I've had 15 units - 3 multi-unit buildings - for the past 20 plus years. All three buildings and my personal home are within a mile of each other so I used the same handyman for all the buildings for nearly 20 years. I paid him by the hour - usually around $30 - 35 per hour - and always treated him well. We would often work together on projects. When I was out of town for work or fun, I trusted him with the apt master key and he handled any and all emergencies.

Unfortunately, he passed away about 3 years ago. Because of our friendship, seamless working relationship and me retiring from the 9 - 5 five years ago; I was reluctant to find his replacement.

Recently, I purchased a home near Anna Maria Island in Florida, which I rent during the winter months and use for two-week trips throughout the remainder of the year. Because of my frequent trips down south, I am finally in the process of finding a new handyman for my units in suburban Pittsburgh.

I have been looking for a couple months now - Google searches, asking my roofer, electrician and plumber if they know anyone, Angie's list, hardware store recommendations. I have talked to about a half dozen handyman businesses and sole proprietors. I have been taken back by the quoted hourly rate, which has consistently been around $75 per hour. To their credit; they are all insured, willing to provide receipts and have good references.

I was expecting to hear a number between $35 - 50 for a handyman. $75 is at or more than the rates I pay for the guys who have a true trade and went to trade school for their skills.

Doing the math in my head, these handyman, if working fulltime, would make about $150,000 per year. I guess this is a good example of a low supply and high demand curve. I'm just shocked that more kids (and adults) are not going into this field. Why go to college, take on tens (hundreds) of thousands in debt and end up in a semi-professional job paying $50 - 75K per year.....or $12 per hour at Starbucks, if you choice a non-marketable degree? Even makes me wonder why guys would go to a multi-year trade program and come out making less than a handyman.

I'm curious what landlords' experiences are in other areas of the country.

A lot of time and effort and learning goes into becoming a true "handyman" (jack of all trades.) It's not even a trade you can go to school FOR. So while I agree the prices quoted are horrific, if they can get it...I guess good for them.

These days, the main reason kids are going to college is that it mostly keeps them from having to get a job for an extra four to eight years.

Then they help elect politicians like Bernie, Warren, AOC and the Squad to help get their debt wiped clean putting it fully on the taxpayer so they can party (I mean go to school) for several years without having to think about actually getting a meaningful job.

I pay a cheap rate around here at about $40/hour but there is also a service call fee there of $99, but that includes the first hour.

Coming up with a annual salary assumes that there isn't any travel or bidding time involved in these jobs. Also running to the store would also be free.

Allym

Quit because of knees? Direct him to youtube orthopedic surgeons that explain that genicular artery embolism operation (1-2 hours, minimum invasive) we talked about a while ago,..it has (so far) a super 4 year track record,.. I see its being done at Harvard and an ortho at fishkill NY...

I was paying my handyman $20/hr six years ago, then $25, then $35. Then he went and got a F/T job with an apartment complex. I found a young guy to replace him who I pay $20/hr, but I'm teaching him half the time and I think he's about to depart to greener pastures too.

About the same here.

Here is a way I've tried to get and keep a helper that can do many things, is reliable and honest: I offered my last helper a deal---if he worked for 3 years at a beginners rate with reasonable raises along the way as he got more proficient, after the 3 years, I would GIVE him a house for free as a bonus. Now the house would be a small fixer upper,likely a 2 BR,1 BATH place on a city lot. At the time, I was getting these on tax sales or as bank repo's. They typically needed a lot of work. Also, this helper was 18 at the time and had NO experience as he was just out of high school. Also, he had no tools. So he started at about $9.00 per hour. Within 2 years he was at $15 per hour, plus he had a car for himself.

We did regular construction -- mostly remodels. Also, I bought these tax sale places and bank repos and either flipped them or turned them into rentals.

By the end of the second year, I had already bought the house I intended to give to him at the end of year 3.

Unfortunately, he did not make it to the end of year 3. He got mixed up with the party crowd, started missing work, his quality of work went down and he finally quit. I guess he thought partying was more important.

Today, several years later, he rents an apartment, is just over broke and works in a factory making about $15 per hour. The house was fixed by me and sold.

That $150,000 is gross for a self employed individual. That's not what he "makes". Insurance, taxes, vehicle wear and tear and upkeep, tools, vacation time, sick time, running the business (bookkeeping, finding the insurance, etc) off the top of my head come .

Channeling my inner JAC here. An experienced handyman, who is professional, trustworthy, punctual, a problem-solver, who brings his own tools, has insurance, and available, he is worth $75 an hour easily. Methinks you are being cheap.

“I treated him well” means what, you gave him a sandwich and a glass of sweet tea and he gave you 1/2 price for his labor?

