A 20-unit building in Omaha just had its cash flow wiped out for three months. Not because of vacancy. Not because of a major repair. Because of snow.

The owner didn't have a snow removal contract. We got hit with four storms in six weeks. He was paying emergency rates of $450 to $600 per push on a property that should have been on a seasonal contract for $3,500 total. By February, he had spent over $4,800 on snow removal alone. That's more than his net cash flow for the entire first quarter.

I see this every year. Investors who underwrite-a-multifamily-acquisition) a deal down to the penny on mortgage, taxes, and insurance, then completely ignore the seasonal expenses that eat their returns alive.

This is a Midwest problem. And if you own property in Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, or anywhere that gets real winters and real summers, this is your problem too.

The Expenses Nobody Puts in the Pro Forma

When I review an acquisition package from a broker, the operating expense section typically includes the big categories: taxes, insurance, utilities, management, repairs and maintenance. Sometimes they include landscaping as a line item. Almost never do they break out the seasonal costs accurately.

Here's what actually hits your operating account throughout the year in Omaha:

Winter (November through March):

Snow removal (plowing, shoveling, salting)

Ice management (salt, sand, de-icing chemicals for walkways)

Increased heating costs if you pay common area utilities

Frozen pipe repairs (if they happen, they're expensive)

Gutter cleaning and ice dam prevention

Spring (March through May):

Lawn cleanup and dethatching

Sprinkler system startup and repair

Mulch and landscape refresh

Parking lot pothole repair from freeze-thaw damage

Window well cleaning and drainage checks

Summer (May through September):

Weekly mowing and trimming

Irrigation water costs

Tree trimming

Pest control (ants, wasps, mosquitoes in common areas)

Parking lot seal coating (every 2-3 years)

Fall (September through November):

Leaf removal (multiple rounds)

Sprinkler system winterization

Gutter cleaning

Furnace inspections and filter replacements

Exterior caulking and weatherization

Add these up across a full year for a 20-unit property, and you're looking at $12,000 to $18,000 in seasonal expenses. That's $600 to $900 per unit per year that many investors aren't budgeting for.

How to Budget: The Real Numbers

Here's how we budget seasonal expenses across our portfolio. These are real numbers from our Omaha properties, not estimates.

Snow removal (seasonal contract): $150 to $250 per unit per season. For a 20-unit property with a standard parking lot and sidewalks, a seasonal contract runs $3,000 to $5,000 for November through March. This covers unlimited pushes above a 2-inch trigger, sidewalk shoveling, and salt application. The key word is "seasonal contract." You pay a flat fee regardless of how many storms hit. Some years you overpay. Some years you get a bargain. Over time, it averages out, and you never get hit with emergency pricing.

Lawn care (seasonal contract): $100 to $200 per unit per season. Weekly mowing, trimming, edging, and blowing for April through October. A 20-unit property with standard landscaping runs $2,000 to $4,000 for the season. This doesn't include extras like mulching, tree trimming, or sprinkler repairs. Those are separate line items.

Miscellaneous seasonal: $100 to $200 per unit per year. Leaf removal, sprinkler startup and winterization, gutter cleaning, parking lot maintenance. These smaller items add up. Budget for them explicitly or they will surprise you.

Total seasonal budget: $350 to $650 per unit per year.

On a 20-unit building, that's $7,000 to $13,000 per year. If your underwriting doesn't include this as a line item, your projected NOI is overstated and your cap rate is wrong.

How to Negotiate Contracts

The difference between a good seasonal contract and a bad one can be 30-40% of the annual cost. Here's how we negotiate.

Bid in the off-season. Get your snow removal bids in August and September, not November. Get your lawn care bids in January and February, not April. Vendors are hungry for work when their schedule is empty. By the time the season starts, the good vendors are full and the remaining ones charge a premium.

Bundle services. Many landscape companies offer both lawn care and snow removal. Bundle them into a single annual contract and you get a better rate than splitting them between vendors. We have saved 15-20% by bundling with a single vendor who handles our properties year-round.

Multi-property discounts. If you own multiple buildings in the same area, bid them as a package. A vendor who can service three properties within a two-mile radius is more efficient than driving across town for a single lot. We negotiate 10-15% discounts on multi-property contracts.

Define scope precisely. The most common source of billing disputes is unclear scope. Your snow contract should specify:

Trigger depth (we use 2 inches)

What surfaces are included (lot, sidewalks, building entries, dumpster pads)

Salt/de-icing, whether it's included or per-application

Timing (completed by 7 AM for overnight storms)

Liability and insurance requirements

If any of these are ambiguous, you will get surprised by an invoice. Get it in writing.

Seasonal vs. per-push. Seasonal contracts are almost always the better deal in Omaha. We average 15-25 plowable events per winter. At $250 per push on a per-event contract, that's $3,750 to $6,250. A seasonal contract for the same property might be $3,500 flat. In a heavy snow year, the savings are dramatic. In a light year, you pay a small premium for predictability. Predictable expenses are worth paying for.

Avoiding Emergency Pricing

Emergency snow removal is the equivalent of calling a plumber on Christmas Day. You're going to pay double, and you don't have a choice.

When you don't have a contract and a storm hits, you're calling vendors who are already fully booked with their contract customers. If they can fit you in at all, they're charging $400 to $600 per push for a lot that would be $200 on a seasonal contract. And if you can't find anyone, you're out there with a shovel yourself or your lot goes unplowed, which creates a liability nightmare if a tenant slips and falls.

We had a building in our portfolio where the previous owner had no snow contract. The first winter we managed it, we spent $7,200 on emergency snow removal. The next year, we put it on a seasonal contract for $3,800. Same property, same winters, $3,400 in savings. That's the cost of not planning.

The Liability Angle

This is the part that keeps property managers up at night.

In Nebraska, property owners have a duty to maintain safe conditions on their property. That includes parking lots and sidewalks. If a tenant or visitor slips on ice and gets hurt, you're exposed to a premises liability claim.

A slip-and-fall lawsuit can cost $50,000 to $200,000 or more, depending on the severity of the injury and the circumstances. Your insurance covers it, but your premiums increase. And if you were negligent in maintaining the property, meaning you had no snow removal plan and the lot was a sheet of ice, your insurer might fight you on coverage.

A $3,500 seasonal snow contract is the cheapest insurance you will ever buy.

The Bottom Line for Your Bottom Line

Seasonal expenses aren't optional. They aren't "nice to have" line items you can cut when cash is tight. They're operational necessities that directly affect your NOI, your property value, your tenant satisfaction, and your legal exposure.

Budget for them. Contract for them in advance. Negotiate hard. And for the love of your cash flow, don't wait until the first storm or the first 95-degree day to figure out who's handling your property.

The investors who get this right save thousands per year per property. The ones who don't learn the hard way, usually in January, when the snow is falling and the emergency plowing invoice arrives.

If your properties aren't performing the way they should, let's talk. Reach out at Tanner@TopTierInvestmentFirm.com or visit toptierinvestmentfirm.com.

Tanner Sherman is the Principal and Managing Broker of Top Tier Investment Firm in Omaha, Nebraska. He co-hosts the Freedom Fighter Podcast with Ryan of Avara Investments.

Snow Removal, Lawn Care, and the Expenses Nobody Budgets For