7 keys to running a 5 star luxury property management company

A new generation of homeowners is investing in luxury real estate. According to Knight Frank’s 2024 Wealth Report, the average ultra high net worth family owns four or more homes. Among centi-millionaires, multiple home ownership is nearly ubiquitous — 90% of centi-millionaires own second homes, and 65% own second homes outside their home country, based on global data from New World Wealth.

The problem is, these property owners typically don’t have the time to keep up with the routine maintenance, housekeeping, and care that high end properties require.

While many families hire full-time household staff to keep things running smoothly, others are drawn to a more flexible model.

Take, for example, a vacation home the family visits a few times a year. They might need concierge services when they’re visiting, but in the off-season, they probably only need someone on-site to watch for maintenance issues and meet with service providers.

Or, consider a family who has high standards and complex property needs (like commercial grade systems for irrigation), but doesn’t want to take on the HR burden of hiring a property management team.

Fractional estate management is a flexible approach to luxury property management services. For principals, it offers the peace of mind that a property is cared for and well-maintained, without the heavy lift of hiring and managing household staff. And for private service professionals, this approach offers an opportunity to build a business serving a range of clients.

So what does it take to run a five star property management company?

We spoke with top fractional estate managers from across the country to get their perspectives. Here’s what they’ve learned about the keys to managing a luxury properties at scale.

1. Plan for scale from day one

Before Catherine Smith and her Co-Founder (and husband) Stuart Smith launched their fractional estate management company in North Carolina, they envisioned their end game. They started by asking themselves some important questions:

• What are the needs of our community?
• What is full service property management worth to our clientele?
• How many clients do we want to support?
• Do we want to hire staff and expand our operation over time?
• How do we want to structure and sell our services?

Today, Alerion Estate Management serves 30 luxury homes across the High Country, Charlotte and Wilmington. Catherine says having a clear vision and the right systems in place from the beginning has helped the company grow responsibly.

“It’s about controlling the chaos before it starts,” says Catherine. “Starting from scratch can be overwhelming, but we’ve developed thoughtful systems using Nines to make the process more structured and manageable.”

Standardizing onboarding, developing protocols, clearly defining your scope of work, and implementing smart systems for communication and operations can all help you provide high-touch service at scale.

“Our aim is to ensure each client feels as though they are our sole priority,” says Catherine.

The key: In estate management, it’s always better to be proactive. Start with by getting organized and setting up systems that can scale with you as you grow.

2. Be selective about your clients

Joe Pellegrino founded the bespoke residential estate management firm The Pantheon Group after a career in corporate real estate. Joe is the single point of contact for all of his clients’ properties — a trusted partner who supports them with everything from finding the right real estate investment to overseeing renovations.

For the past two years, he’s grown the business slowly, always looking to take on a specific type of client: working, busy people with at least 3 properties, who might have household staff (like a groundskeeper or a housekeeper) but no one to manage team members at a higher level.

“We’ve actually turned away more business than we’ve accepted and I think that’s made us successful,” says Joe.

The key: Find your niche, and build your business around the right type of client for you.

3. Build strong, respectful relationships with vendors

Rachel McGrath worked for a boutique property management firm that managed 50 residential properties in Laguna Beach before going out on her own and founding RK Estate Management. During her three years there, she developed a strong network of tradespeople and subcontractors, and learned how to communicate effectively with subject matter experts.

“When trades are working in the home, I make it a point to be present,” says Rachel. “I engage with them directly, asking questions, sharing my observations, and checking in — not only to ensure the work is progressing smoothly, but to demonstrate that I genuinely care about their process. This also allows me to better understand the mechanical systems so I can better manage issues as they arise in the future.”

Being gracious, texting to confirm appointments, and ensuring vendors get paid on time — not to mention delivering a steady stream of business over time — can all lead to long-term loyalty.

Nearly two years into running her own business, Rachel says her strong relationships are the key to her success.

The key: Be curious and ask questions. Create strong partnerships with experts who can help you deliver excellent service.

4. Hire people who love the work

Emily Dodds founded Immaculate Home with the goal of setting a new standard of excellence in cleaning. Since then, the business has expanded into a full-scale lifestyle and estate support service with relationships, discretion, and deeply personalized care at its core.

“It comes down to the fact that I genuinely love people,” says Emily.

