Inside The Tremendous-Secret World Of Property Administration

Land manager David Barrie Jr. oversees every aspect of his “main” family’s farm.

Two hundred and fifty men and women cavort in the ballroom of the Sheraton Gateway Los Angeles Hotel, notepads in hand. They suck in to workshops like Mastering the Arrangement of a Private Jet Flight; Art as an Asset: Protecting Your Client; and Dealing with Difficult Resignations: A Security Perspective. Other educational opportunities include lectures on labor law, environmentally friendly house cleaning methods and finding the right nanny. Welcome to the Domestic Estate Managers Association’s national convention, the first of its kind ever organized for a mysterious industry that you may not have known existed.

“Everything we do happens behind closed doors,” said Richmond Schmidt, landlord of a Palm Beach estate and president of the DEMA Chapter in Southeast Florida. “There are people who work on the same block as me and I don’t know who they are.”

For those who live extremely large, Schmidt and the other conference attendees represent a new generation of servants, gentlemen and court ladies of the 21st century. They may be compared to Upstairs, Downstairs, or Downton Abbey, but unlike the late Victorian-style English country house concept popular on television, these highly educated landlords are forging a new profession. In fact, many of them are second or third career employees.

But there’s a good reason domestic property management as a career flies under the mainstream’s radar: the job description requires unwavering discretion. Disclosure of even the smallest of facts could jeopardize a career in an industry where employees are privy to the most intimate details of the private lives of their “main family”. There is a code of ethics that is signed and sealed with non-disclosure agreements. (It’s not uncommon for applicants to sign NDAs just to apply for a position.)

The fact that the five-year DEMA (which reviews potential members and requires all 1,500 attendees to sign NDAs) organized a national conference where these managers can meet, network, and train with colleagues is somewhat unprecedented – and long overdue – Concept. The association has 14 chapters in the richest areas of the United States that meet monthly. The local meetings are partly self-help groups, partly educational workshops, partly professional networks. The idea is to add both validation and a system of checks and balances to this isolated industry.

There are believed to be around 1,000 property managers – at the top of the private service pyramid – who oversee properties across the country, although little data is available. “I don’t think anyone really knows how many private service professions there are. … Some get paid appropriately and some don’t, while others are on the company’s payroll despite doing household chores, “said Michael Wright, co-founder of Domestic Association of Property Managers. Matthew Haack, the other founder of DEMA, adds, “Just think about the professional sports teams out there and how many millionaires there are. Someone is taking care of your estate. Now add celebrities and billionaires. “

According to Teresa Leigh, a land manager who became a housekeeper, there are 50 universally accepted household job titles with room for more. The property manager hires and manages these positions, usually overseeing two or more such properties. He or she also involves external providers to carry out specific jobs or tasks.

“[My boss] pays me for the knowledge and experience I bring, just like a CEO, “said Graham Lefford, an estate manager and vice president of the DEMA chapter in Detroit. He dedicated 24 years to housekeeping after serving a dozen at the hotel and restaurant catering. “The CEO doesn’t do the practical work in a company, but he brings the knowledge and experience to run the company and get others to do it. That’s what we do, even though most of us reach for a plunger as quickly as anything else. “

In return for considerable know-how, experienced estate managers typically earn six-figure salaries, which range from culinary and wine-related knowledge to an understanding of art and architecture to knowledge of housekeeping, personnel management, first aid, computers, high-tech security and HVAC systems .

“No task is too small or too big. You could pick up poodle poop that same day and call Al Gore’s office, ”said Allison Pulley, vice president of the San Francisco Bay Area chapter.

Social skills – and thick skin – are a must. Private service providers need to know when to enter and leave a room, when to be present but go unnoticed, as they tactfully update a school principal with household information. Estate managers are paid to anticipate needs and solve problems. Perhaps an extended family is planning to spend a month shooting game at their ranch in Kenya with the in-house gun collection. To find out how to transport family and firearms, start by calculating the total weight of your luggage and arsenal, and perhaps renting four SUVs to transport everyone and everything to the airport in comfort.

“Just because you had nine children or were a personal assistant to a company doesn’t mean you can run one of these homes,” said David Barrie Jr., an estate manager for the Stephenson family, founders of America’s Cancer Care Centers. Barrie, the president of the Chicago Chapter, has been with his main family, who live in Chicago’s northwest suburbs, for the past six years.

Barrie, a retired engineer, starts his morning at 5 a.m. He knows how to lift a valuable vase so as not to leave any traces of oil and who to turn to when a piece of furniture from the 17th museum). He has learned how to assemble sticks for several houses, breed Haflinger horses (and clean out their boxes), fire rifles, and repair ovens. He has attended both etiquette classes and codependency workshops.

For example, when his main family flies to a ranch in Aspen that Barrie has painstakingly turned into a winter paradise and the cold makes them move to a Florida property, he tries to make sure that every aspect of that property is ready without any problems be inhabited, from the filled pantry to the heated swimming pool.

“David is the go-between. He’s the guy who can express dad’s needs when he can’t be there, and that can affect any aspect of a property,” explains Christopher Stephenson, the son of Barrie’s director. Although he works directly for the older Stephenson, Barrie is available to everyone in the family. When raccoons escaped with the baby chickens one Sunday morning and Christopher’s son hatched, Barrie left the concert he was attending and sought out replacement birds from Indiana before the end of the day. “I fell in love with the family I work for and what they do,” said Barrie of the appreciation his act arouses.

Mutual respect and sometimes even love are a common thread in the work of the estate managers. That is, once they have found a great family to work for. “You don’t want to work for every billionaire, celebrity or multimillionaire. You want to work for the family that you get on best with, ”said Nikki Brown, president of the Atlanta Chapter.

Horror stories pop up. Navigating the sometimes turbulent power dynamic claimed by “trophy” women is a common source of anger in the workplace. For example, an estate manager reports that he was violently fired by a new woman when the numbers on the replacement remote control were deemed too small. (It was hired just as quickly when it came back from the store with a larger remote.) Some struggled with party-loving playboys hoping to be drugged. In one case, a manager had to quit when her boss kept making advances.

But for every cheesy story, the lucky ones flood the conference rooms of the DEMA Convention. There is an overwhelming sense of pride and loyalty that explains the appeal of being on call 24/7. “The romance of the industry lies in the ability to see and care,” says Leigh, wiping her tears as she remembers the hearty reaction of a former employer to a simple birthday present she gave him years ago Has. “To be able to identify all the little things that people just like and do them exactly that way, that’s the magic of this industry.”

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On-the-job training: lessons for real estate managers

1) Always carry a camera. “It is reminiscent of the table decorations for Christmas three years ago or the placement of figures on the mantelpiece that have to be returned after the chimney sweep has gone. Richmond Schmidt, majordomo

2) Never put your headmaster in a position where he has to say no. “I can say: ‘The chauffeur has to take Thursday off. Is that in order?’ Or I can say: ‘The chauffeur needs a day off. Would Thursday be okay or would another day be better? ‘ “–Graham Lefford, land manager

3) Keep a shared household calendar so everyone is on the headmaster’s schedule (events, parties, vacations, guest arrivals, etc.) – Elise Lewis, Founder, Distinguished Domestics

4) Never accept an offer from your client. For example, never use the pool when you are not at home, despite the invitation – Anonymous estate manager

5) Photocopy everything in your employer’s wallet – front and back. Keep everything in a safe place in case the wallet is stolen – Bonnie Low-Kramen, author of Be the Ultimate Assistant and former assistant to Olympia Dukakis

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