Pproperty Managers

Have you ever considered a career as a property manager? Property management carries some unexpected challenges. What exactly is a property manager?
Basically, a property manager takes care of a property. While all tasks are not necessarily completed by the property manager directly, the manager is required to oversee and coordinate these and other needed tasks for the property.

Property managers are often employed by apartment complexes, rental agencies, and businesses with extensive property holdings. Sometimes they oversee one singular property while other property managers will have stewardship over multiple properties. Much job training will come on the job. Many property management professionals begin their career as assistant manager and learn the field while helping a current property manager with their daily tasks.

Many managers start in the field in smaller, lower-paying jobs. Are there any special skills a property manager should possess?
Managers work with a variety of people in many situations. Property managers also have to be able to handle pressure.

How is the work environment?
A property manager will have the opportunity to work both in and out of an office. Other tasks like property inspections will occur out of the office. Some managers oversee properties alone. While property management isn't the best paying job around, it does pay well. Managers are constantly on call.

Management focuses on conserving and building value NOW.
Most commercial real estate owners outsource the property management functions to a general brokerage firm that offers property management services or to a specialized property management company.

Few, if any, ideas for improvement come from the property manager for ways to improve the physical property or the leasing situation.
Managers understand the word "proactive".
Property management reports are irregular and hard to decipher.
I prefer real-time, online file-sharing between the owner or asset manager and the property manager.

This happens in both very large national firms and in small local management firms.
The management firm location is some distance from the managed property and you are not certain how often the property is physically visited by a property manager.
Nothing, absolutely nothing, takes the place of property site visits.

A property manager's responsibility includes ongoing routine contact with tenants. Personally, I prefer hiring property managers who live and work in the same market as the property over a big- name firm in a nearby city.
You receive regular reports about the property, but no information about the real estate market where the property sits.
A good property manager is invaluable and should receive incentives for peak performance.