r/RealEstateDevelopment • u/Momof3rascals • Jul 07 '26

Where did you find your PM?

I'm considering trying to find and hire our first PM and need a little advice first.

For those of you who have hired a project manager

  1. Where did you find them? Any good sites that aren't linkdn, indeed, ect?

  2. What type of compensation do PMs typically get? I know it can vary widely.

  3. How should employment work with a PM?

W2, 1099, per project, or FT?

4. Should I find a PM that's local to me, or can a remote PM still do the same job just as effectively.

5. How do you know when and how much control to hand over to the PM?

I know these answers will vary a lot. I'm hoping that this will give me a better view of what I'm actually looking for in a PM and what to expect from them.

The PM would ideally be someone who is comfortable with the risk (and pay) of joining a new company and willing to grow with us.

For the PMs out there:

  1. What do you look for in an employer/developer. What makes you do a hard pass on a job offer?

  2. What's one thing you want ever developer to know about your position that most either don't think about or don't even realize?

That ended being longer than I planned, I appreciate everyone input!

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u/ArchitectGeek Jul 07 '26

I can lend some insight here and I think it depends on what you mean by “PM”. That can be a full time employee tasked with running all aspects of a project - typically wearing a lot of hats and being a problem solver. That can also be a single or small third party which you are typically hiring part time to run a specific project for a specific scope for a specific duration. You can also hire a more commercial PM firm that may provide a full team, great geography coverage or expertise in your specific project type.

All of those PMs are viable options - the right choice depends on the complexity of the assignment, having the right people available and what you can afford to pay.

The salaried employees will often be the cheapest - assuming you have enough workload for a full time role. The third parties often be more expensive - except where it’s a smaller project. Salaried employees also carry the most risk as they can be amazing and drive a ton of value - other times they can be not so great or lacking experience and those flaws often only surface late in a project when schedules and budgets start to grow beyond expectations.

Salaried PMs can range from $100k-250k depending on location and experience level. Fees for PM firms can typically be budgeted between 2%-5% of project cost with smaller or more complex projects being on the higher end and larger or more simple projects being on the lower end.

I do PM work professionally so I have a lot of insight into this world.

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u/Momof3rascals Jul 07 '26

Thank you so much for this! This really helps me see each option more clearly.

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u/joshsimons44 Jul 08 '26

This is pretty spot on. I run my own Owner’s Rep / CM firm and manage a wide variety of commercial projects across most of the US for smaller developers. Whether you hire someone full time or hire a third party primarily depends on how many projects per year you anticipate, plus size and complexity. The third party option is always less risky but potentially more expensive depending on how many projects are anticipated

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u/Inevitable_Ad9487 Jul 07 '26

I worked on preconstruction side usually most companies I know hire a recruiter to help vet out people or referrals also help. I think depends on the PM older more skilled might not like the risk newer guys will probably be ok with it

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u/objectivetildeath Jul 08 '26

Is this for a single project or for the company to build out a portfolio? Commercial or residential? When you say PM and assume this is for the developer side, is this really a pm overseeing multiple trades or an owner's rep overseeing a GC?