Community Forum

This post is from Douglas, who is interested in making a career change:
I am exploring to make a career change to become a property manager. I am hoping someone can provide me with some insight to being a property manager.

1-What are the pros and cons of being a property manager?
2-What is the job outlook for a property manager?
3-Where can I get trained as a property manager?
4-What does an employer look for when hiring a property manager?
5-What skills do I need to have in order to be a successful property manager?
6-What is the salary range (from entry to seasoned) for a property manager?
7-Any other advice for a newcomer?

Appreciate the help.

1. What are the pros and cons of being a property manager?
There are myriad pros and cons and each person’s list will vary. For me, a positive is that the diversity of work is exciting: we move from marketing to management to legal to maintenance. A con might be that sometimes priorities can change quite quickly and often, depending on the company and the market.

2. What is the job outlook for a property manager?
Properties will continue to require management, thus I can’t see the field ever disappearing.

3. Where can I get trained as a property manager?
First, you’ll want to consider what property type(s) you’re interested in managing. The National Apartment Association offers education for multifamily, the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM) educates for all property types, and the Building Owners and Managers Association International has training for office. In addition, more and more colleges are offering property management courses. Universities may also assist in internship placements.

4. What does an employer look for when hiring a property manager?
At its essence, owners want a manager who will operate the property in such a way that it makes money, preserves the physical asset, complies with laws, and honors health and life safety issues. Having experience in achieving those goals is best, but showing comparable results or knowledge and skills that would have the same result can work too.

5. What skills do I need to have in order to be a successful property manager?
Since the responsibilities are diverse, your knowledge and skills will need to be diverse too. Knowledge and skills in math/finance, managing the budget, maintaining the physical plant, managing people, leasing, risk management, and knowing legal requirements. It may sound like an exhausting list, but you can know them all. Property managers may have specialties, but we are basically generalists.

6. What is the salary range (from entry to seasoned) for a property manager?
This will vary depending on the economic conditions, your geographic location, the type and size of property, your exact responsibilities, your experience…and so forth. Check out CEL & Associates, Inc. survey at http://www.celassociates.com/CompCurrentSummary.cfm

7. Any other advice for a newcomer?
Attend your local IREM meetings and get to know people. Networking makes the world go around!

It's a great business to be in!
Hope that helps,
Natalie Brecher

A career in property management can be very challenging and rewarding. From a residential property management standpoint, a property manager wears several different hats and has many different responsibilities and duties. Obviously, from a site perspective, the property manager is solely responsible for the profitability of the property and upkeep of the asset. A delicate balance exists between increasing the value of the asset while maintaining adequate and/or growing cash flow for the owner. A property manager must be able to lead his/her site team towards common goals and be able to achieve resident satisfaction and excellence in service.

I harp on this all the time. Membership in industry trade groups is immensely important in career development in my opinion. Dont be afraid to be a leader. Join a group and immediately volunteer for a committee. Trust me....you'll be the chairman before you know it. These groups will enable you to link up with the movers and shakers in many different companies.

Paul M. Dumouchel CPMC

I am new in the property management arena and from the previous comments I believe it would be very beneficial to get more active in my local IREM chapter and also to continuously educate myself in all aspects. You can never learn to much. I currently work for a developer but look forward to expanding my experience and knowledge on this journey into property management.

Jordan, interview someone in the PM field or a hiring authority. You can call me if interested as I do this quite often.

1-What are the pros and cons of being a property manager?

There are several different opinions about pros/cons of being a property manager. Being in the industry for a little over a year, a HUGE pro for me is all the experience you learn onsite. Many things in this industry are learned by experience, as every day can be different. Personally, I learn faster when projects/problems are hands on. Another pro is gaining relationships with your tenants, the better relationship you have with a tenant the better response you will receive from them in regards to several things.

A con I would have to say is you can be "on-call" 24-7...if something goes wrong at your property, you're the first person they call regardless of the day or hour. Another con is being a stickler, some tenant's aren't familiar with their leases and what they're responsible for per their lease...it can be a bit tricky informing a tenant they are responsible for something when they believe it's Landlord's responsibility.

2-What is the job outlook for a property manager?

Properties will constantly need to be maintained, and tenants will always need guidance/help...so I don't see the industry going anywhere anytime soon!

3-Where can I get trained as a property manager?

In my opinion, training for a propery manager position would be ideal if one was able to shadow a property manager. This way one can see/experience what happens on a day-to-day prespective and be onsite with the property manager, even if one is shadowing for just one day, they're bound to see something happen!

4-What does an employer look for when hiring a property manager?

A property manager needs to be/have a lot of things. At times, property managers need to be quick on their feet in response to tenant's needs, they also need to be organized as procedures come in very handy. A property manager needs to be people-friendly, as they interact with tenants on a day-to-day basis. They also need to have a knowledge of budgeting and prioritizing tasks/capital projects.