PEST CONTROL CONTRACTs

We do not have any pest infestations other than the pesty monthly service bill.
With that in mind, even though it seems to be a standard in the industry to utilize monthly contracts, are we just wasting our money (and spraying unnecessary toxins) with this monthly service?

Bottom line, do you spray Raid around the house in a preemptive manner before infestation? (Seems like a paranoic procedure and expense to us)

thx
Martin

Hello Martin,

Now I am sure there will be others that will wade into this, which may give you some additional information. On what you just wrote I am going to give you a right off the top of my head and say it depends on a lot of elements:

1. What region you are in, and if it is mostly warm or cold and what are the main critters there are problems with?

2. Prevention is the best approach rather than waiting and then trying to control it.

3. I would look at what it is costing you for the month and then see about having a firm which gives you a package deal to come at certain times during the year. All firms are not equal. When you get a firm, Like the ones that I would contract there was a clause that in between their coming out to service if there were bugs that came back and did the whole thing for free. So, when they came they did a thorough job as there was a loss of money for them to come back and do free.

How many units do you have on your property is also another factor. Now another thing that I did before people first move in, I did a spray of their unit empty unit. This was incase they brought some critters with them from where they were before. These type of sprays the maintenance folks did.

Now, it does not take a rocket scientist to do this and so it would not hurt to get one of your maintenance people certified if possible and then you can cut the other bill all together.

This is a fast once over the world.

Here is my thinking on this topic. First of all, unless your maintenance team is licensed to handle pesticides, I would not get rid of your pest control company. Here is what I initiated for our company: I reduced the contact terms to limited outdoor exterior perimeter control only, with none occurring during the months of November, December, January and February (because of our frigid winter temps). I can call the contractor at any time for any reason at an extremely reduced cost if needed. This means, I have eliminated a huge waste of money for unneeded service but retain the advantage of quick, efficient, inexpensive treatment options should the need arise.

We have a quarterly service contract for pest control. Every three months they come out and inspect and/or treat six units.

I used to consider cancelling the contract, but something made me hesitate each time and I'm SO glad I never cancelled. Having the service contract gives me priority service, free consults, and most importantly, same day emergency service as needed.

Due to diligent inspections by professionals, we've had very few incidents and no infestations in the four years I've been at my community.

Infestations can bankrupt a community very quickly. I've seen a nice, newer property go from 100% occupancy to 60% in less than a year. Even though I am not my communities owner, I will vehemently fight for my residents right to live in a clean, healthy building. The very few pest incidents we have had have convinced the owners of the value of our pest control service contract.

My son is a fortunate beneficiary of this type of situation. He moved into a community that was struggling to recover from vacancy issues caused by an infestation. He just renewed his lease at nearly 70% below market rate for his neighborhood. Thanks to the internet, reputations are very difficult to change. That's why it's so important to do what is necessary to keep a good one.

It should depend on the type of community you have as well as your clientele. I have a 4 story enclosed building with 163 units. One infestation can quickly spread in such close quarters. We have pest control out the 1st and 3rd Monday of each month. I only pay $50 per visit, so only spend $1,200 per year. They treat any units who may have reported an issue as well as the common area hallways and community rooms. When I first came to this community we had a case of the dreaded BB (I can't even say the words). Our pest company came in and treated the problem which as anyone who has ever dealt with these little buggers knows is a long expensive process. Anyway about a year later the resident who had the infestation filed a suit against us. Thanks to our pest control company and their detailed records of our treatment the suit never went anywhere. Because we had a contract with them the treatment was much less costly then it would have been had we been a new client.
Many times prospective residents have come to our community due to pest issues where they currently live, it has been very helpful to be able to tell them we offer pest control. With all the recent attention in the news regarding BB's I think it's something we need to keep if only for a resident’s piece of mind.
Awkward moment; when a prospect tells you the reason they are moving is because their current community has a pest infestation.