As she builds her team, she prioritizes one thing above all: heart.

“I never pass on someone extraordinary just because they’re only available 20 hours a week,” she says. “We’re proving that exceptional service doesn’t require traditional schedules — it requires exceptional people.”

Her advice to other fractional estate managers? Build around talent, not time.

“How do we integrate normal lifestyles into servicing a much higher clientele?” says Emily, “It’s finding people who love the work” 

The key: Hire the best people — and don’t hesitate to embrace the flexibility of a fractional estate management model as you build your team.

5. Level up service with the best property management systems

The team at 2Keys in Colorado understands that it takes both the right people and the right systems to scale high-touch property management services. Estate management consultant Stephanie Galetzki of Elevated Estates Reimagined has helped 2Keys build out the company’s org chart, clarify the roles and responsibilities, define the scope of services, centralize the team’s calendar, and professionalize the way they organize information about their clients’ properties.

She says having everything in one property management platform (Nines) is critical to keeping everyone on the same page. With all the details documented and searchable, the 2Keys team has access to everything they need to keep the estates they manage running smoothly, no matter who’s on site.

“How can you run all these properties on spreadsheets? It’s not effective and it’s not dynamic,” says Stephanie. “It’s invaluable for management to look at the calendar and see where the teams are every day and what they’re working on — it streamlines communications and levels up the service.”

Most importantly, having a centralized system — rather than keeping information in everyone’s heads — allows for easy cross-training and ensures nothing slips through the cracks.

“What I love about it is, if one of their estate managers is out for a week and they are covering 5-10 properties, then someone else can step in,” says Stephanie.

The key: Set your team and your organization up for success with best in class systems that can help you scale and retain a legacy of knowledge.

6. Preserve historical knowledge

Madelynn Hughes is an estate management consultant and lifestyle concierge who runs Imparadise Club. She typically works with clients on 6-month or 1-year contracts based on their unique needs.

She might be brought in to plan luxury travel experiences, to manage a renovation, or to oversee a new construction project. When she moves on, she wants to leave behind a roadmap for her clients to build on what she started.

“I take all that tribal knowledge with me,” she explains, adding that now, she takes detailed notes in her clients’ Nines accounts as she goes. “Being able to input all of that into Nines is so important because it needs to stay within the household manual.”

She says preserving everything from conversations with vendors to HVAC warranties pays off in dividends as time goes on.

“I always tell people it’s better to document everything in the moment, because it’s history — you can’t go back,” says Madelynn.

The key: Whether it’s for your clients, your team members, or your future self, maintain a historical record of every project and property.

7. Set up guardrails

One of the unique advantages to setting up a fractional estate management business versus working as a full-time estate manager is the promise of flexibility, control and work-life balance. But, inevitably, your phone will still ring outside of normal working hours.

“Fractional doesn’t mean on-call,” says Emily Dodds. “I love my clients, but emergencies to them and emergencies to me are often not the same. You have to be really clear in your communications while holding a boundary.”

Emily starts every new client relationship with a Non-Negotiable Agreement and a Client Preference Form — two onboarding tools designed to clarify expectations, define true emergencies, and establish mutual respect from day one.

“It protects the client, and it protects the team,” says Emily. “When everyone knows the expectations, the service becomes seamless.”

At the same time, as you deliver superior service in the core areas of your business, clients may ask you to support in other areas, like managing their rental properties or supporting with household budgeting.

Stephanie Galetzki says it’s important to say no to projects that don’t feel like a fit, and to recognize when a family might be better off hiring full time staff.

“Stay true to what you are,” says Stephanie. “Be very careful what services you want to offer because it will impact your work-life balance.”

The key: Define your scope and set boundaries that protect your team, your mental health, and the quality of your work.

Keep exploring fractional estate management

Want to learn more about setting up and scaling a luxury 5 star property management company? Join us for a webinar on April 29 with Catherine Smith, Co-Founder of Alerion Estate Management.

During this conversation, Catherine will share how her team channeled years of experience managing private residences on the island of St. John, USVI, into a premier property management company based in North Carolina.

We’ll cover:

• An overview of the fractional estate management trend
• How to start and scale a fractional estate management business
• Tips for systems and operations, hiring, marketing and more

Register now to save your spot!