If you are looking for a job in this industry, I am about to give you the ugly truth. Please take it seriously.
1. Compensation & Benefits. The only people making solid pay are Regional Managers and above - Community Manager pays an average middle class wage and anything less than CM pays actual dirt to the point where I'm not sure how any of us scrape by. The pay is honestly embarrassingly low for roles managing luxury communities that easily pull in $600k+ a month in rent revenue. Equity is also located in HCOL urban areas, making the low pay even more appalling. On top of that, Equity hasn't changed their commission structure in over 2 years while rents continue to skyrocket - LCs are getting paid out $50 on a lease worth $24,000. Let that sink in. They also just restructured renewal commissions basically giving sales teams a commission paycut.
2. Work/Life Balance. First of all, little to no remote work possible. Huge con in and of itself. The admin work never stops. On top of the admin work, if you're an on-site employee, you are basically on-demand to any resident who wants to walk in or call, and many of them are quite toxic. Not to mention, when you're away from work the stress never stops because the communities never stop - the emails and voicemails still come in, emergencies happen while the office is closed, etc. It's hard to put into words how truly draining this job can be on so many levels. Also, leasing offices being open until 6 means you barely have any time left in the evening after the work-day is done.
3. Career Opportunities. This isn't entirely EQR's fault, but they still get a low ranking on career opportunities because of the stagnation. No matter how hard you work, your next opportunity will NEVER open up unless someone above you leaves or new properties are acquired. Plenty of people in this community are extremely overqualified just waiting and waiting on promotions.
4. Staffing. Staffing is a huge, HUGE problem. It feels like there is constant turnover. A lot of people cannot handle the pressure, feel underpaid, realize it's not worth it, etc. This constant understaffing creates stress on so many levels.
