Apartment units maintenance.....cost effective ways??!!

[Nik S.]

Hi fellow BP's...I know I can always count on you guys for solid, honest advice from you experienced investors!

Here's my current dilemma. I own a set of apartment unit buildings (which are 1 hr away from me), totaling in about 50 units. Units are in pretty good shape but as you know issues always come up. Mostly smaller issues such as AC unit swaps, replacing faucets, rebuilding guts in toilets, change GFCI's etc.....common maintenance but at times bigger projects do arise. I have owned these particular units for almost a year and the maintenance has slowed down but issues still come up.

My current Property Management company has an on-call maintenance staff that charges at a rate of $37 per hour. So if a toilet seat needs replaced, I get billed $37 + $10 for the part. If a tenant has a plumbing issue, I can save a little money than calling a yellow page plumber. When a tenant moves out, the hours add up quickly..

For a while I had a guy who worked with me locally and would send him on the job (gave him long lists to do), eventually it was taking away from my local operations so I had to take him off the job and keep him local for the other projects.

I found a "contractor" who took on the jobs...He won't give me a set hourly rate and we kind of go back and forth over pricing. It's TERRIBLE as I am not sure exactly if he prices are fair or not. We finally hit a wall where we aren't agreeing so I need to work otherwise. By meaning using an outside contractor, my workload increases. I get work orders from my property manager and then I forward them to the "contractor". Then me and him go back and forth. Despite paying him cash and not having accountability (tax benefits), I am losing out but for a while I thought i was saving money by using him. His prices are OK but I am basically adding more work to my plate. Another thing with the current guy im using is that he has other people working for him and he claim 

What do you guys suggest?

1.) Use Property Management companies maintenance staff and be essentially worry free as I don't have to be involved nearly as much. (they do not do larger projects such as dry wall repair so my PM calls a set of vendors she uses and they bid out the project and then she charges me 7% of the total job cost due to her efforts in arranging bids etc....ie; job is $600, she charges $42..well worth it for me NOT to have to make the calls and meet people at the property etc)

2.) Look for someone who can live in a unit and in compensation do the maintenance for the apartments (I know there are pro's and con's with this)

3.) Figure out a spreadsheet of certain repairs and pricing so both the contractor and I have a clear understanding when repairs are needed. Example, when a faucet needs replaced, have a set cost. 

4.) Figure out a flat hourly rate for the contractor and take it from there (trust has to be there as well). The contractor will not agree on hourly rate..Makes me wonder.

If anyone has any suggestions on how to handle apartment building maintenance efficiently and cost effectively, please let me know! Goal is to save money and get the work done properly! :-)