And then, you know, was that available? So again, I had a lot of questions and they were very good at answering questions and giving me reassurance and providing answers and support.
Allison Dudas (10:27)
and you picked first class as a name?
Alice Garcia (10:29)
I
did, because I really wanted to come from a place of service. So being in the military before and just how I was raised, know, that service mentality, whether you serve in your community at large is important. And ⁓ so I wanted to come from a place of ⁓ providing first-class service and making sure that we were, whether it was to our residents or to our owners or our vendors or anyone else we come in contact that they feel and see that difference of we do care about them. And it’s not, you know, we’re focused on one area or one customer.
but it’s a whole network of customers.
Allison Dudas (11:03)
Yeah, that really comes through. can tell that. What do you think sets, obviously you have that servant mindset and being of service to your community. What else do you think really sets your franchise apart in your community?
Alice Garcia (11:17)
I mean, being a veteran, ⁓ I do have a strong affinity for our community and my previous company was focused on veterans as well. And I did a lot of work with veteran transition as a volunteer and I still do that now. And so I feel that in Military City USA, ⁓ there’s a lot of onus in me to serve back to my community and get back to my community ⁓ in order to really help owners who are also PCSing like I was to think about the investment potential of a property.
And because they’re moving to different locations, how can they build that into a wealth, an opportunity to change their family history or not the family trajectory when they’re retiring or if they don’t retire that they have bought a property or two along the way that can lead to wealth generation for them. And then when they retire, ⁓ they have a portfolio potentially of properties that can help them when it comes to deciding what they want to do. Working in the veteran transition space, I hear that constantly. Veterans feel like they have to pick a job.
They have to take whatever comes to them, but if they thought ahead and we did a better job in military teaching about the opportunity of using your VA loan for a property and then investing and moving to your next PCS location and doing that again, if it’s profitable and makes the right decision, it’s the right market decision. It can really impact their post military life. And that’s really what’s driving me was really to support the community and San Antonio as a whole, you know, support our real estate market has.
Allison Dudas (12:31)
Yes.
Alice Garcia (12:44)
been very strong and steady. And so even if you’re not a veteran or active duty, there’s a lot of opportunity here to really be able, again, to build wealth for your family and change the trajectory of their future.
Allison Dudas (12:57)
I think that’s really neat because I don’t think that necessarily a lot of people think about that as a way to change the trajectory of your own life or your family’s life. But certainly we know historically that owning property, that is really what is going to build generational wealth for people. And then you’re really going that step further and owning property and then also having investment properties potentially. Or if you are in a moment where you’re moving around still.
Alice Garcia (13:15)
Mm-hmm.
Allison Dudas (13:26)
you can make that income and then have a company like Real Property Management oversee your property when you’re not there. That’s really cool. ⁓ How would your clients describe you in three words, do you think? This is kind of a tough question to put you on the spot for.
Alice Garcia (13:26)
Mm-hmm.
No.
I think that they would describe me as caring, first off, whether I try to listen to what’s going on and what’s driving the questions or even the move, even if it’s not a military related move, like what’s the story? So I feel like I’m pretty caring and empathetic. So I’ll use that as one word, Two, that I’m organized. So I think part of being a property manager and just being a business owner is your ability to organize a team and work and task. And I like to say that I…
like to turn one of my superpowers is turning chaos into order. And so I think that’s definitely helpful. Sometimes if you’re managing your own property or looking at doing that, it can feel like a lot of chaos and trying to organize that. I make that easy. And lastly, would say, so I caring and organized, I’d say driven. So again, I think the passion part of wanting to serve my community drives what I’m doing, who I’m working with, when I’m talking to owners or to residents or vendors.
Allison Dudas (14:20)
Mmm.
Alice Garcia (14:45)
I support a lot of veteran owned vendors as well so that I can again give back to our community. And I have owners again who aren’t veterans and active duty and they still also have that same heart for ⁓ our San Antonio community. So that’s what I would say they would, the words they would say about me.
Allison Dudas (15:02)
That’s great. That’s great. How do you, what do you feel like from a marketing standpoint? So just getting the word out about your business, because obviously you have done very, very well. your franchisor nominated you for this award because of your tremendous growth in just the last two years. So what has worked for you really well from marketing to even just hiring practices?
Tell us kind of your secret sauce of how you’ve been able to be so successful in such a short period of time.
Alice Garcia (15:34)
am incredibly honored and humbled that my franchise, that Real Property Management, my business coach ⁓ nominated me for this award. didn’t know it existed, so I’m thankful that they thought highly of me and I’ve learned more about it and so I’m thankful for that. I think for me, it’s about people. So whether I was in the military or in my corporate life or just my personal life, I’ve always been about the people. ⁓
Allison Dudas (15:42)
Haha!
