To stay competitive in today’s workforce, employees across all industries need to continuously work to improve and better their skills. And that is especially true for anyone in the evolving world of asset management, be it multifamily asset management or other real estate asset management. The goal of these real estate community team members is to help owners find creative ways to maintain and improve upon their net operating income and profits. Asset managers are considered to be strategic thinkers who formulate and implement long-term, high-impact financial strategies. Knowing the best way to do that can come with experience but savvy asset managers can also find ways to build and hone certain skills to see success.

There are some very big differences when discussing real estate asset management versus property management. One is managing residents, maintenance and overall operation of a property, while the other, asset management, is managing the overall NOI (net operating income) and overall return generated by owned real estate assets. The formal real estate asset management definition is as follows: a manager who represents the owner, and focuses on managing the real estate as a financial asset.

No matter where along the real estate asset management career path one is, it is still a challenging, but rewarding, role in the real estate community. And there are plenty of ways to upgrade the real estate asset management skills necessary to better serve your company and the assets under management, and, obviously, one’s own career progression. Here are three favorites to help out:

  1. Learn Something New

Or a new way to do the same things! Is there a profession where learning a new skill or new, more efficient way of doing the same thing would be bad? Probably not. This is definitely true for real estate asset management. For example, the road to corporate real estate asset management may lead through the property management side of things. If so, there may be economic or financial areas a manager could stand to be better informed on. If not, there may be points in property management that a better understanding of could be beneficial. The first step is identifying the type of learning, or combination, that would work best. Is visual the way to go? Or is experiential better? And the good news is that there are plenty of ways to add to the real estate asset management skill repertoire. It can be as simple as researching and reading educational blogs (like this one!). It can also involve listening to topical podcasts or setting up meetings with peers further along in their real estate asset management career path. Whatever the best method is, it’s just a matter of getting started!

  1. Try Something New

While this may be the most difficult, there is always room for experimenting. Think about it. The top real estate asset management companies didn’t get there by their managers not trying new things. The smartest way to try a new tactic or strategy in real estate asset management is to start small. Find something that has potential to make a difference, try it, and if it works, scale it to something larger or expand to other areas or properties. There are real estate asset management services that have potential to save ownership large amounts of money as a result of seemingly small adjustments. For example, is there a way to provide more or better career training for team members? Keeping and growing current staff is a much more profitable model than constant rehiring. After all, while it’s called property asset management, people are often one of the strongest assets around. Or has the team tried video platforms to create, share and store community videos as a way to market the property? That’s a great example of a tactic that can start small but definitely has potential to grow.

  1. Lean Into Current Strengths

Everyone has qualities they are simply good at. These strengths may be things that come naturally or qualities an asset manager has worked to develop. Either way, those individuals looking to continue growing in their real estate asset management career path should discover and lean into those strengths. Unsure as to what those strengths are? Ask for feedback from coworkers, peers, or supervisors on what those strengths are and how to best continue to develop and utilize them. The real estate asset manager job description consists of a wide array of skills and talents. Whether it is being a wiz with numbers or a talented relationship builder, there are sure to be many skills those in real estate asset management can build on.


Starting with these three methods can help anyone along the asset management career path looking to grow and get better at their job. Staying curious and finding new ways to upgrade and improve is a surefire way to achieving the most success.

Until next time…keep it real!