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I got a phone call from a lady living in Californicate yesterday regarding a rental property they have in a gated community a few miles from my shop. She said that the property is in a need of a serious cleanup and its to the point where she will get THE feared letter from the HOA that basicly says "clean up the mess or we will do it for you and charge it with a fine". She also said that they would come up to do it themselves except they were leaving on a 10 day vacation to Belize that's been it the works for the past 6 months as a 16th birthday present to their daughter; and "could you please call us before 8:30 pm on Friday because we are leaving for the airport".
I go see the property today, and "a mess" is an understatement! Gee whiz, the renter has done zero effort in keeping up the property, which is .46 acres and a very visable corner lot. I spent a significant block of time measuring and computing the need to do a post emergent herbicide application, cleanup strategies, and doing a pre emergent herbicide application at the end. Part of the clean up strategy would be removing all of the useless weed fabric under all of the healthy weeds. I even went back with my wife in the afternoon to discuss the property and the costs involved.
I called at 7:30pm and told the lady that the property was a disaster and it would cost $4800 +tax. She asks if that included mulch, and I said NO. I could hear the audable gasp and she quickly hands me off to her husband. His response was "NO: WE CAN'T AFFORD THAT"!
Gee Whiz. They are going to Belize for 10 days as a birthday gift to a 16 year old daughter, but they can't afford to clean up the house they used to live in and now rent out? 3 bedroom homes in this gated community would most likely rent out at $1500-$2000/month!
I kid you not, this project is essentially a re landscape project. The mulch estimate alone is 50-75 cy and its cheaper to blow it in than for me to spread it. Total costs could easily come close to $10,000 to do it right.
Screw Em. I got alot to do anyway.
I go see the property today, and "a mess" is an understatement! Gee whiz, the renter has done zero effort in keeping up the property, which is .46 acres and a very visable corner lot. I spent a significant block of time measuring and computing the need to do a post emergent herbicide application, cleanup strategies, and doing a pre emergent herbicide application at the end. Part of the clean up strategy would be removing all of the useless weed fabric under all of the healthy weeds. I even went back with my wife in the afternoon to discuss the property and the costs involved.
I called at 7:30pm and told the lady that the property was a disaster and it would cost $4800 +tax. She asks if that included mulch, and I said NO. I could hear the audable gasp and she quickly hands me off to her husband. His response was "NO: WE CAN'T AFFORD THAT"!
Gee Whiz. They are going to Belize for 10 days as a birthday gift to a 16 year old daughter, but they can't afford to clean up the house they used to live in and now rent out? 3 bedroom homes in this gated community would most likely rent out at $1500-$2000/month!
I kid you not, this project is essentially a re landscape project. The mulch estimate alone is 50-75 cy and its cheaper to blow it in than for me to spread it. Total costs could easily come close to $10,000 to do it right.
Screw Em. I got alot to do anyway.
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