I was a sub-contractor working mainly for property management firms for 14 years.

I geared up for the business by buying a 3/4-ton Dodge van and building a bunch of drawers and racks out of 3/4″ plywood.  I then spent about a thousand bucks at the hardware store buying every replacement part I could think of.

The thing is, when you’re out in the field, suddenly having to run to the store for a relatively common part is seriously exasperating.  The problem is, there are a lot of parts out there.

You’ll be on the job.  “Broken bathroom wall switch” was the call.  No problem.  Except that it’s a 3-way bathroom wall switch.  A white 3-way bathroom wall switch.  Got one out in the van?  If not, then you just blew an hour of your life going to the store and back.

I worked in the private sector for a few months but advertising is expensive and it’s hard otherwise to get the word out.  So I sent fifty flyers to various property management firms in the area.  Two of the businesses called me and started using me, and I realized immediately that it was a total winner.

The normal handyman is on the clock.  No time to dawdle!  Everything has to be done as quickly and efficiently as possible, and especially with the owner around.

But when you’re not paying the handyman, all the rules change.  “Hi!  Want some coffee?” was pretty common.  The atmosphere was usually fun and relaxed, with the renter going about his or her business and me going about mine.  Then often a casual chat at the end, if not iced tea on the porch.

And, of course, the checks don’t bounce.  The problem is that you get dinged something like $11 every time someone bounces a check to you, and after you send it through a second time and it bounces again, you’re going to drop it in the waste basket — which is exactly what the check writer was hoping for.

Balanced against that was the dreaded word “escrow”.  While it was nice to get away from the bounced check routine, one problem dealing with commercial services is that they’ll use you to get a place ready to sell, then you’ve got to wait for escrow to close before you get your money.  This depends on the property management firm, and, to some degree, the amount of money involved.

One thing I did that the property managers always liked is that I knew when to defer to the specialists.  As an example, while I could fix all the normal plumbing stuff, the big 4″ cast iron pipes used under the house were beyond my ability (and knowledge and tools) to repair, so if the ring the toilet bolts to was loose, I’d immediately call the property manager and we’d call for reinforcements.  They appreciated it because they’d all seen too many things fail six months later because the jerk didn’t know what he was doing — and didn’t want to admit it — and didn’t want to give up the money.

Similarly, if there’s a break in an electric line somewhere in the wall between the two parts you can test, it means you need the electric boys and their magic box which can send a signal down the wire and tell exactly where the break is.

One extra bonus working for property management firms is that they’re the ones who manage large condo complexes, and it becomes a “by the numbers” game if you can come up with something that needs to be done to every unit.  The actual job might just take 45 minutes, but multiplied by 260 units and we’re talkin’ real money.

As an example, I once worked for a firm that managed a large complex of 4-unit buildings.  Each building had its gutter pipes going into one main collection box, but the top of the box was exposed and pigeons were nesting in them.  The HOA had tried everything, from chicken wire coverings (totally shredded by the pigeons) to fake statues of owls (which much have provided endless (h)owls of laughter).

I figured that what the box needed was a tin cover, but one with a steeply pointed roof so nothing could sit on top.  I went to a tin shop, had them whip me up a mock-up, presented it to the HOA and got the nod.

Biggest paycheck of my 14-year career.