Property Manager Job Descriptions

Property manager job descriptions outline the duties and responsibilities of people who manage real estate properties and are responsible for ensuring that these properties are run profitably. They manage the end-to-end process such as leasing, rent collection and maintenance. The scope of work in the property manager job descriptions can vary from organization to organization. What tend to vary is the scope of decision making while the core duties tend to be generic and similar across organizations. This is largely due to the portfolio size that the property manager would be managing.

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Property Manager Job Descriptions: Overall Purpose

Manages the properties in a real estate organization by overseeing the day-to-day operations, including negotiating lease contracts, enforcing rental agreements, and supervising maintenance.

Property Manager Job Descriptions: Main Duties

• Supervises the maintenance of properties under their portfolio by planning and scheduling maintenance, including physical inspections of the properties.
• Enters into profitable lease agreements with tenants by doing background checks of potential tenants before signing lease agreements.
• Ensures all properties are insured to the right levels by engaging professionals in assessing the required insurance of each property and facilitating the payment of insurance premiums.
• Manages the budget by coordinating the compilation of the revenue and expense budgets, including tracking budget performance versus targets.
• Engages in business development activities to attract high-quality tenants by advertising through various mediums, including social media.
• Retains profitable tenants by offering them quality service.
• Sets rentals rates by surveying what the market pays for similar properties.
• Addresses tenants' concerns and complaints by creating a mechanism for them to raise such complaints so that they are recorded.
• Complies with all statutory requirements by keeping and submitting the relevant documents and payments to the relevant authorities.
• Provides relevant reports by compiling the required information to produce the required report standards.
• Terminates lease agreements by following the terms and conditions for each lease agreement.
• Supervises staff by ensuring that each staff member is clear about each role's goals and targets.
• Negotiates lease agreements with new tenants by ensuring they comply with company policy on lease rentals.
• Ensures tenants comply with their lease agreements by conducting compliance checks with each tenant.
• Manages the entrance and exit of tenants by following the company policy on tenants entrance and exit to the property.
• Plans and execute emergency plans by carrying out periodic dry runs for each property.
• Manages costs of services by negotiating prices with service providers.

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Property Manager Job Descriptions: Educational Requirements

The property manager job description often requires academic qualification at a degree level for the incumbent to function effectively in this role. Below I list some of the qualifications often stated on job descriptions for Property Managers.

• ​A degree in real estate or a related field is often required to enable the incumbent to acquire real estate knowledge.
• Over and above the degree, the incumbent must have a professional real estate qualification. This often comes as certification from a real estate professional body.

Property Manager Job Descriptions: Experience Required

This role requires extensive experience in real estate at the managerial level to enable the incumbent to manage a profitable portfolio. See below some of the experience requirements for this role.

• At least 5 years experience in a real estate environment at the managerial level.
• Experience in developing revenue and cost budgets for similar businesses is a mandatory requirement.
• Experience in drafting lease agreements and enforcing the signed lease agreements is mandatory.

Property Manager Job Descriptions: KSAOs Required

Property Manager job descriptions list important Knowledge, Skills, Abilities and Other characteristics required for an incumbent to perform effectively in this role. Below I share some of these KSAO requirements.

Knowledge

• Knowledge of the regulatory environment for real state businesses is mandatory to enable the incumbent to comply with the applicable laws.
• Knowledge of the budgeting process for the income and cost side is important for the incumbent to prepare budgets to track business performance.
• Knowledge of general accounting is required to enable the incumbent to understand accounting ratios which are key in tracking performance.

Skills

• Planning and organizing skills are required to enable the incumbent to plan the work and track its execution.
• Good communication skills are required when interacting with various stakeholders.
• A high level of attention to detail is required in this role, as lease agreements and other documents require meticulous verification.
• Good people management skills are required in leading the team in charge of the property portfolio.
• Business development skills are a mandatory requirement for this role.

Abilities

• The ability to read financial statements is key in this role
• Ability to handle various stakeholders such as tenants, employees and regulatory bodies.
• The ability to serve all customers well is a mandatory requirement.
• The ability uses technology in discharging their duties is key for property managers.

Other Characteristics

• The ability to multi-task is an added advantage.
• This role requires excellent interpersonal skills.

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Conclusion

Property manager job descriptions are key documents in clarifying duties to any incumbent in this role. The property manager job description captures the responsibilities and duties of people who manage a real estate business and make it profitable.