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At 22 years old Paul Rouillard got his real estate licence and knew he had found what he wanted to do for a living. There was only one problem: his age.

"I was too young. Who wants to buy a building from a 22-year-old?" says Rouillard, who turned 30 this month.

Despite his youth and some struggles with the real estate exams, he knew what he was getting into. He had grown up watching his dad buy and manage rental properties. Then he started managing his dad's Windsor apartment buildings.

In 2004, he gathered his family and announced his plan to start his own property management company.

"Everybody thought I was crazy," he recalls, though his family has supported him from day one and his dad remains a business partner.

Rouillard started by running Rent4All.ca out of his bedroom. As well as looking after properties for landlords, he made several failed attempts to start other web-based businesses unrelated to real estate.

He still considers the web crucial to expanding his business, but now he is focused on endeavours related to property management and real real estate.

Two years ago, Rent4All moved into offices in a small house at 1889 University Ave. W., where it has gradually expanded.

The company now manages about 250 Windsor apartments in buildings of six to 40 units, Rouillard says. He has a staff of 20 full-time, part-time and contract workers. As well as maintaining properties and collecting rent, they will renovate and find tenants to fill empty apartments.

Rob Bulat, whose family owns 30 apartments in various buildings in downtown Windsor, says he was impressed when Rouillard and his crew took only 30 days to renovate a fourplex that had been trashed by tenants. As well, they immediately found Bulat new tenants for all four units, despite the fact Windsor's rental vacancy rate was soaring in early 2008.