If you work in a business that requires shared space, lots of office real estate or working out of a strip mall, then a real estate asset manager is essential. A real estate asset manager is responsible for drawing the most value out of a property asset as it can.
The real estate asset manager of every tenant in common space, for example, is responsible for making sure that the tenants are paying their rent on time, and that there is constantly a tenant that adds value. This is because occupancy is required for the retail, commercial or even industrial space to have value. Someone has to pay that rent, and the real estate asset manager is the one who will manage the property in a way that makes the rent is always paid, that the property is being used as best it can and that the property is well maintained.
For a real estate asset manager that works in the office space business, they have a lot of juggling on their job. They must make sure that the office properties are occupied by tenants that are paying the rent and not using the space inappropriately. The asset manager is not, in most cases, the one responsible for the small stuff such as cleaning or maintenance, because that is the job of a superintendant or site manager. However, the asset manager is responsible for having a reliable super or site manager that will address the concerns of tenants on a day to day basis.
A real estate asset manager can assume total ownership, though there is usually a separation between the owner and the manager. Think of it like a sports team: There is an owner who actually owns the property, and they buy the property as an investment. They do this because they have the capital to put up, but they need help managing the property. This is why the owner of a team gets a general manager to handle decision making, because the owner trusts that this manger will take steps to make money on the investment—and win games, in the case of a sports team, since that drives revenues.
A real estate asset manager does just the same. They locate the best tenants who will pay to use the property. They make sure that good decisions are executed, and poor decisions are shot down before they cost the owner big losses.