At Baker Street, we pride ourselves on maintaining our properties to the highest standard. As part of our management services, we coordinate and oversee seasonal work, including lawn care, yard cleanups, snow removal, gutter maintenance, and sprinkler system start-ups/shut-offs when applicable. Our goal is to ensure our properties look their best. We regularly check the exterior condition through our monthly exterior property visits.

When we onboard a property, we will gather all the necessary seasonal information to manage these processes via the onboarding forms, our initial property visit, or a conversation with the owner. The key information we need is:

• If there are any active seasonal contracts with vendors.
• If there are shared driveways or areas.
• If the HOA handles any seasonal work.
• If there is a sprinkler system, and if it’s currently on/off.
• If there are any gutter guards and when the last gutter cleaning occurred.
• Any additional seasonal notes that would be helpful in managing the property.

Turnover & Vacancy

We manage seasonal work during vacant periods when tenants would normally be responsible for these tasks. This includes when we are onboarding a new property that is not currently leased or during the turnover period between tenants moving out and new tenants moving in.

Such work may include lawn care, yard cleanup, and snow removal per City guidelines.

During these periods, we maintain the property to high standards, setting an example of the exterior maintenance quality we expect from incoming tenants. We find that handing off a property in good condition encourages tenants to maintain that standard.

In the Spring, we contact owners where lawn care is provided per the lease agreement with the seasonal pricing and scope of work.

As a general rule of thumb, lawn care service is provided for all multi-unit buildings and campus properties. Single-family houses are up to the owner’s discretion, but tenants are generally responsible for lawn care. Typically, lawn care season begins in May and ends mid-late October. The lawn is serviced on a biweekly or weekly basis.

Tenant Responsibility

Many tenants are responsible for lawn care at their properties. The exceptions are any building with multiple units, any units that are part of an association (such as a condo or apartment building), or where the lease explicitly designates that the owner provides lawn care. We encourage owners to provide a lawn mower if the tenants are responsible.

If tenants do not take care of the lawn as required in the lease agreement, Baker Street may send their preferred vendor to service it and charge the cost back to tenants. The City or township may ticket a property if the grass is too long and unmanaged; if the property is ticketed and a tenant is responsible for lawn care, then Baker Street may pass along the fee to the tenant. If it’s a recurring issue, then Baker Street may charge the tenant a lease violation fee.

Baker Street conducts comprehensive yard cleanups twice a year—in spring and fall—for properties with included lawn care or when owners request this service.

We work with a licensed vendor who provides us with preferred pricing and priority scheduling. Prior to the clean up, we will email owners with details on the seasonal scope of work and pricing. The seasonal pricing may vary per season and per property but averages $600 - $800 total per cleanup.

The general cleanup scope of work includes:

• Cleaning up all of the yard space of leaves and debris
• Cleaning any garden beds (removing dead leaves, dead plants, trash, etc.)
• Sweeping off porches and entrances of properties
• Hauling and disposing of yard waste and trash

Any properties that require additional services such as seeding, application of topsoil to repair grass patches, large branch removal, shrub or tree trimming, mulching, or pressure washing will be billed separately up to $500. We would seek approval for anything beyond this threshold.

We regularly service gutters for all properties; the only exceptions are properties where exterior elements are managed by the HOA (e.g., condos, and townhomes).

We partner with a gutter specialist called Gutter Doctor. They specialize in routine and preventative gutter and drainage maintenance. They are extremely knowledgeable, with over 40 years of experience, reasonably priced, and great to work with.

Process

• Gutter Doctor services all properties’ gutters semi-annually (in the Fall and the Spring). The only exceptions would be condos, apartments, or properties where an HOA manages exterior elements such as gutters or where new gutters have been installed.
• ‍Our vendor performs both gutter cleaning and a thorough inspection process, addressing repairs to the gutters if needed.
• Poor drainage is a major cause of basement leaks, so proactive maintenance is essential. Basement foundation repairs and waterproofing systems are often expensive, and this approach addresses the root cause of many of these issues.

How Billing Works

• Our preferred vendor Gutter Doctor provides us with a seasonal rate for the entire year.
• The seasonal rate includes inspecting, servicing and cleaning the gutters semi-annually (in the Fall and the Spring). The rate usually $275 - $325 total for the entire year.
• In the case that there are gutter guards or if cleaning may not be required, then no fee is charged if gutters remained clear.
• If additional maintenance is required to fix gutters to ensure proper function, then there would be an additional expense. We would seek approval for anything beyond the maintenance threshold.

Leases typically designate whether snow removal is included in the property's lease price. As a general rule of thumb, owners will provide snow removal for all multi-unit buildings, and single-family houses are up to the owner’s discretion.

We work with an experienced and licensed vendor who offers preferred pricing and priority scheduling. Snowfall in Michigan can vary greatly in severity, and temperature changes often occur rapidly. The quick temperature changes can result in snow melting and then refreezing, requiring additional salt application.

We trust our snow removal vendor to use their discretion and judgment when forecasting the need for snow removal and providing the best service. Our priority is tenant safety, prompt service, and competitive pricing. ‍

How Snow Removal Works

• Our vendor comes out for snow accumulation more than 1-inch (required per City code). We always use salt to ensure safety when removing snow. Salt is applied when there is any ice accumulation even when snow removal is not required.
• For large ongoing snow falls events, multiple visits may be required, each visit is billed at the Per Instance Price. In the case of a larger 24-hour snowstorm, they would aim to wait until the bulk of the snow has fallen before going out. However, discretion may be required to ensure the safety of our tenants.
• Baker Street provides details on snow removal to tenants where the service is provided. Tenants are asked to notify us if an area was missed or if ice build-up has occurred in any areas on the property that may need extra salt.‍

How Billing Works

• Each season, Baker Street will share the snow removal pricing with owners.
• Standard Snow Removal -- Each trip to the property is billed at the Per Instance Price and deducted from your monthly owner payout. The standard snow removal is for accumulation of 1-inch to 3-inches with salt application.
• Salt Application Only -- The visit is billed at Salt Only Price.
• Accumulation Every 2+ Inches -- The visit is billed at additional 30% increments of the Per Instance Price every 2-inches. For example, if there were 4-inches of accumulation, the visit would be billed at 1.3x the Per Instance Price. If there were 5-inches of accumulation, the visit would be billed at 1.6x the Per Instance Price.
• Owners will be billed at the end of the month for any snow removal costs, which will be deducted from the monthly payout. ‍

Tenant Responsibility

For properties not provided with snow removal, tenants are responsible for removing snow from the property. We remind tenants before the snow season and encourage them to purchase a shovel and bucket of salt. Tenants must comply with City of Ann Arbor Code or any HOA regulations. If tickets are issued for not complying, any fees are billed back to the tenant.

• Properties equipped with sprinkler systems require semi-annual maintenance in Spring and before Winter.
• Before Winter, our preferred sprinkler vendor flushes and winterizes the system.
• In Spring, the vendor starts up the system, inspects it for proper function, and completes any necessary repairs if leaks or issues are found.
• These services would be billed and deducted from the monthly payout.