Hiring Full-time Maintenance-man/Property Manager?

[Rick L.]

I'm reaching the point personally where I'm considering hiring property management for my rentals.  Don't ask me why but, the thought of utilizing company I don't know to oversee my rentals and delegate maintenance requirements, lessee interactions, etc. has me concerned.  Besides, most generate additional revenue by performing repairs and maintenance.  I suppose I'm just a skeptical person by nature and like others, I believe no one will take care of my properties as well as I do.

For maintenance issues, I typically use a gentleman who is plumber by trade but is a jack-of-all-trades.  He does have some property management experience being a maintenance man for a property management company several years ago.  Since his heyday, he's slowed down and has since retired. He now performs side jobs and collects disability due experiencing mild multiple sclerosis symptoms.  I believe he's trustworthy, meticulous, dependable, and most importantly...self-sufficient.  Usually, once I receive a maintenance request from a tenant I relay their information and general problem to him and he takes it from there. He'll provide me with a verbal estimate prior to completing the work.

The only problem is that he's REALLY expensive!  However, I see value in his characteristics (trustworthy, meticulous, dependable, self-sufficient) and would like to continue working with him.  I'm contemplating whether it would be more cost-effective to pay him a salary for management and maintenance based off a percentage of collected rental income.  

For example, generally property management is 10% and maintenance can be 10-15% over time.  I was considering offering him something like 12% of collected monthly rental income with reimbursement for materials.  Ultimately, I would like to cap the salary and maximize profit once my portfolio reaches size and possible hire a second worker that would report to him. I think it would be appealing since he would receive a stead income stream.  

Does anyone have anything similar established?