Spokane-based Windermere Lease Source Property Management has acquired the assets of longtime property manager Watson Management Co., also of Spokane.

The acquisition adds about 550 properties to Windermere Lease Source’s management portfolio, says Scott Wetzel who is CEO of the rental-management company and Windermere Services Mountain West real estate brokerage.

“That brings us to a total of 1,100 doors under management,” says Wetzel, who declines to disclose the terms of the acquisition.

Wetzel says the properties include mostly single-family residences and some multifamily dwellings. The properties are spread out from the Washington-Idaho state line to Cheney. 

Windermere has retained Watson’s four critical employees who maintained the company’s day-to-day operations. Watson’s former owners, Rawley Harrison and Helen Harrison, have retired, he says. 

Windermere Lease Source has six employees who work at the company’s offices at 25 W. Cataldo. With the acquisition, Windermere will be moving its property management operations to the Watson Management offices, located north of downtown Spokane at 102 E. Baldwin, in the Logan neighborhood.

Moving forward, Wetzel plans to continue to acquire more property management companies that fit within the Windermere Lease Source model, which focuses on acquiring companies owned by people without a succession plan who are looking to retire, he says. 

“We acquire them, and it allows for an easy exit,” Wetzel says. “I become the retirement plan for them.” 

By obtaining these types of property management companies, it allows Windermere to scale and only keep the administrative and financial staff, he says. Wetzel says his widespread network has helped him locate these types of companies and he’s started to gain a reputation. 

“We’re going to continue on an acquisition path,” Wetzel says. “With our systems and processes in place, it’s really unlimited, the number of companies we can acquire.” 

As reported by the Journal of Business Watson Management was founded by Ralph Watson in 1927. Harrison joined the company in 1978 and was the company’s president and designated broker. He also was visually impaired due to macular degeneration, a serious progressive eye disease that left him legally blind, but didn't hinder his ability to manage the Spokane-based company for nearly 50 years.