How to Land the Best $100,000 Job in America: Your Guide to High-Paying Careers in Commercial Real Estate Management

By Gerald D. Oliver, Jr.

Managing high-rise office buildings, large industrial complexes & big retail shopping areas is the best $100,000 job in America, according to author, Gerald Oliver. But almost no one knows it exists, or more importantly, how to go about cracking into the industry.

This book:
• Tells the story of Gerald and others who found the business, got started, and succeeded in a big way.
• Unlocks the mysteries, shows how to find the commercial management companies, and who makes the hiring decisions.
• Gives specific advice on how to prepare, and make an impression that gets you hired.
• Discloses insider tips and little-known information that propels you to the high-paying jobs.

Now you, too, can land in a prestigious job managing a high-rise office tower. It pays a high salary, provides benefits, features autonomy, good work hours and is highly respected in the community. Just follow Gerald's proven advice on how to get started, find the jobs, prepare, and beat the competition. This is your guide to a high-paying career in commercial real estate management,... and the 'Best $100,000 Job in America.'

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Apr 12, 2020
• ISBN: 9781098309053

Book preview

Print ISBN # 978-1-09830-904-6

eBook ISBN # 978-1-09830-905-3

Copyright 2019 by Gerald D. Oliver, Jr.

All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may

be reproduced by any means without the written permission

of the author and the Growth & Leadership Institute

Printed in the United States of America

Dedication:

To Kathryn, a wonderful wife, lovely woman and loyal friend through thick and thin.

To Jacque and David, our children and their families, who have brought abundant joy to our home and lives.

Historia Vitae Magistra

History Teaches Life

A portion of the proceeds of this book will be donated to:

Oliver / Granger Scholarship Fund at Olivet Nazarene University

Commemorative Air Force

Historic Aircraft Preservation Society

Various local churches & ministries

Table of Contents

About the Author

Introduction

Chapter One My Story

Chapter Two From Beginner to the Big Time

Chapter Three Women Rule

Chapter Four Success Secrets for Getting Hired

Chapter Five Where to Find Your First Job in

Commercial Property Management

Chapter Six How to Impress and Ace

the Job Interview

Chapter Seven Selecting the Right Job for You

Chapter Eight Take Action

Appendix

Acknowledgements

About the Author

Gerald Oliver, Jr. was born and raised in central Illinois. He attended Olivet Nazarene University, graduating in 1976. While there he met and married Kathryn. They moved soon after to Springfield, IL. Gerald went to work at an insurance company and Kathy started teaching school. After eight years in Springfield, the insurance company was sold and Gerald was out of work.

With absolutely no experience, Gerald was hired as the manager of a commercial office building in the Chicago suburbs. That began a 32-year span of work in commercial real estate management. He was successful and worked his way up, eventually heading the national property management of a Dallas-based real estate investment trust. Along the way, Gerald directly managed, and then later supervised, the management of over 250 high-rise office, industrial, and retail properties across the US. His client list read like a Who’s Who of major financial institutions, including the Prudential, Mass Mutual, Equitable, Goldman Sachs, Cigna, and many others. Gerald’s teams were successful, winning several major awards, including the Chicago Sun Times ‘Property Management Firm of the Year’ and the prestigious Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) ‘International Office Building of the Year’ (TOBY).

Kathryn has a degree in elementary education and spent several years teaching third-grade students. That experience carried over into her church work where she served many years in children’s ministries.

Gerald is active in aviation as a pilot. The family has owned and operated a vintage 1942 Piper J-3 Cub for the past 15 years, along with several other aircraft. He volunteers for the Commemorative Air Force, a WWII aircraft flying museum, where he serves on the board of the Foundation. Gerald and Kathy have been involved in helping to establish the Oliver / Granger Scholarship Fund at Olivet Nazarene University as a way to help students in business and education.

After living in Springfield, IL for 30 years, Gerald and Kathy moved to Chicago in 1984, and then to Dallas in 2008 where they now reside. They have two adult children and nine grandchildren.

Introduction

Whenever I’m in front of an audience of commercial property managers, I always ask the question, Did you study and prepare to become a property manager? Did you intentionally set out to do this for a living? Of the hundreds and hundreds I’ve spoken to, only once has a person raised their hand. All the many others came into it the same way I did… by accident, referral or happenstance. Most were complete rookies.

Virtually no one dreams as a young boy or girl of managing a commercial office building. Those thoughts are filled with ideas of being a fireman, doctor, or movie star. Even as they grow older with a more mature consideration for their career, commercial property manager is not on their list.

