Affordable Housing Property Management certificate class discuss the value of on-site ground floor retail and housing density
Building close to transit is a key component of successful affordable housing builds
An underground Metro line close to affordable housing
Students chatting while on a site tour in the Affordable Housing Property Management certificate class
An example of an affordable housing dense build
Opportunity sites for affordable housing buildings are in resource-rich neighborhoods, where residents can access good public schools, reliable transit, jobs, and healthcare.
Certificate class on site tour
When Natalia Schlittler moved from São Paulo to Los Angeles for a marketing job in 2023, she anticipated the epic traffic jams. But she wasn’t expecting the tents.
“How can such a rich country have so many homeless people?” she wondered.
Natalia, who holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Brazil’s University of Campinas, rolled up her sleeves. An e-commerce coordinator in Havaianas’ North American office, she started volunteering in her spare time at the Downtown Women’s Center and Safe Place for Youth. Soon Natalia was attending LA County policy meetings and researching homelessness funding structures. Taking a deeper dive, she completed SMC’s Homeless Service Work certificate program last spring.
From there, she says, “it just felt like a natural progression” to enroll in Affordable Housing Property Management (Real Estate 11).
The course, introduced last spring, is the bedrock under SMC’s Affordable Housing Property Management Certificate of Achievement—the first for-credit program of its kind at a California community college.
On top of Real Estate 11, students in the nine-unit certificate program complete a basic course in property management (Real Estate 10), and an elective in either sociology, homeless response practice, or social work (starting spring 2027).
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The new certificate, which can be earned in a single semester, gives entry to a community service-oriented profession that’s well compensated and in high demand.
ZipRecruiter pegs average salaries for these jobs at $79,175 in Los Angeles and $82,482 in Santa Monica. For those who live on-site—and many do—a rent-free unit is part of the benefits package. (Under California law, any 16-or-more unit property that’s 100-percent designated for income-restricted tenants must have a manager living on the premises.)
“As the affordable housing industry grows, so does the need for skilled property managers to support residents and preserve communities long-term,” says Ari Beliak, president and CEO of Merritt Community Capital Corporation. The Oakland-based nonprofit investor and lender has invested $1.7 billion into more than 12,500 affordable homes statewide.
The numbers behind this career-training push are staggering. More than 80 percent of Los Angeles County households income-qualify for some tier of affordable housing (based on an area median income of $108,100 for a family of four), and a half to two-thirds of the county’s renters are considered rent-burdened. (Qualifying for affordable housing in high-priced metro areas like LA can save tenants up to $1,600 a month.)
Yet only 2.7 percent of Angelenos currently live in affordable housing.
That translates to a deficit of 500,000 affordable housing units countywide. As real estate developers race to build more affordable housing complexes, employment opportunities for property managers in this space multiply.
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SMC’s AHPM certificate exists largely because of Real Estate associate professor Jonathan Macias.
Founder and CEO of the El Segundo-based Macias Realty Group, Jonathan is an SMC alum who holds a Wharton MBA in finance and entrepreneurship. He’s the architect of the college’s long-anticipated Real Estate and Affordable Housing Program, which launched in spring 2025 and instantly reached full enrollment. As lead faculty, Jonathan designed and teaches the four real estate courses required for the Real Estate Certificate of Achievement.
The new AHPM program is Jonathan’s second foray into certificate building at SMC—a clear sign of its high priority.
Affordable housing, he explains, is a very different beast from market-rate housing. Professionals in this niche must be familiar with overlapping federal, state, county and local programs—each with its own eligibility rules, rent caps and audit calendars. They must be primed to address the special challenges facing vulnerable tenants, including those who are formerly homeless. And they must know how to keep a residential property running smoothly.
Such people are currently hard to find. Indeed, Jonathan says, “most affordable housing property managers learn on the job.”
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When Dr. Steven Sedky, interim associate dean of career education at SMC, was shepherding the AHPM certificate program through the approval process, he kept hearing the same refrain from stakeholders: it’s a two-sided job.
“There’s the technical side: calculating incomes, looking at vouchers, checking eligibility. And there’s the human-relations side: developing relationships, working with people,” Steven says.
Jonathan and Steven recruited someone who knows affordable housing inside-out to teach the new program’s flagship course.
Sua Hernandez has spent more than 20 years in the field—as a tenant activist, community organizer, and asset manager of multi-family portfolios.
She currently stewards the assets of T.R.U.S.T. South LA, a non-profit that acquires and holds land in trust for the benefit of residents.
In Real Estate 11, Sua delves into lease agreements, rent collection, fair housing laws, budgeting, financial reporting and record keeping—all in the context of income-restricted housing. Her students come away understanding not just how to stay in compliance with all the funding regulations and meet their different reporting requirements, but also how to engage with tenants using trauma-informed management practices.
“A market-rate manager facing a tenant in crisis is at the mercy of the owner’s discretion,” Sua says, underscoring a crucial distinction. “But the affordable housing manager has a higher mandate: get people into housing, and keep them housed.”
The plans governing affordable housing developments are “documents of humanitarianism,” she says, “and not merely aspirational, but grounded in law.”
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There’s a through-line to what SMC is assembling across its certificate programs in Homeless Service Work, Social Work, Real Estate and now AHPM. Steven calls it “the economy of care”.
“These are programs that support our communities and our neighbors,” he says. “They provide a pathway for our students to have a career that uplifts and supports others while making a living for themselves."
“This college generation,” he adds, referring to Gen Z, “more so than any other, really wants to fix things and give back.”
Twenty students completed the inaugural Real Estate 11 course last spring, and another 20 enrolled over the summer.
SMC’s first AHPM certificates will be awarded in the fall semester.
Fifteen of the summer cohort have expressed interest in one-on-one mentorships through the Merritt Scholars program, which matches industry leaders with students and early-career trainees.
Not all AHPM certificate holders will become affordable housing property managers. Some may pursue careers in affordable housing policy. Others may become real estate agents or brokers. No matter where they land, Sua believes everyone going through the program will benefit by becoming “better at their craft,” which “elevates the profession as a whole.”
For Natalia, the AHPM certificate stands to boost her effectiveness as an advocate for housing the homeless. Down the road, she may pursue a master’s in urban planning and pivot from consumer marketing to a public-sector career where she gets to decide where affordable housing is built and what projects get funded.
She may carry that know-how back to Brazil, where the housing math is no kinder.
“This isn’t just an issue in LA,” she says, reflecting on all the tents. “It’s an issue in every big city in the world right now. The rents in São Paulo are also astronomical.”
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SMC in Focus Volume XII, Issue 4
Eyes in the Back of His Head
As he pedals toward UC San Diego, Kevin Davidson relies on a smart rear-view safety system he invented and a conviction that you don’t plan your future—you build it, one experience at a time. Read Article
Property + Values
An in-depth look at Santa Monica College’s new affordable housing property management certificate, the first such for-credit program in Calif., launched in partnership with Merritt Community Capital Corporation. Read Article
Change Agent
Leaving high school two years early, Isabella Guglielmetti came to Santa Monica College to explore possibilities and spur social action. Read Article
Seeing Stars
At SMC’s new Planetarium and Observatory, students and the community can experience the universe’s wonders through immersive learning and stellar storytelling. Read Article
Bragging Rights
A noncredit ESL course for day laborers. SMC named one of North America’s top film schools. IxD alum headed to premier schools. New books, new art. Read Article
Meeting Students Where They Are
Julyssa Guevara marks one year as a full-time basic needs case manager at SMC, bringing her lived experience to students, removing barriers, and healing—for herself, too. Read Article