Property, Real Estate, and Community Association Managers

Overview Nature of Work Knowledge Areas Skills Utilized Job Activities Abilities Job Conditions Work Satisfaction Education/Training

Educational Attainment Breakdown for Property, Real Estate, and Community Association Managers College or Higher 36.3% Some College 33.7% High School or Less 30.0%

Most Significant Source of Postsecondary Education or Training
Bachelor's degree
Source: U.S. Department of Labor

Employers increasingly are hiring college graduates with a bachelor's or master's degree in business administration, accounting, finance, or real estate, even if they don't have much practical experience.

Education and training. Most employers prefer to hire college graduates for property management positions. In fact, employers increasingly are hiring inexperienced college graduates with a bachelor's or master's degree in business administration, accounting, finance, real estate, or public administration for these positions. Those with degrees in the liberal arts also may qualify, especially if they have relevant coursework. Many people entering jobs such as assistant property manager have onsite management experience.

Licensure. Managers of public housing subsidized by the Federal Government are required to be certified, but many property, real estate, and community association managers who work with all types of property choose to earn a professional designation voluntarily, because it represents formal recognition of their achievements and affords status in the occupation. Real estate managers who buy or sell property are required to be licensed by the State in which they practice. In a few States, property association managers must be licensed.

Other qualifications. Previous employment as a real estate sales agent may be an asset to onsite managers, because it provides experience that is useful in showing apartments or office space. In the past, those with backgrounds in building maintenance have advanced to onsite manager positions on the strength of their knowledge of building mechanical systems, but this path is becoming less common as employers place greater emphasis on administrative, financial, and communication abilities for managerial jobs.

People most commonly enter real estate asset manager jobs by transferring from positions as property managers or real estate brokers. Real estate asset managers must be good negotiators, adept at persuading and working with people, and good at analyzing data in order to assess the fair-market value of property or its development potential. Resourcefulness and creativity in arranging financing are essential for managers who specialize in land development.

Good speaking, writing, computer, and financial skills, as well as an ability to deal tactfully with people, are essential in all areas of property management.

Certification and advancement. Many people begin property management careers as assistants. Assistants work closely with a property manager and learn how to prepare budgets, analyze insurance coverage and risk options, market property to prospective tenants, and collect overdue rent payments. In time, many assistants advance to property manager positions.

Some people start as onsite managers of apartment buildings, office complexes, or community associations. As they acquire experience, often working under the direction of a more experienced property manager, they may advance to positions of greater responsibility. Those who excel as onsite managers often transfer to assistant offsite property manager positions, in which they can acquire experience handling a broad range of property management responsibilities.

The responsibilities and compensation of property, real estate, and community association managers increase as these workers manage more and larger properties. Most property managers, often called portfolio managers, are responsible for several properties at a time. As their careers advance, they gradually are entrusted with larger properties that are more complex to manage. Many specialize in the management of one type of property, such as apartments, office buildings, condominiums, cooperatives, homeowners' associations, or retail properties. Managers who excel at marketing properties to tenants might specialize in managing new properties, while those who are particularly knowledgeable about buildings and their mechanical systems might specialize in the management of older properties requiring renovation or more frequent repairs. Some experienced managers open their own property management firms.

Many employers encourage attendance at short-term formal training programs conducted by various professional and trade associations that are active in the real estate field. Employers send managers to these programs to improve their management skills and expand their knowledge of specialized subjects, such as the operation and maintenance of building mechanical systems, the enhancement of property values, insurance and risk management, personnel management, business and real estate law, community association risks and liabilities, tenant relations, communications, accounting and financial concepts, and reserve funding. Managers also participate in these programs to prepare themselves for positions of greater responsibility in property management. The completion of these programs, plus related job experience and a satisfactory score on a written examination can lead to certification, or the formal award of a professional designation, by the sponsoring association. (Some organizations offering certifications are listed as sources of additional information at the end of this statement.) Some associations also require their members to adhere to a specific code of ethics.

[Back to Top]