Lawn Care Prices? (Austin, Spring, Howe: HOA, homes, promotional) - Texas (TX) - City-Data Forum

grassbusterdesigns · 10-14-2013, 05:10 PM

Hey, I would first and foremost like to say hello to all the wonderful and friendly Austin residents! Me and my wife are new to the area from up north! The area is wonderful and full of helpful and friendly people. I was very happy that I found such a large forum where I could learn and research about the resources Austin has to offer.

To my question,

Up north, I've operated a successful lawn care business for many years. I graduated with a degree in Horticulture and have a passion and love for taking care of lawns and I see that many folks in Austin also take the same pride in their lawns. However, every area the economy is different, lawns are different, and peoples vary in personalities. Next year, I'm looking at re-opening my business in the Austin area and am very unfamiliar with the market here. I know many people live in many different areas of Austin, but it would be wonderful if someone could help me out with some questions I need answered to fulfill my research before reopening by business.

I'm looking for the average lawn care price or the many different prices that you guys in the sub-divisions are paying for your basic lawn services. (Cutting, Edging, Trimming, Leaf Blowing) I'm definitely not looking to advertise or sell no services considering I'm going to wait until the Spring time to get started back into business. I would just like to know the average going rate for the Austin area. As I mentioned earlier I have a passion for keeping lawns looking beautiful and I love taking care of peoples lawn as if it we're my own lawn. I try to earn enough to make a living, while enjoying what I do and I want people to feel like their getting one of the best deals in town, while I'm able to give back to the community and support my family.

Edit* I also failed to mention it help me with my research if you guys could mention if your lawn service is being performed weekly, bi-weekly, or even if your charged a monthly rate!

I look forward to hearing what people are paying for their services and also look forward to chatting with you guys and learning about the many resources Austin has to offer and also appreciate greatly any word that anyone here has to offer!

Reggieray · 10-14-2013, 07:33 PM

We use justrightlawns.com when I looked around they where the only ones that did all you mentioned for a reasonable price. The lowest they I think is $23 for small lots weekly service. We have a pretty big 15k sqft corner lot and they agreed to do it for the smaller lot size price for us for only $33 a week. This is something that would take me 3 hours to complete weekly so it's easily worth it. They always come on same day and listen to any special directions I give them.

GreenPlastic · 10-14-2013, 07:44 PM

I have .20 acre lot in central Austin...big front yard, small back. I am charged $40 per week.

grassbusterdesigns · 10-14-2013, 09:27 PM

I really appreciate both of your help. Like I said I'm not here to advertise and it's by far not allowed in the forums that I know of, so I'm going to keep to the legal side of the forums so I can continue to use the forums for useful information. I by far appreciate both of you taking the time to help me out. I would like to get several more people to chime in on the subject. To help both of you in return for the information, from a lawn business owners perspective I will give both of you guys my input. Reggie Ray, from what I know a lot of guys I've worked with do minimums of $25. - $40. minimums. $23.00 is extremely cheap and $10.00 extra, especially for 15k sqft. I would tell you you're getting an excellent deal. To GreenPlastic, .20 acres for 40 is what a lot of the commercial guys push for. I couldn't tell you an honest price without seeing your lawn, $40.00 is about average for where I come from for a neighborhood lot. Being a weekly account, I would shoot it at them and see if you could get a better deal. I have to keep food on the families plate, so I can't go too low, but I just enjoy working on lawns overall. Where I come from I was doing $24.99 weeklies and $29.99 bi-weeklies. Usually if you're on a weekly, you should shoot for the lower end of the average. Might be something to think about, but also remember there is a lot of lazy people out there. So if you're getting a quality service and they're doing an excellent job, don't think their getting over on you at all, you're getting an average commercial price, but by far not the cheapest. Just always remember the cheapest price might not be the best. If you get an average price and good quality work, you're doing good.

10scoachrick · 10-14-2013, 10:28 PM

I think it's going to depend a lot on the areas you serve. Some folks want more than weekly mow, blow and go...others want the bare minimum to satisfy their HOA. Hard to count the number of lawnscape crews in our old neighborhood of 350 homes...couple dozen, I'll bet. Some are indie guys with one truck, others two guys with a trailer of equipment, others still with corporate logos and lots of equipment.

Many of the regulars in our hood of 1/3 ac + lots charged $35 for mow, blow and go. Gets more complicated with acorns, leaf season, trimming, etc.

grassbusterdesigns · 10-19-2013, 08:53 AM

Thank you all for your input very much, it is very much appreciated!

I have one more quick question. When people are advertising in your area what is the most feasible to you guys from a home owners perspective. I'm thinking about doing door to door fliers, news paper ads, CL, and online marketing. However, some people feel intruded by being bothered in their home or "personal space." Does it bother you guys if someone passed out fliers door to door offering you a chance to save money? I've seen discussions in the past about people getting upset about the flyers. To a degree I understand, but also someone trying to save you money year in and year out? I don't see an issue for the most part. I'm hoping the Austin people are more laid back about this? Any ideas on what works best in this area for those of you that have lived here for a while?

Austin97 · 10-19-2013, 10:08 AM

90% of it is going to be word of mouth recommendations, or seeing someones truck with the logo at the neighbors house.

The guy that does our yard does almost all our neighbors in the cul de sac. People used different vendors but eventually switched to him

Cardiff Giant · 10-20-2013, 08:36 PM

I have a .25 lot in a subdivision of 400 homes in west Austin. One of the crews that services my neighborhood charges $40 to mow and blow the leaves into my bushes/my neighbors yard/the greenbelt. I only use them occasionally as I think they are sloppy. They are quick, however. They roll thru my yard with some big mowers like a pit crew. They only do my yard when it is too hot or I am too lazy/busy to take care of it myself.

It seems like there are 2-3 crews that work in my neighborhood. I have no evidence of this, but they all seem very territorial. I found out about the one that I use via my neighbor. To be honest, while they don't upset me in any way, when I get a flyer on my door, I toss it.

Welcome to Austin! Good luck with the business.

tibbar · 10-20-2013, 08:57 PM

I will answer the question of door flyers.

I hate them and don't want them on my door. They are a red flag that we are out of town and I don't like having to ask my neighbors to check my door for flyers while we are gone. I have now put a "No Soliciting No Flyers" sign on our door and that seems to have stopped 99% of them. Before that I had a sign saying "please put flyers in basket" and had a basket door knob height beside the door. That worked for the most part but some still rubber banded things to the doorknob.

10scoachrick · 10-21-2013, 06:48 AM

Yeah, skip the flyers. I have a personal rule against patronizing any business that drops any unsolicited promotional material on the driveway, yard or front porch(including the garbage stuck in the door). I've broken that rule once; but I had a chat with a manager in the company and they have not(to my knowledge) placed flyers in the three years since.

Print some flyers with your information; but only hand those out person to person or leave with a customer who might make a referral or two.

One thing worse than front door spam is illegal sign spam. Any business that posts illegal signage in the neighborhood or along the roadside has ZERO chance of getting my business.

It likely won't be easy building your business...it's not hard finding a lawnscaping company to do adequate work at a reasonable price. You'll have a challenge distinguishing your service from the zillions of others out there...just need to do a decent job at a fair price and encourage your clients to recommend your service to their neighbors. With the drought going on five years now, plenty of folks are just doing the minimum to keep the HOA happy.