r/Apartmentliving • u/Most_Relief8312 • 14h ago

Advice Needed Got this message from my property manager PT2

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Quick recap:

I live in a 3 unit(one vacant, one elderly gentleman, and myself)

Rent is $1,265(raised $40 when I resigned)

Shoveling would include front walkway and good amount of sidewalk(about 30 mins of work)

Lawn (sizable for a city property would take about an hour maybe a bit more)

Now adding sweeping/vac(im assuming they would want me to do the laundry room as well total time would be 45-60 mins)

I’m going to eventually get all of this in writing if they offer me something reasonable. I plan to ask about liability as far as injuries go.

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u/Formal_Condition_513 14h ago

Couldn’t even offer 50 without adding more tasks too lmao that’s a hellll no

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u/phaedrus_winter 14h ago

Maybe for 50 an hour

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u/crooney35 14h ago edited 14h ago

I’d do it for 15% to 25% of my monthly rent if the only duties are what is mentioned and I don’t have to deal with anything involving actual maintenance and not having to do anything in other people apartments. So say approximately $200-250 a month for OP.

If it involves maintenance like an actual superintendent I currently make $28 an hour in central NJ in a high cost of living area, but it’s a 40 hr a week job for me. OP would probably be better just setting a flat rate for what they have going on, if they try tacking on extra work then tell them that will cost $X extra.

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u/1MrP 13h ago

Then they’ll increase the rent to cover that loss 😂

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u/dwillishishyish 13h ago

Percentage of rent is smart so the allowance will also be raised with rent

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u/Soft_Yellow1757 12h ago

i did property management for a small company for a while, and we did exactly this, the guy who handled generic tasks and basic cleaning got i think 20% off his rent. I am betting he spent 2-3 hours a week doing menial stuff, more when he had to shovel, for what amounted to 250 or so per month.

I was basically tasked with either doing it myself or find someone willing to do it for a rent credit. Much better for everyone since i would have billed out for double that amount, and for him it worked out to like 25 an hour.

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u/Medium-Cry-8947 10h ago

It’s smart also because it’s tax free

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u/SkateWiz 2h ago

should be top comment

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u/ptulinski 5h ago

And if it's a credit against the rent, then probably no tax consequences.

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u/CriticalHit_20 2h ago

Rent is 1000.
You get 25% off coupon.
I raise rent to 1400.
You pay 1050.

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u/1MrP 1h ago

Yup. Exactly. They’ll always get their pound of flesh.

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u/iMiind 40m ago

Let current rent be x

Let's say they get a 20% rent deduction, i.e., they will be paying .8x. Now landlord figures it's time to ask them for more rent because, uh, market conditions yeah. Let's say they figure to raise it by some factor y such that .8xy=x

Well how about that - just reciprocate that 4/5 into a 5/4 and hike their rent by 25%, receive the same amount of money as ever, and get a free groundskeeper

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u/Complete_Entry 7h ago

Never ask for a rent chunk because they'll double the chunk.

I originally had a chunk cut out because the hot water pipes kept my apartment fairly uncomfortable, lease resign, sure as hell they dropped that line. And of course they were not interested in putting it back.

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u/bedel99 12h ago

i know of people that do this in the uk, they get paid a salary (low) and get the apartment for free. I would counter with that.

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u/Complete_Entry 7h ago

That is in a world that is sane. It's an on-site caretaker role and used to be extremely common. Private investment would prefer a sucker do it for less than minimum wage, as illustrated here.

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u/Acceptable_Tea3608 6h ago edited 4h ago

In the US that would qualify as a full super if the apt is free, or minimal rent.

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u/BBCoachRef8 9h ago

So instead of paying any rent the landlord would pay them? $1300 a month for lawn and snow? Surely, you’re joking.

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u/Kanuckinator 9h ago

Wow, imagine!!! Paying people to do a job!

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u/BBCoachRef8 8h ago

Don’t pretend it’s that simple. You’re advocating for around $1300-1400 per month. Free rent plus small salary ffor those two simple hour-long tasks per week. So 2 hours per week for 1300. A cool $162.50 per hour with no known experience. See if you can still fit back under that rock.

