How Much to Invest in Landscaping for Rental Property?

[Kristine Groemping]

We bought a short sale back in Oct 2019 and have been doing the renovation on it since.  Unfortunately, we had our first terrible contractor experience and have to hire a new one to both redo and finish the work.  Meanwhile, the front and backyard are a mess!  

The front yard is on a pretty steep hill and is covered in weeds.  There are some trees that need trimming and smaller ones that need removing.  The backyard is an unleveled pile of dirt.  The construction crew had to dig it up for egress windows.  There is more of course (drainage and concrete issues) but for now we really just want to get it cleaned up and presentable.  

This is in an area of D.C./MD that does not demand the best of the best. I would say a B- neighborhood boarding an A neighborhood. The landscaper we had come out today was horrified by the state of our yard and quoted $50-60K.  This would totally be understandable if this was our forever home but it's a rental property.  I'm not really sure what I should be searching for.  

How do we hire someone just to come out and clean up (post-renovation) on an almost foreclosed home that was neglected for a long time and needs a lot of work and debris removal?  Is that a landscaper or something else?  We want to do some basic work on the yard of course but it doesn't have to look like an A+ property.  The demand for rent in that area will only go so high (about $1200). What we need is someone who is used to doing work on foreclosed homes.

I would appreciate your thoughts on this. Thank you.

Kristine