Grooming a handyman to property management - Ideas

[Mian Rizwan]

I had good experience with a handyman over the years. Thinking of pitching him to become property manager for a single family I am considering to buy in his backyard. Any ideas regarding what a fair deal look like 

- Fixed monthly payment ?

- $ / visit

- 1st month's rent ?

I have dealt with property management companies with tall claims and horrible performance. Want to try something different 

[Pat L.]

We have a 6 unit & we inherited a maintenance guy who had been there 24 years, but we needed his knowledge of all the idiosyncrasies of the building. We let him go a year later when he became a liability & his work got shoddy. So, I threw an advt on craigslist. Cheap rent, 1 bedroom attic apt for maintenance & property care. We had a bunch of late 50 yr old guys show up. Most had very little to their name, except an old vehicle & a few tools, (apparently their ex-wives had cleaned them all out).

I settled on an old Italian guy who proved to be very handy & helps a lot on other properties we have, plus he maintains an amazing vegetable garden at the 6-plex. My daughter adeptly handles the rental/tenant stuff via social media & we rarely have a vacancy & if we do it's one leaving while the other is moving in. 

I now have another old maintenance guy who has also fallen on hard times, (yep ex-wife cleaned him out as well). He now rents a trailer from us. His work for me over the years has been exceptional, so I use him on property maintenance & the rehabs we are currently doing. His knowledge of electrical, plumbing, framing & drywall finishing has saved me a lot of time & $$$.

If you can find one & keep them busy they are beyond invaluable.