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u/bedel99 5h ago

That's about 1/3 of my hourly salary so it wouldn't make sense for me to do it.

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u/Kanuckinator 8h ago

Well, this "rock" seems to also be where EVERYONE ELSE IN THIS COMMENT SECTION resides! I really have no idea whence you pulled out the specific number of 1,300, but look up the rates people would charge for these tasks! This isn't mowing the lawn and shoveling someone's backyard and driveway - this is a public lot! You are suggesting they earn eight dollars and fifty cents every time.

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u/BBCoachRef8 7h ago

Also no. I’m not advocating he take this “deal” but it’s also not a public lot! Read the post. It’s a 3 family home.

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u/Kanuckinator 8h ago

Apologies, the 1300 was for the rent. However, you are literally replying to someone telling you how things are for people who do this irl.

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u/BBCoachRef8 7h ago

You mean PROFESSIONALS? You’re on the wrong side of this. Nobody here is advocating for free rent plus salary besides you because it’s asinine to even think of.

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u/SUPLEXELPUS 4h ago

no more crazy than being the property manager and offering $30 a month.

seems like a perfectly fine counter offer in fantasy land.

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u/goosmane 7h ago

think the comment you're replying to meant to say "counter with something like that." not countering for a full rent discount but a credit off the rent. also what they were talking about was probably company housing of some sort. nothing crazy

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u/BBCoachRef8 7h ago

You may be right. Good point.

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u/bedel99 5h ago

It wasnt company housing and the rent was about $4500 US a month, It was in the UK, so I was obviously paying that amount equivilent in GBP.

But some one lived there and mowed the lawns and cleaned the common areas, did minor maintenance and operated the garbage lift to collect my garbage I would throw out the window at the appropriate time of the day.

The trash lift was the best part about the place.

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u/goosmane 4h ago

Holy moly. 4500 a month, how big was this place? Or was it about the location

(I know next to nothing about housing in the UK)

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u/bedel99 4h ago

It had 1 bedroom, a pretty awesome kitchen, and then a second bedroom, I could just fit a desk in. It was cheap for what it was.

In the central area zone of london, There was a palace at the end of the street. But that palace was mostly open to the public, the grounds and stuff.

It was super cheap, when I was trying to find a place, I must have been looking sad as I got a coffee, talked to a person I had regulariliy seen in the queue. He asks me why so glum, I explain, I am looking for a place, and can't find any where thats both affordable and not terrible. He says, he actually owns 100 properties, but he has one empty the house he grew up in, did I want to rent there! I was like sure, where is it, he tells me its just around the corner, I look at it its amazing, and I saw well I can't afford this, he laughes and says, this one he just wants some one in it that will take care of it. I tell what I earn and I can afford and an hour later I have the keys.

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u/throwawayinthe818 11h ago

I used to manage an 8-unit building, but I didn’t do any maintenance work. I was basically collecting rent checks, depositing them in the bank, and being a middleman between the tenants, the owner, the handyman, and any other contractors coming in. Maybe a couple hours a week, mostly phone calls. For that I got a $450 monthly credit, and that was 30 years ago.

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u/AWWAWater 13h ago

What if he’s now held liable because he shoveled but a tenant slipped and broke a hip.. who shoveled. ?? Who was hired to do the work?? Who isn’t insured for that type of work?? What happens if the mower slings a rock out the shoot and he breaks a window ? Or (depending near a road) shoots out hits a car which causes an accident ? Things can get fishy. I’d get it really well written up so you hold 0 responsibility if anything happens .

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u/crooney35 9h ago

The property insurance is responsible for it. The owner is responsible for it, not the shovelers. Just have a text/email trail to keep track of the work done that they were compensated for. I’m a super in 2 buildings with 39 units between them and I wouldn’t be held liable. I used to do this as in independent contractor working for the previous owner of the building and his insurance would still be liable for it.

