Look up AED Asset Management online and you鈥檒l find a full-service firm that offers everything from property management to construction services and design. The three-year-old firm (it was incorporated in 2018) boasts assets under management totaling 50 single- and multifamily units as well as office space in and around the Washington, DC area. But the notable thing about AED is that its founder and owner is 29-year-old Anita DiPietro, CPM®.
The young professional go-getters featured in this series typically see ownership sometime in their professional future. DiPietro, who is among 乐竞体育赛事直播鈥檚 2021 30 Under 30, can already check that box, with her future holding, she speculates, 鈥渙wnership of a few companies,鈥� in various trades.聽聽
But she is frank about the head start she received to make AED happen. 鈥淚 went into the job market right after high school,鈥� she says, 鈥渟o I had a jump of seven or eight years already.鈥� (She did eventually go back to receive her Bachelor鈥檚 in Business Administration from George Mason University.)
One of the jobs she interviewed for was with a local real estate investor, where she grew through the ranks. She left the firm in 2017 and moved to Central Coast California to lend a helping hand in the fall harvest and learn how to make wine. (Keep this in mind.聽 We鈥檙e getting back to it.) She was successful at managing real estate from afar for friends and family back in the DC area. Once the fall harvest was over, she had an eye to starting a small business and began pursuing further enrichment in the industry. Toward that end, she got her CPM certification this past February, and is now 鈥済unning for鈥� her CCIM designation.聽聽
Of course, she doesn鈥檛 manage the AED portfolio alone. Her part-time, women-led staff includes an accountant and a leasing/operations professional, backed by a healthy number of trusted contractors. Nevertheless, business ownership is a big nut to process. DiPietro says it can be done 鈥渋f you鈥檙e efficient with time management and you鈥檙e a task master, which I am.鈥�
Despite the depth and breadth of work that defines property management, DiPietro confesses she鈥檚 not a multitasker and says, 鈥淚鈥檓 OCD when it comes to projects, and something won鈥檛 leave my brain until it鈥檚 done. God bless my contractors. But I think my tenants and clients have come to appreciate my work ethic.鈥澛�
Multitasking (鈥淚t鈥檚 not a real thing,鈥� she says) would seem to be a requisite for success in such a nuanced profession. DiPietro says it鈥檚 the nuances that surprise most outsiders about the property management profession. 鈥淚鈥檓 always surprised by the assumptions made by people outside the industry,鈥� she says. Many people are unaware of the need to 鈥渕ake sure you鈥檙e covering all bases all the time-- maintenance, leasing, compliance with the city, and the need to foresee potential problems.鈥�
Growth of a different kind
Along the way to carving out her own business, DiPietro admits to finding out a lot about owning a business, and about herself. 鈥淥ne of my big eye-openers when I first started was how to grow more clients. I wasn鈥檛 sure how to accomplish that.鈥� References from friends and family came to her aid, and she hasn鈥檛 had to do much advertising or marketing as a result. 鈥淣ot knowing where new business would come from was the most daunting part.鈥�
Concerning her own approach, she discovered she鈥檚 a very impatient person. Which is interesting since that鈥檚 a trait she recommends new entrants check at the door. 鈥淧roperty management is a profession where you have to divide your brain into different sections,鈥� she notes, 鈥渂ut at the end of the day, it鈥檚 all about relationships.鈥� And that, she adds, is where understanding and patience are most needed.
It was certainly true during the pandemic, and she found the patience to stand by her struggling tenants and residents throughout. In fact, she reports that her firm maintained a 96% occupancy throughout the health crisis, thanks to strategies designed to get landlord and tenants alike through the crisis.
Strategies such as dropping rents as necessary 鈥渢o ensure we had as little vacancy as possible,鈥� she says, 鈥渨ith the long-term goal to increase rents after the crisis ended. It was all about working a path forward for the individual tenant. After all, who am I to increase rents for someone who can鈥檛 afford it?鈥�
COVID, of course, brings up the other slice of insight DiPietro has for up-and-comers. 鈥淩emember that property management isn鈥檛 for the faint of heart,鈥� she says. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e an organized person and consider yourself a planner, if you enjoy solving complex problems and you have a high tolerance for frustration, property management might be for you. It鈥檚 a tough job. But it is rewarding.鈥�
One of the most rewarding aspects of the career is 鈥渢he freedom it gives me,鈥� she says, 鈥淚鈥檓 very cautious about growth. I鈥檓 in a sweet spot right now. I have enough properties under management, and we鈥檙e thankfully enjoying a certain level of income. It allows me the freedom to pursue other things.鈥�
And those 鈥渢hings鈥� are far-flung; things such as 鈥渢inkering. I鈥檓 a bit of an inventor.鈥� And she鈥檚 also a Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) Level 2-awarded sommelier. And there鈥檚 more. DiPietro is working on a wine bar, bed and breakfast concept called Tasting Room. The Virginia-based enterprise obviously combines her passion for wine and knowledge of real estate management.
To accommodate multiple interests, she鈥檚 cautious about how she grows. In terms of property management, 鈥淚鈥檓 very picky about the landlords I work with and the properties I decide to take under management鈥� she says. 鈥淚 know how to say no. Although I do love a good challenge.鈥�
That was true from the outset.聽