becoming a landlord/manager of apartment complex

how do i go about to become a landlord/manager of an apartment complex?
any advice will help

Apartment manager jobs have pretty fast turnover. Most managers cant hang for more than a year because the tenants drive them crazy. My company alone, in the small area where I live, has already gone through 4 sets of mgrs in 2 years at some of our complexes. The jobs are out there, trust me.
Just remember that you give up your privacy. Unfortunately most complexes dont have a separate managers unit, so you have to share walls with tenants.... sometimes listening to the noise after being in your office all day can make you nutty.
I think managers would last longer if their dwelling was detached from the tenants....
If anyone can hear me, and you are building an apartment complex, do a great service and let the manager unit stand alone.

What do you want to accomplish by being a manager?
Do you have a long term goal (apart from the fact you would receive a residence as part of your your
compensation). Do you want to learn what managers
do in preparation for owning a property? Are you
interested in apartments, condominiums, self storages? You should have a good idea of your
future goals before you go hunting for a community
in which to work!

It's not as cut & dry or simple as it appears on
the surface. The average person meeting a property
manager takes a look at the person sitting behind
a desk, makes a less than critical judgement about
what they think they are seeing, "gee, that looks like an easy job! I could do that!? Being a property manager requires alot of common sense, some legal knowledge, ALOT of patience, excellent customer service skills, You must be able to transdend cultural barriers and be able to com-
municate clearly and in an even handed way.

You might want to find out what's involved in being
a property manager. Introduce yourself to an apart-
ment manager & ask them if they can take a few mo-
ments out to chat with you and describe their job!
Tell them you have been considering a career change
and this looks INTERESTING AND CHALLENGING! Most
people like to talk about themselves, you'll find
someone who will be more than willing to share information with you.

Good luck!

Dulce in San Diego, California said: how do i go about to become a landlord/manager of an apartment complex?
any advice will help

I have seen 3 couples of apt mgrs in 4 years, with no education, neither experience... and manager get a free 2 bdr, + utilities + $100/mo + 2 closed garages (for 26 units)

My experience was: I got the certification as Apt Mgr, but because no experience I received from the other owner of 26 units, just free rent for management + maintenance...

In time owner changed, and have to pay the rent for apt, get 700 for mgmt and 12-15/hr for maintenance work..

What's your experience ?

Surfer in Orange, California said: I have seen 3 couples of apt mgrs in 4 years, with no education, neither experience... and manager get a free 2 bdr, + utilities + $100/mo + 2 closed garages (for 26 units)

My experience was: I got the certification as Apt Mgr, but because no experience I received from the other owner of 26 units, just free rent for management + maintenance...

In time owner changed, and have to pay the rent for apt, get 700 for mgmt and 12-15/hr for maintenance work..

What's your experience ?

I have no experience and dont know where to go to get be certified as an apt manager either..

OK then.. I may help you..

You can go at "School of Continuing Education" schedule.sce.cc.ca.us
or ROP www.carocp.org/carocps.html

I have obtained in 9 months: "Apt Mgr Certificate" , (3hrs night per week at Cypress College in 2004) training was PAID by state (see Fees: Free)

Why do you like to be apt manager ?

I wish you success...

I'd start looking for a job doing self storage instead. It's less aggravating,
it pays better & it's alot more fun!
Money is terrible to start with, but ya' gotta start somehwere. For an on site manager (companies are now hiring single managers, not all companies, but some), you can figure on $8/hr, 1 or 2 bedroom apt, you pay phone and cable. If you're really lucky, you'll find a company that provides medical after 3 months, dental is a real boon, & some even have a 401k plan. Many companies have a bonus in-centive plan where if you meet or exceed the budgeted monthly income, or quar-terly, or annual, depends on how they have it set up, you can make additionl money. I would go for a monthly incentive, & certainly nothing more than
a quarterly one.

