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Real Estate

Real Estate

This thread has been started so professionals or others involved in this sector can post their job related descriptions and experiences to help you better determine if this is the career/job you would like to pursue in the future.

Professional: Please tell what the job involves, the pros and cons, usual salary, and kinds of promotions
Future Professional: You may ask questions here, but please be specific

Note: This board should not be used for discussions relevant to other boards.

Estate Real

I was involved in Property Management, which is a branch of Real Estate that requires a license.

When an owner wants to receive income from a property, they generally will rent it out. Property managers, for a fee, will do all the work for the owner. They will advertise, screen tenant applications, handle money transactions, take care of repairs (that the owner pays for), and handle any disputes with the tenants. Regular property inspections are usually required, as well as recommendations to the owner about property values, the real estate market in general, and upgrades they may wish to make to their property.

Generally, a property management firm takes in 10% of the monthly rent on the owner's property. A property manager, as an employee, will make about $2,000 to $2500 per month, entry level, in Southern California. Senior property managers and "certified" property managers can make much more.

Another version of property management, rather than residential rentals, is vacation rentals of homes and condos in resort areas like Lake Tahoe or Park City, etc. The property manager will act basically as a hotel clerk -- check ins/check outs, making sure units are cleaned in between guests, etc. The fees to the firm may be higher -- as much as 24 to 40% of the rentals -- but managers will make about the same salary.

It can be really fun, and it can be really awful -- there isn't much more miserable in the world than a person on vacation who has found fleas in his beach front condo -- and there is nothing else available!

Roz