But the job has huge benefits, can pay big money, and is a prestigious work assignment. With all these good things, why aren’t more aiming for this career?

I have come to the conclusion that it is simply because they do not know about it. And colleges and universities are not teaching it.

It’s a secret job, says Lisa Prats of the Building Owners and Managers Association in Washington, DC. We don’t intend for it to be secret. It’s just that people don’t think about or know of commercial property management. They are missing a great opportunity.

If more people knew about this career, and could figure out the formula for getting hired and becoming successful, they would find the same thing I found… that with hard work and dedication, it’s the Best $100,000 Job in America. At least it was for me.

In 1985, I was 31 years old, had a wife, two kids, a dog, and no money. At the beginning of the year, I was laid off from a job that I hated. Things were not looking so good. Fresh out of a job and broke, I was searching for hope… something to fulfill the needs of our family. I needed a job, anything. Finding a career… well, we’ll worry about that later.

The want ads section in the Chicago Tribune carried a small, three-line classified ad from a commercial property company. They were looking for a manager, someone to manage a suburban office building. It was a long shot, but I had nothing to lose. In went my application.

The problem… I had never even worked in a multi-story office building, let alone manage one. I was not prepared for this job, nor did I have any experience. So fat chance, right?

Much to my surprise, I got that job. Turns out there are very few people with experience and training. Many of the jobs in commercial real estate must go to people with no experience whatsoever. It wasn’t my sterling credentials, education, training, or dazzling personality. It was because everyone else was as un-prepared as me.

Commercial real estate provided a full-time career for the next 32 years. There was never a day I missed a paycheck. It has been very rewarding in many ways. The work we do is fun. Our companies treat us well. Our buildings have purpose and our part in making them successful is important. Many are iconic landmarks and are prestigious assignments. There is autonomy and creativity. Part of the time there is travel to wonderful places.

Added on top of these benefits is the fact that the compensation is good—in fact, above the norm. Way above the norm.

Many of my business acquaintances are now lifelong friends.

While education is always important, almost none of my coworkers come from Ivy League schools. Most have degrees, but they are from all over the board... state schools, community colleges, private universities, technical schools. Their degrees are a mix of education, finance, music, psychology, and many more. Some have no college experience at all.

Where else can an average guy from a small town in the Midwest enter a career with no experience, and within five years be the head of a huge and valuable asset getting paid over $100,000 per year? And that was only the beginning.

That’s what I found in commercial real estate management.

Most come to commercial real estate management by accident… except for you. You have this book to guide you and prepare you to outperform the competition and get hired.

This book is a path that can lead you to a career as a commercial property manager. It is a "How To" guide for you to follow to crack into the business and gain the rewards for you and your family. Follow this book and you too can have the job fulfillment, lifelong professional and personal friends, status in your family and community, and personal wealth that many of my co-workers and I have found.

How can I say these things with confidence? Throughout my career, I’ve been fortunate enough to gain ever increasing responsibilities and have supervised the management of hundreds of high-rise and suburban office and industrial buildings all across America. As a result, I’ve recruited, hired, and helped train hundreds of property professionals.

This book will not teach you everything you need to know. That will take several years of hard-won education and on-the-job experience. But it is a roadmap pointing the way forward.

Finally, it is my hope that you will discover that God cares about you and wants your life to be better. Commercial real estate made my life infinitely better, and my family has benefited in a number of ways. For me, it was the discovery that led to the American Dream and allowed me to fulfill my ambitions.

May it be so for you, too.

Hope you enjoy reading. Please let me hear from you and your experiences as a commercial real estate manager.

Gerald Oliver

Dallas, TX

January, 2020

Chapter One

My Story

Chicago, 1984

The borrowed moving truck pulled up to a small rented house in Romeoville, IL, located twenty-six miles southwest of Chicago. Our new house on Kingston Street was a small white ranch-style, not particularly well-built, with a family room added to the back as an afterthought. That family room was never even close to the right temperature, as the thin windows and insulation were inadequate to ward off the piercing Chicago winter winds, while in the summer, the air conditioner had no chance of keeping up.

At the time, Romeoville was a somewhat dingy working-class neighborhood, but it was the only place we could afford. The town is framed by a sprawling prison complex on the south side of town called Statesville (the site of the 1948 Jimmy Stewart movie, Call Northside 777) and a smoke-spewing oil refinery on the east. Not long after we arrived, the refinery had an accident