Research the thing to death. Then redo
your resume & start hunting again. You
may strike out a few times, but I guaran-
tee you, storage management is definitely
alot more intresting & fun. AND, this is the BIG thing: your life is USUALLY your own after the office closes. No more leaky sinks & overflowing toilets.
Really - big didfference. You get to
actually have a life.

Last - go visit some self storages & talk
to other managers. Some will get para-
noid & think you want their job!! LOL,
but to hell with it. Just be honest in
your questioning & MOTIVES. Most man-
agers will be happy to help you out. Take everything with a grain of salt & above all, don't take yourself too seriously when you do this!

Good luck.

ok thank you! I know there is a rent a center that is hiring.. I think it also said that starting pay is 12-14$ an hr.. So I'll look into that. Thanks for the advice!!

I have a suggestion for you, if you want to make your life easy (if you intend to go shoppign for a storage manager's position). There is a national self storage association (which really is not going help you) as well as stage associ-
ations. California has it's own, but again, I don't think you will get the help you need in trying to get the right kind of information to aid in getting a job in the industry. There is a publi-
cation called INSIDE SELF STORAGE. It has "generic" stuff, which you may find
interesting. The Self Storage Assn. also
has some generic stuff that you can read
Go through the links on the website and read what's available.

I'm going to give you some free advice
that will save you UNTOLD HOURS and be
the guide to the info that you really need. This is a list of the TOP OPERATORS
in the self storage insdustry (USA).
They vary widely in what they pay, the
benefits (if any). But they ALL have the
same expectation; you will make them $$$.

Here is the internet LINK to the info
that you need:

www.insideselfstorage.com/guidetop/buyersguide.asp

If you cannot utilize the information on
this list, you should not be doing self
storage or any other kind of sales (yes,
self storage and even apt. managing is
SALES.

Have fun!

My regional manager has asked me to complete a weekly report. I'm kind of confused as to what to do. I guess there's a formula? Does anyone know this formula? rented vacant occupied ect.?

you probably have a "weekly report" form there somewhere. The one I turn in each week asks for the amount of vacancies, the amount of intents to vacate, the amount of new move ins and what I've been doing to advertise. And how much petty cash I have on hand and if there are any other issues.

Yes, that sounds right. They mentioned GPI? is there a way to find this?

How do I figure out what the vacancy rate is?

divide the amount of full units by the total amout of units, then you will know what percent full you are.

Judy in Edmonds, Washington said: Yes, that sounds right. They mentioned GPI? is there a way to find this?

I am not familiar with the term GPI.... sorry.

Gross potential income
Gross potential earnings

How do I find these figures? any idea?

do you have a weekly report spread sheet that you use? could you send me a copy? so I may familiarize myself with this weekly report.

I dont have to worry about that crap, thank God.

Judy in Edmonds, Washington said: do you have a weekly report spread sheet that you use? could you send me a copy? so I may familiarize myself with this weekly report.

Every management company probably has their own format. I'm not in my office, so I cant send you our particular form, and I'm govt subsidized and cant really share forms with you anyway.

I'm seriously laughing!

Judy in Edmonds, Washington said: Gross potential income
Gross potential earnings

How do I find these figures? any idea?

gpe would be what you would get if ALL units were full. gpi would be what you are going to get with the amount of units that are currently full. You would subtract the latter from the former to show how much you are losing this month. I guess? That's what I would do anyways... lol

I understand-I wouldn't want you to get in trouble.

Judy in Edmonds, Washington said: I'm seriously laughing!

why? But its good to have a sense of humor if you are going to be an apartment manager.

I'm really laughing at myself but what you just said was very helpful. Thank you!

there arent many posts here, I wish more apartment managers knew about this. Anytime you want to ask me anything, go for it.

honestly I will ask. Thank you! I have three jobs and I can't afford to not know what I'm doing.

Holy crap, and I thought I had it tough. There is NO WAY JOSE I
would EVER manager an apartment. You guys work WAY too hard. I hope the money is better than what storage people make!!

