For owners of management companies
Selling your property management company in Massachusetts?
Copper Bottom is a Marblehead-based property management company that is growing north of Boston, and we are interested in buying small residential management books in the towns we serve. If you manage a few hundred units or fewer, want your owners and staff looked after, and would rather have a conversation than a broker process, this page explains how a sale of a management business usually works and gives you a confidential way to reach us.
Why sell to a local company
- Your owners keep a local manager. We are based in Marblehead and manage property across the North Shore and Merrimack Valley, so your clients are not handed to a call center in another state.
- Your staff may have a place. We are growing and need good people. We talk about roles for your team as part of any conversation.
- A smooth handoff. You stay on for a transition period, introduce us to your owners and boards, and we take over systems and vendors on a schedule you agree to.
- One owner on the other side of the table. You deal with Nick Cowden, our founder, from the first call to closing.
How a sale of a management business usually works
Every deal is different, and we do not promise prices or terms on a web page. These are the shapes most small management-company sales take, in plain words.
- Asset purchase of the management agreements. The buyer purchases the management contracts, the client relationships and often the equipment and systems, rather than the company itself. The seller's company is usually wound down or kept for other business.
- Part paid at closing, part over time. A portion of the price is often paid over one to three years and tied to how many of the doors stay with the buyer, which protects both sides.
- Seller transition period. The seller stays available for a period after closing, introduces the buyer to owners, boards and vendors, and helps move the accounting and the records.
- Owner consent. Management agreements usually cannot be transferred without the owner's or the board's consent, so part of the plan is a careful, personal process of introducing the new manager and asking each client to sign on. A careful transition plan is what keeps doors from walking; nobody can promise every owner will stay.
- Staff. Employees are offered roles where there is a fit, with their pay and start dates settled before closing.
What we are looking for
- Residential rental management or condominium and HOA management, in our 37 towns or close to them.
- Books of roughly 50 to 500 units, including sole proprietors ready to retire.
- Owners who care what happens to their clients and their people after the sale.
What happens after you reach out
- A private call with Nick
No forms beyond the one below, no broker. We sign a confidentiality agreement before you share anything specific.
- A look at the book
Unit counts, fee levels, agreements, staff and systems, under the confidentiality agreement.
- A proposal and a plan
If it fits, a written proposal with the price, the payment structure and the transition plan, reviewed by your attorney and accountant.
Questions sellers ask
Will my clients know I am talking to you?
Not unless you choose to tell them. Everything is under a confidentiality agreement until there is a signed deal and an agreed plan for telling clients.
Do I have to sell the whole company?
No. Many sellers keep their company and sell the management agreements and client relationships. Your attorney and accountant will advise you on the structure that works for your situation.
What about my employees?
We talk about every person on your team early. Where there is a fit we offer roles, and we tell you honestly where there is not.
How is the price decided?
Mostly from the recurring management fees, how long the agreements have been in place, how many doors are likely to stay, and what it will cost to transition. We do not publish multiples or promise a number before we have seen the book.
This page is general information, not legal, tax or investment advice. Any sale should be reviewed by your own attorney and accountant.
Prefer to talk?
- Nick Cowden, Founder & Broker(781) 307-2726
- Emailnick@copperbottompm.com
- Office5 Sewall Street, Suite 2
Marblehead, MA 01945
Not selling, but thinking about it? We are happy to talk about what a book like yours might be worth to a buyer and what you could do now to make a sale easier later.