A general property management course provides an overview of the field. It covers such topics as the history of property management, leases and contracts, liability and risk management, fair housing laws, records management, marketing and advertisement, liability and risk management, tenant and owner relations, security, safety and maintenance. Many community colleges, property management associations and real estate schools offer this type of course.
Successfully renting a property is one of the most important aspect of property management. A course in marketing and leasing covers the skills and steps required to keep a property fully leased. It includes market assessment (understanding regional and neighborhood demographics), marketing strategies (advertising and public relations), leasing strategies (understanding lease provisions, tenant qualification and leasing goals) and resident retention (keeping good tenants through orientation programs and good communication).
Maintaining property and limiting liability are two critical skills of a property manager. This course focuses on risk analysis (understanding insurance, risk management, safety and emergency plans), maintenance programs (developing preventative maintenance plans and maintenance policies and procedures), maintenance projects (negotiating with contractors, contract fulfillment, capital improvements) and conservation (implementing energy and water conservation strategies and utilizing green building practices).
Many property managers provide fiscal planning services to their clients. In this course, property managers learn budgeting and analysis (understanding the owner's goals, the property budget, forecasts and variances), cash flow analysis (how to read and develop pro forma statements, identifying cash flow trends and calculating rate of return), capitalization and valuation (understanding property valuation and income capitalization), taxation and financing (understanding property taxes, cost recovery deductions, types of financing and yield maintenance) and loan analysis (understanding loan-to-value calculations, debt coverage and margin of safety).