I read the thread about GPI & all that stuff. Don't the companies
that own the apartment buildings have software that is specific to
the industry? Usually the industry specific stuff includes all
kinds of management reports that makes life so much easier. They could be using software so you would have more time to market, make sense?

Duhhhh --- that my friends is why owners have managers (because
they couldn't POSSIBLY do the job themself!!)

You sound like good managers to me! Don't kill yourselves in the job; it ain't worth it. I really isn't.

I was an apartment manager some years ago. Now we (husband and I) are managers of a mobile home park. Please someone, anyone, give us a job at an apartement complex anyday. you think managing a complex is tough. Try babysitting a bunch of homeowners that think you sole job is to quite a barking dog. or tell you about a loud party but won't sign a complaint form. I could go on and on but trust me, it's a horse of a very different color. Then just for grins and giggles, toss in the old manager that was fired for doing a lousy job, oh ya. piece of cake... not!!!

sorry new to this site. not living in toledo, ohio. living in california.

I manage a 60 apartments I only get a part time maintence worker. The apartments are old and constantly need repairs. How many employees should be employed? I am constantly having to hire a maintence person cause they only pay minimum wage no apartment.

Wow! Looks like you need to have talk with the owner. If the property is in need of constant repairs then you need a full time maintenance person to help out. Managing is a job in itself. I manage a 50 unit and I have maintenance part-time also but there aren't a lot of problems. Ask! It won't hurt.

Alot depends on the age of the complex. The older it is,
the more work it needs. I'd have someone daily at least
part time.

Just read through the forum. I am an apartment manager of a 3 building, 134 suite complex. Of course this is in Canada and I am not sure what you need in the US. But the work itself is much more difficult than one might think. I definately hear what was said about quieting a barking dog... excessive noise parties. It really is a 24hr a day job. With basic complaints, not to mention emergency leaks in suites, or contractors working in the lobby and dust from cutting the wood sets off the fire alarm. Things with apartment managers is... you not only work for the management company, you also work for the owners of the suites (whether Strata or not), you also work for the tenants. At times it can be a very thankless job.

Now the positives. If you are an onsite manager, you pretty much work from home. You can get up in the morning, grab your cup of coffee, and head to the office which is usually no more than a hundred steps away. There will be days when you have a ton of stuff to do, but then there's days that are pretty relaxing. Income, honestly... is not great at all. I make $2000/month. But that is not taking off taxes. Depending on the management company though, you can usually get other contracts depending on how committed you are to making $$$. Right now, we have the landscaping contract as well as the painting contract. So if you are able to find other sorces of income through the management company, financially (as a whole) it might be worth it.

Given all the good and the bad that comes with the job, it does take someone with quite a bit of patience and people skills to do this kind of job. I am actually looking to get into something else. But it's not terrible.

One last thing... if you do decide you become an apartment manager, make sure you have a good and thorough application/screening process. I have run into a bit of issues surrounding this. Because if you make a wrong choice in giving tenancy to someone. Regrets can soon follow. And the steps you have to take to get them out can be more than you bargained for. If they simply don't pay their rent, in Canada anyways... you can give them a 10 day eviction notice. But if after the 10 days they don't move (you can't move them by force... would be much easier if you could), you have to file for an Order of Possession. That can take up to 2 weeks and cost $100.00. Then if they still don't move after that (you can't change the locks), you (or rather the owner of the suite) would have to order a baliff to come and remove them (at a cost of between $1500.00 and $5000.00). And once they are finally out, if the owner wants to recop the $$$, they would have to go to the Residential Tenancy Branch for a hearing ($50.00 more), which the tenant would most likely not show up for, so the owner would win. But try getting the money owing from someone you can't track down and who really just doesn't care.

We do have some really great tenants here, which does at times makes the job fun and nice. But then there's the ones who are nothing but trouble.

