The twin forces of a bustling real-estate market and a red-hot construction industry mean good times — possibly the best ever — for a growing niche industry of Hawai'i handymen who work for $1,000 or less per job.

With home buyers and sellers wanting renovations and repairs in a hurry and building contractors busy on larger jobs, handymen such as David Asmar, 51, are booked for at least the next three months doing such jobs as hanging cabinets and installing floors.

"I can't handle any more work," Asmar said. "I don't sleep as it is."

Lee Masterson, 56, said his telephone "rings off the hook every day. Every day I'm busy and the money is definitely flowing in."

Handymen, many of whom have been in Hawai'i's construction industry for decades, often prefer to work by themselves in a trade that requires only a business license, a good set of tools and the ability to perform a wide variety of household repairs and renovations — from ripping up old carpets to texturing new ceilings.

With no more overhead than functioning transportation, handymen typically can earn $50,000 to $75,000 or more per year.

They represent a small slice of an industry on a roll. Revenue rose for 57 percent of Hawai'i construction companies last year, according to the results of a survey for the Business Banking Council reported last week. The survey also found that 55 percent of Hawai'i construction companies believed their average profits per project will increase this year.

With construction companies so busy, Carky Ainlay, co-owner of HomeQuest Realtors, has come to rely on handymen to keep houses and condos moving and her clients happy.

"A good handyman is worth his weight in gold," Ainlay said. "They definitely can help you get maximum value out of a property."

Bee Tan, a real-estate agent with Prudential Locations, keeps the numbers of five fast, reliable and cost-effective handymen programmed in her cell phone.

Tan's clients often need to patch walls, install crown molding or make other changes to get their maximum sale price. And Tan's new buyers typically find themselves with a long list of repairs or minor renovations they want done immediately.

So Tan turns to her handymen, whom she said "make the property more valuable so you can sell it quicker. It is money well spent, definitely. In this real-estate market, these types of handymen are excellent to have."

But for bigger jobs that require a building permit or plumbing, electrical or roofing work, Tan said she always calls in a licensed contractor.

Handymen don't need a contractor's license as long as their jobs do not require a building permit and cost $1,000 or less, said Verna Oda, executive officer of the state Contractors License Board.

"That $1,000 is for the total project — materials, labor and everything," Oda said.

No one tracks the number of handymen in the Islands, Oda said, so she could not verify their belief that their ranks are growing as the demand for handymen increases.

"I would imagine it's true," Oda said, "but I have no way of knowing."

Not all handymen want attention shined on their activities.

Several did not want to be quoted or asked that they not be identified because they often deal in cash and do not want to be scrutinized.

"Sometimes it's hard to stay under that $1,000 limit," said one handyman, who asked not to be named. "I want to keep low key. There's a lot of us out there. But in this business you don't want to draw attention to yourself."

But handyman Lance Evers, 36, did just the opposite last week when he took out a little three-lined classified ad offering his services.

The response was immediate and overwhelming.

"It's been amazing," Evers said. "The calls have been non-stop. Because the construction industry is booming, nobody wants to touch these small jobs. It's not worth their time (for contractors) to come out and do a job for under $1,000. We've found ourselves a good little niche."

Evers' only problem has been locating the right building materials for all of the jobs he has lined up.

In just the first week of his new business, Evers was hired to install ceiling fans, air conditioning, build a wheelchair ramp, tear down an old fence and put up a new one.

And the calls continued to pour in for jobs for this week.

"I guess everybody's going to make money out of this construction boom and real-estate boom," Evers said.

Like Evers, Cromwell Day, 29, is happy to enjoy the good times of their trade.

Day has been working as a carpenter since he was a teen-ager and remembers the slowdown in Hawai'i's construction industry in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

"The attitude then was you were lucky to have work because it was so slow," Day said. "Now I'm busy — insanely busy. The problem isn't no work. It's too much work."

Day remodels bathrooms, repairs termite damage, builds decks, renovates bedrooms, installs new flooring and performs most other jobs that homeowners need.

Earlier this year, Day began the process to get his general contractor's license to take advantage of Hawai'i's hot housing and construction markets.

"But I haven't had the time," Day said. "And I definitely haven't needed it to stay busy."