How do we think we can get PROFESSIONALs to work on site when we are paying less than Chic-fil-a?

I am putting this up so we can discuss this as an industry. How do we think we can get PROFESSIONALs to work on site in our stessed to the max industry, have the leasing people work almost every weekend, hk and groundskeepers sometimes 6 days/week during busy season, and we are usually paying LESS than this.
How do we expect to keep growing as an industry? We are at a point of needing new blood, but if we want to find people who want to advance in the industry, we have to pay them a good rate to start.
Example:
We are putting capex budgets for new development together and they want to pay leasing $10/hr (or less!)
This is a hot button for me and I am interested to see everyone elses thoughts.

Good question. Glad other people are seeing this hurdle.

When my husband increased pay at his company the “people problems” & attrition came to a halt. Pay matters as much a culture. If paid well, people are more likely to “put up with” less than par culture, but never vice/versa.

The professional growth in the Multifamily industry is almost endless if you have strong work ethic. There’s a strong upside to coming in with a bit of reduced pay in order to achieve the larger rewards our industry offers. I can’t think of another career in the world quite as rewarding as one in Multifamily management.

Costco starts at $17 and warehouse workers at MB companies make $17-$21 without any skills. HEB has tuition reimbursement and cashier make $15 .....we need to do better as an industry.

Well, to be fair, the actual starting salary is more like $13 for their entry level positions. This has the caveat of “based on position and availability “ and the position that starts at 16 is more along the lines of a supervisor.
That being said, I do agree with the general premise.

Then match wages to the increase in cost of living ????????‍♀️

I am a new PM in Sacramento CA. I make the same as a chick fil a worker. I have 7 years in the industry and am finally thinking of leaving the industry. It's just not worth the pay anymore.

I've wondered this for a long time

I think this is definitely location based. I started as a leading agent in 1999 (yup-I’m aging myself) making more than $10, plus commissions and bonuses, plus rent discount. (San Antonio).

Also, here in Orlando, Universal Studios just announced that they are building a new park and will pay $15 per hour starting!!

Ha I wish I could hire maintenance guys for $16.50. Cost me double that where I am.

One of the many reason, we have a high turnover rates! Train the greenies and once they learn their worth (usual 6-12months) they are out! Then train another greeney-vicious cycle!

We offer $14-$16 entry level leasing positions. But also do 25% rent discount, affordable benefits, reasonable commission for new lease and renewals. I’ll be honest, when I was a CM, we had months where my leasing professionals making $14 an hour we’re making more than me because of the commissions. But they hustled. So... I wasn’t mad.

The cost of living increases all the time. And yet the pay for multi-family industry is at a stand still. This is a job profession most of chose and love. However they're making more money at fast food places and convenient stores now. It's a crazy world we live in.

I've always felt that our people should income qualify for the homes they are maintaining and renting, at the very least, but this doesn't seem to be a widely accepted sentiment. It's unfortunate.

Not really a fair comparison IMO. The employee friendly culture at Chick fil a is night/day compared to most of the Mgt. companies I deal will from the vendor side. Mgt companies are built on the high turnover business model. Some would even say they encourage that behavior with their business practices.

I left my last company because they wouldn’t pay me more than $13 plus commissions even after I took the building from 80% to 100%. I was at the property until at least 7pm and every Saturday. Wasn’t worth it so I left.
Now I work for a wonderful company who I feel sees what I’m worth and I have a flexible schedule. My boss actually takes the time to teach me and help me grow and gives me the opportunity to take any classes I want

In many markets/States it's already or about to be legal for tenants to form unions..where rent control, late fee caps, etc. are being implemented. Perhaps Mgt. staff should look into doing the same.

As leasing and AM, I would've never been able to afford one of the apts or town homes I was leasing and managing. Ever. And the pay has only gone up a little in this area, despite massive growth.

You get what you pay for. I've been working for my company for 8 years, started out in leasing only making 8.25$ and hour. A year later I started making 11.25$ an hour. Over the years we couldn't keep staff longer than 1.5 yrs before they quit or became disgruntled. During this time, my job decided they couldn't loose me (only me and the PM were their only reliable employees) they bumped me to 16.50$. After several fights with management and over the quality of applicants we were getting and how upset employees were with their pay they finally bumped me up to $40000 a year and maintenance now starts off at 18$ an hour. It took 8 years of moaning and groaning, temporary laps in services to our tenants (because of employees up and quitting and being disgruntled) for them to raise everyone to a livable wage.

Then consider those areas with super low un-employment (Austin, TX MSA has 2-3% unemployment) and you cannot find people for $10-$12 hour anymore. We have GOT to get past the 80's mentality of $8-$10 entry level and $18-$20/hr max for certified (on-call) maintenance!

I'm seeing routine posts in the Houston, TX area asking for "flex" employees - those required to work more than one property - using their own car to commute - asking for certifications, or bi-lingual, and starting pay is $9-$13/hr. That's not a joke. That's an INSULT.

Yeah even In N Out” starts at $16!

13.00 to that age is great, many temp companies start at that. So young kids will love it. McDonalds pay 8.25.

I have often thought about this. I've been in the industry for about 10 years. Over that time my knowledge and skill set has grown but what is it worth if an entry level remedial job is starting at $15+.

Also fast food jobs are meant for teenagers and young adults. Not for 30 something's raising a family. If you want to work in fast food aspire to be a shift lead, a store manager, a district, a regional and so on. Don't be satisfied with running the drive thru your entire career.