I am about to become an onsite manager of a 12 unit townhouse subdivision that is not low income housing, nor based on amount of income, but does have a max income amount for tenants in order to rent these units...for the 'low to middle income family'. Anyhow - my question is, they are only offering me half off my rent and I still pay full utilities. Is thsi fair? I have been offered the job and accepted, but because this is new to me, I have no idea what the norm is....HELP! Everyone is telling me I should at least get all rent free if nothing else, their is no salary unless I want to do some of the work myself instead of contract is out. Also, included in the job description is leasing, evicting, everything inbetween, snow shoveling sidewalks, coordinating all maintenance and groundskeeping, painters, cleaners, etc - and included in my rent I automatically owe four hours of cleaning a month for apartment turnovers as part of my half rent off compensation. HELP! I don't know if I should talk to the manager now, or wait till I have taken over.....

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Jeez, are they PAYING you anything?

I am not an apt mgr so my opinion is not worth a hell of alot, but
I maange a self storage. I get the apartment FREE (for a lower
hourly), I pay my own cable & phone, but not electric; that is in-
cluded in the apartment. But I get hourly, a bonus and benefits.
I could not any circumstances do what you are describing, no matter
how nice the complex is. Am I missing something here? It seems
to me that apartment managers are grossly underpaid and don't get
a hell of alot of respect.

If I'm out of line here, I apologize - don't beat me up too badly.
It just seems like an apartment manager should get alot more money
than they do for all the work you all do. And you do work your
butts off -

No - you aren't missing anything.
They are offering me 1/2 off my apartment, 3 pages of stuff I have to do for the half off, plus four hours of cleaning per month on apartment turnovers. That's why I was hoping someone would respond as I have yet to take the job AND move in and sign a year lease, and am thinking maybe I shouldn't or I should just ask for no rent. There is NO salary with this, unless I choose to contract any lawn, cleaning, painting, yard work etc out to myself at 12 dollars an hour. And that is only as needed, it is a very small site and has only a dozen OK apartments with NO amenities, and is next door to subsidized housing which is awful.......I did mention to the manager about help with utilities as well, and she said she would let me know, but has been three days and haven't heard from her. Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks!

karpdiem2 in San Diego, California said: Jeez, are they PAYING you anything?

I am not an apt mgr so my opinion is not worth a hell of alot, but
I maange a self storage. I get the apartment FREE (for a lower
hourly), I pay my own cable & phone, but not electric; that is in-
cluded in the apartment. But I get hourly, a bonus and benefits.
I could not any circumstances do what you are describing, no matter
how nice the complex is. Am I missing something here? It seems
to me that apartment managers are grossly underpaid and don't get
a hell of alot of respect.

If I'm out of line here, I apologize - don't beat me up too badly.
It just seems like an apartment manager should get alot more money
than they do for all the work you all do. And you do work your
butts off -

You are right. I have some years of experience and I can say it's a kinda slavery, because under paid... (even to half or less for beginners hired directly by owners, or small managements which not "publicized" them salaries... They like to have "separate deals" with all managers of different properties... also with full time maintenance guys.. And consider that not even employed them but "hired" to not pay benefits, as medical, insurance, tax or holidays... Add that you have to be almost all week at the property (no summer holiday) as you have to show the vacancies... It seems that we are in the medieval ev... with (land)LORDS and servants (peasants)... If there are 15-50 apts. employers offer "rent discount" and if are hundreds of apts. free apt + small salary (no benefits)... and they require "couple team managers" as a family (2 people) taken care 24/7/365 for them property.. paying no overtime, and no extra for dirty or hard work, or during the night & emergency situations... They like to have you "full qualified" to save money to not hire HVAC technician or router plumbing companies.. If there is a greater job to be done on property, they even give the job to a vendor paying 1,000 more... but if you do it, will charge you by hour.. and if have many hours will cut them... What about that ...!? I know managers of 17 years experience which was pushed out because they asked for "fair" payment..

