Is this Job REALLY worth it?

So my husband and I were hired to run a storage facility and live on site which was great but there was a lot of information left out when we agreed to the job.



First off this is what the duties consist of:



Duties include:

Manage day-to-day operations of 300+ unit property

Maintenance and grounds upkeep of property including light repairs

Increase occupancy through advertising and promotions, customer referrals, showing units, and explaining advantages of location/services

Negotiating and enforcing leases

Maintianing and securing premises

Collecting rents, make bank deposits, purchase supplies and services as needed

Analyzes market condition and competitors

Resolving customer complaints

Accounts Receivable including collection on delinquent accounts through calls, letters/notices

Maintains designated office hours

Provide outstanding customer service in person, via telephone, and via internet

Running reports on a daily, weekly, monthly basis

Maintains professional and courteous relationships with tenants, vendors, and management



Both must be able to work well with people, sometimes under stressful conditions, be computer literate, have the ability to be self directed, properly handle money, and complete reports and other paperwork in a timely manner.



Now my first question is, is this amount of work and stress really worth it for 7.50 an hr... we are a relatively young and college educated couple... we didn't do our bachelors degrees to work for minimum wage. They originally told us one lump sum monthly which included gate coding and operations which we have not been doing yet... so when we got our paychecks without that included it came to 7.50 an hr... 2 people can't be expected to live off of that right??



OK, my next point. The reason we are not living on site yet is because the former manager had been living there for 13 years and had inherited 2 (suspected) meth addict buddies, needless to say the apartment was an absolute dive, it smelled like smoke and cat piss the entire flooring was torn up and they had animals all over the place. So it was literally not inhabitable... not to mention they were not allowed to evict them (don't know why did not ask) without 30 days notice... even though only one of them would have been considered a leased resident. So when we asked for gas money this was offered as a loan but not included even though we should have been living on site and wanted to compensate for that.. so now we're thinking... hmm... are these people really cheapos??



They also have no security.. no cameras, no security men, alarm systems, nothing. The area is bad and there has been 2 rapes and a murder within eyesight of the facility in the past year, not to mention some of their customers are questionable- some in prison, some smell like alcohol, just not all of them are what you would consider good people, and without security there you wonder what could happen if one of us were on our own at the place since they've already had suspected meth addicts there and their buddies.



Of course none of this was previously disclosed upon our acceptance of the job. The owners want to be absentee owners yet they are hovering over us on a daily basis watching what we do and undermining us in front of their customers. They give us the title managers but do not allow us to actually manage the place as of yet. They aren't really trained in filing systems and don't know how to do accounting. They don;t even know how to use their own storage software and have no internet, yet they do not trust that we are more than capable of creating an excellent filing system and do not yet trust us to be able to do what we were originally hired to do. Their previous employee screwed everything up - in one month we have tripled their income! She has customers in there that she has no records on, some have records but the units are empty and the people have long since moved out and she has been undercharging a lot of folks, of course the owners avoid conflict, we're the ones disclosing the unpleasant stuff like "you have been underpaying and we need to adjust your rent" etc. and we had already told them that this is their fault-not the customers- as their company is the one doing the undercharging, so it is unfair to expect somebody to dip into their pocket on the spot or get the heck out of there!! Of course they didn't like that.. but it is true, I know I personally would tell somebody where to shove it if I was unknowingly undercharged for a unit and then expected to correct their faults.



The only thing keeping us here is that we don't have a place to call home... we could live with our parents, but that is a last resort as they are in a 55+ community. Any advice?Is this Job REALLY worth it?
Paying $7.50 per hour for two people is way below normal even if they give you a place to live. I suggest you look for something else. Good LuckIs this Job REALLY worth it?
Are you getting 7.50 each? Or is that pay for the both of you? Normally when you are a "live on site" manager they factor in this stuff, and your pay is not that great. But over the long run it breaks even...you are not paying rent or utilities, that accounts for several hundred a month.



If you are 7.50 for both of you, it's not worth it.



I run a storage facility. It's not difficult, and when you are in an environment with high unemployment the owner isn't going to have any trouble getting someone to work for such low wages. But what he will get is a drug addict/crook/goof-off. The person I took over from was ripping off the owner of cash, and giving away free storage units to friends.



The average pay for a manager is $9.50-$10.50. It will be less if you are getting free housing.



Suggest you move on unless the owner is willing to invest in his property.