Often, property managers negotiate contracts for janitorial, security, grounds keeping, trash removal, and other services. When contracts are awarded competitively, managers solicit bids from several contractors and recommend to the owners which bid to accept. They monitor the performance of contractors and investigate and resolve complaints from residents and tenants when services are not properly provided. Managers also purchase supplies and equipment for the property and make arrangements with specialists for repairs that cannot be handled by regular property maintenance staff.
In addition to these duties, property managers must understand and comply with provisions of legislation, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Federal Fair Housing Amendment Act, as well as local fair housing laws. They must ensure that their renting and advertising practices are not discriminatory and that the property itself complies with all of the local, State, and Federal regulations and building codes.
Onsite property managers are responsible for day-to-day operations for one piece of property, such as an office building, shopping center, community association, or apartment complex. To ensure that the property is safe and properly maintained, onsite managers routinely inspect the grounds, facilities, and equipment to determine if repairs or maintenance are needed. They meet not only with current residents when handling requests for repairs or trying to resolve complaints, but also with prospective residents or tenants to show vacant apartments or office space. Onsite managers also are responsible for enforcing the terms of rental or lease agreements, such as rent collection, parking and pet restrictions, and termination-of-lease procedures. Other important duties of onsite managers include keeping accurate, up-to-date records of income and expenditures from property operations and submitting regular expense reports to the asset property manager or owners.
Property managers who do not work onsite act as a liaison between the onsite manager and the owner. They also market vacant space to prospective tenants through the use of a leasing agent or by advertising or other means, and establish rental rates in accordance with prevailing local economic conditions.
Some property and real estate managers, often called real estate asset managers, act as the property owners’ agent and adviser for the property. They plan and direct the purchase, development, and disposition of real estate on behalf of the business and investors. These managers focus on long-term strategic financial planning rather than on day-to-day operations of the property.
When deciding to acquire property, real estate asset manager stake several factors into consideration, such as property values, taxes, zoning, population growth, transportation, and traffic volume and patterns. Once a site is selected, they negotiate contracts for the purchase or lease of the property, securing the most beneficial terms. Real estate asset managers periodically review their company’s real estate holdings and identify properties that are no longer financially profitable. They then negotiate the sale of or terminate the lease on such properties.
Property and real estate managers who work for homebuilders, real estate developers, and land development companies acquire land and plan construction of shopping centers, houses, apartments, office buildings, or industrial parks. They negotiate with representatives of local governments, other businesses, community and public interest groups, and public utilities to eliminate obstacles to the development of land and to gain support for a planned project. It sometimes takes years to win approval for a project and, in the process, managers may have to modify plans for the project many times. Once cleared to proceed with a project, managers may help to negotiate short-term loans to finance the construction of the project, and later negotiate long-term permanent mortgage loans. They then help to choose, assist, and advise the architectural firms that draw up detailed plans and the construction companies that build the project. Property Management courses can be taken online or by traditional methods by all the major property management schools.
In many respects, the work of community association managers parallels that of property managers. They collect monthly assessments, prepare financial statements and budgets, negotiate with contractors, and help to resolve complaints. In other respects, however, the work of these managers differs from that of other residential property and real estate managers. Community association managers interact on a daily basis with homeowners and other residents, rather than with renters. Hired by the volunteer board of directors of the association, they administer the daily affairs, and oversee the maintenance of property and facilities that the homeowners own and use jointly through the association. They also assist the board and owners in complying with association and government rules and regulations.
What type of property manager would you like to become? Many of the schools offer courses and training programs to teach you how to become: Retail property managers, Office building managers, Multi-family managers or Senior housing managers. Many resident apartment managers and onsite association managers receive the use of an apartment as part of their compensation package. Managers often are reimbursed for the use of their personal vehicles, and managers employed in land development often receive a small percentage of ownership in the projects that they develop. Below are the median salaries for property managers:
Median annual earnings of salaried property, real estate, and community association managers were $39,980 in May 2004. The middle 50 percent earned between $27,190 and $59,360 a year. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $18,510, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $89,840 a year. Median annual earnings of salaried property, real estate, and community association managers in the largest industries that employed them in 2004 were as follows:
Local government $51,980
Offices of real estate agents and brokers $40,000
Activities related to real estate $38,370
Lessors of real estate $34,300
