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I need a general purpose handyman
- Thread starter ianjoub
- Start date
Midnightmoon
Senior Member
A foreman in your area can easily make 25 an hour your area being withing 30 min of you where foreman's make 25 and laborers can make 20 this is the upper payscale but that's the guy you need. This is the guy you need but here's the problem he knows how to do everything but he just tells people to do it hes the foreman. You need to pull this guy from his job where hes likely making alot of overtime so his yearly salary isn't 50k it's probably closer to 65. How much are you paying these people that are not working out?
John Canfield
Senior Member
There's a Taco Cabana (fast food) in our small town that's had a help wanted sign on their billboard for $12 an hour - been there for 3 or 4 months. If you are breathing, you are qualified for most jobs around here.
ianjoub
Senior Member
What may be advertised and what actually happens are 2 different things as far as Stanley Steamer goes. That is something one doesn't understand if they aren't from around here. This is not a dig at you. Places like that advertise such things, and will follow through. Then one finds that they get 15-20 hrs. per week at that pay rate and one is responsible for selling all the jobs they get paid for, at no further commission....
If you are a master tech and work for a dealership, you can make $100k+ per year. Unfortunately, there is only 1 position in each dealership that pays that. I had a 2 bay independent auto repair shop for 10 years here and barely made that $75k figure as the owner. Yes, I was honest (downfall to make really good $$$ in that business) but had a GREAT reputation and a loyal customer base.
ianjoub
Senior Member
I am not sure where you are getting your info from, please share that with me.
There are places like The Villages where the pay scale is higher, but that is close to an hour from here, not 30 minutes. That makes a huge difference.
ianjoub
Senior Member
I knew the owner of Eagle Buick personally, he died a few years ago. As I said, the ONE master mechanic can make over $100k per year. Every other tech in that shop will struggle to make the $45 figure. That is REAL WORLD around here.
Midnightmoon
Senior Member
What are you paying for this position and how many hours per year?
Midnightmoon
Senior Member
Jobs posted on indeed 30 miles from you lots of 20 per hour posted in the last 4 days. Fence installers painters plumbers carpenters.
There are towns here where nothing gets done, because they won't pay for it, and therefore nobody will do the work because they can go elsewhere for more money. The idea that you can get a reliable jack of all trades for less than $20/hour is laughable in the last ten to twenty years around here. Doesn't matter one bit what they hire deputies at, whole different job, whole different class of applicants. Trades or foremen are somewhat related, but you're not hiring a foremen, and a foremen would have better support, and narrower scope of work in most cases. You're not hiring an entry or mid level mechanic either, you're looking for someone who can do it all, travel, and work on rental trailers, that's like finding a diesel injection guy, that also does passable bodywork and does repo's.
ianjoub
Senior Member
We pay $25/hr or $1k/wk on salary. If you are a go getter, do hourly and work 50+ if you want. If you want to not work so hard, take the salary. We still expect 40/wk but the expectation on production is less.
I am not willing to pay someone $25/hr times 4 hours to replace a kitchen faucet when they are an employee on payroll.
I went out with a helper today. We fixed 5 roof leaks and replaced a fridge in 6 hrs.
To add to Delmer point of the towns not paying 4 or 5 years ago a family freind was telling me all about this job opening at the one local township. He got though telling all about the benefits and the work load etc then I say what's the pay his face drained and said you'll be taking a cut then said 13.75 a hour. Me and dad laughed for about 10 minutes.........
ianjoub
Senior Member
Yes, unfortunately I do.
Leave these poor folks behind who rent from us. Sell out to big corps. Let them jack rents and run out the working class folks who rent from us. Let them get the Section 8 money from the govt. for the people who refuse to work.
I just don't want to go do the work myself any more.
Time marches on. I feel like a family farm must feel.
It's crazy how much wages vary, friend of mine is foreman at heavy truck dealership and makes $110k a year working 40 hours a week. I haven't worked for 20/hr since I was 20 years old. I've gotten spoiled because I now say a $400 job isn't even worth getting out of bed for. Cost of living must be really low if wages are that low. Here in construction to get a green laborer you got to start them at $20/hr minimum, and even then it's still really hard to find anyone, if you find a good one you got to get them up to $25/hr to try and keep them. My brother is in concrete and pays a few guys around $40/hr, funny how a few make $100k a year and still live paycheck to paycheck.....
I don't have anywhere close to as many rentals as you, I only have 3 but what i've found is my time is more valuable then doing a lot of things. I've found a good small appliance place that charges me $90 for a service call, not that i've needed but a plumber and electrician who do side work for $40/hr. For many things, you're better off paying a bit more to get a professional they will be faster and it will be better in the long run.
I think one of the reasons you may struggle to find someone good is lack of advancement, you're competing against home builders for example and most people would likely rather work on new homes and in most of those companies they can move up. I think there is plenty of people who are capable of doing minor roof repairs, paint, flooring, etc etc but the pay has to be there, and if no advancement you got to appeal somehow likely better pay. I'd imagine someone maybe near retirement who just wants to put in 40 hours a week and doesn't want to hustle might be a good fit. You also will need to give on some repairs, the chance of finding someone who is good on such a broad range of items is extremely unlikely. Maybe they take forever to change a faucet, but they are a really good taper painter or what not.
