A Manager's Lament

The downstairs apartment of Property 2 should be ready by the end of today. It should have been ready by last week Friday, but there were some… issues.

Whenever a place is vacant and I’ve never done a renovation on it, I like to go all out. I paint the walls, put polyurethane on the floor, and update the appliances if needed. It costs a lot of money but it also sets a foundation so that, when it’s vacant again, it won’t cost nearly as much to get it rental ready again. Pelcom Nick charged $330 to paint all the rooms, clean the refrigerator and kitchen, put 2 coats of clear gloss polyurethane on the floor, paint the porch and porch railings, fix the fence, and put down a new laminate kitchen floor. Dirt cheap, right? I told him that if he finished by Friday, I would pay him his $330 on Saturday morning. Saturday morning he called and asked when I was coming to drop off the check. I asked him if it was done and he said yes. Seeing that he has done work with me in the past, I paid him without seeing the work. On Monday, I went by to take a look at the place and everything was messed up.

The bathroom needed another coat of paint (at least). The backyard still had a couple of mattresses that Nick was supposed to take out. Pelcom Nick did an awful job putting the kitchen floor down, as he put adhesive directly over the original tile floor. This is always a no-no, as adhesive won’t stick very well onto anything other than wood. He also missed several spots when putting polyurethane on the floor. So I was pissed off and was ready to call him and go ballistic. But I stopped myself. I had to. I realized that I was mad at him for no reason. According to my philosophy, this whole situation was my fault.

I believed that he had done the work, so I paid him without inspecting the job first. I can stop writing right now, because that is about as rookie of a mistake as I can think of. Had I checked it first, I would have seen all the shitty work he did and made him finish it before giving him that check. He would have been forced to finish the job or risk losing out on hours of labor. I had the advantage. Once I gave him the money, he had the advantage. He didn’t have to do any more work and I would be stuck waiting to see if he would finish the job. So I hired a new guy who finished the job, plus installed a new vanity and sink for the bathroom. 

One of the bedrooms

The original bathroom

Bathroom. Pelcom Nick mistakenly painted it when I wanted it to stay its original blood red color. Handyman Jerome finished the job. I still would have preferred it red, but the personal preference of a landlord means nothing in the world of property management

Living Room. Pelcom Nick missed those small spots, but Jerome fixed those as well.

New laminate flooring and new stove

For a property manager, it’s not just the tenants that need to be managed. Handymen need to be managed too. Pelcom Nick is a loser. He lives paycheck to paycheck, has no bank account, and rarely has extra money to do anything. I know this, so I take advantage of the situation. His dirt cheap prices help me out, and I pay him just enough to keep him hungry. But sometimes I forget that he has a different mindset from me. I would never screw someone over in a business deal, as it would hurt my chances of getting steady work from the employer. But Pelcom Nick is not me. He was born and raised in his own way. His life experiences are different from mine. He views money and success differently. So how can I expect him to do what I would do?? Wait. Aww crap. You know, I was about to end this post until I realized something… and it’s pretty sad.

I read a couple of blogs on a regular basis, and a fellow blogger did a post that I commented on. Here is an excerpt from her post:


"Sure I know people think differently, but I naturally assume that their motives are pure and that they are as honest and forthright as I am. That is silly because in reality I am assuming they are the exception."

And here is part of my comment:

"I remember thinking how mind boggling it was that handymen would seriously not pick up their phones when I had work for them, or do a crappy job and expect long term employment. It drove me crazy until I finally came to terms with that ominous lesson.

No two people are the same. Similar maybe, but never the same. Each person has different approaches to life that comes from their unique upbringing and environment. If a person can permanently learn this lesson, their chances for success in both business and life become much greater. "
 

48 hours after I write that, I make a mistake that would be easily avoided if I just heeded my OWN WORDS!! UGH!

Pelcom Nick called me yesterday, presumably to apologize, but I blocked his number when I realized that he screwed me. I unblocked it today and will put him back on the rotation after a couple of months. Whatever his next job is, I’ll make sure to penalize him for me having to hire someone else to finish his job. And why would I hire him again, one may ask? Because this situation was my fault (not that I would ever admit it to him). He’s a low brow handyman whose work is good (when checked) and his prices are very hard to beat. I made the mistake of treating him like we were equals, and he responded by doing what he’s supposed to do. He’s simply playing his role as a low brow handyman, and I have to remember that when dealing with him. He knows his place. I should know it too.

P.S.: The new guy, Handyman Jerome, did pretty good work. His prices are a little higher than Pelcom Nick’s yet very reasonable. But, like Pelcom Nick, I have to create a checklist of every little thing he's supposed to do, and then check each repair off before I cut that check. I had to do that before I paid him just now, and it felt good knowing that I may have finally learned my lesson.