What is a property management expert?

Property management experts are management professionals who have extensive experience in and knowledge of property related issues. These experts have often been in the management trade for many years, and sometimes hold multiple professional designations. With approximately 379,000 property, real estate and community association managers expected to be working in the U.S. by 2016 (up 15% from 2006),1 the industry continues to grow rapidly and experienced experts are becoming more and more accessible every day.

Property managers in general handle the day to day aspects of running an income-producing property and ensure it is maximizing its financial potential. Duties of a property manager might include these: accounting tasks such as the collection of rent, payment bills, and management of the mortgage, tax and insurance; upkeep of the building and grounds making certain all maintenance work is scheduled and the property and grounds are clean and kept up; advertising, marketing, and showing available spaces in the property or complex; acting as the liaison to the building tenants and dealing with any complaints or issues that may arise; and regularly reporting to the landlord or owner of the property the status of his or her investment.

Eventually, these managers might become authorities, or experts, in different areas of building or real estate management and can act as consultants for other companies, organizations, or in a court of law as a witness. Here are some examples of the areas in which these property management experts specialize: standards of care, industry practices, habitability, maintenance, health and safety, contracts and leases, fair housing laws, tenant and landlord disputes, and the practice of real estate transactions.

With the professional industry as well as the education sector for property management growing so rapidly, it is no wonder the interest in experts is growing. Qualifications, experience and knowledge will set these professionals apart in their field and identify them as the resources to tap for complex property management issues.