[Dave5]

I am in the middle of the purchase of a new home in Richmond. Our closing date is in a few weeks. This will be a winter home for us and we won't be down much this year - just a few times to get some furnishings and check on things.
I am wondering what is needed as far as outdoor maintenance is concerned. I have been reading about mowing, trimming, and pest control.
Do you have any recommendations for people who do this work?

We did get a quote from Massey for the following:

Mowing $1080/yr
Weeding $698/yr
Monthly Landscape Service $857/yr
Bi-monthly lawn or shrub service $642/yr
Pest prevention $249/yr (first year)
Irrigation $190/yr
--------------------------------
Total: $3716/yr (Approx $310/month)

Being from up north, I don't know if these numbers are high, low, or within reason.

Wondering, are all of these services essential? The person at Massey said most people don't choose everything quoted.

Is it recommended to change the locks when you move in?

Also, if you have any thoughts about anything I may have overlooked, please let me know.

Thanks so much for any help. Very excited to become a Villager!!!

[Walker Industries]

Originally Posted by Dave5

I am in the middle of the purchase of a new home in Richmond. Our closing date is in a few weeks. This will be a winter home for us and we won't be down much this year - just a few times to get some furnishings and check on things.
I am wondering what is needed as far as outdoor maintenance is concerned. I have been reading about mowing, trimming, and pest control.
Do you have any recommendations for people who do this work?

We did get a quote from Massey for the following:

Mowing $1080/yr
Weeding $698/yr
Monthly Landscape Service $857/yr
Bi-monthly lawn or shrub service $642/yr
Pest prevention $249/yr (first year)
Irrigation $190/yr
--------------------------------
Total: $3716/yr (Approx $310/month)

Being from up north, I don't know if these numbers are high, low, or within reason.

Wondering, are all of these services essential? The person at Massey said most people don't choose everything quoted.

Is it recommended to change the locks when you move in?

Also, if you have any thoughts about anything I may have overlooked, please let me know.

Thanks so much for any help. Very excited to become a Villager!!!

Feel free to give us a call for quotes!
A Cutting Edge
Here is the link to our website:
Lawn Care | Cutting Edge The Vilages
Have a great day, Walker

[Gpsma]

That quote is extremely high. Lots of good lawn people here...check around

[Papa_lecki]

Seems high, i use CHoice Maintenance.

You’ll want

Mowing
Trimming
Weed control

I do use Massey for pest

I also underestimated having someone look at the irrigation. In the northeast, we shut irrigation off in the winter, so when we turn on, it gets a once over. About every 18 months, I pay someone to come look at the heads and coverage - not a contract, just an irrigation person, a few hundred dollars a visit.

[Babubhat]

Zoysia green for pest and fertilizer. Pay for lawn cutting separately and avoid markups. The rest pay per visit if needed

[splashes]

outragous price I use Massey for pest and lawn fertilization get a lawn cutters to give you a price I use Chadd lawn care they can do cutting and removing weeds in the shrub area. You dont need sprinkler service

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by Dave5

I am in the middle of the purchase of a new home in Richmond. Our closing date is in a few weeks. This will be a winter home for us and we won't be down much this year - just a few times to get some furnishings and check on things.
I am wondering what is needed as far as outdoor maintenance is concerned. I have been reading about mowing, trimming, and pest control.
Do you have any recommendations for people who do this work?

We did get a quote from Massey for the following:

Mowing $1080/yr
Weeding $698/yr
Monthly Landscape Service $857/yr
Bi-monthly lawn or shrub service $642/yr
Pest prevention $249/yr (first year)
Irrigation $190/yr
--------------------------------
Total: $3716/yr (Approx $310/month)

Being from up north, I don't know if these numbers are high, low, or within reason.

Wondering, are all of these services essential? The person at Massey said most people don't choose everything quoted.

Is it recommended to change the locks when you move in?

Also, if you have any thoughts about anything I may have overlooked, please let me know.

Thanks so much for any help. Very excited to become a Villager!!!

I have all of those services with Massey, except pest control, for $1,030 per year on a courtyard villa. I use Massey because, as far as I know, they are the only company who will do everything. It sounds like they have greatly increased their prices, unless you have a very large lot.

[thelegges]

First what size is your lot, and depending on size of your house what percentage is actually lawn. No on shrub maintenance for at least a year. Your tiny landscaping is less than a foot high.

