Property management

Property management is the operation of commercial, industrial or residential real estate. This is much akin to the role of management in any business.

Property management is also the management of personal property, equipment, tooling and physical capital assets that are acquired and used to build, repair and maintain end item deliverables. Property management involves the processes, systems and manpower required to manage the life cycle of all acquired property as defined above including acquisition, control, accountability, responsibility, maintenance, utilization, and disposition.

Roles

One important role is that of liaison between the landlord and/or the management firm operating on the landlord’s behalf and tenant. Duties of property management include accepting rent, responding to and addressing maintenance issues, and providing a buffer for those landlords desiring to distance themselves from their tenant constituency.

There are many facets to this profession, including managing the accounts and finances of the real estate properties, and participating in or initiating litigation with tenants, contractors and insurance agencies. Litigation is at times considered a separate function, set aside for trained attorneys. Although a person will be responsible for this in his/her job description, there may be an attorney working under a property manager. Special attention is given to landlord/tenant law and most commonly evictions, non-payment, harassment, reduction of pre-arranged services, and public nuisance are legal subjects that gain the most amount of attention from property managers. Therefore, it is a necessity that a property manager be current with applicable municipal, county and state laws and practices.

Property management, like facility management, is increasingly facilitated by computer aided facility management (CAFM).

Software

Property Management Software continues to grow in popularity and importance. As it decreases in price, smaller companies and amateur property managers are able to function with the same best practices and efficiency as larger companies. Online Asset Management Software (OAMS aka Online Property Management Software) is a major cause of the crash in the price.

Other uses

The term property management is used to describe the practice of managing capitalized assets and personal property that are not real estate in nature, such as equipment, tooling and consumables. This is particularly the case in some post-secondary institutions, hospitals, manufacturing industry, federal agencies and organizations that must manage government-furnished property, such as government contractors.