# Lawn care and maintenance rates?



## wvm1981 (Feb 14, 2014)

Whats up guys,
I recently met up with a property management co. That has contracts with Fannie Mae and a couple other nationals. They are needing a subcontractor for the lawn care and maintenance part of their operation. Last year they had 80 properties to maintain but are unsure of how many they will have this year. She told me that the season starts on March 1st. This is in the Dundee area of Illinois which is close to the Chicagoland. Now we have about 8 inches of snow on the ground right now so March 1st will be a surprise to me. But anyway I am actually a Painter by trade so this Property Preservation is some what new to me. But I am going to see if I can boost my income (hopefully) by providing the lawn care and maintenance to get my foot in the door and then hopefully get into the construction part of their operation. But for now I am going to have to start out with the lawn care. So I am wanting to get every penny out of this company I can. My problem is that I am unfamiliar with the going rates for the lawn care and maintenance. How do I determine whether or not the rates they are willing to pay are fair? I know there are different variations of lawn care for each property. i.e hedge trimming, tree trimming, lawn cuts, recuts etc. I have all of my own equipment which I was told will get me a little more pay. Bottom line is i'm not goin to do the work unless I am going to make a decent amount of money. So I would like to see if anyone of you guys could give me a range of rates that seem to be the going rates for someone in my situation. One more quick question I have noticed quite a few posts with the reference "QC" what exactly is that referring to?


----------



## GTX63 (Apr 12, 2012)

Welcome aboard. I'll try and answer of few of your questions.

The mowing season for northern Illinois runs from April 1 thru the end of October.
If you are interested in doing big ticket items for Nationals, be ready to carry your costs for 60-90 days and upwards before reimbursement. That number is dependant on the National, their policies and whether they are reputable. You can expect to kick back 25% as a discount on each and every order.

How do you determine whether the rates for mowing are fair?
You set your own rates based on the private sector and then hold them up against the Nationals. You'll pretty much know after that.

I'm not sure what you mean by having your own equipment will get you a little more pay. No company I know of lends equipment to their contractors. If they do, you are most likely an employee.

The main variations to lawn care for nationals are the initial and the recut.
During the initial you will likely be expected to do more at the foreclosed property than you would do at your own house.
The recuts are basically the same as the initials, you are simply paid less.

The "QC" aspect of all this is when the late teen/early 20's cubicle intern goes over your photos and decides which jobs they are not going to pay you for. This can vary from as little as 5-10% and upwards.

If you are interested in working for a sub of one of the nationals, that means you are probably around 4th or 5th on the food chain, and the money is awfully thin at that point.

Yes, everything I just mentioned is pretty cynical; it's also based on fact and experience. Preservation work is truly a "don't quit your day job" type of sideline. The money train has passed for the lower tier contractors. Read thru the forum and you'll pretty much find all the answers to your questions in much more detail and from other viewpoints. Godspeed.


----------



## PropPresPro (Apr 12, 2012)

The quickest way to figure out if this is going to be lucrative for you is to start by asking what they are offering per grass cut (trust me, they have a # in mind). Chances are you will want them to double if not triple their initial offer! If they are willing to negotiate the price they give you, you can bet it won't be more than about 5-15%. If that won't get the price up to where you need it to be, then you'll know not to waste your time in the first place. 

If you can't come to a monetary agreement on the grass cuts, you can bet all the other work they are dangling out as a carrot in front of you will pay relatively the same - or worse.

Welcome to the wonderful world of property preservation & preservationtalk.com!


----------



## cover2 (Apr 3, 2013)

wvm1981 said:


> Whats up guys,
> I recently met up with a property management co. That has contracts with Fannie Mae and a couple other nationals. They are needing a subcontractor for the lawn care and maintenance part of their operation. Last year they had 80 properties to maintain but are unsure of how many they will have this year. She told me that the season starts on March 1st. This is in the Dundee area of Illinois which is close to the Chicagoland. Now we have about 8 inches of snow on the ground right now so March 1st will be a surprise to me. But anyway I am actually a Painter by trade so this Property Preservation is some what new to me. But I am going to see if I can boost my income (hopefully) by providing the lawn care and maintenance to get my foot in the door and then hopefully get into the construction part of their operation. But for now I am going to have to start out with the lawn care. So I am wanting to get every penny out of this company I can. My problem is that I am unfamiliar with the going rates for the lawn care and maintenance. How do I determine whether or not the rates they are willing to pay are fair? I know there are different variations of lawn care for each property. i.e hedge trimming, tree trimming, lawn cuts, recuts etc. I have all of my own equipment which I was told will get me a little more pay. Bottom line is i'm not goin to do the work unless I am going to make a decent amount of money. So I would like to see if anyone of you guys could give me a range of rates that seem to be the going rates for someone in my situation. One more quick question I have noticed quite a few posts with the reference "QC" what exactly is that referring to?


 Welcome, GTX explained it perfectly!


----------



## tomwalshco (Mar 15, 2014)

Here's Fannie lawn rates:
https://www.fanniemae.com/content/tool/property-preservation-matrix.pdf
and it will depend on how many hands in the pie to figure what you get paid. But when the smoke clears, you'll probably end up with about 30-40% of these published $$.


----------



## REOmadness (Jun 8, 2013)

drop your painting prices in half and you will make more money than doing recuts.


----------



## idalialuna1 (Apr 9, 2015)

wvm1981 said:


> Whats up guys,
> I recently met up with a property management co. That has contracts with Fannie Mae and a couple other nationals. They are needing a subcontractor for the lawn care and maintenance part of their operation. Last year they had 80 properties to maintain but are unsure of how many they will have this year. She told me that the season starts on March 1st. This is in the Dundee area of Illinois which is close to the Chicagoland. Now we have about 8 inches of snow on the ground right now so March 1st will be a surprise to me. But anyway I am actually a Painter by trade so this Property Preservation is some what new to me. But I am going to see if I can boost my income (hopefully) by providing the lawn care and maintenance to get my foot in the door and then hopefully get into the construction part of their operation. But for now I am going to have to start out with the lawn care. So I am wanting to get every penny out of this company I can. My problem is that I am unfamiliar with the going rates for the lawn care and maintenance. How do I determine whether or not the rates they are willing to pay are fair? I know there are different variations of lawn care for each property. i.e hedge trimming, tree trimming, lawn cuts, recuts etc. I have all of my own equipment which I was told will get me a little more pay. Bottom line is i'm not goin to do the work unless I am going to make a decent amount of money. So I would like to see if anyone of you guys could give me a range of rates that seem to be the going rates for someone in my situation. One more quick question I have noticed quite a few posts with the reference "QC" what exactly is that referring to?


Quality control inspection


----------



## OscarKane (Jun 6, 2015)

Your lawn plays a crucial role in the exterior good looks of your home, so its maintenance is imperative. Hiring a professional to care for your lawn will help avoid patches, browning and rats or diseases.


----------

