Getting a community association manager license means working with communities while caring for the properties and spaces. Naturally, community associations require managers to monitor the association and neighborhood’s projects and growth.
Community association managers are responsible for implementing conditions, covenants, and rules. Their tasks also include ensuring homeowners abide by the association’s rules.
Learn about the career
Your first step is to understand what community association managers do. You probably know the career’s nature, but understanding their roles and responsibilities lets you assess what you need to learn.
Essentially, they provide expert guidance, consultancy, and oversight for the associations’ members and homeowners. These managers aren’t volunteers; community organizations hire them to ensure they reach their goals.
Its usefulness
Community association managers deal with daily tasks and project management. That includes overlooking shared area care, budgeting, and linking the board with homeowners. As managers, they also take care of financial management and communications.
They take a hands-on approach to community management, and this usually means dealing with homeowners directly. Collecting fees, inspecting sites, overlooking resident compliance, and resolving disputes are everyday tasks.
Its place in the real estate sector
While community association managers aren’t part of the purchase process, their performance can affect a home’s value. Their efficiency affects a property’s perceived value.
Furthermore, prospective owners might be interested in knowing the manager. They’ll regularly interact with them, so a good manager can help sell a property.
Understand how you’ll work
Understanding your work environment and schedules after getting a community association management license is vital for tailoring your goals.
Most community association managers work from offices, but it’s not optimal to spend all your time in one. Onsite management is still a crucial side of the job, and it requires working directly on the properties and speaking with neighbors.
You’ll also have to deal with janitors, board members, owners, real estate agents, and prospective buyers. As such, it requires strong social skills, patience, and personal organization.
Organization
Naturally, managers need strong organizational skills. You’ll often have to schedule multiple tasks in one day and different locations. Assessing your time to meet all these requirements is crucial for an effective manager.
What you need
Knowing what skills the community association manager license demands is the best way to prepare for the career. Taking courses and developing these skills before starting your career can make your life easier.
We’ve already mentioned many of the capabilities you’ll need financial knowledge, social expertise, and organizational skills.
Education
You’ll need a high-school diploma (or equivalent) for most positions, but hiring college graduates is also common. A degree in finance, real estate, accounting, or business or public administration can be an outstanding advantage as well.
Of course, work experience in related occupations is also helpful.
Skills
The most common skills mentioned by prospects and sought by employers relate to general management duties. That means vendor, property, financial, and committee management are essential skills.
Learning to use standard digital tools in the industry, social skills, invoicing, and reporting is advantageous.
Pro tip to keep in mind: some states require additional licensing so make sure you research your state’s requirements for a career in Community Associations.