Property Management, Real Estate

CPM®: The Gold Standard For Property Management

When you’re investing, you want the best people to manage your portfolio; you may not be an expert in the areas you’re investing in, but you want your wealth to grow, and the best people to have your back. You want to be able to trust the people who are taking care of your hard earned money; their experience, their honesty, their intelligence, and integrity. You don’t want to miss great opportunities for growth, and you don’t want them holding back when there are issues they believe need to be addressed. For most, the properties we hold are our biggest investments; the gold standard for property management is the Certified Property Manager(CPM®) Certification.

When your property manager is CPM® certified, you can trust that they have the expertise you need for great property management. Those with the certification must pass rigorous testing and meet stringent qualifications to bear it. First, they need years of experience in the industry; these years can’t be fruitless, either. In order to have a qualifying portfolio, managers must already be managing hundreds of units, often at multiple different sites. There are qualifiers for what exactly consists of management, too; they can’t just be collecting rent and calling it a day. There are 36 different activities the Institute of Real Estate Management considers property management, and those applying to start on the track to get their CPM® must be fulfilling at least 19 of these activities at their properties.

Once the grueling portfolio requirements have been met, the property manager can begin studying to get the certification. There are 7 core courses that most of those with the designation must pass; they include budgeting, team management, and asset analysis, so CPM® property managers have the breadth of knowledge and experience required to make an asset worth its weight in gold. Once these courses are accomplished, the would-be CPM® manager must also prove their property management skills on a management plan examination. Once the property management skills assessment is complete, the candidate may take the CPM® Certification Exam.

The path to certification isn’t over yet, though. This is a business where ethics and scruples are essential, so an ethics course is mandatory, as are references from professionals the manager has worked with. The candidate must also be an active member of well established real estate stakeholder groups in order to have their candidacy considered.

The end result for the property owner is a well-established, knowledgeable and trustworthy property manager with a proven track record of successful management skills. This wealth of experience can grow the value of your property dramatically; considering how complex real estate markets are, it’s important to hire the best. CPM® certified managers do much more than just collect the rent; they provide you with a plan for increasing the value of your investment. Your success is their success, as management teams are generally paid in percentages; reputable property management companies are bound to have CPM® certified managers on staff to make your investment work for you.