Ben

A system architect. An entepreneur. Researching US industries and businesses to drive efficiency. Chief Marketing Officer of

[Ben @_curiousben]

I spent the last month digging into how property management actually works in the US. Here’s what the numbers say.

There are about 460,400 property, real estate and community association managers in the US. Median pay is $69,990 a year. The field is expected to grow 4% from 2025 to 2035, with about 36,900 openings every year (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025).

A huge share of rentals sits with small owners. Nearly half of all US rental units are in properties with 4 units or fewer, and only about 22% of those small properties are professionally managed. For properties with 150+ units, it’s 84% (HUD and Census Bureau, Rental Housing Finance Survey 2021).

So what actually fills a manager’s day? I went through 4,240 job postings, surveys, day-in-the-life posts and software reviews.

The answer surprised me. Turnovers, the thing everyone talks about, are only 2 to 5% of the work and the complaints. The daily back-and-forth is close to half. Tenant messages, repair requests, chasing vendors, keeping owners updated.

The direct pain sample is small (61 first-hand accounts), so take it as a signal, not gospel.

PMs, what took up most of your week last week?

Sources
BLS: https://t.co/Zlbxjuelfj
HUD: https://t.co/Z6K7tBKlMX

[Ben @_curiousben]

@GenZMultifamily how’d you get the locks changed that fast from california, was your worker already close by? the modelo was a nice touch

[Ben @_curiousben]

@elampkin88 @heIpfullandlord what made you settle on $85 for your own places vs $100 plus admin at the firm? interesting split

[Ben @_curiousben]

@capecodder2025 @heIpfullandlord how many days did your last turnover take, from keys back to the new tenant moving in? that’s a lot of steps

[Ben @_curiousben]

@Cyber_Lord @LandlordRev what did those 3 trips end up costing you? after 6pm only is a tight window

[Ben @_curiousben]

@cfree220 @heIpfullandlord @moseskagan just curious when he started seeing more no-shows, since he changed his whole showing setup because of it. 3-5 days of ads for one showing day sounds like a lot of work. do you run showings for your rentals too?

[Ben @_curiousben]

@_Alanna_B @MrBlanketFace what happened that made u add the drip tray line to your lease exhibit? that’s a very specific rule

[Ben @_curiousben]

@MrBlanketFace how did the last one go when billed a tenant past the deposit? im sure that aint cheap

[Ben @_curiousben]

@LAhex @heIpfullandlord how did you find out about the cash for keys? 20k a month down to 3-4k is quite the gap

[Ben @_curiousben]

@heIpfullandlord @moseskagan if i may, when did the no shows start going up? 3-5 days ads is a real push

[Ben @_curiousben]

@dig_deeper1 what made you go with that free month on that one? 4-5k move in bill is a lot

[Ben @_curiousben]

@indexnforgetit @colinushkowitz if I may, what happened the last time one didnt go through? while they have absolutely no clue tho ..

[Ben @_curiousben]

@HaydenLaverty @michaeltdoan that's awesome, building your own beats fighting quickbooks every month. thanks for showing me, really appreciate it

[Ben @_curiousben]

@ChrisTwiggsPM @colinushkowitz how many of those daily calls from the 6th did your team end up making last month? that's a lot of dialing

[Ben @_curiousben]

@HaydenLaverty @michaeltdoan that’s basically a whole extra job. what did you end up moving to, and did it actually fix the categorizing? really appreciate you sharing all this

[Ben @_curiousben]

@bradmessner @BrooksCottleCPA @PatriotSoftware makes total sense, one system beats juggling two even with the manual bit. really appreciate you walking me through all this, learned a lot

[Ben @_curiousben]

@HaydenLaverty @michaeltdoan how many hours a month were you, your partners and the VA putting into it back then? and what was the VA costing you? that’s a lot of hands on one job. im really trying to understand if u dont mind

[Ben @_curiousben]

@SMTSay @JohnLeFevre how many inquiries did your last village listing get before it rented? 4x uptown is a lot to sort through ig

[Ben @_curiousben]

@bradmessner @BrooksCottleCPA @PatriotSoftware wait, so those two credit union clients, what are you doing for their payroll right now? and did you end up eating all that extra setup time per client, or could you bill for it? never knew credit unions label accounts differently, wild.

[Ben @_curiousben]

@icesmithj @QuickBooks how are you running payroll right now while that’s stuck?