Property management is the operation of commercial, industrial and/or residential real estate. This is much akin to the role of management in any business.

One important role is that of liaison between the landlord and/or the management firm operating on the landlord's behalf and tenant. Duties of property management include accepting rent, responding to and addressing maintenance issues, advertising vacancies for landlords, and doing credit and background checks on tenants. In exchange for the service they provide, property management companies charge landlords a percentage of the gross rent collected each month.

Property managers may manage construction, development, repair and maintenance on a property. Property manager relations with tenants gives a face to the landlord and provides a buffer for those landlords desiring to distance themselves from their tenant constituency.

There are many facets to this profession, including participating in or initiating litigation with tenants, contractors and insurance agencies. Litigation is at times considered a separate function, set aside for trained attorneys. Although a person will be responsible for this in his/her job description, there may be an attorney working under a property manager. Special attention is given to landlord/tenant law and most commonly evictions, non-payment, harassment, reduction of pre-arranged services, and public nuisance are legal subjects that gain the most amount of attention from property managers. Therefore, it is a necessity that a property manager be current with applicable municipal, county and state laws and practices.

The term property management is used to describe the practice of managing capitalized assets that are not real estate in nature, such as equipment and consumables. This is particularly the case in some post-secondary institutions, federal agencies and organizations that must manage government-furnished property, such as government contractors.