This handyman earned $14,000 in the last 30 days

It pays to be handy if youre in the right city at the right time, and you charge the right rate.

When his mother was alive, Brian Keith Schrier was her go-to handyman. Even when I didnt know how to do it, she had faith in me to figure it out, he says. I would learn how to do it. When I was young, I used to take everything apart and didnt always get them back together. I enjoy figuring things out.

He has worked in construction and owned a petition management company, which collected signatures for special interest groups to put issues on the ballot and, last year, Schrier, 45, found himself at a career crossroads. He signed up to work for TaskRabbit, the online marketplace that allows users to outsource small jobs to others that, along with other odd-job service apps such as Handy and Fiverr, partnered with Amazon Home Services earlier this month to offer handyman services.

Schrier, who lives in San Francisco, spoke to MarketWatch about how he can earn up to $14,000 a month doing odd jobs.

MarketWatch: How did you come to work as a handyman?

Schrier: I had a friend stay with me who had moved to San Francisco from Missouri and he picked up TaskRabbit for some side work, hed come home and brag about it. He showed me all the jobs that he could pick from and talked about it until it was actually a bit of an annoyance.

MarketWatch: What do you charge?

Schrier: I charge $150 an hour. I used to do minor home repair and handyman things, but since my rate went up, mostly I do more of the specialized tasks that take a higher skill: Electrical plumbing, TV mounts and things like that. Some of the other categories like deliveries and IKEA furniture assembly, most of the people who do those charge cheaper rates, so I dont really get picked for that anymore.

MarketWatch: What did you start out at?

Schrier: $20 to $25 an hour.

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This handyman earned $14,000 in the last 30 days