The Property Manager's Playbook

A property manager is the owner's GENERAL agent, judged on producing the highest net return while preserving the asset. Core duties: set market rents (a rent survey, not guesswork), market vacancies, screen tenants with consistent written criteria (fair-housing-safe), collect rent and enforce leases, maintain the property (preventive beats corrective), keep trust-account records, and report to the owner. The management agreement fixes the fee — typically a percentage of COLLECTED rent (aligning incentives) plus leasing fees. Budgets split operating expenses from capital reserves. The manager carries out the owner's lawful decisions; refusing unlawful ones (discriminatory screening) is mandatory.