Pricing a vinyl home?

[n4rb 14]

Hey everybody,

Just curious to see what you would bid on this house, and how far I am off (I haven't been in this industry very long).

It is a 2100 sq. ft. home, with ~80 linear feet around the whole house.

I have attached some pictures of the house which I took with my Phones Camera, thats why it's not the best resolution, but I hope it helps, what I came up with is roughly $300. What do you think?

Thanks for any input!!

[PressurePros 248]

People spend an average of 1% (of the car's value) annually maintaining their car's cleanliness. Apply that to a home worth $200,000. That's $2000. That to me is the FMV of a housewash. Factoring in diminishing margin because of the high dollar lets say we drop the average one should spend to .25% (yes, one quarter of one percent of the value of their house). That's still starting at $500. Are we talking about running something coated with many layers of acrylic paint and clear coat through a 60 second wash machine? Hell no. A housewash should be done by a professional that has experience and higher dollar machinery. I'm sorry, my service has value. If people want to roll the dice (another gambling reference) with their largest investment with some hack based on price, then that's their choice. They will never be my customer. Why bend to their demand because you believe yourself not worthy of the right money. Making $100/hr, $200/hr, $500/hr has NOTHING to do with anything. Its not real anyway once you realize what it truly costs to stay in business and how much money you have at the end of a season. Don't fall into that trap.

The next time you are in a sale and the customer starts balking on price ask them if you could instead be their investment banker. They will likely stare at you like you have three heads or ask you what the hell you are talking about. Lead the conversation into making them understand that they wouldn't trust their money with someone that has no clue how to invest properly.. Why would they take their $200,000 home and put it into someone's hands with just as little experience or know-how?

[Don M. 14]

I think Ken just nailed it from half court....

I got caught in this trap when I first started..."Oh no one is going to pay that to have their house washed"

When I changed my attitude and worked on my salesmanship, things changed.

I will be totally honest with you...because of my stupidity of charging too low in the beginning, I am still paying for that today! I have customers that I charged $150 dollars washing a ranch house when I started dont understand its almost double the price now.

Things go up, gas goes up, etc. I went to wal-mart bought one can of formula, a bag of chicken, some baby foods. 2 sacks cost me $60.

If you get on here and brag that you do housewashes 2 story jobs for 250 and make 125 dollars an hour you are full of it. You dont know your numbers. Trust me...been there and done that.

Its all about target marketing...being a sniper in a world full of junk advertising.

[Jeff 232]

No way, Larry. You know I don't let you off that easy. You guys are assuming no one advertises in my area for $250 housewashes and that everyone makes $40 per hour being a working stiff. Look up Philadelphia demographics and compare them to your metropolis. Look up townships like Upper Providence, Haverford and Newtown Square and compare those to your more affluent 'burbs. A McDonald's manager makes $30K-$35 here just like he/she does anywhere else. I don't live in some magical area where everyone gets dreamy when I walk in the door and says "whatever you want to charge us is fine".

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From Wikipedia when Google'ing Philadelphia median income:

The median income for a household in the city was $30,746, and the median income for a family was $37,036. Males had a median income of $34,199 versus $28,477 for females. The per capita income for the city was $16,509. About 18.4% of families and 22.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 31.3% of those under age 18 and 16.9% of those age 65 or over.

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Doesn't sound like a wealth center to me.

Here is Myrtle Beach:

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The median income for a household in the city was $38,787, and the median income for a family was $46,052. Males had a median income of $30,189 versus $22,119 for females. The per capita income for the city was $27,006. About 5.1% of families and 8.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 12.8% of those under age 18 and 4.8% of those age 65 or over.

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Looked up some homes in Myrtle Beach:

MYRTLE BEACH Real Estate , Myrtle Beach 29th Ave N to 48th Ave N Property Listings - Presented By Weichert, Realtors - Southern Coast - Plantation Point - MB

all the way up to:

MYRTLE BEACH Real Estate , Myrtle Beach 79th Ave N to Dunes Cove Property Listings - Presented By Weichert, Realtors - Southern Coast - Grande Dunes

Jeff, you are not marketing to the right people. You are not selling the value of your service. Period. Lets put together a wager. I'll come down and spend a week with you. If, out of ten sales calls I don't sell at least one housewash at triple what you normally charge and two houses at double, I'll incur all my own charges. If I do succeed, you pay all of my travel expenses and give me my fee for the week of training ($3000) Since you are relatively certain that you cannot charge much more for a housewash and I am a yankee selling in a southern market, it should be a sure thing.

Larry this line tells me a lot:

That homeowner and his wife might earn $50,000 annually combined, so $500 is a lot of money to them for about an hour of work

That's your guilt talking. Thats you selling with your wallet not the value of the service. Just because you wouldn't spend that much for a house wash (a car, a new set of speakers, a dress shirt) doesn't mean there aren't people that will. You wanna be around in five years to be able to wash their house for them right? It costs a ton of money to stay in business that long (if you don't wanna stay just owner/operator) You owe it to your customers to make this profitable enough not only to stay afloat but to be able to raise your family in the same type of comfort those that are hiring you do.

Read the next post....

