Around here the labor cost to do home repairs is out of hand. Average handyman wants $65+ per hour and contractors want $100 per hour and more. Many regular homeowners can't afford these rates so there are more homes with deferred maintenance.

As conditions get worse this is going to lead to more fixer upper homes becoming available.

Those of us who do our own repairs are going to have an opportunity to pick up these fixers for a good price as conditions make them available. I also think the fix and flip investors who do not do the work themselves will find that deals don't work like they used to when they could find workers for reasonable prices.

Who knows where the end result will lead us.

I just think that those who can get "C" type properties and fix them up themselves will find more people who are moving down a notch but making enough to afford to rent those "C" properties in the next few years. If we make those places available at more reasonable prices because we got and fixed them for lower prices, hopefully we can have better, longer term decent tenants.

We've hired a "crew" of sorts. Total of between 3 or 4 workers. One of them is the son of one of the workers who is not skilled but learning from the older ones. He does all the "gopher" work.

I had started to hire out more and more but have found that I either can't find anyone to do the work or they want so much that it isn't feasible to hire them.

Still looking tho, and hoping.

Richard, agree 100%. I’m getting closer to the finish line on a nice little 2/1 that will be around 35k with material and labor. House is under 1000 sq. Ft. This project consists of new siding and windows. Opening up walls to updated the obsolete kitchen and bathroom. Plumbing, gas lines, electrical, insulation and redesigned the kitchen and bathroom. Sheetrock bath and kitchen. A box of mud cost over $17.00. 2019 mud was under $10

6 years ago this would have been 15k to 18k in repairs and updates. With hired labor and materials.

The handyman I use is about $37hr.

Pancake lights in every room.

I'm at one of my buildings doing maintenance work when an owner down the street wants me to look at issues with his apartment building. He shows me a list of thing to be fixed. I say, so long as I'm already here, and have the things with me to fix your list, I won't charge you for Travel Time or Mileage!

Instead of having me do everything, he wants only the important things done now.

List of repairs, water heater rigid tubing changed to a flex ling (as per code). A front hose bib replaced with a locking one. A cracked raised concrete walkway near to the main stairs, ground down and filled with an approved epoxy filler. The broken sprinkler heads replaced, and so on.

So I fix the 3 of 9 things and fax him my bill. He said it would be paid ASAP.

2 months later he calls me for the rest of the list to be fixed. I ask, why he didn't pay my invoice, stating he never got it! I asked him to check his fax machine. It ran out of paper and has 45 faxes in the Q.

I tell him when I receive payment, the prices for the rest of the repairs will be double.

I have to charge him for travel time. Gasoline. My License Bond and Insurance. My Liability Insurance. He screams at me and hires his old contractor, at 4X my price.

I charge $60/hour as a handyman but do higher quality work than most of the work I see done by others. My prior experience as a home inspector allows me to see things that need attention before they become major issues. I don't advertise for new clients...I have about 12 great customers that keep coming back to me, and that's enough work for me as I only want to work about 200-300 hours/year. My customers trust me with keys to their house, are accommodating (let me set AC or heat temps to my liking while working in the house, use their fridge to keep drinks cold, let me come and go as I please, etc.) and mostly take my suggestions and don't bicker about paying $3 more for a higher quality item. I try to save my customers money when I can...for example I had 3 gallons of leftover paint from a rental and told my customer if they liked the color I'd let them have it for free if they hired me to paint their room.

Hoosier, have you told them about the move yet?

They are going to have to start from ground level in finding someone they can trust.

I bet some of them are scrambling.