Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Property or Community Management Hire

[Christine Johnson (christine-johnson]

Sharon Villines wrote:

>...Why is the tenure of managers so short/variable?

Both property and community management are businesses which do not require a 
costly capital investment to get off the ground and the result is not always to 
the good!  Some very poor operators populate the industry along with the good 
ones.   

Some property and community management companies do not require certifications 
(i.e., evidence of formal training) which from their side, allows them to pay a 
low wage to those who want to learn the trade.  However, the communities that 
hire untrained managers essentially pay for that manager's on-the-job-training.

Property and community management, just like secretarial work, is an occupation 
in which you have a great deal of responsibility and very limited authority.  
High stress.  Managers take direction from the President of the Board 
typically.  When you’re taking direction from the President, or other appointed 
officer, who is not knowledgeable but thinks that they are, the manager is 
between a rock and a hard place, doomed to fail.   It’s not uncommon for a 
manager to get caught in the crossfire when a Board members get into conflict 
with each other. 

Sometimes the only thing a manager can do is move on to other accounts or move 
into another career!

It’s not all bad. For the most part, I loved the work. I like the informal 
mediation required. I like problem solving.  There are managers out there for 
whom community management is  a vocation.  If you can find to hire one of 
those, do whatever you can to keep them!

Christine Johnson
Stone Curves Cohousing
Tucson, AZ