“We take the headache out of large-scale property renovations.”
That’s how Kelly Brooks framed her pitch and she wasn’t exaggerating. In a space as fragmented, reactive and unpredictable as property renovations, she’s managed to build something that most players can’t: predictability at scale. Her company, Property Masters, isn’t just doing work orders, they’re driving institutional-grade outcomes across 38 states.
When I sat down with Kelly, I expected insights on how to handle vendor ops or manage GC relationships. What I got instead was a masterclass in using speed and consistency as a competitive wedge and a look into how her team built proprietary tech when the market didn’t offer what they needed.
“Honestly, I almost threw in the towel in 2020.”
That moment stuck with me. Kelly was talking about the struggle to scale a custom platform. The kind of “make vs. buy” dilemma that makes or breaks companies. Property Masters needed a system that could scope jobs in the field, assign vendors, track compliance, and deliver real-time reporting. Nothing off-the-shelf could do it. So they built it themselves. And when it got hard, they didn’t quit.
I’ve seen so many teams hit this wall. You’ve got the vision, but you’re fighting against limited IT resources, integration gaps, and a dev backlog a mile long. Kelly’s team kept going. And now? Her PMs log in to see dollars-per-day burn, red flag projects, real-time margin tracking. And soon, clients will log in too. It’s not software for the sake of software. It’s operations by design.
“Most of our clients have been burned before.”
This was her answer to why trust is a barrier and why longevity matters. Kelly knows her buyers aren’t just selecting vendors. They’re trying to avoid repeating past nightmares: unpermitted work, line disputes, disappearing GCs. That’s why Property Masters leads with referrals, with 10–20 year client relationships that prove they’re built for the long haul.
I’ve felt that too. When you compete on outcomes instead of price, you win when buyers value risk reduction. And that’s where Kelly shines. It’s not about the lowest bid, it’s about delivering a repeatable, compliant, well-documented result every single time. No surprises. No shortcuts.
“We’re building out a should-cost model… because it doesn’t exist.”
This made me laugh and lean in. Kelly’s team has so much cost data that they’re building out a national renovation pricing engine by city, county and state. Not because they want to monetize it (yet), but because no one else can.
That tells you something. While others are quoting jobs on gut feel and loose comps, her team is running a cost analytics lab behind the scenes. That’s why their pricing is consistent across markets. That’s why they can predict timelines, margins and vendor performance. And that’s why they win.
As someone who’s spent the last few years trying to normalize operational workflows across remote maintenance, I was blown away by how much Kelly’s team has already productized.
“Listen for frustration. Your customers are telling you what they need.”
As we closed the interview, I asked Kelly what she wished she knew earlier. Her answer? Learn to listen better.
Whether you’re building a sales deck, a product roadmap, or a new line of business, it all comes down to catching what’s not being said. Kelly’s entire journey from college PM to CEO has been shaped by tuning into the right signals: revenue urgency, balance sheet exposure, asset disposition pressure and more. She built a company that thrives by paying attention.
And candidly, so many of us need to do the same. There’s a lot of noise in this space. But if you listen closely enough, there’s always a “Hell Yes!” hiding underneath.
Final Word (from Guillermo):
Kelly Brooks didn’t just build a renovation company, she built an operational machine that thrives on discipline, data and design. She’s made speed and consistency a product. And her customers? They’re not buying GCs, they’re buying peace of mind.
Hell Yes to that!