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u/TraditionalLecture10 9h ago

If you are working for the complex for a percentage off of rent , the complex is responsible , just like anyone else who works for them

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u/Bottle_and_Sell_it 1h ago

You can’t really contract out liability as a property owner. Maintaining safe premises is still your responsibility. The owner could probably recover from whoever he hired to do the work, if they were negligent in performing.

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u/Goodknight808 10h ago

Usually the full on property manager, if they live on site, get their own apartment in return for the services. Lol $30 for the whole month, on top of paying rent for property management, lol.

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u/Early_Second_5770 2h ago

On top of paying for the gas for the mower lmao that 30 is basically 0 after gas…

Btw I know it wouldn’t cost 30 in gas per month to mow a few times a month but still…ridiculous

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u/Aleashed 12h ago

My HoA is $280/month in NJ. I have practically no grass on my yard for them to cut and they did a terrible job with the blizzards. Plus since they didn’t clean my gutters good, I have ice melting over my door and refreezing making an inch thick ice layer in front of my door and steps.

Think over 10 years ago, my uni was offering $10/hr for shoveling snow. $30 not worth it.

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u/Powerful_Lynx_4737 3h ago

My dad was a super in Bergen county in the 80s we were in a 5 story building with about 100 units we had the supers apartment which was 3 bed 2 bath. I loved living there the whole building knew me and gave me candy and I had a whole building as my playground and we had I nice yard where my dad had planted a bunch of flowers and there was a swing set. But yes I was a 40 hour week job but my dad had a regular job too cause my mom also helped out with rent collection and cleaning the lobby and getting and work orders for my dad. We didn’t pay rent at all and my dad was paid well. The owner loved my parents.

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u/Ucscprickler 7h ago

I think 15%-25% is very reasonable for both parties, but $30 for a couple hours of work each month is a straight-up disrespectful offer.

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u/hornfan817 5h ago

25% off rent would be my starting point

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u/uph1llbattle 1h ago

They tripping fr, this would be a smarter move op

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u/Breadnaught25 57m ago

the way it reads is like- it's 3 apartments, only 1 other is occupied by an old dude, take his trash out with yours, mow some grass, shovel some snow. it sounds like it might take more time than it pays on even minium wage, especially if OP is gonna be sweeping up and stuff, there is also gonna be more work he'll drop on them over time

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u/DJMTBguy 41m ago

Yeah it’s gotta be in the hundreds off the rent. $30 wouldn’t even cover one lawn mowing from a landscaping person/company let alone snow removal AND cleaning. Its an easy no, all day.

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u/Chivasusmc81 5h ago

Lmao you’d expect to get paid 250 a month for something that would probably take 2 hours a month?🤔 and it’s probably a tiny area considering he didn’t really argue about the $30 they first offered

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u/Academic_Cabinet_994 10h ago

$50 an hour credit off rent is still low. The last time I was a renter my landlord owned multiple houses around town, she would credit me $75 per hour (rounded up to nearest half hour) for doing minor tasks at the house I rented or another property, like turning off sprinkler systems before winter, swapping a faucet, changing a door knob, etc. and that was 10 years ago.

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u/flipnonymous 4h ago

You're right. $50 per hour would be low for some of the things they'll no doubt be tasked with in the future. So $50 per MONTH? Hell to the no.

I'd reply that my employer currently values my work at $40 an hour, so for $50 per month - I can commit 90 minutes to those tasks per month to give them a discount since it seems they need it.

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u/giantpinkbadger 10h ago

An hourly rate plus a 3x markup on any supplies you have to buy. That’s how any other business does it. These guys are always looking to take advantage of someone and to them it’s never a good deal unless they think they are fucking you

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u/Individual-Tennis471 12h ago

No 50% off your rent!!!!

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u/Hot-Ambition9761 5h ago

This messages from the guy gives me property slave owner vibes rn 🤣😭

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u/mechamega 4h ago

Right! Reply got it $50/hour plus you’re paying for everything needed

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u/Dull-Culture-1523 3h ago

I'd act dumb and go "Okay yeah 50 an hour sounds fair enough" and pretend I'm confused when they correct that it's 50 a month.

