Lawn Care in Portland Duplex

[Bryan Surles]

Hi BP Community,

First time writer, long time listener. I recently acquired my first rental property in Portland. I'm attempting to self-manage remotely as I live in California. It's a duplex that is now fully rented, and I'm struggling with the lawn care aspect of the property. The grass was not getting watered properly, and we finally figured out how to turn on the automated sprinkler. This began to resolve the issue, but then created more.

First, my "lawn care" company just mows the lawn and trims the bushes. They did not want to get involved in helping to resolve the automated sprinklers. And a couple of bushes are now too far gone, and they will not help replace the shrubs. I'm wondering if this is to be expected, or if I need to find a new lawn upkeep company. As this is my first post, is it OK to ask if anyone have recommended lawn care / gardeners for the Portland area? If not, then can someone let me know if this kind of restricted service from a lawn care company is unusual?

Second, I just got the water bill, and it's over $500 for two months! My rent says they tenants pay the water, but the contract is a fixed rate that would equal $240. Are there ways to send the tenants a bill for the overage, or do I just wait for the first year to expire, and adjust the rate up based on the previous 12 months?

Any other guidance on lawn care / gardening via long distance management would be appreciated!

Cheers,

-Bryan

[Lisa W.]

I assume you mean Portland, OR. I have a SFH and duplex here. My experience is that yard maintenance companies here charge a lot and don't do much other than "mow and blow". And even then they don't do a great job. Also, seems they want you to sign on for ongoing monthly maintenance ($300!) even though it's not really necessary some months (winter). So I now have tenants responsible for yard maintenance. They don't necessarily do a great job either, but has worked out so far. One tenant really liked gardening and did things well.

Re: water bill....the water bills for SFH in Portland are VERY high, relative to other places nearby. Much of it is fixed cost due to large infrastructure projects (google "big pipe"), but there's also been some political finagling. The per unit water bill in a high rise condo is about $10/mo per person, whereas for a SFH and smaller plexes it's about $40. The Portland Tribune has a good article explaining it all. My duplex doesn't have separate meters, so for years I paid the water and bundled it into the rent. Then my tenants had unauthorized people living with them and water usage went way up. Last year I belatedly discovered RUBS (better late than never!), so now the duplex tenants pay $30 pppm for water.