Property Manager Career Guide

On a daily basis, the property manager is required to actively interact with numerous parties, including co-owners, building employees, and tradespeople or architects during construction work.

Their duties can be summarized as follows:

• Convene, hold and draft minutes of general meetings
• Controlling costs and expenses to reduce co-owners’ charges
• Defining and monitoring work in accordance with deadlines and resource requirements
• Identifying the most advantageous maintenance or works contracts and conducting negotiations
• Managing financial and accounting aspects (budget control, payments and cash flow management)
• Handling administrative tasks, including staff management and the registration and monitoring of insurance contracts
• Acting as the main point of contact in the event of a dispute and monitoring litigation
• When managing several buildings or offices, analysing the needs of new co-owners and drafting property management contracts

Property managers may be employees or self-employed.

• When they are employees, they work for a property management company or developer and are responsible for a client portfolio, often consisting of several buildings, premises or offices.
• As a self-employed professional, they often have a senior profile and choose to set up their own business. They may potentially hire staff and become the director of their own firm.

In all cases, this representative is always elected by the general meeting, which is a prerequisite for legally managing the co-ownership.

Their daily work takes place partly in their office, where they handle administrative and accounting tasks on their computer screen, and partly in the field. This is because they often travel to analyse the condition of the common areas, check on the progress of work, or talk to the residents and employees of the building.

Within a property management firm or a company that owns a portfolio of properties, managers can move into a management position by taking charge of several condominiums simultaneously or by leading a team of agents.

An experienced professional with a solid network of contacts can set up their own business by launching their own property management firm. They can then hire co-ownership managers and other professionals (property experts, negotiators, accountants, etc.).

Sometimes a co-ownership manager may be looking for a change and choose to switch career paths by moving into sales. Their experience in the field allows them to become a real estate salesperson, supporting the various parties involved in a property transaction, often in a real estate agency or as a freelancer.