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I need a general purpose handyman

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ianjoub

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2018
Messages
1,464
Location
Homosassa, FL USA
I have been struggling with this for years. I am having no luck finding/keeping anyone worth a sh!t.

Where can I look to find good help?

We have 70 mobile homes as rentals. I need someone who can do it all: plumbing, electric, roofing, flooring. I need someone with a drivers license (more of a problem than you imagine here in west central FL) and reliable transportation. I pay what is an obscene amount of money by the standards of this area.

What have y'all found to work? Zip recruiter? Craigslist? Is there a handyman forum?

At my wits end. I am retired and don't want to go do all this sh!t myself. I would rather sell all the rentals as a package to an investment group before I go back to work.

HELP!!!!!
 
crane operator

crane operator

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 27, 2009
Messages
8,315
Location
sw missouri
In my area, a lot of the rental people contract with a maintence company. They take a cut of the rent, and do all the upkeep. Might be easier than hiring someone yourself.
 
C

cuttin edge

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 9, 2014
Messages
2,720
Location
NB Canada
Occupation
Finish grader operator
anyone with any motivation always goes on to better things. Had a great little roller man, he went on the be a school teacher. We have a great young fella looking after signs on the job sites. Setting up, tearing down. Managing work zones. He was done Friday, wants to be a Doctor. Had a little fella from Nigeria. On time every day, would do anything you ask, going back to Nigeria to be a prince or something. Had a white hat that slept in his truck for 2 years, and they finally canned his butt.
 
D

Delmer

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2013
Messages
8,887
Location
WI
ianjoub said:
I get that, but with 70 properties, we ARE the maintenance company.
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So you need to have a gal in the office to handle as much as you can hand off, and take on the managers job, which is trying to run a business with the labor you have available or attract better labor. No shortcut, either hire different folks who specialize in different areas, do it yourself, or keep hoping for a unicorn who wants to do it all and do it reliably.
 
T

terex herder

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 10, 2017
Messages
1,803
Location
Kansas
Around here anything to do with trailers would require hazard pay. There are 4 things here that can go wrong. Your selection process, the new workers boss, the work environment, and the pay. Obscene or not to the local crowd, pay peanuts, get monkeys. The older I get, the more I believe in hire the best people you can find and pay them well. If the wage won't fit the budget, find a more profitable line of work.
 
crane operator

crane operator

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 27, 2009
Messages
8,315
Location
sw missouri
ianjoub said:
At my wits end. I am retired and don't want to go do all this sh!t myself. I would rather sell all the rentals as a package to an investment group before I go back to work.
Click to expand...

You already know your solutions. Its going to be really hard to find people who know how to do all of those things. We are a more specialized work force than in the past. That's why the maintence company. Or sell the trailers.

I wouldn't want to work on trailers all the time. You don't either. I don't know what makes you think anyone else will.

Trailers are built super cheap, and you're probably renting to retirees (guessing with the florida location) who don't have anything else to do but complain.

If you have plumbing issues, call a plumber. If you have roofing issues, call a roofer. etc. Quit sticking all the rent money in your pocket and pay to get the stuff fixed.
 
kshansen

kshansen

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2012
Messages
11,160
Location
Central New York, USA
Occupation
Retired Mechanic in Stone Quarry
To my way of thinking to keep up with even normal maintenance on 70 trailers it would require several people. The older the trailers the more people it would take.

To be 100% honest I have had little to do with trailers but the ones I have been in or seen were built to the absolute minimum standards if any. So after a few years I can't imagine the problems one would be seeing!
 
D

Delmer

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2013
Messages
8,887
Location
WI
Sberry said:
Ya, who wouldnt jump on the chance to work on 70 Florida rental trailers?
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For the right money, I would have and could have done it for five, maybe ten years? probably more like three though... I didn't know ianjoub at the time though, and wages were a lot less and work ethic was a lot higher at that time.

