Kim Mathews

Unified Property Group

By Leah Etling on Aug 2, 2012 in People

Never underestimate the value of early work experience. Kim Mathews of Unified Property Group was first introduced to property management in high school at the age of 17, with a job working for a commercial firm. Not long after college graduation, she found her calling – property management accounting – and has stuck with it ever since.

“I love the variety in property management,” said Mathews, echoing the words of so many fellow industry employees. She’s come up through the ranks from a property accountant to her current role as Chief Financial Officer at Unified Property Group.  In between she held a variety of roles including Financial Manager, Controller,and  Asset Manager.

Along the way, she’s had the chance to work in all of the housing sectors Unified Property Group manages, including senior, commercial, multifamily, and affordable.

One of the verticals she’s found most interesting has been senior housing, where Mathews observed that there’s a trend toward older residents with more pronounced medical issues who are more likely to need assisted care.

“Our primary focus has been independent living,” so this has prompted a new initiative at one of Unified Property Group’s Independence Village properties, she said. “We’re starting out by adding memory care and assisted living at one of our properties and (if it is successful), we plan on expending that to all of our offerings.”

Unified Property Group manages about 100 properties with 12000 units, with 40 percent of the portfolio made up by affordable tax credit housing.

One of Mathews’ current initiatives is moving Unified Property Group towards paperless offices at its properties. Yardi PayScan and CheckScan are among the products helping that effort.

“We’re trying to get everything automated with latest technology to find efficiencies and make sure we have best practices and processes out there,” she said. A fan of Yardi’s Executive Dashboards and financial analytics, we appreciated her super positive feedback that the business intelligence available via Voyager “rocks!”

In her free time, Mathews is not only a mother to two children, ages 12 and 10, but finds time for lots of active pursuits.

She’s a longtime runner, and was thrilled to earn spot in the lottery for the famous Mackinac Bridge Labor Day Run, which hundreds of runners enter each year in the hopes of jogging the bridge. Only 500 spots are available, however, so it’s a big thrill to be selected.

The five mile bridge takes participants from St. Ignace to Mackinaw City, over the windy Straits of Mackinac between Lakes Michigan and Huron. Only Michigan residents are eligible to enter, making participation in the event a badge of state pride. There’s also a walk that is open to all comers – no running allowed.

“I’m really excited. It’s one of those things that was on my bucket list,” Mathews told us.

Learn more about Kim:

What is your favorite type of music?

I don’t really have a favorite, I like all kinds of music.

If you have an hour of free time to spare, what do you do with it? 

I love to shop.

What do you like best about your job? 

I love the variety.

What are the words you live by?

Life is short, play hard.  Nike, has it down but I believe in it.  Make every minute count.

What are some things on your bucket list? 

Well skydiving was on my bucket list but I did that last year, it was exhilarating.  What a thrill.