--- a/lisp/org-element.el
+++ b/lisp/org-element.el
@@ -1018,6 +1018,20 @@ CONTENTS is the contents of the footnote-definition."
 
 ;;;; Headline
 
+(defcustom org-allow-properties-at-end t
+  "Allow the PROPERTIES drawer to appear at the end of an entry.
+Normally, for reasons of efficiency, the PROPERTIES drawer is
+expected to appear only at the beginning of an entry, after any
+scheduling lines. This avoids having to scan through a large
+entry in order to find its properties.
+
+When this option is non-nil, the PROPERIES drawer may also appear
+at the end of an entry. Note that this may adversely affect the
+speed of many operations, such as building the agenda."
+  :group 'org-todo
+  :type 'boolean
+  :package-version '(Org . "9.6.2"))
+
 (defun org-element--get-node-properties (&optional at-point-p?)
   "Return node properties for headline or property drawer at point.
 Upcase property names.  It avoids confusion between properties
@@ -1030,7 +1044,13 @@ parse properties for property drawer at point."
     (unless at-point-p?
       (forward-line)
       (when (looking-at-p org-element-planning-line-re) (forward-line)))
-    (when (looking-at org-property-drawer-re)
+    (when (if org-allow-properties-at-end
+              (and (re-search-forward org-property-drawer-re
+                                      (save-excursion
+                                        (outline-next-heading)
+                                        (point)) t)
+                   (goto-char (match-beginning 0)))
+            (looking-at org-property-drawer-re))
       (forward-line)
       (let ((end (match-end 0)) properties)
 	(while (< (line-end-position) end)
@@ -1158,8 +1178,14 @@ Assume point is at beginning of the headline."
                                             0)
                                           (point)))))
            (robust-end (and robust-begin
-                            (when (> (- contents-end 2) robust-begin)
-                              (- contents-end 2)))))
+                            (if (> (- contents-end 2) robust-begin)
+                                (min
+                                 (- contents-end 2)
+                                 (if (and org-allow-properties-at-end
+                                          (re-search-forward org-property-drawer-re
+                                                             contents-end t))
+                                     (- (match-beginning 0) 2)
+                                   (point-max)))))))
       (unless robust-end (setq robust-begin nil))
       (let ((headline
 	     (list 'headline
@@ -4246,13 +4272,14 @@ element it has to parse."
 	          (looking-at org-element-planning-line-re))
 	     (org-element-planning-parser limit))
             ;; Property drawer.
-            ((and (pcase mode
+            ((and (or org-allow-properties-at-end
+                      (pcase mode
 	                (`planning (eq ?* (char-after (line-beginning-position 0))))
 	                ((or `property-drawer `top-comment)
 		         (save-excursion
 		           (beginning-of-line 0)
 		           (not (looking-at "[[:blank:]]*$"))))
-	            (_ nil))
+	                (_ nil)))
 	          (looking-at org-property-drawer-re))
 	     (org-element-property-drawer-parser limit))
             ;; When not at bol, point is at the beginning of an item or
--- a/lisp/org.el
+++ b/lisp/org.el
@@ -12342,19 +12342,29 @@ the document if before the first headline.  If it is not given,
 it will be found.  If the drawer does not exist, create it if
 FORCE is non-nil, or return nil."
   (org-with-wide-buffer
-   (let ((beg (cond (beg (goto-char beg))
+   (let* ((beg (cond (beg (goto-char beg))
 		     ((or (not (featurep 'org-inlinetask))
 			  (org-inlinetask-in-task-p))
 		      (org-back-to-heading-or-point-min t) (point))
 		     (t (org-with-limited-levels
 			 (org-back-to-heading-or-point-min t))
-		       (point)))))
+		        (point))))
+          (end (save-excursion
+                 (outline-next-heading)
+                 (point))))
      ;; Move point to its position according to its positional rules.
      (cond ((org-before-first-heading-p)
 	    (while (and (org-at-comment-p) (bolp)) (forward-line)))
 	   (t (forward-line)
 	      (when (looking-at-p org-planning-line-re) (forward-line))))
-     (cond ((looking-at org-property-drawer-re)
+     (cond ((and (< (point) end)
+                 (if org-allow-properties-at-end
+                     (and (re-search-forward org-property-drawer-re
+                                             (save-excursion
+                                               (outline-next-heading)
+                                               (point)) t)
+                          (goto-char (match-beginning 0)))
+                   (looking-at org-property-drawer-re)))
             (forward-line)
             (cons (point) (progn (goto-char (match-end 0))
 			         (line-beginning-position))))
@@ -20600,7 +20610,8 @@ properties, clocking lines and logbook drawers."
   ;; Skip planning information.
   (when (looking-at-p org-planning-line-re) (forward-line))
   ;; Skip property drawer.
-  (when (looking-at org-property-drawer-re)
+  (when (and (not org-allow-properties-at-end)
+             (looking-at org-property-drawer-re))
     (goto-char (match-end 0))
     (forward-line))
   ;; When FULL is not nil, skip more.