How much should I pay live-in property manager for a 8-12 units?

Question

Hello All!

I have a live-in maintenance man, and I'm interested in making him the onsite property manager for an 8-12 unit complex. Curious what his compensation should be for the additional workload.

Should I treat the arrangement like a property management company and offer 8-12% of gross rents, or is it different considering he lives onsite? His current responsibilities include all general maintenance (plumbing, carpentry, etc.), so the added workload would be fielding maintenance requests, collecting rent (half of which I collect electronically), and availability to take calls from tenants/landlord in emergency situations.

My initial compensation thoughts are as follows:

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10% of gross rents as management fee

Flat rate payments for new leases/evictions/etc.

all other Maintenance/Repair labor will be hourly

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Does this sound reasonable? Any help or feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Gaelan

Nathan Gesner · Answer

A full-time maintenance man or property manager is completely unnecessary for such a small property. If you have that much going on, you bought a dump.

What maintenance are they performing? Is your live-in maintenance man licensed? Insured? Qualified for more than just tightening a doorknob or mowing the lawn? What would they do as a Property Manager that requires a 24/7 presence? What is their experience in screening and selecting Tenants? Signing leases? Enforcing leases?

I think you're asking for trouble. I would use licensed professionals for maintenance and turn the property over to a professional management company.

Drew Sygit · Answer

@Gaelan Bellamy most states require anyone showing a property they do not own, to be a licensed agent.

OR - you can make them an employee and then they can show properties their employer owns.

Check your state laws.

FY - we don't recommend on-site management or maintenance if under 50 units. You're giving up too much income on too few units.

How much should I pay live-in property manager for a 8-12 units?

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