# What is it like being an apartment maintenance technician



## samaka (Nov 7, 2012)

I have been working at sea as boat engineer, which is basically a glorified mechanic/all rounder.

I am looking into a land job to be stable and possibly go to school for something else at night.

I was looking into an apartment maintenance technician job. Mostly because I don't like commuting, I like the idea of steady work, being on land and having reduced rent.

Can anyway tell me exactly how much the rent discount typically is?

What do these jobs usually pay? I know I will make a lot less than what I make now but is the pay different for different states?

Thanks


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## FRAME2FINISH (Aug 31, 2010)

Yea you will be a hack they don't really pay my buddy does it but doesn't rent he's paid as a contractor he just hasn't figured out he isn't making money

He uses it to subsidize his carpet business where he does make good money

Carpet guy doing carpentry see what I mean lol


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## Michaeljp86 (Apr 10, 2007)

I looked into it once, the places I seen normaly gave you a free apartment and paid you like $7hr. I was wanting to pick up some places like FRAME2 just said for some extra income but they didnt want to hire a contractor. They wanted so cheap DIY guy for min wage. A friend of a friend tried to get me to work at his hotel as a handy man. You had to use your own tools and work for $8 hr.

My dad is into rentals and its a struggle to make any money. They are taxed to death so I can understand why they skimp on building maintnence.


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## realelectrician (Jul 13, 2011)

The work is horrible. I did it for less then a year for a 100 unit garden style complex.

Mostly snaking drains, replacing p traps and little annoying **** requests from tenants. And the worst is on call every other weekend for emergencies.

Apparently where i worked a non working oven is an emergency. I was working on my own side job on a Saturday when I got that call. I asked them if the oven was sparking or leaking gas or dangerous and they said no. So I said I'll be out first thing monday morning and they slammed the phone down on me. So then my supervisor calls and says it is an emergency and i need to go down and replace the whole oven. 

That's when I quit.

Emergencies are leaking water, gas pipes, electrical problems, major structural issues not a non working oven.

Basically you will end up doing $5000 worth of work for $500 a week. Better off working at McD's


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## Michaeljp86 (Apr 10, 2007)

I did some work on one property that had several houses and dueplexes. The owner was a friend of a friend so we decided to help him out. We ended up saving him over $30,000 from the bids he had and we still got bitched at when it came time to get paid. 

I used to mow the yard at a 7 unit apartment, I would get $80 to mow it. The guy decided to sell it and my dad wanted to find a rental. My dad bought it and now I mow the yard for free. 



realelectrician said:


> Basically you will end up doing $5000 worth of work for $500 a week. Better off working at McD's


Id say its worse then that


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## Inner10 (Mar 12, 2009)

Around here a super in a crummy apartment will get a room paid with all expenses and about $24k/year. You are always on call and the work sucks...and the pay sucks...


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## Michaeljp86 (Apr 10, 2007)

Whats bad is the idiot renters are always dumping crap down the drain like grease to plug it up. Or my favorite is when they plugged up the toiled and kept taking a crap in it. Now you have to unplug it with 6 loads of sh!t in it.


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## EarthQuakens (Nov 6, 2012)

God apartments are terrible... Don't forget about everyone losing keys or tripping breakers everytime you plan in doing something


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## Michaeljp86 (Apr 10, 2007)

EarthQuakens said:


> God apartments are terrible... Don't forget about everyone losing keys or tripping breakers everytime you plan in doing something


Its a bich working for landlords but I do sympathize with them. 

One time in the middle of a raging blizzard at 12am a drunk drugged up idiot decided to rewire a TV and tripped a breaker. 35 miles one way in a blizzard to fix that. One time the same idiot decided to steal the window out of a brand new storm door on a apartment of a lady he didnt like. One time I walked through the yard and found a door knob. I guess the guy just got bored and decided to remove his doorknob and throw it in the yard. They leave the doors and windows open all winter and gripe because their electric heat is so expensive. They decide they can move people in to empty apartments. They think they can drive anywhere on the property, even over the septic tanks. And my favorite is drains are known as majic holes you can dump whatever you want down them and its gone for eternity, tampons, bags of drugs, plastic bags, fetus, 2000lbs of lard, car parts, hair, more hair, and even more hair. Sometimes they even have a majic hole behind the couch, they can throw food and liquids back there and they are gone forever. I wont get into roaches or fleas.


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## TAHomeRepairs (Jun 18, 2012)

michaeljp86 said:


> its a bich working for landlords but i do sympathize with them.
> 
> One time in the middle of a raging blizzard at 12am a drunk drugged up idiot decided to rewire a tv and tripped a breaker. 35 miles one way in a blizzard to fix that. One time the same idiot decided to steal the window out of a brand new storm door on a apartment of a lady he didnt like. One time i walked through the yard and found a door knob. I guess the guy just got bored and decided to remove his doorknob and throw it in the yard. They leave the doors and windows open all winter and gripe because their electric heat is so expensive. They decide they can move people in to empty apartments. They think they can drive anywhere on the property, even over the septic tanks. And my favorite is drains are known as majic holes you can dump whatever you want down them and its gone for eternity, tampons, bags of drugs, plastic bags, fetus, 2000lbs of lard, car parts, hair, more hair, and even more hair. Sometimes they even have a majic hole behind the couch, they can throw food and liquids back there and they are gone forever. I wont get into roaches or fleas.


 roflmfao


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## tedanderson (May 19, 2010)

I would agree.. it's a job that you really don't want unless you have no other options in life. 

