Handyman Tryouts

Core Cardio and Balance
20 of 37 minutes. This is recovery week, so no Fit Test until Monday. It’s a simple workout, but I couldn’t finish it thanks to a lack of sleep because Annabel relieved me from work an hour late last night. I have this exercise every day this week, so I should be able to complete it from tomorrow on.


A little over two months from now, Nicky should be gone and I’ll have to get someone to clean out the apartment and get it ready for the next tenants. Usually that job would go to my handyman Alfonso. However, I’m starting to find the way he does business pretty weird.

About a month ago, I gave a job to Alfonso in which he had to replace the toilet and repair the bathroom sink spout in the downstairs unit of property Chi. He finished the job and I wanted to know how much everything cost. He said something like $160 for everything (toilet costs included) but he had to get an exact amount from his secretary. Well, it’s been three weeks and he still hasn’t told me how much the job costs. Meanwhile, I’ve had to withhold sending Rita the profits for February because I don’t know how much the job cost. I’ve been calling him every week and he says he’s going to get the receipt once he gets home and… it’s just weird. What handyman does anyone know that does a job then stalls to receive payment?? I’m actually chasing him around just to pay him!

I like Alfonso. Before him, every handyman I had either did a half-assed job and expected full payment, or did a small part of the job and left. My standards for my handymen were low, so Alfonso didn’t have to do much to impress me. But his act is getting old. He’s very busy but very unorganized, and I hate it when I have to chase a handyman around for anything. He takes a while to do simple jobs and, when Nicky leaves the upstairs unit of property Alpha, it’s very important for that place be rental ready in one week. I simply don’t trust him to handle time-sensitive jobs, so I’m going to try something different—I joined Angie’s List.

Angie’s List is like a Craigslist for handymen, where real people give their reviews of handymen they have used. I have a membership there but never used it because I’ve been able to deal with Alfonso’s mild shortcomings. But I think it’s time to try other people to see who can do the job not only correctly, but on time as well. Getting an empty apartment rental ready is a good test of general skills for a handyman. My hopes are to find as many reliable handymen as humanly possible so that, once I get my first commercial property, I will have a pool of experienced tried-and-tested handymen to choose from to get things done quickly. I will still use Alfonso for jobs, as his prices are hard to beat. Right now I don’t mind using him too much because I don’t have much work that needs done. But more units require more work, and more work requires reliable and timely services. One can’t stress the importance of getting things fixed in a timely manner, as it can keep good tenants in a unit for a long time.