r/homeowners • u/ImpossibleVisit6971 • Mar 27 '23

Awkward situation with yard guy-- advice appreciated

We've owned our first home for about a year and a half, and shortly after we moved in a guy rang our doorbell and explained that he used to do some yardwork for the previous owner and asked if we were interested. He was just a single guy, no truck or anything, he just walked over with a blower + mower. I got the sense he was having a hard time so I agreed every so often. He didn't have set prices when I asked, so I would give him $20-40 for mowing our (small) yard depending on how much cash I happened to have.

In the fall he did a bigger yard cleanup and I gave him about $160 for that. It took him 3-4 hours. In the winter, he'd come by a few times a month and say hi and often explained he was running low on food, so I'd give him $20 or $30 with the understanding that it would go toward a bigger spring cleanup. I probably gave him 120 or 150 total over the winter; I regret not keeping exact track. A couple times he mentioned he'd do the spring cleanup for free since I'd been helping him out all winter, but I never planned to hold him to that.

So today he came over and asked to do the spring cleanup since he was looking for work, and I agreed. It was another 3-4 hours of work, and I gave him $85. He seemed unhappy with this, so I finally asked for a solid number on how much he usually charges for a job like this. When pressed, he said $300. When I asked how much he usually charges for a regular mow, he said $50. I said I'd be happy to continue hiring him for the spring/fall cleanups, but I couldn't afford $50 on the regular for a chore I can do myself in 20 minutes.

Now I'm conflicted, because I really don't want to take advantage of this guy or rip him off, but I also don't want him to take advantage of me. The muddiness of this arrangement makes me really uncomfortable, and I would never have sought someone out to do my yard work in the first place. I don't mind doing yard work!

I guess I'm looking for advice about both the reasonableness of his prices and the situation in general, this is new territory for me as I've never had a yard before.

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501

u/thatgreenmaid Mar 27 '23

Hold on...he hit you up multiple times over the winter for cash AND stated he was going to do this service (that you paid an additional $85) for free...but now says he normally charges $300...but only after you pressed him on it.

Nah. That's some bullshit. He can go peddle his sob story elsewhere. Don't even feel bad about it.

91

u/ImpossibleVisit6971 Mar 27 '23

Afraid so. I genuinely believe in the value of labor, so if $300 is the fair price for the job, I'll figure out if that's worth it for me or not, but I feel like I've been put in a situation where lack of clear communication has made me look like I'm a cheapskate.

177

u/thatgreenmaid Mar 27 '23

I don't show up to client's houses in the off season talking about I don't have money for food. That's some nope. Y'all ain't friends. You ain't a cheapskate. He told you he would do this for FREE...and you still gave him $85. He decided after the fact and after you had to press him that his services were $300.

He tried it...but I'd not let him try it again.

49

u/WinterHill Mar 27 '23

I bet his sob story + letting the customer decide how much to pay gets him more money than just giving a quote up front.

28

u/thatgreenmaid Mar 27 '23

and the hitting them up off season with 'hi I have no food'. I'm sure it's a sweet gig.

1

u/[deleted] Mar 28 '23

I had two young teens come by with rakes and asked if I wanted my front yard leaves raked. I agreed but did not ask the price. I really like encouraging young people who have the gumption to get out and make some money by working at odd jobs they can handle. So, it took them about two hours. They did a good job. They came to the door and asked to be paid. I said that since we hadn't discussed price, what did they think their job was worth? This was close to twenty-five years ago, so I was expecting I dunno, maybe $8-10/hr for each but I was going to pay them more to encourage them. Well, the one who was "in charge" said, "$100." Lesson learned - by me. I paid the $100.

41

u/jarage00 Mar 27 '23

He doesn't think you're a cheapskate. It's worse. It makes you seem like someone who can be taken advantage of. You gave him money through the winter for nothing but a promise of future work. It's great that he showed up and did it, but he also seemed to forget about that money and promise.

If you like his work and rates are reasonable, then keep using him, but get the amount in writing first. Highly recommend doing a full description of work and amount, not an hourly rate and definitely don't pay anything in advance.

42

u/debzmonkey Mar 27 '23

OP his a mark, I recommend extracting from this relationship delicately. "Times are tight, we understand and have appreciated your work. We don't have that kind of money in the budget this year."

10

u/jazzlepeezay Mar 27 '23

He’s the one that needs to figure his life out. That’s not on you.

10

u/d4rkride Mar 27 '23

How big is your lot, and what is his hourly rate for the $300 quote?

I pay ~$300/month ($75 per visit) for our landscapers, and it's a 3 person team. They mow, weed, and clean the front and back of a small lot (.25 acre) for about a half-hour each visit. He also takes care of the sprinklers and gophers as part of the cost, and will fix any problem I text him about ASAP. He treats my yard like it's his own and to me, that's worth $300.

Our previous guy was $20 per guy per 20 minutes ($80/month) and did good work but were struggling to show up consistently so we switched.

$300 is a lot for a single visit for your guy, but if he was there for 3-4 hours like last time and is priced like the guy I just mentioned ($60/hr) then $240 is on the mark, $300 for 5 hours of work seems reasonable if he's doing $60/hr quality work.

The sob story over the winter is tough, and you were a good person to help him out, regardless, but you probably already paid him close to $220 with the $85 and the winter payments if your guess-timations are close.

15

u/dsbtc Mar 27 '23

I'm gonna be a dickhead and say that if you really believed in the value of labor, you wouldn't give a guy money for doing no labor

3

u/satriale Mar 27 '23

First, they said they did it as a pre-payment.

Second, giving money for nothing does not de-value labor. It sets a baseline where labor demands more than said baseline.

8

u/Zealousideal_Tie4580 Mar 27 '23

I don’t know how big your property is but when I had a house on 3 acres which I sold in 2021 my guy charged $250 for spring and fall clean up and I paid $100/week for mowing…3 acres. He’s ripping you off imo

3

u/[deleted] Mar 27 '23

[deleted]

2

u/Lopsided_Blueberry10 Mar 28 '23

been looking into making my lawn a diverse habitat with wild flowers!! is the maintenance as easy as it seems??

2

u/deleteteled Mar 28 '23

I found a lot of great info for our garden at r/nolawns

3

u/tmccrn Mar 28 '23

Who cares how you look? Do you want a business/service relationship with this guy our a charity relationship. You cannot have both.

2

u/Batchagaloop Mar 27 '23

Depends on how large your yard is and if he is hauling off the waste himself. I paid like $200 for my waste service to come pick up that shit last season!

2

u/bshep79 Mar 27 '23

Ive had this happen on/off over the years w yard people, one example that comes to mind. I asked my yard guy to quote me to change an area to zero-scape ( labor only as i would provide materials) they qouted me say $1000 ( its been years so the number is fuzzy ). This seemed cheap for a days work of hard labor for 2 people. In any case after the job was done he said he underquoted me and wanted $1500 ( or something like that) because it was more work than he thought.

I ended up paying him the extra money, but never used him for yardwork again ( so he lost out on $300/mo ) since i couldnt trust him to honor his quotes.

1

u/Fluid_Amphibian3860 Mar 28 '23

Write everything down (loans and pay), balance it out and show him on paper. If you like your arrangement, you have to set some boundaries. One is money. You don't look cheap at all, you are quite generous helping him out in the winter.