Bill Coskey grew up as a son of a contractor but knew nothing about property management. Throughout his 20s, he worked as the in-house maintenance contractor for a property management company for 10 years. Over the course of those 10 years, he learned aspects of property management and would step in to manage the properties while still performing his maintenance and construction duties.
“I learned what managers wanted and adapted to their needs,” said Coskey. This knowledge prompted him to launch Liberty Maintenance with the goal of using his property management background to connect with managers and build relationships.
Liberty Maintenance is a leading provider of construction and maintenance services in the multi-family industry. As a full-service company, the firm specializes in community association and multi-family general maintenance, maintenance staffing, and capital projects.
Within six years, under Coskey’s leadership, Liberty Maintenance has grown from two employees to 28 employees while also growing manager partnerships with multiple management firms in the area. The company has progressed from a start-up to $3.8 million in revenue and just acquired CSK Construction Services in Central New Jersey. Coskey has also opened a new division of the company solely dedicated to construction management. His expertise is requested at multiple speaking events, including CAI events and board member round+table discussions, on preventative maintenance for savings on insurance losses.
“I’m a firm believer in saying, ‘If you’re not growing, you’re dying, and I’m ready for that,’” said Coskey. “With this company mindset, we believe that we will be the largest condo management/multi-family maintenance contractor in the Philadelphia area within the next five years.”
In leading his growing team and business, Coskey said he relies on understanding and adapting. “I found that we continually understand our clients’ issues and needs to address them,” he said. “This inevitably includes adapting to a new situation and not allowing your company to be stuck in old ways, but instead, lean into the new challenges.”
He also embraces the risks. “When starting my business, I gave up working at a large company as a project manager which honestly was scary because, like most new business owners, I had a family, kids and a mortgage,” said Coskey. “I was confident we had a good vision and could execute but it’s also risky stepping out of any comfort zone.”
Coskey said what has led to success is how he relates to his employees and clients. “I was a contractor first, then maintenance manager and then property manager,” he said. “I do have a good viewpoint on most aspects of each position, which is helpful.”