In CA have to be on site manager over 14 units... So.. they are not required to have you as manager, but they prefer to do it, to have peace of mind, as it someone there watching the neighbors/tenants. Half rent discount is paid even to 30 or 50 units in some cases (see Craigslist "resident manager" keyword at jobs category - and find some offers in real time there).
Some owners or managements give free rent to 20-30 apts. for managements.
Others require even to do the maintenance included in free rent, especially if no previous experience...
They asked for 2 years experience years ago... Now they want 5 years experience... but still pay poorly..
As you pay rent (even half) you are between the sides.. you are a tenant and manager in same time.. Have to have double mind... speaking with tenants in a way, and with supervisor/staff sharing them views ...
Someday you will hate this position in long run...

To Ginger...
I suggest to not sign the contract but have a deal of 30 days notice, from both sides. If you are desperate, you jump in it, and make your prisoner for 1 year... and in this time may arise a better opportunity for you

Tell them that you want TEMPORARY job or Temp-To-Hire, to see if you and employer go along well. As you said, you are not in the industry, and want (or ask) for a "probation" period...

You have to do this, because you may stay with them few years (unfortunately even it's bad deal, you familiarize/accept the situation) and YOU NEED good references in your employment history. If it's for few months, you may skip this period from your future resume. But are interview questions in the future, and you not want to lie about "previous employers". They ask you even if you was "fired" ever in your career and why...

So I suggest to give them the hope that you are the right person for the job, but you are serious/meticulous person and not want to jump in the "unknown deals".

They like to hire unexperienced managers to pay badly... and they "train you" at work.. to increase them profits.

I suggest to go on CraigsList in your county /state and look for apt mangers jobs, all the time... Go to interviews even you are hired already.. you gain experience + when the opportunity of a good deal come, you may switch (by giving 30 days notice to your actual employer, when you have your foot on the other side. Be carefully that some employers not like disloyal employees... And never speak badly by your employees... )They are on the same side)... Say that you like to make a career in apt. management and look for "career advancement" or to match your needs (let's say 20+ apts is for you, or you look for free rent job, etc.)

You have to balance your expectations with them expectations... and you will fall first interviews... but you will learn better than in a school about "how to get the job".

I would discuss it before you take the job. Sounds like a ripoff to me. Seriously.

karpdiem2 definately hit the nail on the head on this one. It is an underpaying job as well as many times utterly thankless. As for Ginger... again like I said before, I am a residential manager in Canada, so it might be different. But that definately sounds like a terrible deal. The only advice I could give you would be to 100% not take this job and hold out for one better.

As far as the four hours of cleaning apartments for turnovers, it's debatable whether that should be your job. I guess depending on whether it's a strata complex... which I am assuming it's not. If the suites are not individually owned by investors, then I imagine that would fall under your job description. If they are individually owned, it would fall back to the owners. I do the cleaning of the suites around here, but I get $18/hr (payed from the owner of the suite) to do it.

Benefit is... getting to work from home. Some days will be insane busy... other will be wonderfully quite. There's pros and cons to all of it I guess. But this particular opprotunity (or lack there of) for you doesn't seem like it would be great in the long run. Take Surfers advice and check out Craigslist. Try to get into a Strata complex if possible. That way all work done for owners is payable by owners. Good luck Ginger.

This doesn't sound legal. I'd go online to the labor laws of the state (or call the labor board) & get some very specific infom-ration. How can you afford to do this? Never mind how can you NOT afford it? If you have a roof over your head & are not in danger of losing it, I'd keep looking.

Are you permitted to have a full time DAY job to supplement this?
If not, you'll be living on food stamps (f you can get them!) How will you put gas in your car? Do they expect YOU to write up rental agreements for new tenants and not pay you? That is not ok, and may be illegal, since you are acting as an "agent" for the
company. That becomes a liability issue in my view.

