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F E B R U A R Y , 2 0 1 7
W
hen I started in this business over 10 years ago I had no experience as a property
manager. I didn’t even really know what a property manager was. Granted I
had pretty good office skills. I was smart, college educated, organized, and could
handle multiple tasks and changing priorities. I had already been working in the business
world for 20 years before stumbling into the field of property management after the birth of
my second child. But all of the experience I had at that time didn’t prepare me for the life of
a property manager.
I’ve found over the years that a property manager is expected to be knowledgeable and
rounded in several different fields such as landscaping, plumbing, electrical, construction,
engineering, law, insurance, accounting and often at times psychiatry, or a facsimile
thereof. As a property manager you are the front line for questions, concerns,
complaints, information and at times a shoulder for someone to cry on for
every member of your community and your Boards. In this job I often think
of the movie Office Space when Peter Gibbons tells “The Bobs” that he has
eight different bosses. For a property manager it’s way more than that. You
have your employers of course, then the Board and all your homeowners as your bosses!
To deal with all of that, I’ve found that the courses
and certifications offered by CAI have been invaluable
to me. Up until the time I took the M-100 and passed
the CMCA exam I was sort of flying by the seat of
my pants, learning as I went, making mistakes and
learning by them. Kind of like a rudderless ship. The
PDMP courses have been able to set a firm direction
for me. These courses have been able to steer me
© iStockphoto.com
CAI’s PMDP Educational Programs
INVALUABLE
By Marybeth Hennessy, CMCA, AMS
Towne & Country Management, Inc.
CONT I NU E S ON PAGE 22
"These courses have
been able to steer me
into being a better, more
knowledgeable and
productive manager."