Dimension Property

           Take a stroll through any city, and you’ll see them: lovely brick condos, inviting apartment buildings, gleaming tall skyscrapers, and even historic mill buildings and churches converted into contemporary living spaces. Today’s real estate market is constantly evolving and changing, and as this dynamic streetscape alters, behind the scenes is the invaluable and skilled player: the property manager.

            One of the fastest-growing careers of the next decade, employment of property, real estate, and community association managers is projected to increase by 15 percent by 2016, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. As the mortgage market compels many Americans to rent instead of purchase homes, and baby boomers move into housing and healthcare units, property management professionals will be in high demand. There will also be opportunities with real estate development companies, commercial property corporations, and government agencies that manage public buildings. If you see a well-run, profitable establishment with satisfied tenants, chances are there is a talented property manager handling the day-to-day logistics of that community.

            One successful California property management developer, Andrew Gross, vice president at Thomas Safran and Associates, an affordable housing development firm, says his profession has taught him not to be afraid “to dream big.” “Business development is a challenging process, and a developer must possess the creative know-how to put out fires and overcome hurdles.” Gross is a member of the Advisory Board at Fremont College,  a premiere degree and career college in Southern California.  He says that developing affordable housing has been personally fulfilling, allowing him to change entire areas and “see people truly enjoy their new situations.”

Property management holds the most potential for people like Gross who enjoy blending knowledge of real estate with customer service and sales skills. Being a property manager is like being the mayor of a small city-you manage revenues, make important decisions about management, oversee contractors, oversee residents, and more. “Attention to detail is crucial,” says Gross, who constantly finds himself drawing parallels between work and life in his daily challenges.

            Property managers need to have a broad knowledge of business, finance, accounting, and real estate, as well as practical skills such as math, writing, computer, and oral communication. A business administration degree with a concentration in property management will equip you with knowledge of financial and expense control, customer service and marketing, leasing basics, and more. Various professional and trade associations also allow you to expand your knowledge of specialized subjects, such as insurance and risk management, personnel management, and reserve funding. Many fields overlap, says Gross, such as the constant intertwining of property management and real estate.

            Your career opportunities may abound as a property manager-you can work for real estate agents and brokers, lessors of real estate, or any other real estate company. Just as an example, top U.S. and trade associations, such as the Building Owners and Managers Association and the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties all offer job postings and networking opportunities. Booming overseas expansions are also opening up international property management positions. At Thomas Safran and Associates, which owns and manages over 3,200 units of affordable rental housing in the Greater Los Angeles area, Gross says that the company is looking to hire skilled professionals who are able to communicate with clients.

            So move aside, Donald Trump. The commercial and residential real estate industry is attracting talented young professionals with a strong educational background that equips them with a diverse skill set, talent, and experience. As a property manager, you can make a positive, sustainable impact on the environment and the economy, build lifelong relationships, and make a difference in the lives of hundreds of people. The welcome mat is out for a satisfying and rewarding career in property management. You just need to open the door. “It’s important to find life’s work that is fulfilling,” says Gross, who says it was serendipitous that he ended up in such a rewarding field.

For more information about a degree in business administration or career opportunities in property management, visit www.fremont.edu, or call 877-344-2345. Fremont College is a Southern California-based college dedicated to offering hands-on, career-focused accelerated degree programs that close the gap between the classroom and the workplace.

The popularity of condos in the booming Guanacaste region in Costa Rica has spawned a new industry for local residents and entrepreneurs. As the tiny villages along the coast trade in their wilderness for billion dollar investments, locals are trading old jobs for marketing kits and tool belts. In the wake of the boom, property management services have been springing up to satisfy the needs of absentee property owners who want to rent their homes to tourists as vacation properties.

