After Facing Rental Challenges, Alice Garcia Found a Better way to Serve San Antonio Property Owners
Managing a rental property sounds easy — you buy a place, fix it up, then kick back and collect a stream of rent checks. But the reality is that there’s a lot more to managing an investment property than you’d think. You have to secure reliable tenants, market your property effectively, track financials, and handle unexpected maintenance and repairs. Needless to say, it’s a full-time job.
The owner of Real Property Management First Class in San Antonio — and a recipient of Franchise Business Review’s 2026 Excellence Award — Alice Garcia learned the demands of managing rentals as an investor, not a property manager. An Army Veteran, Garcia bought a property while stationed in San Antonio. But when she had a permanent change of station (PCS), she needed someone to manage the property. A sergeant she knew fit the bill. “I thought, ‘I already know you. Here are the keys to my house,’” she laughs. “We never had a written agreement. The arrangement was built on trust because we’d served together and knew each other really well.”
But when she moved back to San Antonio, her friend returned her keys and retired. Garcia still needed someone to manage the property, so this time, she hired a management company and put a formal contract in place. But the company didn’t know the San Antonio market and eventually bowed out.
Garcia was researching other companies when a friend said, “You know, you can probably do this yourself.” Having worked incorporate America, Garcia had built skills in communications, marketing, human resources and strategic planning. So, she read a few books and launched a side hustle as a property manager. “I taught myself enough to be dangerous,” she remembers. Eventually, Garcia left the corporate world in search of more career fulfillment. Call it fate: Around the same time, Neighborly®, Real Property Management’s parent company, just happened to be running an informational session, “Franchising 101.”
Back then, Garcia didn’t know much about franchising. She associated it with retail or restaurants, like McDonald’s and Chick-fil-A, but she was curious enough to attend. “One of the owners — who I now consider a mentor — talked about his property management franchise. I was floored. I didn’t even know that existed,” she says. “I hadn’t thought of property management as a franchise opportunity. Immediately, I bombarded him with questions.”
Garcia was intrigued. By owning a Real Property Management franchise, as opposed to going it alone, she would become part of a larger family and have access to experts in a variety of fields. “That’s what drew me in,” she says. In March 2023, she became a Real Property Management owner.
The Neighborly Family
“It’s helpful to have other businesses and vendors to turn to,” she explains. In San Antonio, she has access to a range of Neighborly brand franchise owners — Mr. Appliance, Mr. Handyman® and Junk King®, among others. “I’ve been able to build relationships beyond Real Property Management with the larger Neighborly family, which has been extremely beneficial,” she adds.
Cultivating relationships is key for Garcia. While some might see property management as a real estate business, she sees it as a people business and always leads from the heart. “I’m caring and empathetic. I always try to listen to what’s going on and what’s driving someone’s questions,” she says. “I’m also organized. One of my superpowers is turning chaos into order. If you’re managing a property, it can feel chaotic. I try to make that easier.”
Though Garcia claims she isn’t the best self-promoter, her modest social media posts and referrals from various networks (church, yoga) attract new customers. “I lead with connection, and those connections refer friends, neighbors and co-workers,” she says. “Whether in the military, corporate America or my personal life, I’ve always been about people.”
Learn more about the Real Property Management franchise opportunity.