This sounds like a lease agreement, not an employment contract.
They should be paying you, not the other way around!! If it's a lease agreement and you leave before it ends, you are SCREWED!
It goes on your credit - There is no benefit to you that I can see. If it's a matter of not being able to afford where you are currently living, maybe you want to consider sharing a house. codo, apartemnt with someone else. ather than lock yourself into
a thing like this.

I agree with the comment someone made about "in the long run, you
will hate yourself for doing this". That person is right on the
money; you will feel completely trapped in this situation.

Ask youself: why am I considerthing this "situation?
what are the benefits & advantages?
what are the disadvantages?

Be careful - be very careful. And good luck!

Even though you are a SINGLE, go to www.workingcouples.com &
see if you can find something there that is better suited to
your needs. You might get lucky. But remember, you have to
research whatever you are interested in

I have yet ANOTHER suggestion for you. You need to look at your resume & maybe redo it. Get an experienced person who knows you personally to sit down with you and identify your areas of ex-
pertise & strong points. You should consider redoing the resume. You attract what you are. You sound like you are selling yourself very short. Any kind of managing requires skill, stability, etc. You don't just become a manager.

After you redo your resume, go back to the internet & start plug-
ging in "key" words (that now appear in your new resume) that would bring up a different kind of position. There is NO harm in contacting a prospective employer about a job where you don't have the exact experience they want. Going to Craigslist is a good idea.
This particular website, Indeed, is good too. ALSO, you can use
Indeed & plug in the location where you wish to work/live, and
Indeed will list by location!

If asked by a prospective employer, you can always say you are
"reinventing" yourself, looking for a "career change". REMEMBER THIS: Unlike applying for a new credit card, applying for a new job does not show up on your credit report (unless of course the employer demands that, & many do.) If you get turned down for such a job, the hit to your credit report shows up & you have to explain it when someone else sees your report. If you apply for 5 jobs that have that requirement, oh well - you see where I'm going with this.

All this may sound like overkill & even paranoia, but in the
present economy * with unemployment going up, I sure understand
your concerns. I have them too! Shat - someone hit my parked
car last night, & likely the insurnace company will want to
total the car. Where am I supposed to get the dough for another one? My employer isn't planning on a huge raise anytime soon!

GRRRRRRRRRR

Hi... could someone help me ... !what do they mean about turn overs. ! when it comes to managing an apartment building.

An apartment 'turnover' is when one tenant leaves and you 'turn the apartment over' (get it ready) and another tenant starts renting it. Turnover is a start to finish process from one tenant to the next and everything that gets done in the process inbetween the two. Hope this helps.
Good luck.

An apartment 'turnover' is when one tenant leaves and you 'turn the apartment over' (get it ready) and another tenant starts renting it. Turnover is a start to finish process from one tenant to the next and everything that gets done in the process inbetween the two. Hope this helps.
Good luck.
It may also reference comments like 'apartment managers have a high or fast turnover rate' which can mean that the job has a short timeframe for employment and one employee doesn't stay too long (highly extended period).

I think that when it was mentioned in an earlier post it was refering to the manager turn over rate. So how many managers come and go. Just like turn over in any job. But that's not always the case. My parents have been managing the same 134 unit complex for 12 years now. I am starting to get into it now too. I have been doing for a year now. Has it's good and bad. The tenant turnover is actually what is concerning most of the time. It's rare that we have all the suites filled with tenants. Some tenants just skip out over a weekend and don't pay rent. The working on the suites is another thing that can be a pain. Simply because if the owner of a suite put in new carpet and new paint costing a couple thousand dollars. Then a tenant moves in and is there for only 6 months and moves. Depending on how clean the were or if they had kids that draw on walls, which you see alot more than you would think. Then it is difficult cause you have to do what you can to avoid the owner having to put more $$$ into the suite. Always remember... you work for the owner (if Strata and individually owned) or for the management company. You don't actually work for the tenants. It's almost like babysitting in a sad way. You work for the parents (owners)... not the kids (tenants). Don't get me wrong, we have some amazing tenants who we have good relationships with. But respect gains respect.