You wouldn't hire an unlicensed HVAC installer, or unlicensed plumber, you certainly couldn't hire a handful of Landscape companies to come out and trim your shrubs and let you decided which company did the best shrub.  

I have about 5 years Interior Trim carpentry experience.

You don't need to break the bank buying tons of plants and trees and whatnot; just have him mow it nicely, edge the sidewalks, trim the bushes, and cut out a few flower beds.

Can landscaping be upgraded or trimmed back?

We closed on our first SFR last month and the first thing I did was clean up and trim bushes.

Its the screws, gaskets and trim pieces that add up and end up costing about 65 a square. 

I've got some light siding repair on one house...maybe trim some large limbs at another...I do have a small AC job but will probably hire someone for that. 

That's labor and materials for walls, trim, and ceilings.

One thing you need to consider is that usually the popcorn ceilings or even troweled ceilings create a lot of dust plus it's an easy way for builders to hide imperfections and slam things through on cheap houses.If you scrape you might find a bunch of leveling problems and other things exposed that looks like crap unless it is coated and hidden in some way.The higher end homes here have the smooth ceilings just like the walls with heavy trim packages.

Front of Bldg photo, take at angle so you capture the front entry more.Kitchen wider longer view.. no close up of the canned lights who cares.The crown molding shows nice in the main livingroom photo, I'd remove the shot of just the trim. and the new ceiling light is nice but a photo isn't needed..Photo of bathroom ??