One of the first questions I often hear from the young talents in the team is: Why are you exchanging such an exciting working day between Peru, Venezuela and St. Petersburg for asset management in the D-A-CH region? The answer is as simple as it is complex: at Commerz Real, I am responsible for one of the most diverse portfolios I can imagine. For example, we have part of the Frankfurt skyline in our portfolio with the Omniturm, but with the “New Wall 44” in Hamburg, we also have a listed ensemble directly on the most famous fleet of the Hanseatic city. Two properties that couldn't be more different in their history, location and tenancy. And yet it combines the challenge of maintaining and ideally increasing the value of buildings through good asset management.
Working in asset management shows me time and again: real estate may have one façade, but it has a thousand facets. My team takes care of harmonising precisely this diversity of tasks. In asset management, you get to know virtually everything about real estate: tenant management, rental contract law, maintenance management, market analysis, operating cost optimisation, service provider management, tax aspects, traditional profitability calculation and much more. If you like to be a generalist and want to help shape many different topics, there is nothing better - at least that’s my view of one of the best jobs at all.
Especially for beginners, asset management is an ideal foundation for almost any job in the real estate industry. When you come to the office in the morning, you never know exactly what the day will hold. A hole in a water pipe during maintenance work in a building can turn the day's agenda upside down. But this sought-after flexibility is also rewarded. Your everyday life is incredibly varied and the many small achievements are rewarding. This makes the job extremely satisfying.
The wealth of experience grows every day due to the diversity and, ultimately, the wide range of responsibilitieswe bear. In our team, we have a diverse mix, from working students or trainees to employees with many years of professional experience. The dynamism that this creates enriches us as a team. Because even if you’ve been in the industry for a long time like me, the experience of making decisions or dealing with certain situations helps - but we can't rest on our laurels. We are, in the first instance, service providers and must develop further in line with the requirements placed on our properties. Then you have to get to grips with basic electrical engineering in order to understand what load balancing management is when it comes to electric charging stations, for example. So sometimes a voltage stress ratio becomes literal.
At Commerz Real - and I see this as a differentiating feature from my previous positions - there are an incredible number of good aspects for working in asset management: Lots of in-house skills, which makes the paths short and offers sparring partners on most topics; many colleagues with a heart for the property and, ultimately, simply incredibly friendly people. Oh, and of course a fantastic portfolio, I can't stress that often enough.
