Maintenance and work orders for small multifamily

[Chris Dowty]

We currently have an 18 unit property under contract south of Indianapolis. The current owners use a handyman that is retired. Some pros: 1) He seems very familiar with the property and has handled maintenance and small work orders for the owners for a long time. 2) He is on call at all times. 3) Seems very engaged with the residents. The only con is his hourly rate ($30/hr). This seems high to me even considering the pros mentioned above. I'm curious how others have managed maintenance when dealing with such a small amount of units? What good/bad experiences have others had with a handyman as opposed to a tech?  Thanks for any input.