property manager

maintenance supervisor

maintenance technician

on-site property manager

assistant property manager

Equity Lifestyle Properties

The culture within els is unique in that those of us at the property level seem to genuinely care about one another and about our customers and we work to help each other when we can, even inter-properties. However, the reality from corporate and senior management could not be more unhelpful and difficult. So many new procedures were implemented with constantly changing priorities that included threats of disciplinary action about new procedures when the training for those changes had not even occurred, let alone checked for understanding. Certainly, so many of their big projects or company wide initiatives involving change simply are destined to be disastrous because of poor planning, poor communication and poor project management to execution. Case in point, a recent company wide rollout of a new purchasing/accounts payables software, Nexus and its intended functionality was never communicated, goals not stated at the onset, and training not delivered PRIOR to its rollout. Naturally, resulting failures on many different levels were inevitable as no one throughout the company understands what they are doing. The property managers in this company are the forever scapegoats and are blamed for these poor senior management failures. In another example, a corporate rollout of an extensive electrical infrastructure project involving multiple properties that included the manner in which billing to residents was completed at those properties was never fully discussed or the true large scope of the project communicated in advance. Let alone the training that needed to occur in advance within the necessary software PRIOR the start of this project. The resulting frustration to property team members and residents for that fact, was overwhelming, a colleague was in tears over all of it. Yet the, "constantly out to get you" mentality of corporate offices prevailed and as always the property managers were blamed when the inevitable errors and mistakes occurred. And, if one speaks up and points out the shortcomings in these projects or questions anything about any part of els; a giant target is pinned on one's back. As I witnessed, anything and everything suddenly becomes a disciplinary action when senior management's H/R wants to terminate for anything.

The internal culture of this company reeks of so many systemic problems. They seem to operate through coercion tactics with senior level micromanagement of every dollar spent with a complete lack to easily available resources to make property level improvements. So much so, it makes one think, maybe they are trying to hide a significant cash flow problem. The company does not provide the needed specific training early on to execute the duties of your job. Oh sure, the Learning & Development arm of els, gives boat loads of philosophical ideas of how to manage but not the "nuts and bolts" essentials' to execute your job duties proficiently in order to keep it. And for the most part other than the local property staff, els is unfriendly and uncaring in any way about any employee(s) or guests/residents/customers.

My gut instinct was right when I interviewed on-site at the property I would work and saw the visibly deteriorating conditions of every building and lack of investment for the long term.  els is a REIT, and they care ONLY about one thing, keeping Wall Street happy and that's it!


In the 3 years I worked for this company I was given little to no direction. Upper management has little time nor effort to their employees, so much less time for training a new employee. It’s sink or swim. You are literally thrown into the work and you either sink or swim and management could care less about you. In the 3 years I worked there, I was diagnosed with cancer and after telling management about it, the were literally seeking any reason to fire me. Not to mention what little they care for elderly residents. One resident, a rental property, has his home falling apart around him but because it was an older home upper management felt that it was better to let the home fall apart than take care of this persons needs. They said it was going to be a tear down anyway and rather than fix this persons home, they put a bandaid on it and called it good. They care more about their share holders than their residents and so much less for their employees. I was told that on one of my days off, which I had chemo treatment, that I either had to come I or I would be fired. In the midst of COVID, I was literally vomiting into a trash can at work. They said that I could not work from home, and that I would be “laid off” if I was not at work. Meanwhile our property manager and admin was working from home because they were scared of COVID. I was givin a raise and had it taken from me after I got sick. I took a pay cut at the start of COVID and kept working just to afford my much needed medicine. They did not give any sympathy. They gave little to no time for home life, and when you were home they had “occupancy calls” at all hours even on your day off. You literally cannot take a day off without a phone call or text. And if there is an emergency, I.e. a family members death, you are told to “deal with it and get to work”. You are told when you can and cannot take vacation or sick time. I was even forced to come to work 2 weeks after major surgery because I was going to lose my job if I didn’t. Upper management does not care nor do they respect you or your time. They will approve anyone to live in the community, including felons at the end of the month for occupancy. DO NOT WORK FOR THIS COMPANY!!!! You will he told what a horrible job you are doing as well as what a horrible person you are on conference calls. You will he called out on conference calls in front of fellow employees and be put on a “naughty list” for the smallest infractions. This is NOT a good company. This was the worst company I have ever worked for. 

