One way to use Local Lead Finder. Local Lead Finder is a $10 Google Sheets template I built that turns any Google Maps search into a lead list: every business, with phone, website, rating and reviews. This post is one use case for it: finding handyman jobs that come back every month. I ran it for real with the template. Other ways to use it are listed at the end, or see all 18 lead generation ideas.
You can patch drywall, hang a door and fix a leaky faucet. The hard part is finding handyman jobs that keep coming, not one TV mount and then a quiet week. Search “how to find handyman jobs” and page 1 is a site for booking a handyman, a Reddit thread asking which handyman apps are worth it, Facebook groups asking the same question, ZipRecruiter job listings for working on someone else’s crew, and lists of handyman services from Jobber and Bob Vila. The usual answers are apps that send you one-off tasks, job boards, or “post in your local Facebook group.” Nobody tells you who has small repairs to do every single month.
Here’s my answer: property managers. Every time a tenant moves out, the unit needs fixing up before the next one moves in. So here’s exactly what I’d do this week if I were starting as a handyman in Minneapolis. I ran it for real with Local Lead Finder, a $10 Google Sheet I built that pulls every business on Google Maps into a spreadsheet. By the end you’ll have 255 property management companies, the 35 rental and apartment managers to call first, the suburbs to fill your week with, and the message I’d send them.
TL;DR
- One search across 87 Minneapolis areas found 255 property management companies, and 35 manage rentals, apartments or housing by name.
- Call the rental managers first, biggest first: more units means more turnovers, and every turnover has a punch list.
- Don’t search before Find Areas finishes: mine grew from 87 areas to 150 after I’d already searched.
Who this is for
- Handyman starting out: you get 255 names to call this week instead of waiting for an app to send you a task.
- Handyman business owner: you get the rental managers who need repairs between tenants, so one yes can mean work every month.
- Property maintenance company owner: you get every property manager around the city in one sheet, sorted by size.
- Painter or drywall contractor: unit turnovers need patching and paint, and this finds who books it.
- General contractor looking for small jobs: you get the managers with a steady stream of small repairs to fill gaps between bigger jobs.
Before you start
- A Google Places API (New) key
- Local Lead Finder set up in your Google Drive
- Local Lead Finder itself
- Your region, like Minneapolis, Minnesota
- A short list of the turnover jobs you do, and a flat rate you’re happy to quote
- A short outreach message that asks one question
Don’t have a Places API key yet? How to get one free. Haven’t set up the sheet? Setup takes 5 minutes.
Why property managers mean handyman jobs
A homeowner calls you once, for one job. A property manager has tenants moving out every month, across every building they run. Each move-out leaves a unit that can’t be rented until someone patches the nail holes, swaps the broken blinds, fixes the door that sticks and replaces the bulbs. That’s handyman work, and it comes back every time a unit turns over.
Win one manager and you’re not looking for your next job. They call you.
The run
Region: Minneapolis, Minnesota. Find Areas filled the AREAS tab with the suburbs and neighborhoods around the city, every one ticked.
One thing I got wrong: Find Areas writes the first batch, then keeps working in the background. I searched when 87 areas were in the tab, and it finished at 150. Everything below is from the 87, so the full metro has more. Wait for it to finish before you search.
Then Search in All AREAS with one keyword: property management company. I added a tab with a few formulas to count what came back.
255 property management companies. Here’s what’s in the list:
- 35 are rental, apartment or housing managers by name.
- Median 25 reviews. 160 have fewer than 50 reviews, so most are small.
- 106 are outside Minneapolis and St Paul.
- 43 have no website listed on Google.
Who to call first
1. The 35 rental and apartment managers
Not every property manager runs rentals. Some manage HOAs, condos or offices, where nobody moves out on the 1st of the month. So I matched names for rental, apartment and housing, and got 35. That’s the first call list, because rentals are where turnovers happen.
It’s a name match, so it misses some. Mauzy Properties doesn’t say “rental” in its name, and it’s one of the biggest. Read the full 255 for names you recognize from apartment signs around town.
2. Biggest first
Sorted by number of reviews, the biggest companies come first:
=QUERY('property management company (AREAS)'!A1:J256,"select A, D, E, B, J where A is not null order by E desc limit 20",1)
The ones I’d call first:
- RENOSY by Renters Warehouse: 1,718 reviews
- Housing Hub: 1,522 reviews
- KRC Apartments: 1,104 reviews
- Mauzy Properties: 874 reviews
Reviews of property managers are mostly written by tenants. So a big review count usually means lots of tenants, and lots of tenants means lots of turnovers. Even if a big manager already has a handyman, a second one who can come the same week is useful when the first is booked.
3. Then the small managers
160 of the 255 have fewer than 50 reviews. Those are smaller shops where the owner often picks up the phone. They have fewer units each, but you’re talking to the person who decides, and a small manager may not have someone lined up for every job yet.
4. Then the HOA and condo managers
My name match also found 8 HOA, condo and community managers.
There are no tenant move-outs here, so it’s less steady. But townhome and condo associations have common areas, and somebody fixes those. Associa Minnesota (970 reviews) and Gassen HOA Management (541) are the big two. The rest have 74 reviews or fewer.
Fill your week by suburb
Handyman work is short jobs, so driving time matters. 106 of the 255 are outside Minneapolis and St Paul:
=QUERY({ARRAYFORMULA(IFERROR(TRIM(REGEXEXTRACT('property management company (AREAS)'!C2:C256,"([^,]+), MN")),""))},"select Col1, count(Col1) where Col1 <> '' and Col1 <> 'Minneapolis' and Col1 <> 'St Paul' group by Col1 order by count(Col1) desc")
St Louis Park 14, Edina 12, Golden Valley 9 and Hopkins 8 sit right next to each other on the west side. That’s 43 property managers in four neighboring suburbs. Once you have a couple of rental managers, that’s where I’d fill in the week: short drives between jobs.
