Property management – always rewarding, never dull

By Marcy Gross, Sheldon Gross Realty

I've enjoyed establishing and then expanding my career in property management. That said, there are times I’ve felt like a juggler with an extra bowling pin in the air. In many professions, accomplished practitioners may specialize, focusing on a specific skill … but that’s not the case in property management. Far from it.

Instead of specialization, property management requires mental flexibility and fluidity, and the parallel capacity to build familiarity with a range of disciplines that include security protocols, heating and cooling technology, landscape design, environmental compliance, accounting, tenant relations, and anything else that arises. In addition, it necessitates the ability to manage properties as different from each other as an office building, a strip mall, and an industrial site.

At Sheldon Gross Realty, we regularly participate in training to ensure our skills are up-to-date, and we commit to paying 24/7 attention to every one of our properties. Issues big and small are common – in fact, they’re what keep us in business – and they have a habit of occurring in the middle of the night. There are broken pipes, alarm malfunction … and more serious problems.

Regardless of the challenge at hand, we pride ourselves on responsiveness. It’s how we demonstrate our willingness to do whatever needs to be done. My rule of thumb is responding to any issue within an hour, so all involved know a resolution is in the works. From there, we try to overcome even the most difficult hurdle within 24 hours of first learning about it. Admittedly, there are times it’s impossible to meet our own guidelines – but we never lose sight of what’s at stake. When there’s an issue with a property, it can impact businesses and the livelihoods of multiple individuals. We’re ever mindful of that, and I’ll match our response record – and overall commitment – with anyone’s.

As a profession, property management is never dull. But through 2024 and into 2025, it has – at least for my company – been a successful component of our overall business. I’m proud of that fact, and it’s no accident. We network constantly, while employing a robust marketing program. Last year, we added multiple new properties to our management roster. And now, during just the past few months, we’ve contracted for a dozen more – including those in industrial, corporate, and office condominium sectors.

To help us manage this growth – with emphasis on the expanded tenant-relations demands – our team recently added a new property management professional. These are busy, exciting times for us and we’re eager to find additional properties to manage – whether warehouses, office complexes, residential apartment buildings, a medical condo complex, or whatever else. When an owner gives us an opportunity, we’re squarely focused on exceeding expectations – because we know the foundation of our business is protecting the financial investments represented by everything we manage.

Basically, owners are focused on increasing the value of their real estate. After all, it’s why they purchased commercial properties in the first place. And at Sheldon Gross Realty, we’re enthusiastic about ensuring their success.

Marcy Gross is president of Sheldon Gross Realty.