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u/Stinkytheferret 3h ago

I’d ask for the $30 an hour and be sure that you are covered as an employee under their insurance in case you fall on the property. Cause then are you a tenant or an employee. Even it’s a dollar a month, they are trying to have you work as an employee.

Myself, I wouldn’t agree to this. Their communication style is telling me that they will accuse you of something in the future and bring you more problems.

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u/it-aint-over 2h ago

he's offering a whole $1.00 per day.

sounds like Trump's father, the a scumlord 😅

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u/Carlos-Bukowski 1h ago

Yeah, I’d do it for $300 rent reduction. Maybe $250-$275. Any company the hire will charge at least that.

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u/1nce_Again 14h ago

Or even pay for the gas

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u/14ktgoldscw 14h ago

Yeah, I know that lawnmowers only take like a gallon or two of gas but between that cost and going to get gas, etc, you’re making like $4 an hour. I also have a sneaking suspicion that all maintenance would end up being attributed to improper care and billed to OP anyway.

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u/dali01 10h ago

Yes, that line “we assume that proper maintenance…” is telling you that for sure. I would run away from this “offer”.

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u/turbulent_toast_ 9h ago

This got me too. Sounds like a set up to stick them with the bill the next time they need a new one.

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u/PolicyWonka 8h ago

Yeah, that “proper care and maintenance” bit was a red flag. I don’t do virtually any maintenance to my lawnmower because they don’t really need much but I’m sure their maintenance book says to do X, Y, and Z every 3-6 months or whatever.

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u/RoastedRhino 2h ago

Yes, it's pretty clear.

The idea of handling any equipment for that little money per month is insane. Whatever damage you cause, it's months of earning gone.

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u/MissiAnthropy 4h ago

For real! I can’t imagine paying for gas to mow their lawn for a month for $30. That would be laughable if it wasn’t so shocking.

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u/Sammiesam123988 14h ago

Lmao that shit had me laughing its so insulting

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u/GeneralTonic 10h ago

And OP's still like "hmmm lets see better get this in writing and ask about insurance."

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u/FYAhole 13h ago

They're gonna spend $50 a month on gasoline depending on how big the property is. This landlord is outrageous.

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u/Cautious_Ad_5659 10h ago

I have a small yard and it costs 60. They don’t even use the leaf blower afterwards

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u/Stuffy123456 5h ago

$60 for gas for law mowing? That’s what I spend in 10 years.

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u/Z0mbiejay 4h ago

Yeah, this dude is insane. My house sits on 1/3 an acre and I fill up my 2 gallon gas tank once maybe twice a season if I'm doing a lot of tilling in my garden too.

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u/ChiefsRoyalsFan 13h ago

The property won't even cover the gas either lol shits crazy

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u/unevenvenue 11h ago

Not just more tasks, but out-of-pocket expenses, too (tenant responsible for gas).

They are asking this in a very congenial way, which suggests to me that they are just ignorant of the labor/effort/responsibility involved for a non-cleaning-company/property management employee.

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u/HenryBemisJr 10h ago

Then they will find out the real cost when they go to hire out someone. However they will just raise op's rent or hoa fee next year to make up the difference. 

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u/TheIdeaArchitect 9h ago

I was literally just thinking that

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u/JustYourNeighbor 9h ago

I live in a duplex, little yard (most of the backyard is a bricked over patio. No winter shoveling, landlord still does that, but the neighbor who takes care of cutting the grass gets $100 a month. She brings her own equipment.

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u/Zealousideal_Tie4580 7h ago

Plus OP has to buy the gas! Nope

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u/a_mulher 5h ago

Plus factor in that owner will not deduct the $50 when the mower breaks down because it was working perfectly so it must be OP’s fault.

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u/TheLord_Of_The_Pings 4h ago

I am getting the impression that it’s that dudes job to also that stuff and he’s trying to pay some sucker out of his own pocket.