Need Help with Maintenance Income Info

Could everyone please qive me a quick reply to the following:

Divide your total maintenance salary by the number of units they serve.

Then tell me how old your property is.

Thanks so much!!!

Property is 15 years old; 1 maintenance person who is paid approximately $324 per unit/year. This does not count any additional bonus he may receive.

Properties are anywhere from 12 to 25 years in service. There is no annual maintenance "salaries". The one (1) maintenance person at each property, which can serve anywhere from 22 to 75 units, is paid $7.50 an hour for maintenance work (General).
The difference, and why it cannot be figured as you asked, is the following:

Let's say I am the maintenance man for WooleyHollow Terrace.

I get paid on an annual basis of say $700 a month for the "grounds". Mow, trim, blow, leaves.

If I replace a kitchen faucet, I get paid at $7.50 an hour. ( Funny how it takes me three hours to do it?)

If I paint a unit (walls ceiling and woodwork) 2 br, I charge $400.00. (Funny how it takes me a "few" hours to do it?) (Also I add on "extras" like sheet rock holes, wallpaper border removal, etc. If I am good, I can run that bill up to $600.00 in a heartbeat.

Lets say the sewer stops up. I snake the drain. It's night time on Sunday night. It's cold it's raining, it's everything bad. I would bill $45.00 an hour. Mr Plumber would bill $100.00 an hour.
So I would have an advance agreement on weekend work.

If I hang storm doors, at whatever property, I "agree" to hang them for $25.00 each plus travel pay.
OR I could contract all at a property for one given amount travel included or not included (I make a bid).

So to make a short story long, it is hard to answer what you asked, but hope this helps.
EDIT: Don't read this post as how I personally do things--anyway I am now retired (but not dead yet).
This is my experience from working around these folks the PMC hires. After so long, I just got enough and told the PMC "Look, I will work for you on a "bill you" basis, no set nothing!!! You call, I haul!! They ate it up as I saved them thousands in a given year against professionals. they could always get ahold of me 24/7, which is something that turned them on.

That would be really hard to budget paying someone like that, especially with a property with deferred maintenance that is over 30 years old, like mine.

What can happen is some owners/PMC's are shooting themselves in the foot by trying to have some kind of set "rate". I can promise you that any maintenance person worth their salt will circumvent and beat the rate that is in effect. Reflecting on my above post, a $7.50 an hour "rate" for maintenance work is insane for the payer. You get three hour light switches, and receptacles for that rate. Maybe half a day garbage disposal replacements. I tried for a long time to get a set salary for the maintenance folks at our complexes. I even did a presentation to the PMC staff that simply just paying a decent salary would save them money over the hard core $7.50. Around here, at least in the last couple years, $12.00 an hour was a small, but doable salary. What is hard to sell is that people with up-skills (HVAC/Plumbing?painting/ELectrical/carpentry) are NOT going to work for much less than $12.00 an hour, and those are doing so for either they don't really need money, or they are hungry. $12.00 is nothing here in the Year 2012, agree? You might pay someone $12.00 to sweep up the parking lot, but why don't we get real? Personally, I normally make $20.00 an hour on something or I'm just not interested. I am being a traitor to myself if I use what skills I have for $7.50. I would rather (and I certainly have) done the work for free instead of that. It should be realized that in typical complex with all same-same stuff, most jobs are less than 30 minutes. Sometimes you have to go longer if you have to tear out walls and I am not including that, or sawing off a disposal that is rusted to the sink. That all bears different. But the run of the mill maintenance job is less than 30 minutes. So what are you going to do? Charge $3.75 an hour? Again, why don't we walk with both feet on the earth and get real on this? You don't have to be a Harvard Graduate to know a rate like $7.50 an hour is a joke!!!

I wish someone would let me write job descriptions and set salaries for maintenance people. I could help everyone on both sides of the fence. The big problem is that complexes that are operating on a gubbermint budget have NO say on the pay. USDA-RD includes a poverty wage in the budget they provide the owner. But, there will ALWAYS be those who want these jobs. Hey, ask around, times are hard.

My history on the current property is this:
Owner bought the property in 2008 and used a local, large property management company who charged them by the job for maintenance. There was no onsight staff (only 48 units) and after 1.5 years, they were so far in the red with the property it was unbelievable! Their plumbing expenses for 12 months was $20,000! When I got it in January, 2009, the occupancy was 58% where everyone else was around 89-95.

They wanted me to do all of the maintenance, except HVAC and electricl, which I thought I could do until I was there for one week and discovered the condition it was in.They let me hire someone for 10 hours a week! I had 16 vacants that had not been turned including a building of 6 that was down because of one unit that had been flooded 6 months earlier and left to gather mold.

After using outside contractors, mostly individuals who did this kind of work "on the side" for 2 years, they let me hire someone "as needed." Ending this year out, that has come to $25,000 for labor for just maintenance. The guy I have now makes $15 per hour as an independent contractor and should be making $20 -$25K plus benefits. He is HVAC certified and very good at everything, except carpentry.

I am trying to gather data the owner can understand to justify maintenance labor. I have paid out $25,000 at $15 per hour this year just for maintenance labor, which I think is high for 48 units with 21 turns. I plan to reduce that to a strict budget of $17,160 and I'm trying to justify that much.

The property is 32 years old, was boarded up for a couple of years in the 1990's, some remodeling done in 2003, then pretty much neglected since. I have repaired most of the major issues and I have done some preventive maintenance work, such as putting vapor barrier under buildings. We have consistent plumbing properties on the property where lines are breaking due to high PSI (it's 95-105 with no pressure valve) and we are responsible for all repairs.

By taking the newly budget maintenance salary for 2013 of $17,160 and dividing it by 48, I'm getting $357.50 per unit per year. That's only labor!!! I want to compare this number to others because I think the owner will understand this better than anything else. Compared to others I have talked to, this is still a high number.

I am budgeting with 22 turns and not including water leaks or HVAC replacements because they are unpredictable. They will have to come out of the profits.

What do you think about this, Herb?