Steve Hoogenakker "Audaces Fortuna Juvat"

"FORTUNE FAVORS THE BRAVE!"

Browsing Posts tagged cicmidwest

Have you ever been impressed by a property manager who was thrust into a difficult situation or conversation and been amazed by how well they handled it? This article aims to teach you some of the skills of a “conversation master”.

Besides the metrodome collapse, surely a ploy to get a new stadium, contractors have found this winter to be one they won’t soon forget. So what really happened behind the scenes? What can we learn from it and what does the future hold?

This was a strange winter. With the first snowfall around Mid-November, there

Think about this though. Snow fighting is all a skills game. When you have skilled employees, isn’t the worst method to gauge their success by the hours worked? Wouldn’t it be better to pay based on the results? I don’t mean to insult, but paying hourly is the lazy way for the manager and the contractor, and I believe it leaves the residents, tenants and owners paying for the lack of upfront effort.

3. Temperatures matter! At 30 degrees, one pound of salt melts 40 pounds of ice, while at 20 degrees, one pound of salt melts only10 pounds of ice, a 400% difference! And the air temperature is a minor part of the equation. Does your contractor apply varying amounts of salt to your property at different temperatures? Do the varying amounts show up when they bill for salt, or does it always seem to be “2 tons” every time? Can you afford to be billed 400% more for salt not used?

Inside our company, we’ve been discussing mother nature’s effect on our lawns. It’s no surprise that it’s been a strange season for weather. Honestly, every season seems strange. This one started out with over 400 funnel clouds early in the season, followed by plenty of rainfall, and an extended period of hot, humid weather. The item that’s caught our attention is the bumper crop of weeds. We expect a lot of weeds during hot, dry weather, but not in a season with plentiful rainfall.

HOW ICE MELTERS WORK:

Various ice melters have significantly different performance levels, but they all work in much the same way. NO ice melter is capable of melting snow and ice in its solid state. Ice melters must first come into contact with sufficient moisture to dissolve and form brine.

All ash trees are susceptible to EAB and millions of ash trees have been killed in infested areas already. It’s estimated that townhome associations may have as many as 40% of their trees as ash trees. Minnesota has one of the highest volumes of ash on forestland in the U.S. with an estimated 867 million forestland ash trees and ash is a prominent component of our urban forests as well.

What is LinkedIn and why is it so important to property managers & HOA’s?

First of all, it’s the best way to post your questions and have them answered by your peers.

Second, there are members of groups like CAI and CAI Minnesota that you can join for free and get timely articles and discussions on topics you care the most about.

Value of a Landscape or Lawn business HOW TO BUILD, BUY OR SELL a LANDSCAPE MGMT COMPANY: In the past 6 months, I’ve had a number of people ask me to advise them in valuing their business, or evaluate a business they’re considering purchasing. There’s a lot of interest and a lot of activity this [...]