Older folks in slippers, watching soap operas, were once the face of property management. But it’s now an industry that’s sophisticated (sexy, even) with property managers having to know something about everything, said Rappaport COO Steve Pugh at our Property Management summit Thursday at the Mayflower.

Tenants and residents have become more demanding, so property managers' workloads have grown. They now have to oversee technology, social media, sustainability, reputation management and emergency preparedness. Steve says he's added admins to deal with all the paperwork so that the property managers can handle the new tasks. Along with that comes the challenge of retention. Property managers have to be willing to be a jack-of-all-trades, without a giant salary.

Gables Residential EVP Cris Sullivan says roles have evolved. Marketing used to be the person who handled brochures. Now it's managing Millennial social media. Gables started a class that teaches on-site teams how to deal with current and prospective tenants from different generations: “We build $100M properties and spend money on marketing and an image, and our on-site teams are part of that image.”

It costs money to be sophisticated and profit margins are eroding. Property management companies are working for half of what they did 30 years ago, and spending more on positions like sustainability manager and digital director. Donaldson Group president Carl Einsel says some owners will gladly pay for things like staff training, but others won’t. And clients expect the same amenities in older buildings as they see advertised in new buildings.

Bozzuto Management president Julie Smith says residents are irritated with being nickel-and-dimed, and the trick is to create value in properties with lots of amenities, which can turn into higher rates. She predicts that more property management functions will go mobile like paying rent and submitting service requests.