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This may be the wrong place to pose the question. However, it is a real issue to older single women who want to retire to small towns in rural areas. If I can't ask the question here in good faith, I don't know where else to ask it. So, I thought I'd give it a shot.
I'll be retiring in 10 years, and have spent my life after middle school in cities. I don't hardly know how to drive a nail into the wall. There was a good reason to be in big towns - jobs and pay. Allowed me the freedom to eschew debt and send kids to school.
BUT: if I had to pick up a hammer to fix something myself, I'd probably wind up with a concussion or a hole in the head. The only three tools I can reliably identify are hammers, wrenches and screwdrivers. Of the three, I only know how to actually use one. Not because I'm lazy or unenterprising - it was a matter of priorities.
When I had a house, in a big city, it was a simple matter to look up a repairman or handyman in the Yellow Pages. When I rented, I was in hog heaven - call to the landlord fixed it. There was no need to do it myself, and I was always more motivated to spend my discretionary time doing things with the kids.
On another forum, two of the posters who live in rural areas said they cannot find help with doing repairs for anything. They are both in my situation, former urban dwellers, only they got out to the rural lifestyle sooner than I will. The posters are somewhat frustrated. In an area where 2 BR houses rent for less than $500/mo, one writes that she cannot find anybody at $10-$12/hr to help her fix things, part time, flexible schedule (just show up when you say you're going to show up).
I know the rural poverty and unemployment rate in this beautiful (but somewhat poor) area. A Saturday of work and walking away with $100 in cash should be enough incentive for one of the residents to come over and dig into the job. Once I retire thereabouts, I know I'd think very eagerly about $100 cash for a day's work.
She's not a country gal. When I retire, I won't be either until I grow into it. What should we do to find reliable handypeople and carpenters? Is there a trick to it?
I know single women who found good help by asking at the local high schools, FFA and 4H members have been great. Putting the word out at hardware/building supply stores can also be a source of good help. Once you get known for being a good boss and worker yourself, you may have more willing employees than you need.
I have found that being handy with basic repairs is a matter of opportunity. I was raised in a large urban environment by parents who honestly didn't know how to check the oil or tire pressure in their cars. Wanted to try ranch work. Ranch work is 80% fixing things or building things and maybe 20% riding horses in nice country. I figured it out and never left. I love the variety and challenges.
On another forum, two of the posters who live in rural areas said they cannot find help with doing repairs for anything. They are both in my situation, former urban dwellers, only they got out to the rural lifestyle sooner than I will. The posters are somewhat frustrated. In an area where 2 BR houses rent for less than $500/mo, one writes that she cannot find anybody at $10-$12/hr to help her fix things, part time, flexible schedule (just show up when you say you're going to show up).
In my rural neck of the woods - Iowa community of 1000 in a country of about 7000 - if I mention at the coffee shop that I'm looking for someone to do a repair I'll have a dozen numbers of guys to call before I hit the door.
Not sure why these other folks are having this issue, however it may be that they are confusing "rural" with "remote".
In my rural neck of the woods - Iowa community of 1000 in a country of about 7000 - if I mention at the coffee shop that I'm looking for someone to do a repair I'll have a dozen numbers of guys to call before I hit the door.
Not sure why these other folks are having this issue, however it may be that they are confusing "rural" with "remote".
Thank you sincerely for your replies! Makes sense. This is going to be a shock. I have had so little discretionary time for so many years that it's going to seem stressful to start going to the coffee shop. Not to mention finding circles to move in where asking about 4H or FFA help would not appear like a forced conversation.
Appreciate your help with my prospective "re-integration" into society!
Thank you sincerely for your replies! Makes sense. This is going to be a shock. I have had so little discretionary time for so many years that it's going to seem stressful to start going to the coffee shop. Not to mention finding circles to move in where asking about 4H or FFA help would not appear like a forced conversation.
Appreciate your help with my prospective "re-integration" into society!
To find your area FFA kids, walk into the high school, go to the office, and ask who the FFA advisor is.
To find out about 4H, you contact your county's agricultural extension office, tell them what you need and ask if they know any kids that might be interested in helping.
Since you will be new to an area, you can expect people to be cautious about just putting you in contact with lots of young people. We in rural areas like to help, but aren't stupid about it. In fact, I would insist on meeting parents if I hired a young crew. But, that will put you in touch with adults in the area and will be a great way to get to know people.
Have you considered taking some courses in minor home repairs? You have ten years to do it, and if you live in a city now you should be able to easily locate a community education class or classes at Home Depot, etc. I wish I had done that, it would make things easier if I didn't have to call a guy every time I need a nail pounded into a wall! (I'm married, but my husband is, incredibly, even more useless than I am around a tool box.)
