The Keyrenter Story
Keyrenter Property Management found its roots when a small real estate company diversified and sought solutions to common property management problems.
During the financial market crisis of 2007, Aaron Marshall, a successful Keller Williams broker, built a real estate team that specialized in bank-owned, foreclosure and short-sale properties. By positioning themselves ahead of the market trend, The Marshall Group successfully closed 96% of the 243 homes they listed along the Wasatch Front, resulting in over $48 million in sales in 2009. The team was successful enough to be recognized by the Wall Street Journal for two consecutive years as one of the Top 100 Sales Teams.
Aaron started buying hard-to-sell homes from clients looking to avoid foreclosure and other bad credit situations. Eventually, he had a handful of investment properties that facilitated his property management learning process. Aaron found it impossible to find an existing property management company that could provide the services his team needed at a reasonable cost while still meeting their clients’ high expectations. As a result, Aaron and his business associate Nate Tew took over the management responsibilities themselves.
Developing Proactive Property Management Systems
Aaron and Nate formed a partnership and launched Premier Management of Utah as an additional profit center. Their business was operated around the core belief that negative property management and tenant experiences are largely a result of underdeveloped systems, a lack of automation, software and expertise and poor customer service. The two believed that it wasn’t enough to merely find a good tenant for a rental property—you have to put effort into developing relationships with both the client and the tenant and be proactive in providing superior customer service through property management.
In 2011, Aaron and Nate changed their business name from Premier to Keyrenter Property Management. By the end of 2013, they represented around 350 property owners along the Wasatch Front. With only seven employees, Keyrenter was able to provide 24/7 property management services to over 700 people.
How was this possible? Keyrenter is high-tech as far as property management goes. Our automation, technology and “anti-chaos” proprietary software allows the company to manage far more properties with fewer people, in less time and for less money. Using innovative techniques like virtual tours and QR code-triggered property viewings dramatically reduce the number of in-person tours and the time property managers need to spend to secure a lease agreement. By leveraging these kinds of solutions, Keyrenter has vowed to stay ahead of the pack.
To continue growing the business, Keyrenter launched a comprehensive digital marketing strategy that combines search engine optimization, pay-per-click advertising, social media, and content marketing. This approach helped attract new property owners, investors and tenants and develop a strong brand identity that the business still relies on today.
Expanding Keyrenter through Franchising
In 2013, Aaron and Nate recognized that the larger property management industry suffered from the same problems they had experienced when initially developing their business. With their systems firmly in place and a track record of success established, they decided to launch the Keyrenter franchise concept to bring top-quality property management services to markets across the country.
Franchising the business made the most sense to the team because of how much real estate relies on intense relationship building and knowledge of local markets. In equipping franchise partners with the systems and expertise they’d learned along the way, Aaron and Nate saw ample opportunity for expansion. In 2014, Keyrenter sold its first franchise, and the business has been expanding ever since. As of May 2023, Keyrenter manages 8,600+ doors across the U.S. with 52 operating Franchises.