Regardless of contracts...my one advice on pest control is to stay away from Lloyd Pet Control. I've used them for 12 years and when o moved into a new house I used them again, after their fist visit in my house alone for 4 hours to spray the inside AMS outside of my house, my 3 carat wedding ring went missing. I know I shouldn't have left it in the house but I just had surgery and my fingers were too fat to wear AND I never had any reason to doubt their trust. We had the police do finger prints and found no useable prints. When I called their corporate office to talk to their ceo and explained the robbery they said they couldn't see the guy stealing and the ceo told me that they are REQUIRED to wear gloves...aha...no finger prints! We are 99.99 sure the guy took it but because no finger prints we have no recourse. Btw..this guy still works for the company so BEWARE!

I would absolutely recommend a preventative approach when you are in the multifamily industry (which I assume that you are, since you are posting on this website). Whether it's apartments or houses for rent, clients have an expectation that a unit that they move into will be pest-free, and on the flip side, you have no control over the cleanliness habits (or lack thereof) for tenants who are living in the unit.

I am a pest control tech and have been looking for competitor pricing for apartments. It stuck in the 80's. I've been in this biz for 30 years here's an example of our pricing. 4 unit building includes stairwell basement outside and common attic-German roaches and general pests -with low to heavy infestation of German roaches. $700 for the initial service $450 for the follow up in 3 weeks. Based on our pricing we seldom do preventive treatments because we treat them almost exactly as if they were loaded with pests. In my early years large apartment complex corporation found me and offered me $1.50 per unit- I took it. I worked my butt off to break even it was a great lesson.

Yeah, it's crazy how much variation there is in the prices of pest control from one region to another. I also came across some pricing information here as well: www.homeadvisor.com/cost/environmental-s...ect-control-service/
Hard work definitely pays off! Good luck with your business.

Here are a couple of things to keep in mind when considering the value of using a professional pest control vendor vs. doing pest control in house:

1. People in pest control contracts often say they don't have a pest problem - Wouldn't that indicate that your vendor is doing a great job? People often assume not having pest problems means they don't need pest services, cancel, and then wonder why after a few months or a year they are over run with pest problems. Not having a pest problem is the value of having that vendor on service for your property.

2. As with anything else, when you outsource something to a professional who specializes in that service, it's going to be done better than you could do it yourself, not being a pro in that field (provided you chose a good vendor), and it keeps you at arms length with really helps limit your liability. Doing your own plumbing or carpentry repairs is one thing, but with pest control, you are dealing with toxic substances that are highly regulated by the EPA, and by your state agencies. Yes, even when you use a vendor the property owner is ultimately responsible and often shares some liability when things go wrong, but when you're using a licensed, bonded pest company, your exposure to liability is dramatically reduced.

Pest control just isn't one of the tasks you want to do in house.

I hope that helps you. If you have any questions about pest control please reach out to me. I'm really happy to help you by providing you all the advice I can!!

I would never willingly give up our contract pest control.

Our personal experience has been such that an active contract with a licensed, reputable company is an absolute necessity. We have 85 rental units and spend about $6200 per year for the service which comes out to about $75 per year per unit.

Each unit is treated quarterly for preventive maintenance. The moment a resident comes in with a pest problem our pest control techs will come out promptly to take care of the problem areas for free.

We will not rent a unit if it has an existing pest problem. With an average rental rate of $750 per month, that is a huge loss in income.

We are in a high transient area due to a nearby military base and several colleges. Prospective renters have been very visibly relieved when we are able to tell them, "Yes, we do routine pest control here as part of your lease."

These reasons alone are enough for me to never consider letting my maintenance staff treat our homes, much less the legalities of it!

Tiffani, it sounds like you guys are doing all the right things!!

I'm fairly new in the biz looking for a mentor just wondering if we could possibly talk over the phone or through email. Thanks,jason

Who are you talking to Jason?

I'm fairly new and just signed up I was just responding to an individual that quoted a pest control pricing.

I manage a 45 unit complex and we pay for a service that comes every month but what they are doing is not working and when I have a bad infestation they have not yet to eliminate it and just today I got the invoice for there monthly charge and it had two things listed that was never done and has never been done.