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Is my superintendent getting paid too much?

Supers Value

A good super is very important to run a building properly. Most board members and condo managers will tell you that. Get a bad super and your building will deteriorate quickly. Having said that I would like to work as a super for 42K + an apartment. Any openings out there?
 
A maintenance superintendent's role is more than trivial.

I think the superintendent you want is an ethical, cost savvy and reliable one, who's good to manage subcontractors and overall able to address maintenance concerns proactively, that kind of superintendent can only be retained by decent pay.

It sounds like decent compensation for such a superintendent, as described.
 
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$60k total compensation. Over 250 units. That's $20 per month.

A condo I lived at, in Ottawa, had a similarly paid Super for 128 units. He did a ton of work. Older residents complained about him. As older folks do. They sold the unit. Replaced him with contracted help.

Guess what. It sucks. On site super means my packages weren't just dumped unsecured at my door. It means that he was always clearing the snow before the contracted company. And he probably saved at least a few units from damage by rendering plumbing assistance immediately.
Our monthly cost for a live in sper was double what units in your building pay. And we had no concierge. And contracted cleaner. Now they hire someone for everything. It's only marginally cheaper with worse service.
 
Depends on the super and the work involved. He may be grossly overpaid. Or he may actually be underpaid. Or he may be appropriately paid, since sometimes you get what you pay for. For my apt building our super was pretty bad. One day I saw him come in with an entire CASE of whiskey. And yes, I found him drunk a couple of times in the parking garage making his rounds. Yet they kept him, presumably because they couldn't get other people to do his job for the crappy pay they were offering. They eventually did replace him, but I wonder how long the new guy stayed. There was a lot of turnover, even with a free apt. I suspect if they had increased the pay $10000 per month, they would have gotten much better people, that stayed much longer.
 
A good Super is hard to find and worth his/her weight in gold. A good Super will notice problems when they first arise and not after the water is running down the walls or the bricks have fallen or the pool is 'condemned. A good Super will know who lives in the building, who lives alone and whose newspapers are collecting at their door. A good Super will know a good contractor who can renovate an owner's Unit. A good Super is available for emergencies, anytime. What is all this worth? Probably about $40K a year with free rent, hydro, cable and internet.
 
Actu said:
Having said that I would like to work as a super for 42K + an apartment. Any openings out there?
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Numerous in large downtown condo buildings. Good supers are hard to find (and tricky to keep too) and bad supers who are lax on maintenance or not observant lead to early million dollar repairs.
 
Asking such a question is essentially wondering if the little people enjoy life too much for their own good.
 
We are having this debate right now. We can't offer a super suite which would mean a lower salary in exchange for housing.
We figure it would cost us $60,000 plus, not to mention insurance, benefits, etc.

And then there's the challenge of find the right person.

Our contract guy, a glorified cleaner really although he's learning, now costs us $45K, a good chunk of which goes to the contracting company. We argued for a $2/hr raise which came out of the contractor's pocket, not ours. The wages are disgusting. Next year, if we can train this guy to do a lot of what we use an independent company for (e.g. minor repairs etc.), we'll figure out a new higher salary formula.
 
Lol, overpaid. There are soccer players getting paid more per day than he gets paid in a year. Underpaid for sure.
 
No that's about right for what we do. Being that we cater 24/7 and everyday. Day-off does not happen if you have this schedule. Plus with all the work that is involved with keep a building clean and running smoothly day to day. Dealing with all owners/tenants with issues and all the admin things as well as physical labour as well for people that don't care. Most people that live in the building just don't know the work that is involved with keeping their home clean and running and nor do they care. I have been in this type of business a long time I can tell you this...….The people that we take care have no clue on what is expected or what is needed, and on top of that most assume we have this job because we did not go to school or we are drop outs. I can tell you I have 1 year of college. Also, have been restaurant management as well so my people skills are far more advanced then they think, and my ability to handle situations and stress are way beyond what people assume.
One last thing just because we may have the suite paid for where we might live does not pay our bills just like everyone else. we have things we need to pay just like everyone else and we like to save money and spend money just like you. So before you say something...……...ask one of your supers what is entailed in their job and then ask what the company asks them to besides what required when hiring us. Because I bet you 10 to 1 after they hire us about another 10 to 20 things are added to our plates without adding monies or anything for that matter to compensate. Remember this well you have to pay for experience. don't just go with the 1 year exp person go with the 5 yr. min. experience person that would be a rule of thumb for this type of environment.

Thank you for your time
 
I read this like 3 years ago before becoming a super for 800 units because I was wasn't really sure what a super did either. I've missed funerals, birthdays, spent Christmas morning cleaning up puke this year. I've seen a guy jump off one of the buildings, been around so much shit and piss that it doesn't bother me very much anymore. Got hypothermia from shoveling snow in blizzards for 10 hours while on-call (since it's salary you don't make extra for that stuff) , got bedbugs from one of my neighbors, Easily killed 10s of thousands of cockroaches, cleaned up used heroine needles and constantly had people knocking on my door asking for stuff at all hours since I lived at work. Just to name a few things. The apartment is included in the 42k for sure. I was making about 23k a year but getting taxed for 35k. It can be a really brutal job, the apartment isn't really free since you barely have a life outside of work.
 
Jeanpoutine5 said:
The apartment is included in the 42k for sure. I was making about 23k a year but getting taxed for 35k. It can be a really brutal job, the apartment isn't really free since you barely have a life outside of work.
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From the 3-4 condo buildings I know about, Supers in downtown Toronto get paid between $35,000 and $45,000 PLUS a 'free apartment". and often free cable, phone and internet I certainly agree that a good Super is worth every penny - Super do have long hours, are on call for more and it is a very varied, and often annoying job. One minute you are mopping bathrooms, the next you are dealing with a flood or a maintenance emergency or a confused resident. The "free" apartment is a taxable benefit but as fa as I can tell the value assigned to it for tax purposes is MUCH less than market rate for 'regular rentals" in that building.
 
Jeanpoutine5 said:
I read this like 3 years ago before becoming a super for 800 units because I was wasn't really sure what a super did either. I've missed funerals, birthdays, spent Christmas morning cleaning up puke this year. I've seen a guy jump off one of the buildings, been around so much shit and piss that it doesn't bother me very much anymore. Got hypothermia from shoveling snow in blizzards for 10 hours while on-call (since it's salary you don't make extra for that stuff) , got bedbugs from one of my neighbors, Easily killed 10s of thousands of cockroaches, cleaned up used heroine needles and constantly had people knocking on my door asking for stuff at all hours since I lived at work. Just to name a few things. The apartment is included in the 42k for sure. I was making about 23k a year but getting taxed for 35k. It can be a really brutal job, the apartment isn't really free since you barely have a life outside of work.
I also have a wife so the bedbugs we delt with for a month, me being on-call, and the people knocking at the door who are complete strangers to her affects her life and she doesn't work for the building
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