It’s advice that can apply to anyone looking to advance in this often-unsung discipline, no matter their age. Admitting that “patience isn’t a strong virtue of mine,” IREM Executive Committee member Kimberly P. Collins, CPM®, nevertheless points out that patience is essential. Career development in property management is not something, “you can rush through.”
The director of property management for CBRE in Indianapolis explains that even a basic understanding of how a building operates takes time: “Every building goes through a lifecycle in the course of a year,” she says. “How does it behave in the summer? In the winter? What does this client do for budget season?” And the lifecycle of every asset and the needs of every owner are different. “It varies from client to client.”
Patience: It’s still a virtue
She states that newbies can’t begin to understand the full scope of a building’s needs until they’ve passed their trials by fire. Or, for that matter, by water. “Go through your first flood or power outage. I can’t explain it to you in a way you’ll ever understand. You just have to experience it.” And that takes time.
Pile on the fact that property management today is not what it was 10 or even five years ago. More technology coming to market and the closer working relationship with asset management that has evolved over the past few years are only two of the drivers making property management an increasingly complex and challenging endeavor. “It’s much harder for younger people to come in today with the notion that after four or five years they can take on their own portfolio,” says Collins. “Fifteen years ago, that may have been the case, but no more.”
Fellow Executive Committee member Greg Cichy, CPM®, agrees, but he adds that, compared to other disciplines in the real estate industry, career development in property management might be an easier lift--due mostly to the broad-based nature of the practice. “Property management inherently fosters better career development,” says the managing director of Real Estate Management Services for Colliers’ Washington, DC metro area.
“Part of our job is to work with all sorts of people to get that job done,” he says, whether it’s clients, tenants, residents, or vendors. “We’re required to network and collaborate. We belong to groups like IREM because they foster those relationships.” Parenthetically, he notes that, by comparison, many wannabe brokers prior to COVID “aren’t around anymore. There are disciplines that leave you out there for yourself, eating what you kill.” Property management, by comparison, is more of a collaborative endeavor, he says.
Both CPMs emphasize that networking isn’t left to the new property manager alone, and mentorship within organizations, more than with many other disciplines, is common. “Our companies have a lot of great training,” says Cichy. “There are always opportunities. We have a defined mentorship program at Colliers, based on applications.”
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And yet, property management still suffers from the same talent shortage that befalls brokerage, development, and other real estate disciplines. “It’s especially true in engineering,” says Cichy. “But there’s definitely a talent shortage. It’s been lessened somewhat in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, since it seems that many people are re-evaluating their career paths. I view that as a positive.”
The talent shortage is also a matter of perceptions. There are other disciplines that garner sexier headlines or bigger paydays. As a result, “There’s still a struggle to get people in college, trade school or high school to look at this profession,” says Collins.
Those perceptions may also be exacerbated by the challenge of upward advancement. Cichy explains that increasingly, hierarchical structures in commercial real estate are relatively flat. “There’s typically overall leadership,” he explains, “then local market leaders, senior property managers, managers and entry level people. Increasingly, it’s the nature of the business. We’re doing more assignments and more work with less people.”
So, folks who enter the field with the notion of jumping up will find, as he says, that “there are few jump-up spots.” Both Collins and Cichy point out that IREM is doing a lot of legwork to promote both the profession and advancement within it. That activity comes in the form of various task forces and committees, especially the Student & Academic Outreach and Next Gen advisory boards, the Membership & Credentialing Committee, and the DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) Advisory Board.
Beyond taking advantage of all that IREM has to offer, the two Executive Committee members have sound advice for up-and-comers, no matter the generation: “More than jumping up, it’s really about building your book of business,” says Cichy, “refining your skills and evolving your relationship with clients.”
“It’s not about the title,” he continues, “but what you’re learning.” He says that learning all you can, then honing those skills to become a subject-matter expert can go far toward career advancement. “For example, how many people are superstars in GSA properties, mixed-use centers or industrial management? That's how you succeed in your career. People will seek you out.”
Collins agrees and adds that maintaining the above-mentioned industry relationships is a key factor. “As you’re trying to feel your way through in the early years,” she says, “know who you can turn to with what you feel might be ‘stupid’ questions. Sometimes you just don't want to ask your boss. Knowing who to turn to was a game-changer for me.”
And above all, keep learning. Put in the extra time and the weekends and whatever it takes to move the needle of understanding. Do this and, as Cichy says, you’ll find that “property management is a profession of choice, a successful and lucrative career.”
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“Go through your first flood or power outage,” says Collins. “I can’t explain it to you in a way you’ll ever understand.”
“It’s not about the title,” says Cichy, “but what you’re learning.”