Hi Jodie, you’ve raised some very good points here. I have seen this or heard of this happening, I believe it used to happen years ago in this office under different bosses.

My belief is that PM is so important and crucial to any real estate business because it really is the “bread and butter”. But even more than that, it is how alot of relationships are built with clients well before sales enter the picture. In fact what about recognising what sales receive as a result of the rent roll – clients who choose to sell their investment properties more often than not will at least deal with the same office in the first instance when it comes to putting the property on the market, if not then have it resulting in a SOLD sticker!

Too often I think the perception is that PM is the poor 2nd cousin to sales despite the black and white $$$ results, or any other things that can be measured in PM. Unfortunately, the workload is incredible in our own department and thankfully we now have a Property Management Assistant – she has been an absolute Godsend! In PM, we still think another Property Manager would be worthwhile…

Your thoughts about PMs having to carry the burden in various ways is accurate as far as our office goes, although it has definitely improved over the past 12-18 months. Slowly but surely we are getting there!

Jodie, I am sorry, however I will disagree with your statement

“It’s hard to understand because for years, PM’s have had to carry the burden of being underpaid and understaffed because agencies were doing so well in sales and the Property Management was a ‘side’ business without much focus. ”

I have been involved in the real estate business for over 30 years, and spent many of those years in management training roles, and from my observations, that statement is the exception, not the rule. I would prefer to say that it was not so in any shape of form, however I have seen it from time to time.

Its also been my observation, that good people, very quickly read, “good places to work”, and businesses that do not adequately reward staff, and provide the right environment to work in etc, soon find them selves, not receiving applications.

On the other hand, I believe that every facet of the business, needs to be running as tightly as they can. Maxine, I am sure every PM department, would appreciate a new PM rather than an assistant, however in todays world, being prudent and surviving is the key.

I do get dissapointed when I read some of these remarks, as I am of the view that the business, is just that “one” business, and while people have different roles, these comments may inadvertantly assist in some peoples minds, to move “perception” to reality.

Lets not regurgitate what we believed happened etc, and continue to provide the ideas and suggestions of best practice.

Peter, great to hear your thoughts/comments :) I think alot comes down to experience because that is really what colours and/or creates our perception more often than not.

I’d just like to clarify that we greatly appreciate our PM Assistant and I wasn’t meaning that we should have a Property Manager instead of her, rather additional to her. I love business and understand (as much as I can without being one of the partners here) that there are always other factors involved for the Directors in relation to making staffing decisions.

It’s great to hear that during your long time in real estate, what Jodie and I were saying, has been the exception.

Hi Peter,

No need to apologise, I’m glad you posted.

It’s interesting to note that today I received the PPM Journal and they featured the results of a National survey.  What I found really interesting was the salary result.  When the staff were asked about their level of salary, the majority of the answers were between $40 & $45K.  The majority of those surveyed were between 40 and 45 years of age and the majority level of experience was between 6 and 10 years…Now to put this in perspective, my first role was at $21K as a cadet 12 years ago.  My second role was at $38K and quickly moved to $42K 11 years ago.  My third role in PM only 18 months in, I moved to $45K as a starting salary with a car.  I had 18 months experience and this was 10 years ago.  While the PPM National Survey had about 200+ responses, so by no means represents every person in the industry, it’s survey results seem to mirror what I see out there and that is that the average wage hasn’t really moved past $45K in the last 10 years.  Given inflation and the cost of living….I remember houses back in 2000 in a suburb 8K’s from the City were around $150K and now would be about $500K, it amazes me that our wages have not moved during that time…Now, the thing I haven’t researched prior to writing this is, was the average back then $40 – $45K or was I just lucky to get that salary 18 months in?  I do know however that during my time of recruiting people, many of the salaries offered have been in that range.

The fact is there are far more legisative requirements on Property Managers now than there was 10 – 12 years ago (note I understand there is far more technology available and PM’s tend to manage less properties).   Another fact is, rents, sales prices and most everything else has increased. 

When you consider that PA’s earn $50K+, straight admin roles are fetching $40K , Office Managers fetch $50K, Sales Managers earn $80K+…quite frankly, in my opinion, Property Managers have as much, if not more responsibility, are adding not only income but asset value to the business, are governed by many areas of legislation, work more than the 38hr week with no extra pay (according to the survey and what I see), that to me suggests they’re generally underpaid, which is where my statement is coming from.  The fact they work more than the hours their paid for, to me, supports that they may be overworked.

However, I do agree with you, we do need to suggest improvement rather than dwelling…the issue is, this is a reflection of what I’m seeing right now.  I feel it’s relevant to ask Principals to think about where they are currently spending their reserves and think about not putting extra pressure on their PM’s (we do need to cut costs and save where possible, but not to the detriment of the PM team),

On a lighter side, maybe I should work for LJ Hooker… :-)  Actually my first role was with LJ Hooker and to be honest I received some of the best training under a Principal that was PM based..so I was a very lucky girl…however the cadet wage on the other hand almost killed me! I had to work 3 jobs just to become a Property Manager.  So glad I did though!

I really love this discussion and would love your thoughts on what I’ve written and am very open to differing opinions.

Sorry, I need to make a correction. The PPM Survey reports that the majority of those surveyed earned $35,001 – $40,000.  Not $40K – $45K that I reported.

Jodie, I appreciate the numbers you quote from the PPM survey. I do agree with you, that it is not a sample that a lot of value can be placed on it. Any one that has done surveys, is aware of the dangers inherent in them, if they do not follow the correct formula and conditions of “authentic” surveys. A brief run through the recruitment advertisements as well as my own discussions with principals across Australia, leads me to believe that PM’s in the broad sense are very much more highly regarded, valued and remunerated than the PPM survey may indicate. I will not deny, that those are the figures that were sent in, however, I have seen a lot of surveys, where, with out thiinking, people put the “net take home” figure down.

I am firmly behind any one, or group, that is endeavouring to lift the “lifes” of all in this great industry, from PM, through Sales, Admin etc. I know that I have thoroughly enjoyed my time.

So, you did some Hooker time. I cannot tell you how many people I meet mention that to me. We have been a great training ground.