Contrary to popular belief, the life of a property manager isn’t as glamorous as you think it would be.
In fact, the daily tasks of a property manager change so often and are spread across so many areas that it’s hard to pin down the exact definition of what a property manager does. For simplicity’s sake, it’s best to just think this: property managers do it all.
Pick a hat, any hat.
There are several aspects of a property manager’s day that are very typical. These include the simple office tasks that anyone within the real estate and management spectrum would do: responding to emails, answering phone calls, putting out any fires (hopefully only figuratively speaking), and meeting the needs of clients. Essentially, however, a property manager is responsible for the daily operations of a real estate investment. This investment could be a single home, an apartment complex, or several complexes.
Property managers are expected to handle everything from setting or adjusting rent costs, to calming an angry tenant. A successful property manager must be able to multitask and handle many different climates of conversation, including the difficult task of evicting tenants. While it may seem very cut and dry, a manager’s day is always full of the unexpected, and they must be able to tactfully handle every situation thrown their way.
Aside from collecting rent checks and maintaining a friendly atmosphere for tenants, property managers have quotas to fill. There are always goals in any management level of a company. Filing taxes and managing a building’s budget costs are large parts of the job that often go unnoticed as they don’t directly deal with tenants. Managers also often have pressures to secure a certain number of tenants for any given building. This will require the set-up of many showings, the review of many applications, and running all of the credit and background checks on tenants to secure their approval for residency.
All in a day’s work.
What many may not realize is that there are an infinite number of reasons that someone would call, email and need their property manager. This requires managers to act professionally but also to have a good sense of humor in order to get through the day.
A recent article on the subject recounts the busyness of a manager, stating, “We are busy, even when the residents don’t see it.” This says a lot about a property manager’s responsibilities and about how much work goes on behind the scenes.
If you think about it, your property manager is your sole point of contact for when you lose your keys or get locked out of your building, discover a leaky pipe or broken air conditioner, and when you have to make a formal complaint about a neighbor. It’s important to be kind to your property managers, as they have a ton of tenants that are likely calling or emailing about the same things.
Most importantly, property managers have a passion for people. While they may be up to their eyeballs in paperwork and applications, a good manager will always carve out time to take care of a tenant’s needs. The next time you see your property manager running around, give them a wave and a smile – it’s very likely that they are headed to handle something unpredictable and unexpected.