Is Property Management a good way to "keep the lights on"

[Graham Rieseberg]

Hey, everyone

I work in commercial real estate as a broker right now. I've been in the business for a few months (recent college grad). Like all real estate fields commercial has a massive learning curve and most brokers do not create a stable income until years 2-4 in brokerage/investment sales. 

I've been managing since I started 40,000SF (14 tenants) of a Class A office building. I find property management helps fast track the learning curve in CRE. I've started to think about taking on a few more properties, nothing crazy but I could definitely handle 4-5 more properties that are similar to the one I'm managing now.

Here is my problem: I've had people on both sides say "you should do more PM, its a good way to learn and have monthly checks come in to keep the lights on" but others have told me "if you get into PM you'll find a few years down the road that is all you'll be doing and you can kiss your brokerage career goodbye". 

Is it common for CRE brokers to also dabble in PM?