I worked at this campground for over a year and was one of the few employees who stuck around while the office constantly cycled through staff. From day one, it was clear that corporate expected a lot without offering proper training, support, or appreciation. I was often left to manage tasks well above my job title, including responsibilities typically handled by assistant managers or even managers—yet was repeatedly told I wasn’t ready for advancement. No real feedback was ever given, just vague reasoning and a continuation of the same workload.

The previous manager was let go, and instead of bringing in proper replacement support, I was left to juggle everything with no increase in pay or title. When I applied for open positions that I was already unofficially filling, I was told I wasn’t “qualified,” even though no one else at the location had the experience I did. Despite this, I was still the one expected to handle guest complaints, take care of admin tasks, train new hires, and hold the place together.

To make matters worse, corporate micromanages from a distance. Time off that was approved and covered by PTO was still scrutinized, and I was made to feel guilty or irresponsible for using benefits I had earned. Feedback from leadership was inconsistent, often vague or nitpicky, and never constructive.

One of the most telling signs of the environment is how many guests pointed out that the office seemed to have a completely new staff every season. High turnover is a constant here, and for good reason: the expectations are high, the support is low, and burnout is inevitable.

Sadly, the only positive thing was working with a couple of good-hearted and responsible persons in my own team. Management was completely lacking, both in presence and in function. I have never in my over 25+ years of working in top companies, including running my own small business, have had to deal with the mediocre upper management that exists here. When feedback for basic needs was provided, it would fall on deaf ears. If you had serious, even hazardous issues with employees, they would not be addressed appropriately and even told that "you were basically lying about it" or not taken seriously, making work conditions absolutely unbearable and often frightening or dangerous. Most equipment are not up-to-date and trying to get them serviced properly was impossible and/or there were "no funds" to bring things to working order. Office buildings or maintenance compounds were so structurally unsafe, you could see holes in the floor boards and could be compared to old slums. Health insurance is the ultimate joke! If you want to work basically for free, extra hours with no gratitude nor consideration for family or private life, this is the job for you. Otherwise, stay clear and far away...you may need therapy after dealing with this nonsense. I feel badly for the long-term residents who you build kind friendships with and clearly see what we employees go through day-to-day. If the owners care at all, I'd ask for them to start visiting the parks themselves, question the surroundings and inspect the grounds!

I absolutely enjoyed my position at Oak Bend MH Community, an ELS Property location. I grew in some areas and developed systems to make my job more efficient. When the community manager left, I stepped up to help the interim CM and to keep my community running smoothly. This required some late nights, which I didn't mind because it served my community. When they hired a new CM, it surprised me because I thought I was going to be considered once my year was up (in a month). But I still helped the new CM and thought everything was going fine. Then I was out one day sick, came back and they flipped the whole job duties. I wish I had taken it a little better but it was not presented to me in a courteous and respectful way. I still assisted with the changeover and thought we had moved passed the disruption but the CM had reported me to Corporate and then I was let go abruptly after.

I loved my community and job, was looking at advancing and retiring from there. Communication with Corporate is clunky and more of they say jump and you say how high, even if it doesn't make sense. They run their customer service like you are a retail or restaurant instead of property management. They advertise their properties as resorts or resort-like, giving an expectation to the resident/prospective resident than what actually occurs.

The medical benefits for property employees are decent but different than a corporate employee. The pay is decent in conjunction with the duties you are required to do. The environment varies from community to community. There are added benefits that make it worthwhile just I suggest you really research your location before going to an ELS property.

Even the community level managers who make budget are rarely recognized by regional managers and are subjected to RM who manages every moment of our day. I have been degraded several times in front of fellow managers for sharing opinions or options different than the RM wants to hear,once  for not being on time to a conference call, yet, I was handling an accident report on property that was not scheduled. If we manage our properties as expected we may have to attend to pur guests needs before answering revenue questions. Of Course this cannot be relayed to the RM because she will fire you and boast how she wears Red to fire people in. Managers here are subjected to changing  of RMs often and they all manage differently, the majority respect their managers however the most  ifluential RM in our area is the most terrifying vocalized how her VP knows nothing and only has her position because the RM taught her what she knows. Degrades other employees in front of managers and practices very unethical traditions. If you are put with this RM beware and document everything,  she actually fired a manager that was extremely loyal, exceeded budget in revenue consistently and very dedicated for a lie told by a few disgruntled guests that she (the RM) embraced without giving the manager an opportunity to defend or  even discuss the facts. The fact that a rumor by vicious guests can make an RM act without investigation shows that she does control the VP. That itself is very unprofessional. 