I have said this many times... additionally, (and I’m not sure if anyone mentioned it, I didn’t read the comments )but they are often employees who are first line of communications and we want them to keep us out of fair housing.

100%!!! Where was this photo taken (city, state)? This is absolutely true for maintenance team as well. These are skilled men and women who know trade work and have to be on call that make less than this! I am so happy I’m not the only one who thinks this way!!

It’s really an unfair comparison. 1. I assume this is probably not your drive thru person being that it says position specific. 2. Though I was only making $11 an hour, with my commissions I was pacing about $48,000 that year. I busted my rear, learned the field, and in 10 short months I got promoted to AM. That got me $17.50 an hour. After about 2.5 years, I was given a PM position. Now, at 3.5 years, I manage 3 properties, have plenty of staff below me, and no one above me. (Minus the owner of course) My point is commission compensates more than enough while also encouraging hard work. Also, with a little hard work, there are tons of opportunities in this industry for advancement.

We’ve been helping a lot of property managers make their communities smarter with Technology that allows unattended showings, reduces energy usage in vacant units, and eliminates the need for ever “changing locks.” It’s technology like this that might attract not only the “new blood“ you’re talking about, but make jobs easier, response time faster, and decrease your hiring needs. (If one pr two people can do everything from their smartphone, you don’t need to hire a whole army of people that run around from place to place, you know?)

What are commissions like? It seems that if you got 30 leases a month at $100/per and $21/.hr you'd be making just under $80K per year. At $15 and hour, that's close to $70K.

I agree. The industry doesn't necessarily need more new blood, but what it needs are senior managers moved up and compensated for their knowledge. Currently, owners are not keeping up with compensation compared to other industries. This is going to send qualified people to other areas, while having a constant flow of unqualified labor. Besides, you get what you pay for.

I have been in the industry 24 years as a LIHTC manager by choice because I love helping people. I have never had the luxury of either an assistant manager or a leasing manager. The amount of on going training we must have to keep up with the ever changing rules are crazy and the amount of work involved with every file from the move in to the multiple annual certifications is crazy. Yet we are paid less than the conventional community managers and less than the local Walmart worker. No I do not live on site and have never received a commission or bonus despite my ability to be 3 months in advance. I agree that there needs to be a serious change in the apartment industry wages especially with the ever increasing annual rents. 4 years ago my property brought in $381,000 this year is set to be $596,000. I received a $1.50 raise in the last 4 years. Not at all fair

First off if they believe their kids have a right to fall in love and get married yet other people's children do not because it doesn't jive with their recycled stories of an imaginary man in the sky, then I don't believe anyone with even half a brain would consider working there, so it's really not a fair comparison.

I use this example on a regular basis when staffing properties. Who wants to pick up trash and doggie ???? in the heat for minimum wage when they can make $16.50 and get a free meal at chick filet! It’s budget season, don’t forget to take care of you employees.

I completely agree with you. I’m struggling myself to find a position that’s pays what I’m used to making and was recently offered $17/hr. To property manage a new construction lease up I was like are you crazy!!

In our industry, you definitely get what you pay for...
Some offer amazing pay and benefits, which means if your staff isn’t happy someone else will snag them up.
Now, when I started in the industry I was at $8 am hour and $60 commission per lease. That was in 2005. (Damn, I’m getting old)

I have 15 years leasing, bookkeeping and asst. Mgr. Moved from California to Florida. The pay here for bookkeepers/asst mgrs is $10 an hour. Loved my job, but not at that pay grade

Agreed!! Housing prices are soaring. Our corporate parents are making more money than ever and labor is in high demand. This high demand means higher wages are necessary. I agree higher wages are necessary. Often times property management is paid like a straight out of high school position.

I agree $10/hr for leasing is unacceptable! We are starting green temporary staffers at $14-$15/hr and honestly we should be at $16/hr plus bonus!????????
Maybe if we paid our folks in the trenches better they would be as pleasant as the Chik Fil A people. "my pleasure" just saying

Our industry averages 32% employee turnover. That’s nearly double the US average. For all too often many have just accepted this. It’s time to recognize that focusing on engagement will reduce employee turnover. And that will improve service delivery and resident retention. And these two factors will drive NOI. Did you know an employee leaving costs an average of 103% of their salary (separation, recruitment, productivity, and service delivery / resident retention)? FYI employees don’t leave due to money. They leave due to culture and opportunity.

My son works for Chick-fil-a.Here’s the difference from our industry...all employees are part time, with no health benefits. Our company provides FREE health benefits to all employees and the majority are FULL time. My son is a college student and has never been offered any tuition reimbursement and is in his 3rd year with the Company. I have also never received any family discount!

I could not agree more! It’s also disheartening when new green leasing come in making a few dollars less than assistants with 15 years in the business!
I think the entire budget on salaries need to be bumped accordingly.
The same goes for leasing bonuses. When I started in 2003 I got the same commission rates I see in my current company today

Not everyone in the industry is underpaid. If you work hard and look for the right fit you'll get what your worth

You can make it sounds as beautiful as you want, but bottom line is you have to have enough to live on. I don't care how may opportunities there are.

Wow ,your preaching to the choir.I started at $10.00 back in 2015, I am a Maintenance Manager or as we are know Maintenance Supervisor, I was making at my last job 70,000 plus.
I respect all the comments on this article but it's time we all get on the same page and just not accept whatever.

Contact AFL/CIO about representation.