Influential Woman · Property Management

Shannon Hunter

Property Manager, Palms Associates, LLC

Raleigh, NC

2Awards received

Certifications · Degrees · Memberships

Degree Bachelor's Degree in Marketing and Sales Degree Graduated magna cum laude Cert Real Estate License Cert National Apartment Leasing Professional (NALP) Cert Certified Apartment Manager (CAM)

Her Story

About Shannon

I've been in property management for about 23 years, and it's really close to my heart. I started as a weekend leasing consultant after getting my real estate license, and within 5 months became an assistant manager. After 6 months I got my first property and just fell in love with everything - the financial aspect, the occupancy parts, the NOI. For the last 5 years I've worked with Palms Associates in Raleigh, managing a 352-unit property with about 700 residents. My main areas of expertise are marketing and finance. A typical day for me is ever-changing - it could be showing apartments, doing owner's notes, working on a budget, dealing with residents, or handling emergencies. I've dealt with everything from fires to maintenance issues. I think a big part of being successful in this role is being empathetic, putting yourself in that position, understanding where residents are coming from, and listening. All we're trying to do is help people and make it a comfortable, loving place to live. We try very hard to make it a community and make sure that everybody's kind of looking out for the property as a whole.

Her Interview

Ten minutes with Shannon

01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?

I think the best advice I could give you is just enjoy it, but also look at every property differently. Every property is different - it could be an A property, it could be a C property. No matter which one you have, you have to find the good in it. There are a lot of places where people are like, oh, well, we're used to it being that way, but you can change it. You can make it better. You can make it a place where people want to live, and a place that is meaningful to other people. I think sometimes people try really hard to get into the lease-ups, which are the newer properties, but the stable properties, they're pretty great. So experience it all. Do a lease-up, do a stable community, do something that's a B property or something that's not always in your wheelhouse, because you're going to find something that you truly love, and once you do, you'll be really great at it.

02What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?

I think it's always, you know, everything is ever-changing, and I feel like everything's pretty cyclical - the downturns in economy and stuff like that. We pretty much go on the housing line. I think occupancy is always one of those that you're dealing with. And of course, the multitude of personalities. Staffing somewhat can be an issue as well - trying to keep people. I feel like a lot of times, people go from job to job instead of hanging in there. So that's kind of something that can be challenging as well.

Keep Exploring