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Top 5 Responsibilities of a Property Manager

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Property managers are responsible for all aspects of housing properties. What specifically are their responsibilities?

To determine what a property manager does, we must first define what a property manager is. A property manager is responsible for owners and the community. Property managers have many responsibilities ranging across all aspects of caring for a property that you can think of, from collecting payments to arranging for the upkeep of their properties. This article will discuss the five major responsibilities in a property manager’s job description.

Dues and Fees

When you think of a property manager, the first thing you likely think of is the person who collects HOA fees. And this is, of course, the correct assumption. The property manager is responsible for all aspects of rent, dues, and fees associated with the properties that they control. They are in charge of setting various fees based on market prices in their areas. This means that they know how to evaluate their property’s features to find the best price for rent or HOA fees. They are also responsible for collecting these fees. Often they’ll take advantage of software for property management to accept payments online and track those who have paid and those who have not. Tracking payments is a critical part of their job that they must keep organized and streamlined.

Managing Residents

All property managers have to enforce contract terms, whether that be for a lease or an HOA property. The manager must review these terms with the owner or tenant and handle any rule-breaking that occurs throughout the contract. It is also the responsibility of the manager to deal with any complaints that arise from the residents, whether that be regarding property maintenance, other homeowners, or anything else that comes up.

Caring for the Property

Taking care of the property itself also falls to the property manager, whether that means hiring someone to handle maintenance tasks or doing it themselves. For managers in charge of rental properties, this includes home maintenance, such as problems that may arise within the houses or apartments in their community. Property managers for owned properties may only be in charge of the amenities they offer to the homeowners in their jurisdiction and the neighborhoods they manage. Rental property managers have a lot more responsibility in this regard, and it can be a significant challenge for them to keep track of everything under their belt.

Internal Communications

Communication among the board or property managers across a single property is critical to ensure that things run smoothly on a property. Conducting communication via email, phone, or property management software makes managing properties much easier and leaves little room for error or mishaps. Particularly in HOA boards, there are many people involved, so it’s crucial to ensure that everyone is on the same page and that information is dispersed among everyone involved. It’s also critical that communication is effective, asking for clarification when aspects are unclear or following up when steps aren’t completed. Communication is essential to ensuring a property management team is a well-oiled machine.

Accounting

Property managers have a lot of accounting responsibilities. Of course, they have a lot of cash coming in and out in the form of rent and HOA fees they manage. They must keep accurate records to ensure that everything is in order for taxes and general recordkeeping. This is another aspect that property management software can help with.

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Enumerate is your go-to expert on all things property management. We have been in the field for over 30 years, and we will continue to keep you up to date on all things new in property management. Our Enumerate Central software solution makes property management easier than ever on HOA property managers. Check out a demo on our website to see how it works for yourself.

FREE Download:
Download your FREE Action Items Worksheet!

Distribute this worksheet to a board prior to each meeting to keep everyone on target, or even keep a running log of similar nature online where everyone can access.

Benefits of having this Action Item Worksheet:

  • One convenient location for all action items (easily add additional communities to this worksheet)
  • Helps the board to be reminded of all of the work that has been done in recent times
  • Comes in handy during budget season to help the Board better predict expenses
  • Helps to prevent important tasks from falling through the cracks
  • A good way to maintain a ‘To Do’ list

This is the resource you’ve been waiting for.