Since development on the $400 million Peninsula Papagayo project began in 1997, construction and real estate sales in Costa Rica’s Guanacaste region have been on a roll. According to Costa Rica’s Central Bank, big business foreign investment in real estate has nearly tripled in the past 12 months – most of it in Guanacaste. The majority of these purchases represent investments in the tourism industry with large scale hotels, developments and existing tourism businesses being snapped up by savvy entrepreneurs.

But not all investment in the tourism industry represents big business. Individuals and families attracted by the climate and natural beauty of the area are getting in on the action. Discovering that condominiums make fantastic and affordable vacation homes while providing a viable source of income, people from all over the world are buying up condos in the country. But managing a property when you are out of the country is next to impossible and leaving your vacation home unoccupied for months is downright risky. Absentee owners can return to find they’ve been robbed or even worse – that their property is being inhabited by squatters.

Many condominium projects address this problem directly by providing property management services as part of the deal at buy-in. Owners can enter their property into the project’s rental program and have their interests taken care of. Depending on what level of involvement you wish to have, property management companies will take care of everything – from security to housekeeping. For a monthly fee, you can count on your manager to be your hotelier with a complete package that includes marketing, booking, cleaning, and maintaining the property while on site security removes the risk of unexpected or uninvited guests.

What could be important to emphasize in 2007 in real estate in canada?

First growth rate of construction of residential and commercial real estate.

Indeed, comparing the previous year, you can see a trend of increasing number of construction projects in canada that positively affect the economic situation in our city. It may be noted such developing investment zone in the construction sector, as street Frunze, as well as floodplain Kamianka rivers, streets and Galuschaka Narymskaya, familiarization streets Bolshevik and start construction in the area of Karl Marx, here you can insert and micro Gorski. You can also noted an increase in delivered volumes of space, in 2007 in canada have been turned over 900 thousand sq. m. housing, compared with 2006, which was handed over about 800 thousand sq. m.. The same is to focus attention on increasing the quality of construction sites building organizations, although there remains such as «dolgostroi», is a unfinished facility, the timing of delivery of which is either badly delaying or not defined at all, which is the cause of poor construction, financial instability or legal disputes construction companies with government agencies.

The second-largest phenomenon could be an increase in real estate prices in canada, and if, unlike the residential sector, rising prices in the commercial sector more balanced, in residential construction, due to a number of economic factors, such as mortgages, financial attractiveness and speculation, the sharp rise in prices continued during the winter and spring of 2007, and only since the fall marked a slight easing of positions related to the mortgage crisis in the USA. And at the moment prices are in the range of 45-65 dollars per square meter, compared with the beginning of the year where the peak price was 50 dollars per square meter of housing.

Comparing the prices of commercial real estate sale in canada, we can see that the price increases of no more than 10-15%. But do not forget that the economic zones of canada constantly in development, and if at the beginning of 2007, in Dzerzhinsk District average price of office space was about 55 rubles per square meter, it is now, it averages 60-70 thousand per square meter. The figure of 10-15% relevant to the core economic areas of canada, such as the Central District, Prospect Karl Marx and other rental rates as well as not undergone significant changes and the annual growth rate of about 12-17%, with the exception of Central and railway areas , Where the discovery of several business centers class «A», the picture has changed, and the average rental rate of office space at 1400-1700 rubles per square meter. Considering the rates of rent commercial premises, you will notice that there is substantial growth and the year it grew by an average of 40-50%, indicating a significant development in this area. It can not be left unattended and warehouse properties, but unlike the commercial and office space, significant changes have been observed in the sale or rental because of the still underdeveloped with real estate development, warehousing, logistics and small entry points.

And in the end I would like to mention another important factor as the opening of several major shopping centers in our city, such as «Auchan» (the area about 10 thousand sq. m.), «Big Dipper» (area 46 thousand square kilometers. m.), «IKEA», (the area of 27 thousand sq. m.), «Royal park» (the area about 60 thousand sq. m.), which is a positive effect on economic development in our city and is an indication that the whole city of canada attractive for investment in many industries including Commercial real estate listings.