When it comes to skills shortages, few parts of the industry feel the pressure more than commercial property management.
For Leteicha Wilson, Commercial Property Management Performance Specialist at Ray White Commercial (RWC), the challenge is constant and structural.
“Across every area of real estate, the biggest issue is people,” she says.
“In commercial property management, the talent pool is simply smaller; it’s hard to find experienced commercial property managers, and once they’re settled in a business, they rarely move.”
Leteicha, who has been with RWC for nearly seventeen years, now oversees property management performance across thirty-six commercial divisions nationwide.
She spends much of her time working with business owners on training, development, and operational improvement – but recruitment remains the most stubborn roadblock.
A distinct skill set
Leteicha says the industry often assumes residential and commercial management skills are interchangeable. They are not.
“It’s totally different. In residential, everything is black and white. There’s one piece of legislation, one type of lease, and clear time frames,” she explains.
“Commercial is the opposite. Every lease is different. They can be silent on key points, which means a lot of interpretation, problem solving, and negotiation.”
While some residential managers attempt the move, success is mixed.
“It either works or it doesn’t. Some people don’t enjoy that grey space or the level of judgement required. Others thrive, because commercial is business-focused with far less emotion.”
With experienced talent scarce, Leteicha has observed three main recruitment pathways: existing commercial property managers, junior residential managers, and people entering the industry from entirely different backgrounds.
“We often look for residential property managers with two to three years’ experience,” she says.
“If someone has been in residential for ten or twenty years, their salary expectations are higher, but they still need to learn a completely new skill set.”
Beyond that, many new recruits come from customer-facing fields.
“We bring in a lot of people from retail or hospitality because they’re used to dealing with clients. We also see tradespeople come across, especially into roles with a facilities focus. And we’ve even had hairdressers and childcare workers join because they’re strong with people.”
The missing training framework
Perhaps the biggest structural barrier is the lack of formal commercial training.
“Every state requires some kind of certificate or licence, but it’s all residential and sales-focused,” she says.
“You don’t learn much about commercial property management, which is wild given you need that licence to work in the field.”
New entrants are often left unprepared, and Leteicha says this gap is a major reason inexperienced managers struggle or leave.
To solve this, RWC created its own internal onboarding program.
“After COVID, when a lot of people exited the industry, we designed a ten-session training series for people new to commercial. It helps them understand the fundamentals quickly. There simply isn’t much training out there, and some states still offer nothing through their real estate institutes.”
Flexibility as a recruitment advantage
The shift towards flexible work is now shaping recruitment outcomes.
“Business owners who insist on everyone being in the office from 8.30 to 5 miss good candidates,” she says. “People have had flexibility and they won’t give it up.”
One example is an RWC current property manager based in Chicago.
“He works from the other side of the world. I can’t imagine him ever going back to a traditional office once he knows he can do the job from anywhere.”
She believes adaptability will determine which businesses secure the best people in the years ahead.
“Owners need to be open-minded. Flexibility will look different in every business, but ignoring it just narrows your talent pool.”