When you are off, you are never really "off" because if you decide to go to the store or you just happen to go to the mailbox and a tenant sees you, they think that you are supposed to stop what you are doing to help them. 

That can prove to be a really big issue if you want to go to school and you have to put in the study time. What used to happen to me was that work would wear me out physically and mentally. So whenever I really got some time off, I was using to rest instead of studying. 

Then I figured that I'd study and do homework early in the morning and by the time I had to report to school, I would be done. But it never worked that way.


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## BC Carpenter (Dec 28, 2010)

There are some good gigs out there, but more slumlords than folks willing to pay a decent price for a quality job. Stay away from anyone wanting to pay like 12 bucks an hour rather than a proper tradesmans wage. They will want everything done fast and cheap, and wont care if it is done properly or not.

Probably the best bet would be to just be the guy doing the reno's or maintenance jobs, not on call or dealing with tenants directly. That has been my experience with it. You will probably make more money if you do it on a subcontract basis, however be aware that most of these places will pay net 30 in that situation.

While everyone has touched on the negatives, one positive is that there will always be continual work to do on these older places. Just look for a place that is nicely maintained and not a slum.


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## Michaeljp86 (Apr 10, 2007)

BC Carpenter said:


> While everyone has touched on the negatives, one positive is that there will always be continual work to do on these older places. Just look for a place that is nicely maintained and not a slum.


That was my plan but never could find anyone who needed work. By the time the property got so run down they just sold it rather then call in someone who knew what they were doing.


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## BC Carpenter (Dec 28, 2010)

Michaeljp86 said:


> That was my plan but never could find anyone who needed work. By the time the property got so run down they just sold it rather then call in someone who knew what they were doing.


Good to find a few different ones, so all your eggs aren't in one basket, so to speak. Especially if one starts haggling or paying slow, you can leave easily. Always good to have a plan B with these places, if possible.


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## Michaeljp86 (Apr 10, 2007)

BC Carpenter said:


> Good to find a few different ones, so all your eggs aren't in one basket, so to speak. Especially if one starts haggling or paying slow, you can leave easily. Always good to have a plan B with these places, if possible.


I know a guy who been in the business for about 40 years, he picked up some good ones. I bet close to 50% of his income.


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## BC Carpenter (Dec 28, 2010)

Michaeljp86 said:


> I know a guy who been in the business for about 40 years, he picked up some good ones. I bet close to 50% of his income.


yeah you should keep in touch with him, try and pick them up off him when he retires..


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## Dustincoc (Sep 14, 2011)

Michaeljp86 said:


> Its a bich working for landlords but I do sympathize with them.
> 
> One time in the middle of a raging blizzard at 12am a drunk drugged up idiot decided to rewire a TV and tripped a breaker. 35 miles one way in a blizzard to fix that. One time the same idiot decided to steal the window out of a brand new storm door on a apartment of a lady he didnt like. One time I walked through the yard and found a door knob. I guess the guy just got bored and decided to remove his doorknob and throw it in the yard. They leave the doors and windows open all winter and gripe because their electric heat is so expensive. They decide they can move people in to empty apartments. They think they can drive anywhere on the property, even over the septic tanks. And my favorite is drains are known as majic holes you can dump whatever you want down them and its gone for eternity, tampons, bags of drugs, plastic bags, fetus, 2000lbs of lard, car parts, hair, more hair, and even more hair. Sometimes they even have a majic hole behind the couch, they can throw food and liquids back there and they are gone forever. I wont get into roaches or fleas.


:thumbsup: Yup! Definately true.

I've done this kind of work at several 50-ish unit complex's. Once had a tenant just walk right into my apartment without knocking. You can also expect tenants to go to you with their problems instead of to management who they are supposed to go through. Also expect some unusual request. One guy we had move in recently we had to build a sloped bed for. Most landlord's I've dealt with just want any problems solved they don't care how you do it(as long as it doesn't cost them money.) See this thread for an example: Link

The pay definately isn't that good either. First place I was at I was paid $9/hr and was expected to supply all the tools and also had to pay the regular rent for the apartment. The place I'm at now(Sort of, laid off) pay's $8.50 but they supply the tools. This definately not the kind of work you do to get rich.


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## BC Carpenter (Dec 28, 2010)

Depends though, at the moment I'm working as an employee for a large property management company right now, doing suite reno's and maintenance..Making a proper wage, benefits. Just wanted to say that it's not all dead end bad jobs in this industry.

