Maintenance for properties

[Jeremy Lepman]

I’m an employee for a property management company that only maintains our own properties. About 100 units all together. We currently have a maintenance team of about 15 people that perform maintenance duties and even some rehabs for certain properties. However, we run into a lot of issues we our maintenance team. As with many industries we have staffing problems with our maintenance department. We also have issues finding talented workers that will show up on time. We have tried to develop a team that is able to do rehabs/remodels but they tend to take a long time to complete. Unlike a vendor or sub, there is little incentive to finish the work quickly/efficiently. I was just wondering if anyone else is having these issues or how they have dealt with them in the past? Do most of you use different vendors for rehabs and just have a maintenance team for small fixes? Any help would be greatly appreciated! 

[Nathan Gesner]

You have a maintenance team of 15 people for 100 units??? Is there a zero missing in that? I know a property manager in Chicago that has around 5,000 units and his maintenance team includes about 20 handymen, electricians, plumbers, painters, and HVAC.

First, I would suggest that your maintenance team may be too big. Fire the bums and use the extra money to bump up pay on your top performers.

Second, I would set hard deadlines for your crew. If they break the deadline on a job, they lose pay. If they beat the deadline, they are rewarded with a bonus. Create an incentive that motivates them.

Third, if that doesn't work then you can fire all of them except 1-2 guys. Use them for basic handyman stuff and then hire out the big jobs to professional crews that do the job right and do it on time.