Alice Garcia (15:58)
With the HR background, I’m always thinking of a business when you’re talking about the people, the numbers will always align if you take care of the people. so sometimes it’d be blasphemy to say that I don’t look at the numbers on a daily basis because if my people, whether that’s my team, my residents, my owners, my vendors, if they are all happy and we are all working well together, the financials are going to work themselves out. I need to worry about the people and the relationships. And ⁓ so I think that’s what’s been successful. When I, when I left my corporate life, it was scary because I’d been there for quite a long time.
Allison Dudas (16:05)
Hmm
Alice Garcia (16:28)
and I was concerned about jumping off on my own and having to sell my business and myself. And I’m not talking about myself in that aspect. ⁓ but I found that, you know, when I posted on LinkedIn, people I’d worked with who didn’t realize that I was doing this on the side, wanted to bring their properties over because again, we had a relationship working together. And while they may not have been unhappy with their current manager,
Allison Dudas (16:39)
Sure.
Alice Garcia (16:55)
They also were like, well, I know her and I know how she works and so I want to move over. ⁓ And so a lot of it was built in relation. My broker has been a fantastic partner in bringing in business to me as well as trusting me with his portfolio. Again, built on trust and relationships ⁓ within my veteran community. Often you get one person who’s in a unit who’s worked with me then I get referral to someone else within the unit and it kind of just gets spread around. ⁓
Allison Dudas (17:21)
Okay.
Alice Garcia (17:25)
I think really looking at, don’t, I am not good at the selling part of myself. It really has been that I will be involved in something, whether it’s the Chamber of Commerce or my yoga friends or just my church community and the referrals have just come as they find out. I’m not the one giving out my business card. I horrible at that. People generally have to ask for it. But again, I think it’s because I lead first from like the connecting with people.
And then once the connections there, I’ve had residents, I’ve had owners and vendors refer ⁓ friends or neighbors or family members or coworkers. And, and I didn’t even realize that they, you know, I was glad they were happy, you know, that that referral was from a, you know, experience they had or someone they knew or a friend of a friend. There’s a lot of times where I’ll hear from someone who’s like, I talked to somebody who used to work with a few years ago, or I was stationed with, and they mentioned that I should talk to you. And so I really think has been.
not trying to sell myself, but really focusing on just my personality. My way of working is working and building relationships with people and building a strong team. The team we have here, we’re a mighty team of three. without ⁓ Sol from Leasing and Alejandro with maintenance, ⁓ they make me look good. So I’m glad that I have people who are focused again on customer service and ensuring that.
we’re providing that level of service. And when people aren’t happy, because we all know that there’s going to be dissatisfaction, ⁓ we still approach it from a place of trying to understand what’s driving the dissatisfaction. if we can’t solve things, let’s say it’s an eviction, it happens. But we try to make sure that we’re explaining things as clearly as possible in order to help lessen the blow, because nobody wants an eviction. But again,
Allison Dudas (18:55)
Thank
Mm.
Alice Garcia (19:17)
it happens at times and it’s not unavoidable, but we try to address those things from a place of how do we help you get over this and move on to the next, know, relisting the property and focus on the positive.
Allison Dudas (19:29)
That’s great. think I just want to clarify too that sometimes people think owning a business or owning even a property management business that it has to, you have to have this exact kind of personality that’s like salesy, really experienced in ⁓ certain things. And what I hear you saying is like you’re just about people. You’re building relationships. You are
Alice Garcia (19:45)
You
Allison Dudas (19:57)
pulling on your contacts. And I just feel like that’s such an important thing to know. You don’t have to be this bold extrovert to be successful here. I can tell that you work really hard. I can tell that you are a person of integrity. And obviously, I think that’s what’s led to your success here. ⁓ Well, I just want to wrap up here. And thank you so much for taking the time. Neighborly is a great parent company and real property management. Maybe somebody’s listening out there.
Alice Garcia (20:06)
You
Thank you.
Allison Dudas (20:26)
that just same as you didn’t even know that there was a franchise for property management is already doing it, right? ⁓ So I just want to say thank you so much. We really love Real Property Management. We’re happy to have them on our top 200 list and glad that their franchise satisfaction, franchisee satisfaction scores are so high so that we can talk to people like you. ⁓ And I wish you the best in the future for your business. And thank you so, so much and congratulations on being one of our award winners this year.
Alice Garcia (20:57)
Thank you, I appreciate it. And I appreciate the support from Rural Property Management family.