No! you might stay and corner the market lol. Ken, I'll stay with my condos and leave the salemanship or lack of to others

[MMI Enterprises 289]

"Its all about target marketing...being a sniper in a world full of junk advertising.".... oooo I luv that!!! :)

[MMI Enterprises 289]

Ken,

One thing I noticed when doing the percapita on my areas is that we be poor ..ahha.. Maybe looking at the county info rather than all the little city would offer folks enoug overview to decide whether they want to be in an area...

Speaking of such...how come with yer sales ability you not out here.? I mean I am nowhere near their level but I know guys running plain old commercial janitorial with payrolls a tad bit under your 75k a month but they surely deal with a lot less stress than that of a woodie or pressure washer. You would probably clean up big time.

Wondering what the population differences are though....hmmm..might change things..unsure

[FCPWLLC 233]

Ken, I love your post and I tend to agree with you on most everything. With that being said you would not get $450 for that house in my area.

I dont care how good of a salesman you may be, you would not get that house down here.

Clean is clean. If you did that house for $450 and the nieghbor got theirs done for $275 and it looked the same as your customer the $275 guy would make $550 next year and never move his trailer.

This is why through good marketing and targeting, we stopped selling "clean." We started selling SERVICE. Dependability, professionalism, logo'd gear, nice equipment, on-time service etc etc etc. These are the things that build more VALUE and can be SOLD.

First, I doubt that house would even sell for $200,000 here. Understand also that many people work for $10-$12 an hour and are happy to have that here. Maybe it is about wages in differing areas. That homeowner and his wife might earn $50,000 annually combined, so $500 is a lot of money to them for about an hour of work.

In the paper here there are usually 5-6 guys with ads in the pressure washing section plus another couple jack-of-all-trades who list pressure washing in their ads in the home improvement section. I will be bidding against these guys.

I think I could get the job at about $250 with the right customer if I was the first to bid. I would then try to upsell that fence or concrete flatwork.

On higher value properties, I can sell on value. Those customers understand that and want it. This example is a very middle-class property here, and other guys would be washing it for $150 with the same results, and maybe the same chems and equipment.

You are the only one that knows this is an hour of work. Also, YOU know what was involved to get the ball rolling to get to that job all the way from advertisement cost to the gas used to get there. How long would this take the HO to do? How much would it cost them to rent equipment search for chems etc? How much is all this worth to THEM? This is what you sell... not an hour of work.

[MMI Enterprises 289]

Michael... I seriously hear the selling "service" over "clean"....almost anyone can clean. We must show people we are indeed dealing in rocket science.. :)

[plainpainter 217]

This begs the question - what if homeowner finds out it only takes us an hour and they start complaining? Even though it's none of their business, and usually if all goes well - they're happy, you're happy. It always seems once customers find out information - they become discontent. That's why I have started bringing 'props' to the job - like gettion out ladders and leaning it against the house. I had property manager ask me that if I was coming the next day as well - and I had to figure that what he meant, is that for the life of him couldn't imagine I could get all the work done in a day. So he left - and I washed this huge house and stripped a second floor deck in 5 hours. Had he stuck around - he might have started *****ing that I was making too much.

[mas3372 14]

Dan,

I tell my customers about how long it will take and justify it with my top quality equipment and explain it would take them a weekend to do an inferior job with homeowner equipment. My landscaper takes 25 minutes to cut my grass, sweep my drive, trim, edge my beds and weed them. It would take me 5 hours. I don't minde spending the $45 per week because the outcome is better than I would accomplish and I saved 5 hours of my time.

For that house, I would charge a base of $230 plus $45 for high peaks and bump outs. Those are what eat up time. A box is easy and fast to clean, throw the extra shapes in and the clock runs. That puts it $275, I would upsell the wax because I highly recommend it when customers don't wash their house annually, help keep it cleaner longer. The wax would run $70, that puts me at $345. While I am their I would upsell a deck wash for around $100, depending on the size - assuming it is an average 12x12. Now I am at $445. No gutters, money lost there. Upsell the walkway and front steps by showing them the difference and they will surely pay the extra $60. That simpe house is now worth $505 and is still only taking a couple hours.

I could charge as much as Ken but my close rate woudl drop. I close about 75% now and am happy with it.

[allstar 14]

Hey guys. Iam fairly new to the sight and to pressure washing, but I live in pa also and I am with Ken to a certain extent. I do not charge anything less then $400 for any house in the area. If I charge anything less its because its one story or I know the person. I probably lose a few jobs by charging this much but I look at it as if I get it I'm making out. For the time it takes me to get to the job, set up and gas $400 is what I need to make money. If a customer does want a wax on the house I would charge more then the $400. I this house takes me 3-4 hours to clean then $400 is a fair price.

