Is being credentialed as a certified property manager necessary to being an effective property manager, or is it possible to do a good job solely as an experienced property manager without having the official certification?
There is no set education requirement to enable an individual to work as a property manager.
Should I become a Certified Property Manager?
A certified property manager is a status awarded to individuals who have completed the requisite real estate courses and are able to serve in a property management capacity over real estate.
Having a designation as a certified property manager (CPM) can allow you to show your experience in the property management arena. This accreditation requires you to have expertise in managing property and other individuals, and necessitates that you also operate with the utmost integrity as you pursue your fiduciary relationship with all clients, including your employers – the property-hunting and selling public, property owners and property investors.
CPM Members are recognized as experts at the top of their profession in real estate and property management. A majority of individuals who have attained a CPM designation hold the highest management positions in real estate entities in the USA today. For that reason, it is a valuable designation and one which is respected within the real estate field.
A certified property manager handles all of the leasing and property management details involved with running the property as an income-producing unit. The owner confers authority on the Certified Property Manager to act on the owner’s behalf. The owner might even give authority to enter into binding contracts regarding the running of the property; that would entitle and empower the property manager to establish maintenance contracts with service providers pursuant to the property management obligations he/she assumes as a Certified Property Manager.
A Certified Property manager has a fiduciary relationship with the property owner he/she works for. That requires the manager to act in that owner’s best interests in all areas of property management. The CPM’s good faith dealings should not in any way mix personal business with those of the employer, (property owner). When the CPM is acting for that owner, they are acting as though they are the person doing the dealing. At all times keeping the true owner’s interests foremost in their mind as a Certified Property Manager.
The Certified Property Manager is typically given all of the legal authority to lease, contract and maintain the property in question. While education and passing certification classes are the usual difference, a Certified Property Manager knows a good deal more about the legal theories of property management and is thus in a better position to handle those issues and other tenant problems.
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