I know that at my age, which is about average for this site, I can't do it all anymore and would fail if I tried. Lots of us had/have the skills to do the actual work, but not the motivation/tolerance/perseverance to do it reliably. That's why we specialize. It's easier not to have to have all the possible tools and supplies on your truck. Plumbing OR roofing OR flooring is plenty.
 
O

Old Doug

Senior Member
Joined
Oct 16, 2013
Messages
4,536
Location
Mo
Like other have said you need more than one guy. Then you need to pay them double what you think their worth.
 
kshansen

kshansen

Senior Member
Joined
Mar 11, 2012
Messages
11,160
Location
Central New York, USA
Occupation
Retired Mechanic in Stone Quarry
Delmer said:
I know that at my age, which is about average for this site, I can't do it all anymore and would fail if I tried.
Click to expand...

I'm to the point at 71 years of age I have come to the realization that I have to hire people to do most of the things that I would have been doing while putting in 50-60 work weeks and still had time to take rides on the motorcycles.
 
I

ianjoub

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2018
Messages
1,464
Location
Homosassa, FL USA
Delmer said:
So you need to have a gal in the office to handle as much as you can hand off, and take on the managers job, which is trying to run a business with the labor you have available or attract better labor. No shortcut, either hire different folks who specialize in different areas, do it yourself, or keep hoping for a unicorn who wants to do it all and do it reliably.
Click to expand...
We have a full time girl running the office.

When I said obscene amount of money, I meant far above what one would expect in this county.

There isn't a huge amount of maintenance on these places. We did pretty thorough remodels on them when we purchased. Most weeks we only get 3-5 service requests. Some are very easy like replacing a door lock. Others are more complicated and are likely to take most of a day. We have some places that are truly distressed that we have not had tenants in yet, purchased by us in that condition. These places are filler work when all the regular maintenance is up to date.

I have an electrician the office girl calls right now as needed. We tried 2 plumbing companies. They were both useless.
 
D

Delmer

Senior Member
Joined
Jan 3, 2013
Messages
8,887
Location
WI
Boy, that's tough not to be able to find somebody that can handle that. Maybe you need to advertise the job differently, or recruit differently? I sure don't have the answer.
 
M

Midnightmoon

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 9, 2013
Messages
445
Location
Ny
You have to be able to pay top dollar in your area. Your looking for someone who could easily get a good job with benifits. If it paid 95k including housing insurance 401k 4 weeks vaca you might find someone that could fulfill your needs. I can do everything you need but you need to be able to pull me away from the good job I already have. That's the key if your not paying enough to get someone to leave there 75-80k job just hire a service. sure for 18 an hour you'll find all kinds of people claiming they can fulfill your needs but you will never be happy. Of course you might stumble across a unicorn but they wont stay
 
I

ianjoub

Senior Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2018
Messages
1,464
Location
Homosassa, FL USA
Midnightmoon said:
You have to be able to pay top dollar in your area. Your looking for someone who could easily get a good job with benifits. If it paid 95k including housing insurance 401k 4 weeks vaca you might find someone that could fulfill your needs. I can do everything you need but you need to be able to pull me away from the good job I already have. That's the key if your not paying enough to get someone to leave there 75-80k job just hire a service. sure for 18 an hour you'll find all kinds of people claiming they can fulfill your needs but you will never be happy. Of course you might stumble across a unicorn but they wont stay
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You are not familiar with the pay scale in my area. You have to be a Dr. or Atty. to make 100k/yr here. A lead carpenter on a framing crew would be happy with $20/hr. and no benefits.

Example: "The Citrus County Sheriff's Office offers a liberal salary & compensation program:  Deputy Starting Salary: $33,716. "

Yes, you too can earn $34k per year to be shot at.....
 
M

Midnightmoon

Senior Member
Joined
Nov 9, 2013
Messages
445
Location
Ny
32min from you I can get a job at Stanley steamer for 20 an hour plus benifits. I dont know your area but you wont find anyone for 20 an hour. I'm sure I can find a job in your area as a mechanic for 75k a year.
 
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