Hiring in-house vs. outsourcing maintenance: where the breakeven sits
For most PMCs in the 15-to-40-property range, the program comes in materially cheaper than a full hire — and that is before accounting for utilization slack. Here is the math.
Most PMCs get to the same crossroads eventually. Reactive maintenance is eating operational time. Owner escalations are accumulating. The handyman the company has been calling is getting harder to schedule. The obvious next step is to hire someone full-time.
Here’s what the math actually looks like.
The cost of a full-time maintenance hire
A reasonably skilled maintenance person in a market like Branson runs $45,000 to $58,000 a year in base wage. Add 25% to 30% for taxes, workers’ comp, benefits, and PTO accrual — that’s $56,000 to $75,000 in actual cost. Add a vehicle ($350 to $650/month depreciated and maintained), basic tools ($3,000 to $5,000 setup, plus replacement), and a mobile phone line. The realistic all-in cost is $65,000 to $85,000 a year.
Divide that across a portfolio. At 25 properties, that’s $2,600 to $3,400 per property per year — $217 to $283 a month — assuming the person is fully utilized.
Utilization is the part that gets glossed over. A 25-property portfolio doesn’t have enough scheduled maintenance work to fill 40 hours a week. Most of the calendar is reactive. Which means you’re paying for the dead time between calls, plus the time the person is between properties, plus the time spent on items that didn’t really need a specialist.
The cost of the program
$105 per property per month, flat. 25 properties is $2,625 a month, or $31,500 a year. No vehicle. No tools. No benefits. No slow-season payroll. Materials and add-on work bill separately at cost-plus and $65/hour respectively — the same rate a salaried person would generate work for.
Where the breakeven sits
For most PMCs in the 15-to-40-property range, the program comes in materially cheaper than a full hire — and that’s before accounting for utilization slack. The hire becomes more economical somewhere around 45 to 55 properties, but only if you can fill the calendar.
The right question isn’t usually “which is cheaper.” It’s “do I want to be a maintenance employer, and is my portfolio big enough to absorb the utilization risk?” For most operators with fewer than 50 doors, the answer is no — and the program does the same work without the employer overhead.