5 Property Management Tips for Vacation or Second Homes in Bozeman & Big Sky, MT

Written By: Andrew Blanchford

Apr 20, 2020 10:16:52 AM

As a property manager in the Bozeman or Big Sky, MT area, your clients count on you to keep their vacation properties and second homes looking and performing their best when they can’t be there. They put their trust in you and expect you to deliver on your promises. The last thing that they want is to show up to their property and see an overgrown mess—or even worse, a problem that was left unaddressed.

It’s your reputation on the line when something goes wrong.

For that reason, you need to partner with a professional that you can trust. You need to find a landscape professional that can be your outdoor expert and handle all of the property’s ongoing landscape maintenance needs so it continues to look and perform optimally.

Of course, there’s no room for cutting corners or making mistakes. You need to be able to feel confident that you’ve hired a professional you can trust—who will become a true asset to you so that you can be an asset to your clients.

To help you get the most out of a partnership with a landscape professional, we’ve rounded up some property management tips to keep in mind. These are the types of things that a landscape pro can help you handle—assuming you find the best pro for the job.

1. The Best Landscapers Spot Problems Early and Get Solutions in Action

One of the biggest benefits of partnering with a landscape company is that they can be on the lookout for potential problems that could arise within the landscape. Busy property managers don’t have time to always be on-site at the various homes they oversee. And even when you are, there’s a good chance you’ve got plenty of other tasks to be taking care of rather than scouting for potential landscape problems.

That’s why having additional professional “eyes on the property” can be really helpful. 

Well-maintained home and landscape in Big Sky, MT

When a landscape professional is regularly tending to the property, you can rest assured they’ll be keeping a watchful eye on potential concerns that may be brewing. For instance, issues related to disease or pests can pop up one day and quickly take over, before you’ve had the chance to properly address them. That could mean a lot of damage. It’s so important that these types of problems are spotted early and dealt with before becoming more serious.

Even if it’s not a landscape issue, if you find a landscape pro that you trust (and know that you can count on), you can gain peace of mind that they’ll be looking for other potential problems, too—even if it’s outside the scope of what they normally handle. It honestly does help to have those extra eyes on the property when you can’t be there. 

Maybe you’re not yet aware that there’s been ice damage to spoutings or a tree limb has come down on a roof. Extra eyes on the property can mean finding out sooner that you have a concern that needs to be addressed. 

2. A Great Landscape Partner Can Help Connect You to Other Pros

As someone who handles property management for homes in Bozeman and Big Sky, MT, you probably know a lot of people and have a lot of local connections. But it never hurts to have more! And you might not know all of the best outdoor experts for your various needs. 

Who is best to call if the property owner wants a fence? Who could handle large tree maintenance or removal? While these are tasks that many landscape professionals do not delve into, the best landscape pros have built up a network of professionals that they can reach out to when you need other services. They know who is best for the job because they’ve built long-term relationships with these folks.

Even better, they can also serve as the general contractor for any of these additional tasks that need to be handled, if you desire. You’ve got a lot on your plate and if it’s easier for you to tell your landscape professional what you need completed and let them handle it from there, that is one less project for you to oversee. Oftentimes, property managers don’t want to have to deal with a bunch of different pros. They’d rather have one partner that they can trust to handle all of their outdoor needs. 

It simplifies things.

Of course, some property managers do prefer to be the one overseeing things, no matter how many different projects are in the works. 

That’s fine, too. 

The best landscape pros will also be more than willing to share recommendations and suggest who you can call. You need a fence or to have a tree removed? Do you need an irrigation system or a rainwater harvest system installed? No problem—your landscape professional can tell you exactly who would be best for the job and let you take it from there. 

That’s because the best landscapers want you to know you can count on them and that includes sharing valuable resources. They won’t try to keep them all to themselves. They’ll view you as a true partner and be more than willing to extend their knowledge and local resources as part of that.