We moved from a city to a rural area near a small town last May. Right now I have the numbers of at least three different handymen who would be happy to come over and hang pictures, paint, fix things, etc. In fact, just yesterday we had one of these guys come over and he finished and hung bifold closet doors, fixed a hole where an old thermostat had been, repaired a wonky electrical outlet, and reglued some kitchen cabinet doors that had come off. In the past, we have had this same guy do minor driveway repairs, fix and paint an outside deck, and do interior painting. He is great at what he does, very picky and precise, and when he repairs something, it is as close to new as he can get it. He also has great color sense and can match what he does to what is already here in a way that amazes me. The other guys we have had over are also very good at repairing things. They are also very professional and respectful to me, they seem honest, and I have no problem being alone with them in my home.
However--the guy we had in yesterday charges $40 an hour for his services. This is fair, because this is what he does for a living. It sounds as though you would be asking someone to come over for very near to minimum wage. Don't forget, they also have to travel to your place, which cuts into their hourly wage. And also, if they are being paid the absolute minimum, you can't expect them to put a lot of effort into doing a good job or even showing up if something else comes along that pays better or sounds like more fun. Plus, what if one of these unskilled young laborers should fall and sustain an injury on your property, or make a well-intentioned "repair" that actually damages something?
And as a woman living alone, security is a huge issue, so you will probably want to be very certain that you are not inviting in a young person who seems dependable but who has a drug problem (which are rampant in rural areas) and who will not be going through your medicine cabinet or trying to figure out if you have money stashed away, or if you would miss a ring out of your jewelry box. These types of problems are far less likely to arise if you deal with guys who do this for a living, as they have a reputation to maintain or there goes their livelihood.
As far as showing up on time, when I lived in Minneapolis if a worker said they would be there at 10, either they would be there at 10, or we would get a call at 9:45 to let us know they were delayed. Around here, we have found that there tend to be set times that workers say they will arrive: "First thing in the morning" (which means anywhere from 7AM to noon), "Around lunchtime" (11AM to 2PM), or "During the day sometime" (7AM to 5PM). We have had a lot of work done on our home since we moved in, and I do not recall ever having anyone give us an actual time that appears on the clock--it is more like the clock at Ron Weasley's house in the Harry Potter books.
Depending on where you are planning on relocating, when I was a teenage kid there were several newcomers that came into my area that didn't have much in the way of skills for living in the area, so they would hire me to come and fix fence or dig out a spring, cut or stack hay, repair buildings, whatever.
Worked out great for both of us as I was doing that work for my folks anyway, and since the closest town was 15 miles away, it gave me some cash and those neighbors got their work done.
Rural life is a lot different from the city. Folks usually help each other. If you're friendly and engaged in the community, if you need something done and are willing to pay for it, I really doubt you would have any problem finding someone willing to jump on the work.
I grew up rurally. My parents ran a mom-and-pop carpentry and general contracting business from the early 1970s until retiring from it in 2011. Although building and remodeling were his main things, my dad was also hired for a LOT of handyman-type jobs, mostly for older widows who either couldn't perform the tasks, or thought they couldn't. However, it wasn't for any $10/an hour. He wasn't a teen looking for quick cash, he was a reputable business owner who charged an hourly rate for skilled labor. Doing handyman tasks wasn't his business model, but if somebody needed them, he'd do them.
In my community it seems like there is a high percentage of people who are handymen. As one myself, I know that my perception would be skewed.
We have two close friends, who each moved here from cities.
Cathy came here from NJ, Kelly came here from Boston. They are both single.
Cathy bought a piece of land in a small town, she got active in a knitting group, she tutors some local children and joined the church. Through that church she found a family of construction people. She contracted one of the sons to cut trees on her land, sawmill them on-site, and he built her a two-story house from her own wood. In her case, she made the connections via the other ladies of that church.
Kelly bought a mobile home on a lot. She is big into landscaping. She has made very few social connections here. She commutes down to Boston one day every week where she works as a house-cleaner. She makes enough there working one day / week to afford owning a home and living up here, and climbing out of debt. She has called various handymen she saw listed in the paper, to do small odd jobs for her. Some were terrible: changing the price, not completing the task, forgetting to show-up, etc. Others have been really good, when they were on their game, but sloppy other times. I think she will keep going down the list, hiring out small jobs. Until she locks onto one she can trust, to do bigger jobs.
Often you can find a Temp agency to get unskilled or semi-skilled labor. When we moved, rather than hire movers I used ABS and temp workers for help in loading and unloading. A couple of them helped in laying electrical conduit. Rates are not unreasonable and you don't have to worry about tax issues.
With other jobs, you may need to figure out what the job is worth and hire someone based on the completion of the job within a certain date.
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BranDCalf and Duster -