[DustinC 64]

$275 is a fair price for that house(in my area and my opinion) without ext gutters or wax.How many of these premium price house washes are repeat annual customers??Theres something to be said about customer retention in the continuing success of of a company charging rates like that. I can preach professionalism to the customer all day in my polo shirt,brochures,fancy rig,etc etc.95% of the time it's not got going to matter to the person who lives in a house like the one pictured, especially since they'll be pissed to learn what their neighbors paid.I know I'm close to maxing out my market by evaluating my numbers and by lake side mansion owners telling me that they are shocked with my quote.Just my limited 2 years of experience take on it.Have you ever seen a trailer park,Ken?jk

[Jeff 232]

$275 is a fair price for that house(in my area and my opinion) without ext gutters or wax.How many of these premium price house washes are repeat annual customers??Theres something to be said about customer retention in the continuing success of of a company charging rates like that. I can preach professionalism to the customer all day in my polo shirt,brochures,fancy rig,etc etc.95% of the time it's not got going to matter to the person who lives in a house like the one pictured, especially since they'll be pissed to learn what their neighbors paid.I know I'm close to maxing out my market by evaluating my numbers and by lake side mansion owners telling me that they are shocked with my quote.Just my limited 2 years of experience take on it.Have you ever seen a trailer park,Ken?jk

Its plain & simple its a North vs South thing, you just are not going to get the same price. A house here cost $250k the same house in much of the north will cost 600Kor more. We are trying to compare apples & oranges and you cant. I assure you if I was up north, I'd be charging about the same as Ken

my guys are at a neighborhood today, the richest neighborhood with in 30 miles anyway. I am charging $1800 it has a lot of dirt daubbers and is BIg. I bet some up north would be getting a lot more, but after the 1800$ and the $400 plus driveway, Im more than paying my workers gas, travel etc and 3 guys will be done and back in less than 8 hours.

That house in the picture would take 2 hours for the basic wash, but we also will do it at least every year instead of once every 3, 4, 5, years or more. Im with Ken on pricing, but only up there.

[FCPWLLC 233]

I get $250+ here in a land of $99 washes. I do agree that there is a cap in areas, but I believe that we should always be trying to get the cap and start pushing that cap further up.

[Bryan C 14]

2 hours? 45 minutes max, 15 of that set-up/tear-down. $300.

[Greg R 82]

There's people in every market that will swallow the hook on an $800 housewash. It's just a matter of how many. Around here and appearantly in most areas you would be hard up for work trying to close those deals.

I would say $300 to $350 as well on just the house.

[PressurePros 248]

::sigh::: its like bashing my head against the wall sometimes.

Greg, $450 on the housewash here.. not $800. Upsell possibilities on a property that size.. Can run up to and over $800. Everyone sems to get caught in the minutia. The point is "raise your prices"

Greg, you guys do housewashes? I thought you were strictly woody?

[Adrian 155]

Ken is right.

My next pw resi extreme make over will actually exceed Ken's #'s.

I can't even get to it until I get some mileage out of the wood resto projects I have.The rains haven't even affected my flow that much. House washes lead to deck washes leads to pool apron cleaning, leads to deck restoration leads to word of mouth customers and repeat business. Shane will vouch for me as credible "upseller". He's seen my work.

Sell Sell Sell, upsell upsell upsell. See you guys after I come up for air!!!!!

[YVPW 20]

I could get between 400 and 450 here where I live for that house. Mind you I don't spend 45 min.'s on a house. I don't understand what some of you call clean, maybe thats why you can't get anymore for a housewash. I make sure it's perfect when I leave, and that don't come with 45 min.'s of cleaning.

[allstar 14]

That house would take 1 guy 3-4 house tops. $400 easy. I also upsell window cleaning. I do charge extra for this service.

[Rick2 42]

I don't often measure a house, I just figure out how much time it'll take me. After 15 years of doing this job I can take a pretty accurate measurement.

I would have bid about 350 for that house.

[n4rb 14]

Wow the people around here are cheap, lol, or maybe Im just bad at "selling". I think I quoted this guy like $298 and that was a no-go for him ... :-\

[PressurePros 248]

Then again a strong salesperson may have sold him at $495.

(and have them call back every year because while you may be higher than everyone around, the customer knows they make one call, they know their house will shine, they don't have to be home, and nothing will be damaged. THAT is what is called value)

[Jeff 232]

Then again a strong salesperson may have sold him at $495.

(and have them call back every year because while you may be higher than everyone around, the customer knows they make one call, they know their house will shine, they don't have to be home, and nothing will be damaged. THAT is what is called value)

In PA maybe $495. Not many in an average neighborhood in SC will ever pay $495 for a vinyl house thats 2100 sq ft. Its South Carolina, a million homes & track homes just like it and a good saleman will sell that wash for $250 - Maybe a little over $300 and they will be getting value too. But I don't use wax LOL

Most do this full time around here and instead of getting maybe 1 or 2 out of 40 estimates at $495, We down here in the South will get $250 and sell 30+ out of 40 and be able to do very nicely doing 20-30 homes a week 10 months out of a year and then the salesmanship comes in with the up sell of the roof, driveway, patio etc. Plus unlike up north , people do their houses every year, not every 3 years to whenever

I sure Ken you may be able to sell people, but not enough to make a living at those prices around here. We have been all over this, Its a North vs South market

[PressurePros 248]

You win Jeff ;-)

[Jeff 232]

You win Jeff ;-)

NOOOOOOOO, argue with me. Ever since I became a republican I have no one to argue with:lgtear:lol