09/30/2026
**ATTENTION IMPORTANT NOTICE**
Hattis Property Services will be moving to Saturday/Sunday only mowing routes starting the week of October 5th. Unfortunately we'd love to keep all of our customers but as a solo operation there are only so many hours in a day so we will be dropping some properties. Weekend only mow routes will also become the new normal for us going forward.
**FAQ**
Q : Why the sudden transition?
A : I, Joseph, was presented with an opportunity several months ago to start a career as an Automation Maintenance Technician. I feel like its time to try something new now that I'm getting older.
Q : Is Hattis Property Services out of business?
A : Heck no! we are just scaling back the mowing side of the business since its the lowest profiting service I offer.
Q : How will I know my property is still on your route?
A : We have been contacting customers after their service this week to let them know of the transition and if they will or will not have services continued.
Q : Are you only mowing on the weekends and nothing else?
A : We are planning on mowing on the weekends exclusively but will still be offering landscaping, window cleaning, and ect both in house and as a 3rd party subcontractor during the weekdays.
Q : What if it rains on the weekend ya do**us, then what?!
A : I, Do**us, will be either mowing in the evening hours during the weekdays to ensure the lawn is kept up or until I'm able to switch to an afternoon/midnight shift around June.
Q : Holiday weekends what then?
A : Same as rain days. We will schedule accordingly to be non-intrusive to your holiday
Q : Since you are getting rid of some properties will you be taking on any more?
A : Yes, we will be taking new customers in the future once we get into the groove but we will be a bit selective to a strict criteria.
Q : What about my snow?
A : Going forward we will not offer seasonal contracts for snow but will be doing per visit snow between 4pm-4am
Q : What if your job has overtime on the weekends?
A : It doesn't.
Q : Will you be doing anything else in the business?
A : We wanted to delve heavily into Aerations & Overseeding Downriver and the Northville/Novi/Farmington area since no mowing on the weekdays frees up some time in the evening hours
Q : How many properties will you be doing?
A : Between Saturday/Sunday there will be roughly 30-40 properties that will be serviced.
Q : I got all these leaves coming down here soon, now what?
A : Spring/Fall cleanups will still be performed on the weekends. Typically for the Downriver area we don't really do many so time frames for services shouldn't be affected too much
Q : What if I prepaid the season and service was discontinued?
A : We will be sending out reimbursement checks in November for remaining discounted credit.
Q part 1 : How can you possibly mow 30-40 properties especially in the spring and early fall?
A : prices may be affected a little bit but for a crisp clean look we will opt for bagging yards and hauling off clippings
Q part 2 : How can you haul off all the clippings if you run a trailerless set up? Have you discovered in small, self contained infinite void to dump them into?
A : Going back to a trailer set up once again
Q : What about push mowing?
A : Besides that it sucks. Starting next year we will opt for mainly 36" & 52" stand on mowers to reduce fatigue and get more done in a day but the push mower will be brought along in case it is wet or the 36" can't fit
Q : Why so many questions?
A : Good question
Q : What if i was dropped could I contact you next year to see if i can be put back onto the route?
A : Yes you can inquire about being serviced once again if it's within our criteria.
Q : Why not just hire someone to take over?
A : The labor pool even at a substantial pay rate isn't worth the headache at this point in time
Q : Do you ever plan on going full time again?
A : Maybe, if this career doesn't pan out or I'm able to find a unicorn of an employee who can do it all.
Q : How are you deciding who to keep and who gets cut?
A : A multitude of factors such as ease of parking on weekends and property efficiency.
Q : What if everyone drops?
A : Then we will become strictly a landscape business and never have to buy a $15k mower ever again
Q : What does an Automation Maintenance Tech even do?
A : It's a job where you basically babysit automated cranes and service cars hunched over a laptop looking for fault codes in the software and complaining about the engineer who wrote the PLC.
Q : With all that free time what would you be doing?
A : I plan on finally being able to go on vacation, delving a lot deeper into learning German, spending quality time with the family, and maybe maxing a few Old School Runescape accounts or playing through some old backlogged MS-DOS games like Ultima (for my nerds out there)
Sorry for the long winded FAQ but this transition is more of a transcendence of my entrepreneurial path in life. I started this business in 2016 and full time since 2018 when I was only 23. Now that I'm 32 with a family this decision wasn't the easiest to make but feel it's a better choice for them to thrive especially since you get punished in every facet in life being a business owner : loans, mortgages, health insurance, self employment, and the list goes on.
We hope this is an easy transition for both us and the remaining customers. For those that we unfortunately have to drop we appreciate the years of business and we encourage reaching out in 2027 just in case anything has changed.
(Throwback to 2019 for attention)