Here's the way I look at as a business owner, and I don't want to look down on anyone who chooses to be an employee. But many people are just not ambitious or quick learners, I am dumbfounded on nearly a daily basis how people don't know such basic things. There is a reason many people are employees instead of running their own company. Since I was mid 20's I could do any task involved in building a house, yet there is plenty of grown adults who can barely change a light bulb. Good help is really hard to find and it's getting worse all the time. It's why I gave up trying to hire employees, easier and more profitable to do it myself.
I don't have anywhere close to as many rentals as you, I only have 3 but what i've found is my time is more valuable then doing a lot of things. I've found a good small appliance place that charges me $90 for a service call, not that i've needed but a plumber and electrician who do side work for $40/hr. For many things, you're better off paying a bit more to get a professional they will be faster and it will be better in the long run.
I think one of the reasons you may struggle to find someone good is lack of advancement, you're competing against home builders for example and most people would likely rather work on new homes and in most of those companies they can move up. I think there is plenty of people who are capable of doing minor roof repairs, paint, flooring, etc etc but the pay has to be there, and if no advancement you got to appeal somehow likely better pay. I'd imagine someone maybe near retirement who just wants to put in 40 hours a week and doesn't want to hustle might be a good fit. You also will need to give on some repairs, the chance of finding someone who is good on such a broad range of items is extremely unlikely. Maybe they take forever to change a faucet, but they are a really good taper painter or what not.
Here's the way I look at as a business owner, and I don't want to look down on anyone who chooses to be an employee. But many people are just not ambitious or quick learners, I am dumbfounded on nearly a daily basis how people don't know such basic things. There is a reason many people are employees instead of running their own company. Since I was mid 20's I could do any task involved in building a house, yet there is plenty of grown adults who can barely change a light bulb. Good help is really hard to find and it's getting worse all the time. It's why I gave up trying to hire employees, easier and more profitable to do it myself.
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Midnightmoon
Senior Member
50hr a week at 25$ is 68750 a year with 2 weeks unpaid. Look outside the box to find a different pool of applicants. Throw in one of those trailers your fixing up as housing. Right now we cant find a mechanic for 75k a year they all have jobs. With so many available jobs it's hard to find good help. On the flip side you wont find someone great at everything lower your expectations no one will ever work as hard as you will.
You are looking for almost the impossible. Its very similar to a construction company here that is trying to find journeyman mechanics for their equipment but don't want to pay the rate they need. They keep hiring less experienced people for $20-26 an hour and wonder why they still have to use the dealers at times.
A year and a half ago they wanted to buy me out and me work for them fulltime. The problem was money of course........they wanted to pay out 75K a year to basically do everything from repairs to equipment management. When I told him I make 3 times that in a BAD year the conversation was over.
Now days heavily experienced trades people are worth their weight in gold.......and they are just going to continue to increase in value. No one is really training in these kinds of fields due to the fact that its difficult and physical work. If you really want a good tech to take care of everything you need then you are going to pay heavily for it.
The old saying "You get what you pay for" is truer now than ever before. I would advise that you shouldn't look at the money going out in pay (which is what alot of company executives look at) and concentrate more on the value of your own time, and what gets accomplished. I believe you will find the right person for the job if the compensation is there, and you will see the value for the money you spend.
A year and a half ago they wanted to buy me out and me work for them fulltime. The problem was money of course........they wanted to pay out 75K a year to basically do everything from repairs to equipment management. When I told him I make 3 times that in a BAD year the conversation was over.
Now days heavily experienced trades people are worth their weight in gold.......and they are just going to continue to increase in value. No one is really training in these kinds of fields due to the fact that its difficult and physical work. If you really want a good tech to take care of everything you need then you are going to pay heavily for it.
The old saying "You get what you pay for" is truer now than ever before. I would advise that you shouldn't look at the money going out in pay (which is what alot of company executives look at) and concentrate more on the value of your own time, and what gets accomplished. I believe you will find the right person for the job if the compensation is there, and you will see the value for the money you spend.
Sberry
Senior Member
Does the new hire get a helper?
CM1995
Administrator
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$1 Canadian dollar is worth $.79 US dollars so $20 CD per hour is $15.80 US. We currently have ads running for green construction laborers starting at $16 USD and have a hard time finding people who want to work. I would say our cost of living in Alabama is lower than most of Canada.
ianjoub
Senior Member
No. This seems to be a problem as well. The people who know how don't want to actually do the work, just point and give instructions. Incidentally, that is what I am doing now until I can find someone.
I'm in Alberta so it's not as bad as other parts, but to live decently I think you got to make at least $75k. But I would say even since I started working wages compared to cost of living has got quite a bit worse, 15 years ago laborer's started at $15 an hr, things have went up way more then that.