To be successful in commercial property management you should spend time in setting about knowing the different property types you will be managing and the ways to help them perform as an investment. Most particularly that is the differences in industrial, office, and retail property. They all have special elements of function and control. That is:

• Leases
• Tenants
• Landlords
• Improvements
• Community

Ultimately in working in commercial property management you have to keep the tenants and the landlord happy; a fully functioning well maintained and leased investment is the way to achieve that. Make no mistake here when considering a career in commercial property management; it is perhaps the most challenging and busy part of the property industry. It is very specialised and the skill base is diverse.

So what can you do to help fast track your success and skill as a commercial property manager? This checklist will provide you with some ideas and help you on the path.

1. Get to know the ways to lease premises and the documents that support the process. It will be wise to talk to experienced property managers and solicitors to research the real facts and processes.
2. Know how to market lease vacancies to the local tenants. That will normally include internet, newspaper, direct marketing, personal contact and signboards.
3. Understand the differences in rents both in type (gross and net) and value (per unit of area measurement) as it relates to the various property types in your local precinct.
4. Review the types of income that can be achieved from a lease to a tenant. That will include rent, outgoings to be recovered, car parking rents, storage rents, signage rents, and licenced areas.
5. See what services and amenities tenants require leasing premises locally. Are those services and amenities readily available in most properties locally?
6. What is the supply and demand for more space to lease in the local area?
7. Inspect some existing lease documents and become familiar with reading them and extracting key lease matters. That would be things such as rent payments, rent reviews, option terms, arrears actions, default provisions, and incentive payments or bonuses to tenants.
8. Understand how to interpret property income and expenditure, as well as the logic behind property budgets and business plans.
9. Review the methods of property income analysis as it applies to property value.
10. Know how to price a property for sale using a number of different processes such as summation, capitalisation, comparable, and internal rate of return.
11. Get to know the maintenance processes that would apply to running commercial properties of various types, together with tendering and contract processes to be used on plant and equipment that allow the property to function successfully.

As can be seen from the list above, commercial property management is specialised. It is not hard but it is different. Through careful study and the gaining of knowledge, your career in commercial property management can be successful.