The message
I adapted this from the junk removal version. Set it as the WhatsApp message in SETTINGS, and every row gets a link that opens with it filled in:
Hi! When a tenant moves out, who handles the small fixes before the next one moves in? I do same-week turnover repairs (patching, paint touch-ups, doors, fixtures) at a flat rate, anywhere around [suburb].
It asks one question the manager already has an answer to. The answer is either a name (your competition) or “nobody good” (your opening). A flat rate makes it easy to say yes without a quote every time.
Then work down the list. Mark each one Outreached so it turns green and you never message a manager twice. If you’d rather call than message, every row has a phone number column; I wrote up how I’d work a list by phone in Cold Calling List: Build One From Google Maps (98 Plumbers).
Clean it before you call
- Towns outside the metro. St Cloud showed up with 3 property managers. It’s its own city, not a Minneapolis suburb. Check the town in each address.
- Low ratings. 85 are rated under 3.5, but tenants write most property manager reviews. A low rating doesn’t tell you how they treat vendors, so don’t skip them for it.
- No website. 43 have no website listed on Google. That’s not proof they don’t have one, and it doesn’t matter: call the phone number.
Step by step
- Get a Places API key and set up Local Lead Finder.
- Put your city in SETTINGS > Region and run Find Areas.
- Wait for Find Areas to finish before you search.
- Search “property management company” in all areas.
- Pull out the rental, apartment and housing managers by name, and sort by reviews.
- Call the biggest rental managers first, then the small managers, then the HOA managers.
- Count managers by suburb and fill your week in two or three neighboring suburbs.
- Set your WhatsApp message, message down the list, and mark each one Outreached.
Common pitfalls
- Searching before Find Areas finishes: it keeps working in the background. Mine grew from 87 areas to 150 after I’d started searching, so wait for it to finish.
- Matching rental managers by name only: my name match found 35, but Mauzy Properties, one of the biggest, doesn’t say “rental” in its name. Read the full list too.
- Skipping a manager because of a low rating: 85 are rated under 3.5, but property manager reviews are mostly tenants. A low rating doesn’t tell you how they treat vendors.
- Pitching HOA managers like rental managers: HOAs don’t have tenant move-outs. Pitch common-area repairs instead of turnovers.
- Spreading out across the whole metro: handyman jobs are short, so drive time eats the day. Cluster in neighboring suburbs like St Louis Park, Edina, Golden Valley and Hopkins.
- Searching a big city without checking the cost: each area is one Google Places request per results page, so 87 areas was 87 requests. The sheet shows the most a search could cost before it runs.
- Forgetting to mark Outreached: if you don’t, you’ll call the same manager twice. Outreached rows stay green in every future search.
Learn the Google Sheets formulas in this post
- How To Sort A Filter: sorting the list so the most-reviewed property managers come first, like the first QUERY does.
- 3 Ways to Count in Google Sheets: the counting behind the summary, like 160 managers under 50 reviews and 43 with no website.
- 200 REGEXMATCH Examples in Google Sheets: the kind of name match that pulls out the 35 rental, apartment and housing managers.
- Clean Up Names in a List: tidying text with TRIM, like the formula that pulls the suburb out of each address.
- Make a Quick Pipeline (For Sales and More): a next step for tracking which managers you called, who wants a quote and who already sends you work.
Better Sheets has hundreds more tutorials like these. If you want to get better at Google Sheets, join Better Sheets.
Other ways to use Local Lead Finder
- How to Get Landscaping Contracts: 255 Minneapolis property managers: for lawn care and landscaping companies after commercial work.
- How to Get Commercial Cleaning Contracts: property managers and plazas: for commercial cleaners and janitorial crews.
- List of Plumbers: 98 in Boise, for Anyone Who Sells to Plumbers: for suppliers, bookkeepers and marketers who sell to plumbers.
- How to Get Clients for Web Design: 4 Real Lead Lists, in Order: for web designers looking for local businesses to pitch.
All 18, grouped by who they’re for: Lead generation ideas: 18 local businesses to sell to.
FAQ
How do you find handyman jobs?
Go to the people who have small repairs every month: property managers. Every tenant move-out leaves a unit to fix up before the next one. Around Minneapolis, one Local Lead Finder search found 255 property management companies, 35 of them rental, apartment or housing managers by name.
How do I get leads for my handyman business?
Build a list of property managers in your city, sort it by size, and message the rental managers first with a flat rate for turnover repairs. One yes from a manager with lots of tenants can mean work every month.
Where can I find free handyman leads?
Google Maps is free to look at, and Google gives up to 1,000 Places API searches a month free on your own key. Local Lead Finder is $10, and free for Better Sheets lifetime members. It puts every property manager in one sheet with a phone number and a WhatsApp link.
What are the best paying handyman jobs?
I can’t tell you rates; I didn’t look at any. What I’d chase is repeat work: one rental manager with units turning over all year is worth more than a string of one-off jobs you have to find each time.
Why call the biggest property managers first?
More units means more turnovers. RENOSY by Renters Warehouse has 1,718 Google reviews and Housing Hub has 1,522, and reviews of property managers are mostly from tenants. Lots of tenants, lots of move-outs.
How do I keep track of who I’ve called?
Mark each one Outreached from the Find Leads menu. The row turns green, gets copied to the OUTREACH tab, and stays green in every future search. For more, see Google Sheets CRM for Leads: Pipeline, Follow-Ups, No Repeats.
Is Local Lead Finder a scraper?
No. It uses Google’s official Places API with your own key, and writes the results into your own Google Sheet.
Get the sheet
Local Lead Finder is $10, and free for Better Sheets lifetime members.