At first I loved this job and I was super excited. However all of that changed very quickly. There is no training, you’re just tossed into it and following what other people tell you to do, but when you do that again to a same situation you’re told you’re wrong. 
The management is the worse. They talk down to you, belittle you and they abuse their power. They will  come up with anything they can to tell you you’re wrong. They will abuse their power at being a General Manager  to make up their own rules and go back on something they previously said. They throw extra work at you claiming “it’s front desk job” however after reading the handbook it’s not. They will give you 4 job tasks to do WHILE answering the phones, checking guests in, making reservations and handling all issues at once all while they sit on their phones texting their daughters and get mad at you for not finishing the work. The best part is, they’ll tell a part time they can’t take anymore time off when they didn’t even ask for time off. I got the flu and was told NOT to come into work but I’m in trouble for that. 
They (manager) will throw you, beat you down into the bushes, call you names, belittle you, tell you everything you do is wrong, pile work for a week on you because they want YOU to quit. 
Thankfully i was doing interviews with other companies for weeks & got a better offer and finally quit. Save yourself the time and don’t even apply. The work is a lot for the horrible pay. All the GM likes to do is abuse her power, act like she’s the best, and call you names. No wonder why they only have 1 employee for the front desk, maintenance and housekeeping.

Plan to arrive early and expect to work late,  6-7 days every week.  Exempt positions are 60-70 hrs/week in high season, 40-50 off season.  No work/life balance unless you work in corporate offices.  Way too many time wasting meetings (daily and weekly) that accomplish nothing beneficial  but offers a reason for the lead of the meeting to have a job.  
Great residents with many complaints, which are valid due to tight budgets and continued high rate increases at the properties.  The seasonal cutbacks of staff, and constant cutbacks of activities and amenities offered to residents causes conflict.
Crazy high turnover of Regional and Corporate office staff.   Turnover of 5-6 people to staff one job in a years time is not unusual, especially in Accounting and IT.
Upper management is always covering their own hides, they stay clear of any tough issues, leaving the properties staff unsupported, and many times without Management for long periods of time.
New staff is not given good training on the many operations of the job and then are held accountable for the disaster they were left by previous staff.   Pay is poor and overtime is forbidden.  Little chance of moving up in the ranks to Corporate if you are at a property.
This could be a great company but it’s just not well run at the regional level.  Any staff that is good, recognizes it’s in their best interest to move on, and they do.
The benefits are good if you can use their medical, but if not in network, its horrible.


Working for ELS has been an exciting and interesting experience. My position requires use of my overall experience and has opened new learning opportunities. My current position is considered seasonal. Based on the employment constraints, our park operations calendar is overflowing with long and short term plans, projects and implementation. This position requires 110% attention to detail. Many of the specific job duties are critical to the function of the campground during our peak season. It is extremely important to tackle large park improvement and repairs to have funding available in order to complete during the off season.  Reservations, accounts payable and receivable, budget planning and forecasting are some of the daily responsibilities. Sales and Marketing the property are equally important to the success or the campground.  The Park Manager position and my position are intertwined. So it is extremely important to select personalities that will meld and not clash. I have had a wonderful work experience with our current manager. The most difficult part of my position is not having consistency and continuity of campground support staff. We rarely re-employ our seasonal support staff from year to year.

What is the best part of working at the company?
They give lots of time off benefits such as mental wellness days, sick time, pto, personal days, birthday pay.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
If you're in a management role they will make you cover multiple properties regardless of if you want to for same pay, no extra benefit and still expect you to all things you do for your current property you specifically got hired for. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Since they give you all the extra time off benefits they do not believe in any other recognition for employees. They won't let you do any type of Publix gift cards for thanksgiving, if you want to buy lunch for your staff you have to use your own funds and expense it later, no raffles allowed for employees for Christmas, and you're not allowed to have friendships with any customers or employees and or managers even off the clock on your own time. When you are first hired you watch a welcoming video, but the culture is not at all what the video portrays. They do not want you using the property or living on site.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
As a manager lots of emails, drill calls, threats that if PO's aren't in at 100% you will get written up or suspended, training classes reports, dealing with vendors, guest relations, conference calls and if you're at a challenging property be prepared to do housekeeping, front desk, store clerk, Maintenace, etc.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Property manager 49 salaries reported	$58,885 per year
Maintenance supervisor 25 salaries reported	$24.39 per hour
Maintenance technician 1 salary reported	$13.26 per hour
On-site property manager 20 salaries reported	$58,341 per year
Assistant property manager 18 salaries reported	$51,861 per year

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