SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA CAREERS : WHERE THE JOBS ARE : Seeking Real Estate Gold? Try Property Management

When the housing market was white-hot in the 1980s, more than 3,000 Californians a month took out a salesperson’s license in the hope of making a killing by selling real estate. Even some part-timers earned more than $50,000 a year in commissions, until the market went bust and the recession took hold.

Now, the economy is back on the mend and the realty market is pulling out of its long slump. If you’re thinking of pursuing a real estate career, this could be an ideal time to do it--as long as you don’t expect to start making a lot of money overnight.

“This is a great time to get into the industry, because things are slowly getting better and you’ll have some time to build a foundation before the business really takes off,” said Pat Neal, an Orange County broker and president of the California Assn. of Realtors.

“But if you think that working in real estate is an easy way to make a fast buck, forget it. The ‘easy money’ days are long gone.”

Indeed, most realtors say that new salespeople trying to break into today’s tepid market are lucky if they make $15,000 a year. Experienced California agents with a long list of “repeat” customers average about $55,000, according to the National Assn. of Realtors.

In fact, Neal and other experts say, the hottest real estate jobs and most opportunities are no longer in sales: They’re in property management. With vacancies high and inflation low, owners need help in wringing every last cent of profit out of their buildings.

True, dealing with tenants and making sure an office or apartment complex is in good shape may not sound like much fun. But it does offer a steady paycheck--unlike a job as a commissioned salesperson--and much more room for career advancement.

As with any industry, pay scales vary widely. An entry-level position that involves dealing with tenants and supervising maintenance workers at several small buildings pays between $25,000 and $35,000 a year, said Bob Sullivan of Sullivan-Dituri Real Estate, which manages about 2,500 rental units in West Los Angeles and Santa Monica.

If you have some experience and a degree in business or a related field, you could earn more than $50,000 a year by working as an account manager for a big firm, where you’d be responsible for the cash-flow analysis and supervision of a large portfolio of properties.

There’s even bigger money at the top. Sullivan said the heads of many big property-management firms or supervisors of large office complexes earn more than $100,000 a year--and many got their start by managing a small apartment building or shopping center.

Although a college degree will be helpful if you’re looking for a white-collar job with a large property management firm, many smaller companies and most real estate sales offices aren’t as demanding.

As an alternative to getting a four-year degree, many newcomers instead simply take a few courses in their chosen real estate field at a community college. Local chapters of trade associations, such as the nonprofit Institute of Real Estate Management, also offer inexpensive programs.

Not all property managers work full-time. Many are apartment-dwellers who simply do some light maintenance work around their building and show vacant units to prospective tenants for a few hundreds dollars a month, or for a reduction in their rent.

Others are homeowners who’ve agreed to handle the leasing duties for neighbors or co-workers who’ve been transferred, but have decided to rent out their house instead of sell it. Their typical fee: Between $100 and $500 to screen tenants and handle all the paperwork, plus $100 to $300 a month for supervision and collecting the rent.

“There are a lot of (free-lance) jobs for people who want to specialize in managing houses or small apartments, because they’re just too small for most management firms to mess with,” said David Gribin, co-owner of Citiscape Property Services in Encino.

“If you can manage four or five houses in your spare time, you can make $1,000 or $1,500 a month. Plus, you’ll get a feel for what the property-management business is all about and then you can decide if you’d like to make it a career.”

If you’re serious about getting any type of job in the real estate industry, experts say you should start by obtaining a salesperson’s license. In California, that requires taking 45 hours of training in real estate fundamentals at a private school or college and then passing a three-hour exam administered by the state department of real estate.

“Even if you’re not going into sales, you’re going to need a license if you’re handling contracts or money,” said property manager Sullivan. “Besides, the stuff you learn in real estate school is useful, even if you never go into the business.”

Sluggish sales and rising mortgage rates have dimmed the short-term prospects for two other key jobs in the industry--mortgage brokers and real estate appraisers.

Professionals in those fields can enjoy six-figure incomes when the market’s hot, but their earnings plunge when activity cools.