How low can you go?

gawashman

gawashman

New member
Homeowner asks for an estimate to clean his eaves and gutter throughout his 2600 SQFT home. In addition he wanted his 1000 SQFT driveway cleaned. He indicates that he has a pressure washer but does not have the time to do it himself. I explained to him that I would have to rinse the entire house and factored this into my bid. He did not care about license, insurance etc...---Price only. Get this he wants to pay $150.00 for the house wash about $100 or less for flatwork. I kindly told him to find someone else.
 
I did a house for $80. Never had gone that low, but I was there for 1hr. (5min from home) Told the customer what he got for $80 was down stream and rise. I was done and he was happy. It came out good, not great but he wasnt paying for great.
Also he was a vet and was on disabliy.
 
Down here in Florida, getting $250 for a 2600 sf house (eves & gutters) and 1000 sf driveway is about all you are going to get. I would bid $295 and drop it to $250 if he let me walk away. That should be 3 1/2 hours (4 hours tops) of work at around $70 per hour. I would do that job then post doorhangers on all his neighbors houses.
 
It all really depends on your situation, market, ability, experience, etc.....

I know some of the guys in Florida that are dealing with an ocean of lowballers and hacks that have destroyed the market with their crackhead pricing and people expect to keep paying those prices.

Some markets will not bear higher pricing but some will, you have to see what you can do.

Some people can be educated about better service, better quality workmanship, better chemicals, right knowledge, etc....

Some people base everything on price and most of those customers will be sold on price until they keep getting burned enough to start looking for better companies and will start to pay more for that higher level of service.

If you can knock out that place very fast and are efficient, you can still make good money per hour, especially if you have a helper that takes care of something while you are doing another task.

I would think that you should be able to get out of there in about
2-2.5 hours with a helper doing the driveway while you are doing the house with the right equipment and chems.

Sometimes you have to do what you have to do to feed the family and pay the bills.
 
scottwash said:
I did a house for $80. Never had gone that low, but I was there for 1hr. (5min from home) Told the customer what he got for $80 was down stream and rise. I was done and he was happy. It came out good, not great but he wasnt paying for great.
Also he was a vet and was on disabliy.
Click to expand...

I like to hear that people give Vets a break, I have done that many times and i have given my service free of charge for a few.;)
 
That job is very doable at less than 2 hours if you have a pw for concrete and softwash the eaves at the same time. You would gross over 100 per hour. Its not so much about how much they are willing to pay as much as how much you can clean in a short amount of time.

Kemp
 
Got hit by low ballers twice in the past week. Gave a guy a price for 3200 sq ft house and 10 x 12 deck, thought i gave him a deal at $250 the other guy was $150. Had a job scheduled 2200 sq ft house for $225 the guy call up and canceled he got someone for 100 less. Killin me!!
 
I agree with Kemp. Decide what timeframe it will take you to finish the job and price it accordingly. I have did this many times and made $100 per hour on the job even when I didn't plan on it. I also give big breaks to Military Vets, because I am one, and feel we all own them for their time served! Hugh
 
Mark Wendt said:
Got hit by low ballers twice in the past week. Gave a guy a price for 3200 sq ft house and 10 x 12 deck, thought i gave him a deal at $250 the other guy was $150. Had a job scheduled 2200 sq ft house for $225 the guy call up and canceled he got someone for 100 less. Killin me!!
Click to expand...


Think about what you just said, you had a job scheduled and he called you back to cancel because he found someone cheaper. Sounds like he was going to screw you anyway or any contractor that was scheduled, it just happened to be you. Not much you can do about that. Maybe go and get some before pics then later when they are done, go see if there is damage and get some after pics. Good tools to sell against the lowballers and hacks.

There will always be people that no matter how much you educate them, they still only think about price and is that the customer you really want??

What if another lowballer went up to the homeowner and told them that they would do the job for $100.00 and then another for $75.00. Sooner or later the lowballers would screw themselves out of work but messing up the market also.

Just keep trying to sell to the customers that you want to work for and can afford quality, you don't want every job out there with "Price only mentality" customers do you?
 
The Cleaner said:
I like to hear that people give Vets a break, I have done that many times and i have given my service free of charge for a few.;)
Click to expand...


When it is for Military, Police, Vets, Elderly, etc.... I do give them a discount no problem. I let them know what the price is and then tell them that I am giving them a discount because of ________ and they are happy about that.
 
I would do the driveway for that no problem. How many feet of gutter is on the house? Are they easily accesible with an extension pole? In my area of GA you won't get much more than that for resi concrete. Depending on the amount of gutters that need scrubbing and how easy they are to reach I would probably take that job.
 
Pricing for me varies, depending on the time of year. Right now my time is paid at a premium, but in march you can get me pretty cheap!! However, there is a threshold I will not cross and that is to do work for less than $150.00/hr. That is the minimum to make the rig move, and I count drive time into the equation. I learned in my first couple of seasons that just because your moving around alot, doesn't mean your actually making money.
 
gawashman said:
Homeowner asks for an estimate to clean his eaves and gutter throughout his 2600 SQFT home. In addition he wanted his 1000 SQFT driveway cleaned. He indicates that he has a pressure washer but does not have the time to do it himself. I explained to him that I would have to rinse the entire house and factored this into my bid. He did not care about license, insurance etc...---Price only. Get this he wants to pay $150.00 for the house wash about $100 or less for flatwork. I kindly told him to find someone else.
Click to expand...

Average House Wash Drive & Walks here in FL for that size home would be right there @ $250.00, if you are correctly equiped this job should take no longer than 40 min for 2 guy's maybe an hour for 1 guy. Thats pretty good money where i come from.
 
The Cleaner said:
Average House Wash Drive & Walks here in FL for that size home would be right there @ $250.00, if you are correctly equiped this job should take no longer than 40 min for 2 guy's maybe an hour for 1 guy. Thats pretty good money where i come from.
Click to expand...


I would do those all day long here if I had them also, nothing wrong with making money on those kinds of jobs, especially if you are trying to feed your family and pay the bills.
 
I wish I had this option, but then I stay busy every day with jobs that pay. I also have my work lined out for the next six months.
B.A. said:
Pricing for me varies, depending on the time of year. Right now my time is paid at a premium, but in march you can get me pretty cheap!! However, there is a threshold I will not cross and that is to do work for less than $150.00/hr. That is the minimum to make the rig move, and I count drive time into the equation. I learned in my first couple of seasons that just because your moving around alot, doesn't mean your actually making money.
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top