Property management
A property management for rental houses or apartments (also called rental management or apartment management ) deals in the real estate industry with the management of rented residential buildings (mostly apartment buildings), residential complexes, condominiums and commercial properties. A "property manager" is an independent person who manages his own or someone else's houses and apartments.
The property manager is often confused with the caretaker . However, the caretaker is only employed, e.g. B. with the property management or an external service provider, and mainly performs craftsman services , while property management is an administrative activity.
tasks
There is no statutory catalog of tasks for the management of rental properties, and there is also no mandatory completed vocational training. In this respect, the tasks of a property management result solely from the contractual agreement made between the property owner and property management.
With regard to the tasks to be agreed upon, a distinction can be made between commercial administration
- Collection and administration of the rent (on behalf of the owner (s))
- Adjustment of rents for index and graduated lease agreements
- Negotiating and drafting rental contracts and supplements as well as other building-specific contracts
- Receivables management vs. the tenants and other debtors
- regular billing at agreed intervals to the owner (s)
- Creation of the annual utility bills
- Payment of costs incurred
- Commissioning and payment of utility services (waste, electricity, water and more)
- Examination of monetary processes for accuracy and efficiency (rent, insurance costs, etc.)
- Extent of keeping books such as property and tenant files
- Budget and economic planning
- Creation of property reports and other evaluations for the owner
- other commercial tasks (including checking and optimizing energy supply contracts)
- Commercial real estate administrations are increasingly revaluing commercial real estate as part of market value determinations
and a technical administration
- Operation and control of facilities (e.g. bell system, heating, elevator)
- Control / monitoring of service providers (e.g. cleaning, garden maintenance)
- Implementation / control of maintenance measures (maintenance, inspection, repair)
- Carrying out modernizations, usually after consultation with the owner (s)
- Apartment inspections and new rentals
- other technical tasks
Individual regulations can result in obligations for a landlord whose tasks are carried out by the property management. The legal basis for residential rental agreements are § § 535 ff. BGB .
Demarcation
The administration of the common property of an apartment owners association (WEG) is not the task of the property management in the sense of the "rental management". This is known as " residential property management (management WEG) described" in a separate article, as these the Condominium Act is subject. It cannot be ruled out that both activities can be carried out by one person at the same time (so-called "mixed management" or "separate property management"), e.g. B. to achieve synergy effects . However, the rental management must be strictly separated from the property management in legal terms (different contractual basis), monetary (separate accounts) and organizationally.
The housing agency has been part of the introduction of the "buyer" principle in fact to give up the tenancy.
Commercial real estate management
In addition, there is the management of commercial real estate. This is increasingly not covered by the classic property management - for this purpose, companies offer their services under the keyword property management (commercial) and facility management (technical).
Others
Some administration companies also offer a janitorial service in addition to pure administration . This service typically offers services such as minor repairs, gardening, stairwell cleaning, etc. In such cases, there may be a smooth transition to “building management” or “facility management”, although this term is related to the term “property management”, but not identical.
The property management companies receive a fee for their services. This is usually calculated as a fixed amount or as a percentage based on the individual residential units. Vacancy is often calculated separately. These fees are costs of the owner, which he is not allowed to pass on to the tenants. The situation is different in commercial leasing law. B. in the Operating Costs Ordinance, the administrative costs are excluded, but only for the rental of housing.
Recently, the spheres of activity of classic property management have been expanding due to current events. Tenants and WEG owners also expect support from their contracted property management company in the areas of electricity, gas, heating and energy savings. This trend towards 'customer loyalty programs' is increasingly evident in the offer of certain discounts through own management house tariffs, which are intended to offer the community of owners added value without generating direct income for property management.
Property managers usually have a regionally limited range of activities. Only a few companies offer a nationwide service.
qualification
Contrary to the situation in the EU, no qualifications are required by law for the work of property managers in Germany. Since 1994 there have been training opportunities for an orderly administration training or qualification with a clear range of services, which leads to vocational training as a real estate agent. Furthermore, there are courses of study at universities of applied sciences and vocational academies with a focus on real estate management and real estate management leading to a degree in business administration from a FH / BA, which provide a professional basis for proper administrative work. Up until 1994, it was common practice to train as a businessman / woman in the real estate and housing industry, which was based on both the management and brokerage of real estate. Only then was there a separation between administration and placement and the training period was shortened.
The activity as property manager is analogous to the asset manager according to Section 18 (1) No. 3 EStG recognized by the tax offices as other independent (freelance) activity. It is therefore not subject to the supervision of the trade office and is not subject to trade tax . It is sufficient to register as a self-employed property manager with the tax office. If the personal work performance of the property manager takes on an order of magnitude that calls into question the main responsibility of the property manager, e.g. when managing more than approx. 1,000 residential units, commercial activity can be assumed. In this case, a business registration at the trade office is necessary (see reproduction theories).
Situation in Austria
Contrary to the legal situation in Germany, Section 117 of the Industrial Code (GewO 1994) imposes strict templates. A registration of the trade is only possible under strict conditions. In addition to the compulsory conclusion of financial loss liability insurance , real estate managers must, on the one hand, demonstrate a sound education, taking into account the high diversity of the Austrian (training) education system, and on the other hand, extensive professional experience, at the end of which - the successful completion of a relevant university course or university of applied sciences course is excluded - a proficiency test has to be taken.
history
The administrator's profession has been around for more than 2000 years. Seneca (Roman philosopher and richest Roman) complains in the 12th letter to Lucilius about the cost of the building, which is in danger of collapsing, and his manager tells him that this is not the fault of his negligence, that he is doing everything, but the country house is old. At this point, the administrator's profession is proven.
With regard to the job description, nothing happened for almost 2000 years, it was not until February 1978 that 16 professional administrators founded an association in Munich, which today appears as the BVI Federal Association of Real Estate Managers and is divided into 7 regional associations. A further forward development came about in 1984, when a manager franchise organization was founded for the first time, the distinctive feature of which was a “service catalog” for the managerial tasks, which are now part of the general standard.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Rental and residential property management. Retrieved June 24, 2019 .
- ↑ BFH BStBI 1966 III, 489
- ↑ Trade Regulations 1994, Federal Law Gazette No. 194/1994, as amended.
- ↑ BVI website ( Memento of the original from March 18, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
literature
- Publication series renting and renting from AZ. Rudolf Haufe-Verlag, Freiburg, ISSN 0945-392X
- Reinhold Pachowsky: Professional handbook for housing and property management. Rent, manage and terminate real estate reliably and successfully. Walhalla Fachverlag, Regensburg 2010, ISBN 978-3-8029-3353-0