Our current lawn is corner lot with large side and front yard. To walk behind mow it took me 1hour.

We have Deans for mow, trim, weed $100 a month. Pest, termite $70 a month. They trim our 14yo large bushes about every 3 months. Trim the 3 palms when a branch needs it..

Deans does everything you need, give them a call for a quote. Some like Massey, some not so much. Deans is at our house every week, same lawn guy since 2014, and Justine our pest tech has been with us since 2014 also.

Office staff easy to deal with, you will get a response within few hours from tech in field, usually at our house same day or first thing in the morning. If you aren’t here, we get a email, with detailed reports what’s wrong and treatment to fix.

[Garywt]

There are plenty out there, not a fan of Massey. My lawn guy charges $40 a month to cut, trim and blow. I have Deans to cover termites, bug control for the house, lawn and bushes and fertilizer and weed control for the lawn. This is done every other month for $122.

[retiredguy123]

Originally Posted by thelegges

First what size is your lot, and depending on size of your house what percentage is actually lawn. No on shrub maintenance for at least a year. Your tiny landscaping is less than a foot high.

Our current lawn is corner lot with large side and front yard. To walk behind mow it took me 1hour.

We have Deans for mow, trim, weed $100 a month. Pest, termite $70 a month. They trim our 14yo large bushes about every 3 months. Trim the 3 palms when a branch needs it..

Deans does everything you need, give them a call for a quote. Some like Massey, some not so much. Deans is at our house every week, same lawn guy since 2014, and Justine our pest tech has been with us since 2014 also.

Office staff easy to deal with, you will get a response within few hours from tech in field, usually at our house same day or first thing in the morning. If you aren’t here, we get a email, with detailed reports what’s wrong and treatment to fix.

Dean's will not work on irrigation systems, but Massey will. Also, Dean's requires a credit card on file that they can bill monthly. Massey doesn't.

[collegeref]

Hummmmm

Change the Locks in a new home ? Do you think your seller will unbreak in ?

[NMTrue]

Originally Posted by Dave5

I am in the middle of the purchase of a new home in Richmond. Our closing date is in a few weeks. This will be a winter home for us and we won't be down much this year - just a few times to get some furnishings and check on things.
I am wondering what is needed as far as outdoor maintenance is concerned. I have been reading about mowing, trimming, and pest control.
Do you have any recommendations for people who do this work?

We did get a quote from Massey for the following:

Mowing $1080/yr
Weeding $698/yr
Monthly Landscape Service $857/yr
Bi-monthly lawn or shrub service $642/yr
Pest prevention $249/yr (first year)
Irrigation $190/yr
--------------------------------
Total: $3716/yr (Approx $310/month)

Being from up north, I don't know if these numbers are high, low, or within reason.

Wondering, are all of these services essential? The person at Massey said most people don't choose everything quoted.

Is it recommended to change the locks when you move in?

Also, if you have any thoughts about anything I may have overlooked, please let me know.

Thanks so much for any help. Very excited to become a Villager!!!

We just had to fire Massey’s. They never came by to do the work while we were gone for the summer. When we returned it was a bloody mess (lawn and gardens full of huge weeds, didn’t trim bushes or palms, rocks FULL
of weeds). We had to call headquarters to get them to respond. Every time they made excuses about being short handed. I have outside cameras and could see no one was doing the work when they stated it was being done. When they did come, They damaged landscape lights, ripped birdcage screens and destroyed our metal edging with the mower.

We never got our money back for services not rendered but we paid for.

[bowlingal]

Do Not pay anyone in advance!!!

[banjobob]

We fired Massey several years ago , had all their services, now we use Dean’s much better job being done. You can cancel at anytime ,credit card on file .

[thelegges]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

Dean's will not work on irrigation systems, but Massey will. Also, Dean's requires a credit card on file that they can bill monthly. Massey doesn't.

Deans does our irrigation at our rentals. Yes deans does require a CC, but we have used them since 2010 and have never had a problem.
Deans only charges after service is complete for the month. When we had our 1st house on the market, office asked us what to put on hold for services. Didn't get billed for those items.

How many companies can you say my service techs are the same wonderful people since 2014. We used them for our rentals, with two of our long term renters that always thought lawn should look like blue grass up north. Our lawn guy was the same for all three houses, always respectful to the tenents, then emailed us with action. Ad I said some like Massey me not so much.