While sometimes shady, it’s always nice when a business-savvy individual tries to sweeten the deal to make things more enticing. However, for one renter living in Wisconsin, their property manager did the exact opposite, making his poorly thought-out proposal even worse. It began with a message from the manager, asking if the tenant would like to become the “resident manager” of the property at $30 a month. They would do physical labor, including taking out the trash, mowing the lawn, and clearing snow, but they’d also have to refuel the mower themself.
Simply put, “This is an awful deal,” as one Redditor put it. But as mentioned above, the property manager doesn’t stop there. After the tenant says very politely yet indirectly that ‘that’s a bad offer,’ the manager then says he’ll pay $50 a month if they would also sweep and vacuum the property. “Let me know your thoughts!” he says, as though he believes the tenant might agree. The renter did express their thoughts, though on r/Apartmentliving, starting with stating how they live in a 3-unit with $1,265 rent.
The renter continues, elaborating on how all the physical labor the property manager would expect of them for the measly $30 to $50 would be well over three hours of work at a minimum. The tenant claims they will respond to the manager, inquiring about potential injury coverage and whatnot, but their post’s comment section is overflowing with a similar answer: “I would tell them NO thank you.”
One commenter expressed their thoughts, saying that the Wisconsin property manager “literally insulted OP offering slave wages.” “I dont understand how this could be real,” said another in disbelief. “They’d have to pay for the gas to mow the lawn?!” A third chimes in, exclaiming, “Your landlord is an absolute lunatic to propose this rate even if all materials were provided, but you have to schlep the gas can? No.” The comments go on and on, but they more or less repeat how terrible an idea it would be to accept the sketchy manager’s offer.
Regardless of whether the cost of living is better than elsewhere for OP, they might need to consider whether living under a crooked property manager is worth it in the long run. As one Redditor says, “People who take advantage of you will just keep escalating until they are done with you.”
