(Editor's Note: The percentages noted below are composite figures for all survey respondents. Breakout data can be found near the end of this news release for respondents who primarily manage conventionally financed apartments, federally assisted housing, industrial/industrial parks, office buildings, and shopping center/retail properties.)

(Chicago; May 5, 2005) Maintenance and operations and financial matters take up more than half their average work week. So say a cross section of members of the Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM^®) responding to an informal online survey.

Survey respondents, who manage diverse property types, say they spend about 28% of their work week on maintenance and operations, another 28% on financial matters, and nearly 20% on leasing and marketing. The balance of their week is spent on legal and risk management (10%), human resources (9%) and other (5%) activities.

While legal and risk management take up only 10% of the average respondents' time, these activities are said to be the most difficult of all job requirements. Still, only 16% rated them as very or extremely difficult and 39% rated them as not at all or not very difficult. The activity presenting the lowest average level of difficulty, respondents say, is maintenance and operations; 60% of them rated maintenance and operations as not at all or not very difficult.

The survey of IREM members was completed by 482 respondents, yielding a 95% confidence level in the data with a 4.4% sampling error.

Click here to view breakout data

ABOUT THE INSTITUTE OF REAL ESTATE MANAGEMENT
The Institute of Real Estate Management (IREM^®) has been the source for education, resources, information and membership for real estate management professionals for more than 70 years. An affiliate of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS^®, IREM is the only professional real estate management association serving both the multi-family and commercial real estate sectors.

With 82 U.S. chapters, seven international chapters and several other partnerships around the globe, IREM is an international organization that serves as an advocate on issues affecting the real estate management industry.

Membership includes approximately 16,700 individual members and 530 corporate members. IREM promotes ethical real estate management practices through its credentialed membership programs, including the Certified Property Manager^® (CPM^®) designation, the Accredited Residential Manager (ARM^®) certification, and the Accredited Management Organization (AMO^®) accreditation. These esteemed designations certify competence and professionalism for those engaged in real estate management. In addition, IREM offers Associate membership status.