In the context of real estate and this website,
property management is defined as the process of making the sure that the property you have acquired functions properly and over time retains its functionality and formal standing, including its legal status. This includes paying appropriate real estate taxes, making repairs in case it becomes necessary, making sure the utility bills are paid etc.
Obligatory management
Obligatory property management procedures are the ones most of the real estate owners cannot avoid. This is because they are related to either the very existence of the property, or to the services that are provided regardless of whether the particular owner actually uses them. Such obligatory a.k.a. common property management procedures include:
real estate tax payments
paying utility bills for common shared services (e.g. garbage collection, common staircase lighting)
paying any debts that are accumulated by the bigger property your private residence is a part of, e.g. debts for utilities that are provided to a whole apartment complex, even if your individual apartment does not use them
Individual management
Individual management procedures can also be called optional procedures, and they comprise actions, liabilities and duties that are not applicable to each and every property. Rather than that, they depend on whether the owner of the respective real estate decides to use certain services and utilities - if a service is not used, it is not provided and thus should not be paid for. Individual management procedures include:
paying utility bills for individually calculated services (water supply, heating, electricity etc.)
paying income tax, if renting the property out