Pay the $75 per hour and enjoy your place on millionaires island.

Spread the wealth around as Obama would say.

I am a part-time handyman. I would challenge you on the $150k/year number...you are forgetting about "overhead" time. When I do a job, I have to spend time writing estimates, making phone calls, then going to the hardware stores to pick up materials, etc. Then, after the job I have to create invoices, and go to the bank (or do remotely) to deposit checks. I have to spend time ordering consumable supplies such as nails, tape, drywall mud, tools, etc. All of these things take time, so there's no way I can actually work 40 hours/week and still get this type of work done. Travel time is yet another consideration from job to job. Instead, I think most handymen "work" about 30 hours/week, then spend another 15 hours or so doing all the things I describe above.

So, if you assume 30 hours/week, and your "highest" rate of $75, and they take 2 weeks of vacation a year, they "could" make $112,000/year...but this assumes they are fully booked every week...highly unlikely. Even then, that's a GROSS number, and all their overhead expenses have to come out of that, such as mileage, insurance, office supplies, consumable supplies, tools, etc. That $112,000 turns into about $80,000 pretty quickly.

I don't charge anywhere near the $75 number...but then I'm part-time, live in a low-COL area, and tend to mostly do smaller and lower skilled jobs (no full kitchen remodels for me), so I'm happy with the rate I make.

I want to thank everyone for their comments. Most of the comments have been food for thought; a few just made me shake my head....curious how politics comes up during a discussion about the "Cost of a Handyman."

Regarding the retired / retiring tradesman or handyman, I have done this twice before with great results. Unfortunately, these guys have also moved on once getting a bit older and could no longer do or choice to do the work.

The idea of getting together with other landlords is a good one. My experience locally is that landlords seem to run independently of each other and would be hard to coordinate this arrangement. I have been making an effort to track down similar landlords to myself (small to medium multi-unit guys/gals) to see if they have someone they would recommend. The big complexes can afford a fulltime guy and would have little or no interest in partnering up.

In the end, will I pay the $75 / hour....probably. My biggest concern is not the $75 per hour but can I trust the handyman with the master key, which also includes a trust level between the handyman and the tenants.

Rich, to get him excited about RE Investing, get him to a Boot Camp in Orlando with Jeffrey. It's an intense two-day workshop on HOW to do this right. He will meet all sorts of people, from literally young kids to seniors. The excitement can be palpable: this CAN be done.

Love the Boot Camp idea. To date, my 18 year old son has not had much interest in landlording but 40 hours per week sitting at a desk or travelling for a living for a couple of years can change one's perspective.

Giving out the master key is always a long trial period. I do not take it lightly. Fortunately, since I gained "Freedom" about 5 years ago, I am available most days to be responsive to apartment needs. It is the 5 or 6 2-week trips a year to Florida that complicate things a bit.

This is a great conversation. I started as a handyman and lawncare company for landlords until I bought the 8 unit I mowed for 7 years with owner financing.

After I bought it I realized I had the mentality of a lawn guy and handyman so I went to Vegas and met Jeffrey. Meeting Jeffrey (and all the other investors) was one of the best decisions of my life and I made a decision after that convention on what I wanted to be when I grow up. (not a handyman)

Now I have too much work and need to hire a handyman...Well like most people realize, they cant find someone to do it like them and, good is good enough is hard. For 3 years I had a partially retired guy that took care of the rehabs and life was good (of course I didn't realize it at the time). Then he left.

I spent the next 3 years burning thu handypeople, electrictions, painters, plumbers, ect. I had people leave work not completed, not show up, do 1/2 a job, I had to redo stuff I paid for, the good ones were too busy the next time I needed them, etc. I believe a full time contractor has to have at least $35 an hour to stay in business. The $15 ones seem to last a bit but quickly get overwelmed and raise their prices or go get a job.

I think there may be something to looking for a bigger crew with some type of teired pay system. In a close town there is a proffesional handyman service available that is a straight $70/man hour. I recently paid a contractor $50 per hour to get 2 abused apartments ready to rent and was happy with the work but it adds up quick. I am signing 2 contracts today 1 for roofing and 1 for siding both have a set price and now I don't care about hourly.I did a contract a couple weeks ago with an electriction converting an office to LED, in the contract price he was planning on 8 hours it took 3. He made ALOT of money per hour but I clinched my teeth and paid him because I knew the price going in, good for him on a win.

J,

I like your prospective on the handyman topic. Similar to you, I am pretty handy - learned to be handy working with my 20 year handyman - and do not mind doing much / most of the M & R work. Fortunately, I'm still physically able to do most of the routine stuff around the rentals. In fact, I get a lot more satisfaction from completing a project at the rentals than the business side of the landlord biz.