3. The Best Landscape Professionals are Highly Responsive

Do you have a client coming in unexpectedly and the property needs a quick freshening up? Perhaps you have renters that booked an extended stay and now you want to make a great first-impression. 

Vacation home maintained by property manager

A really great landscaping partner is going to be highly responsive and able to accommodate requests such as this. A quick installation job with some fresh seasonal flowers could make a huge difference in the property’s appearance but you might not have time to wait weeks to get it done. 

If you’ve built a good relationship with a landscape professional that you can count on, these types of jobs can get completed promptly and make you look like a real hero. 

Similarly, you also want your landscape professional to be responsive when there are problems. You don’t want to have to wait days or weeks to hear back for someone when there’s an issue that needs to be addressed promptly. Unfortunately, some landscape pros can be hard to reach and may not value the importance of your relationship. 

It’s important that you find a landscaper that is going to put your needs at the forefront and help prioritize work that really does need to be completed quickly.

4. Valuable Landscape Pros Go the Extra Mile

As you probably know, not all landscape professionals are created equally. You may have worked with some in the past that really left you unimpressed. One of the big differentiators separating the best landscape professionals from those that are mediocre is that the great ones go the extra mile.

Oftentimes that means “sweating the small stuff.” They think about those little details that matter on your landscape such as blowing the grass trimmings off of the driveway (no matter how few there are) or putting something exactly back in place if they moved it.

But sometimes that also means performing tasks that are outside of their typical service list. For instance, it’s not your landscape professional’s job to sweep the porch, but if they see it needs a good “dusting off,” they’ll just do it. 

That’s the kind of landscape professional that you want to work with. One that has your back and that is out to make you look as good as possible. They’ll go the extra mile just because and you don’t have to ask them to do every little thing. 

After all, having to babysit your landscaper is just a bunch of added work for you. The last thing you want to have to do is constantly check up on them to make sure they’re getting the tasks completed that you need them to. When they’re often going the extra mile, you know that not only is the “to-do” list getting finished, but they’re consistently producing the best results. 

5. Find a Landscape Pro You Can Count On

As someone who handles property management for homes in Bozeman and Big Sky, MT, you know that trust is everything. Your clients put all of their trust in you. You are the one that gives them peace of mind and assurance that their property is in good hands when they can’t be there. 

Vacation home with well-maintained landscape

That is why  you must also have a landscape professional you can trust so that they can help you fulfill your promises to the client and truly keep their property in spectacular shape. 

In the end, it really does come down to having someone you can count on. 

As we mentioned, not all landscape companies are the same. Many are mere “order takers” and will check off the to-do list as fast as they can before moving onto the next property. 

But you need something more than that.

You need a landscape professional who will truly care about the property and the way in which it evolves; a company that people who are going to be as invested in the landscape as you are your clients because they truly care.

Choosing Blanchford Landscape Group for Your Property Management Needs

At Blanchford Landscape Group, we are proud to partner with property managers in Bozeman and Big Sky, MT and provide the landscaping expertise that they are looking for. 

Our maintenance services fall under our Garden Services Division, which is a branch of our company solely focused on caring for properties even as their needs grow and evolve with time (as landscapes naturally do). We pride ourselves on being complete “outdoor experts” and can handle as much (or all) of your outdoor needs, taking the burden off of you.

It honestly means a lot to us that we’ve become a landscape company that other professionals in our region trust for all of their outdoor needs. By partnering with us, we’ll help make you look like a star in the eyes of your clients.

If you’re a property manager in the Bozeman or Big Sky, MT area and would like to learn more about how we can provide landscaping services to your properties, let’s connect. We love partnering with winners and would love a chance to succeed together.

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Topics: Property Managers

Posted by Andrew Blanchford

Andy grew up in southeast Pennsylvania. He holds a Bachelors of Science Degree from Pennsylvania State University in Landscape Contracting. He is a Certified Plant Professional and is the only Certified Landscape Industry Manager in Montana. When not at work he has fun with his family. He also enjoys travel, trail running, skiing, and the great Montana outdoors.

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