Residential rental properties are a crucial component of total housing in the United States, and especially in Texas, where more than one in three people live in rental housing. The economic viability of rental properties, the quality of life available to residents, and the reputation of the industry depend upon the talents and dedication of residential property management professionals. An estimated 70,000 Texans are employed full-time in the multifamily housing industry today. Talented, educated, and experienced professionals are one of the industry's most sought after resources. Where will the next generation of managers and multifamily executives come from? Increasingly the answer is from industry-specific professional education programs at universities. The University of North Texas (UNT) Residential Property Management (RPM) Program prepares students for careers in the multifamily housing industry, offering several paths to obtain the skills, knowledge, training, experience, and certification necessary.
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20180504222159im_/https://cob.unt.edu/sites/default/files/img/firel/bba-real/taa/taa_meeting.jpg)
Front: Brad Williams, Cheryl Pucci, Violetta
Kagramanian, Terra Scott, Gary Blumberg
Back: Coy Johnson, Carl Busbey, John Hendricks,
Prof. Mike Braswell
Today's residential property owners and managers are specialized business professionals requiring a broad spectrum of skills to achieve maximum proficiency. They must know how to market their properties, how to negotiate and execute leases, how to manage staff and handle human resource issues, how to manage day to day operations of the property including contracting for maintenance and other service issues, how to deal with risk management and insurance concerns, how to recognize and resolve legal problems, how to enhance the value and financial performance of the real property asset, how to make a financial analysis of residential real estate, and how to insure resident satisfaction. Careers in property management or real estate development include apartment community management, professional property management companies, real estate investment trusts, banks and financial institutions, government agencies, and land development companies.
The UNT / RPM program is one of only a handful of university programs specializing in residential property management in the United States and the only one operated by a college of business granting a BBA degree. It is also the only RPM program at a university west of the Mississippi River. The UNT College of Business (CoB) is a leader in recognizing the multidisciplinary skill set required to operate a multifamily rental property successfully. Working closely with the Texas Apartment Association (TAA) and working professionals, CoB's Department of Finance, Insurance, Real Estate, and Law has developed an encompassing curriculum for the Residential Property Management professional. The College of Business supplements classroom instruction with outreach programs to infuse the learning experience with examples of problems and solutions drawn from real-life situations.
The Curriculum
The RPM student has three options for study: (1) a BBA degree in Real Estate with a Concentration in Residential Property Management, (2) a minor in RPM, or (3) a Certificate in Residential Property Management.
Degree:
Students in the Real Estate BBA / RPM degree program take a business core curriculum including finance, accounting, legal and ethical environment of business, statistics, management, computer information systems, and business policy. The professional field courses in real estate include principles of real estate and specialized courses in property management, finance, investments, valuation and law/contracts for real estate. In addition to the property management course required of all real estate majors, the RPM student will take as additional supporting courses in the Concentration a property management law course, an advanced property management course, one other designated management or marketing course, and an international business course. Internships are available and are strongly encouraged. Students who complete the BBA degree in Real Estate with a Concentration in RPM have the opportunity to take the National Apartment Association's Certified Apartment Manager (CAM) exam and earn the CAM designation.
Minor:
Students can also earn a Minor in Residential Property Management by completing eighteen hours of specified courses including principles of real estate, property management, property management law, advanced property management, and other designated real estate, management, and marketing courses.
Minor in Residential Property Management
Certificate:
The Certificate in Residential Property Management is for non-degree students and requires twelve hours of specified courses including principles of real estate, property management, property management law, advanced property management, and other designated real estate courses.
Certificate in Residential Property Management
Practical Experience
All students are urged to participate in the Real Estate Club, hold student membership in TAA, and earn three hours credit in an internship. The Real Estate Club sponsors social events as well as career nights, field trips, guest speakers, workshops, seminars, and luncheons. You can meet leaders in the Dallas/Fort Worth real estate community through this organization. Students also have many opportunities to create professional quality projects such as a five-year property management plan, an apartment project investment analysis and marketing pro forma, and a legal study of TAA Redbook compliance.
Faculty and College
Faculty members in the Department of Finance, Insurance, Real Estate, and Law are dedicated teachers. They have received numerous teaching and research awards. Department faculty have written hundreds of articles and books in their areas of expertise. The College of Business is accredited by the AACSB-the American Assembly of Collegiate Schools of Business and SACS, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, which means it has passed strict academic standards for excellence in education.
Texas Apartment Association
The Texas Apartment Association (TAA) has been a partner in the development of the Residential Property Management Program at UNT. The flagship endeavor of the Texas Apartment Association Education Foundation (TAAEF) has been the establishment of the RPM program at UNT. TAAEF has fully funded an industry-sponsored, permanently endowed Property Management Professorship at UNT. There is a TAAEF/UNT Advisory Board composed of UNT faculty and TAA industry professionals that advises with respect to course relevance and content as well as facilitating the internship program. In addition the TAAEF / Larry Niemann Scholarship Program which provides scholarships for RPM students was established in the fall of 2004. The scholarships are named in honor of Larry Niemann for his long-time contribution to the Texas rental housing industry as the TAA's legal counsel. Students have an excellent opportunity to network with industry professionals at TAA events, trade shows, and the annual TAAEF Education Conference. The National Apartment Association (NAA) has also provided guidance, assistance, and financial support.
Charting Your Academic Path with Academic Advising
Full-time staff advisors in the College of Business will help you plan your schedule of classes each semester and select courses each semester and select courses you will need to earn your degree. In addition, the faculty member who is the student advisor for the Department of Finance, Real Estate, and Law and the faculty members in the real estate program can assist you and provide career advice.
For More Information on Admission to UNT visit the Office of Admissions webpage at admissions.unt.edu.
For More Information on this Program contact the FIREL department.
TAA Presents FIREL with $25,000 in Start-up Funds
![](https://webarchive.library.unt.edu/web/20180504222159im_/https://cob.unt.edu/sites/default/files/img/firel/bba-real/taa/taa1.jpg)
L->R: Ron Shelton, TAA President;
Michael Braswell, FIREL Chair;
Pamela Smallwood, TAA RPM Task Force Chair;
Randy Guttery, Associate Professor of Real Estate;
John Baen, Professor of Real Estate.
The Texas Apartment Association presents UNT's Finance, Insurance, Real Estate, & Law (FIREL) department with $25,000* in start-up funds for the new Residential Property Management Program.
Scholarships
Students may apply for scholarships in residential property management via the online departmental scholarship application: http://cob.unt.edu/scholarships/