New Career in Property Management

Hi,

I live in Perth, 40 years old and looking into changing careers into Property Management (currently a Public Servant).

I have previously had a role within government of managing properties for social housing which was an eye opener but the job itself is quite dangerous, the rounds are over 350 properties and there isn't a lot of support from management. The actual signing up new tenants and conducting house inspections did interest me though.

So lately I have been thinking about tackling this career in the private sector.

Would love to hear from anyone who is a Property Manager or anyone who can give me some advice.

Thanks

BJ

 

Its a helluva game. The parts you mention are a fairly small part of the gig. There's a lot of parts, some of which requiring a variety of unrelated skills. This is why most are poor. If you strive to be better you'll go a long way.

Do you self manage your own IPs?

 

What is IPs?

To give you an idea the tasks I did in my previous role:
*Sign ups
*PCR inspection
*Annual inspection
*Rental Arrears, Tenant Liability Arrears, Water Arrears
*Investigate Disruptive Behaviour Complaints
*Issue breaches/terminations
*Follow up inspections (ensuring tasks given to tenant were completed)
*As I said managed approx. 350 properties

That's about it in a nutshell.

 

Investment properties

Sounds like you did OK in previous role!

In wa you have to be registered with dept of commerce. Your best bet is to do the PM course (at Reiwa or similar) which then enables registration.

From there you can go job hunting. With your experience I doubt you'll have any troubles, but may have to accept a pay cut (PMs typically get less than public servants )

 

Thanks for that, is there much of a work/life balance in the private sector?

 

I'm not a property manager, but know quite a few. Seeing as you're in the public service, might be worth seeing if you can take some leave without pay (or with pay if you have enough) to try it out. That way you can go back to your current job if you don't like it. Lots of departments allow it, but it's up to each individual manager whether or not they approve it.

 

great idea! I definitely will see if I can do that - thanks!

 

For me as an agency owner, not really

For employees, its going to vary wildly between agencies and what the actual role you get is. Some do a rotation roster of taking the emergency maintenance phone home and some do weekend opens.

From reading PM forums, some also seem to take a few headaches home. Do you get that in your public servant role?

 

The industry standards are very high burn out rates for property managers.

I focus a lot of time training my staff in emotional resilience so that they are not at the effect of unreasonable tenants and landlords. That's the ONLY reson I've kept staff for many years.

Forget the details of the job, all that is learnable with experience. Focus more on ability to contnously deal with insane situations that can't be handled with logic or reason.

 

Some work experience may give you a bit of an insight and you can work out if it's for you from there.

I would invite you to spend a day in my crazy office if you were in Adelaide

 

Hi BJ West,

Could I suggest you purchase and manage your own Investment Properties, first, so that you can have an understanding of your client's position?
I am sure your current job will really help you from an organisational and legislative perspective as well!
For me, the most successful Property Managers in Private industry are also Owners. They understand the relevance all the nuances needed!
I hope this helps!
Cheers

 

@BJWest report back how you went mate ?