Bit of a different situation though, we have normal working hours, dealing with tenants is the problem of the building managers. I don't live on site or on call or anything like that, just part of the maintenance/suite reno crew.


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## Michaeljp86 (Apr 10, 2007)

Dustincoc said:


> :thumbsup: Yup! Definately true.
> 
> I've done this kind of work at several 50-ish unit complex's. Once had a tenant just walk right into my apartment without knocking. You can also expect tenants to go to you with their problems instead of to management who they are supposed to go through. Also expect some unusual request. One guy we had move in recently we had to build a sloped bed for. Most landlord's I've dealt with just want any problems solved they don't care how you do it(as long as it doesn't cost them money.) See this thread for an example: Link
> 
> The pay definately isn't that good either. First place I was at I was paid $9/hr and was expected to supply all the tools and also had to pay the regular rent for the apartment. The place I'm at now(Sort of, laid off) pay's $8.50 but they supply the tools. This definately not the kind of work you do to get rich.


The problem is most apt renters are welfare bums. They are stuipd, lazy and dont know what its like to own anything so they dont care about taking care of stuff. They get bored because they have no job and thats when they cause trouble. One genius had a 220V window AC so he ripped out the electric baseboard heater and stuck the wires on the end of the 220v plug. 

They also all smoke and remove the expensive hard wired spoke detectors the HAVE to be there according to the insurance company. Also the fire extinguishers all vanish when they move out.


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## griz (Nov 26, 2009)

You'll be treated like a hooker down 7th street with a sign on your back that says 50 cents....


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## Dustincoc (Sep 14, 2011)

Michaeljp86 said:


> The problem is most apt renters are welfare bums. They are stuipd, lazy and dont know what its like to own anything so they dont care about taking care of stuff. They get bored because they have no job and thats when they cause trouble. One genius had a 220V window AC so he ripped out the electric baseboard heater and stuck the wires on the end of the 220v plug.
> 
> They also all smoke and remove the expensive hard wired spoke detectors the HAVE to be there according to the insurance company. Also the fire extinguishers all vanish when they move out.


We never had a problem with smoke detectors or fire extinguishers vanishing. Both places I've been at have had the battery powered smoke detectors although at one point in their past the first place I worked at used wired detectors since I would occassionally come acrossed one still hooked up. Keep in mind that both these places were primarily student housing and I'm out in the boonies. Although I agree that most renters don't seem to take very good care things.


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## Big Shoe (Jun 16, 2008)

When I was a young lad I worked in the maintenance department at a Holiday inn. I really had a blast doing all that stuff. 

The head of the dep. was really a cool guy and taught me a lot of stuff.

And I met Ronald Reagan when he stopped there on his campaign tour.


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## tedanderson (May 19, 2010)

The other thing about tenants aside of them not being good stewards of the property is they are never honest about how something got broken. As a repairman, you just want to fix it and go on about your business. You don't really care who/what/why or when it happened. If they just tell you HOW it happened, then it's much easier to resolve. 

I had a tenant a long time ago steal the guts out of the toilet. They called me up and told me that it just suddenly stopped working. I get there, see the empty tank and ask them where the parts are. And they think I'm stupid when they say, "What parts? It was working fine this morning. We don't know what happened."


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## Michaeljp86 (Apr 10, 2007)

tedanderson said:


> The other thing about tenants aside of them not being good stewards of the property is they are never honest about how something got broken. As a repairman, you just want to fix it and go on about your business. You don't really care who/what/why or when it happened. If they just tell you HOW it happened, then it's much easier to resolve.
> 
> I had a tenant a long time ago steal the guts out of the toilet. They called me up and told me that it just suddenly stopped working. I get there, see the empty tank and ask them where the parts are. And they think I'm stupid when they say, "What parts? It was working fine this morning. We don't know what happened."


One that really chapped my  is one apartment had mexicans in it. In the winter they had every baseboard heater maxed out and every burner on the range on high. It had to be well over 100F in there. They finaly burned out every burner on the stove. They just said it dont work, I knew why but when I walked into the kitchen I heard a squish with every step. 

The valve under the toilet was leaking and when I asked them how long it was like that they said 3 years. Complete gut job when they left.  Still isnt finished yet, been about 2 years.


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## FRAME2FINISH (Aug 31, 2010)

My buddy girlfriend manages a decent complex

They asked me if I would go in and redo apartments for 750 I looked at the list and figured the first one would take 3 days but once I got it down maybe two

They told me they'd have some ready to do in October they never called so maybe they were making sure he could make money doing it

In the end that work would just not be for me they get 800 a month for them ****holes and yet they want a good deal I'd rather work for less for someone who appreciates it


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## Michaeljp86 (Apr 10, 2007)

FRAME2FINISH said:


> My buddy girlfriend manages a decent complex
> 
> They asked me if I would go in and redo apartments for 750 I looked at the list and figured the first one would take 3 days but once I got it down maybe two
> 
> ...


Im not trying to stick up for them but my dads 7 unit about 2/3 of the money goes to taxes and insurence. He has a rental house and about 1/2 goes to tax/ins.


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