Hey guys, I started in the business toward the end of last season so have limited experience buthe did have some big jobs. I have been approached by a homeowners association inquiring if I might be willing to give some group discounts on one or two sides of some of their houses because most of their mold is only on some sides. I realize this is ridiculous as far as the overall look of the house when it’s done but I would like the business. Has anyone ever done anything like this and if so any thoughts on pricing in conjunction with group discounts?
Thanks for any,advice
Obviously everyone’s pricing is different however, we have a minimum charge to come to your home. Washing only one side is about a third of what we would charge to wash their entire home. Most opt for the whole house wash. If i was going to wash only partial of many homes in a neighborhood, I would give a multiple home discount off of that price. Figure out what you need to make, what is a good profit for you, and bid accordingly. I doubt anyone here will give you hard numbers on how to charge for this (if that’s what you’re looking for).
Personally, I will not put my name on a house wash for one or two sides
only washed.Even if not real obvious, the entire home is dirty. Entire job
or I do not do it. Not saying anyone that will wash one or two sides only
is wrong, simply stating how I operate.
Everyone obviously has every rignt to operate how they choose to however, as long as I still have time slots to fill, I’m grabbing every dollar I can. If that means a customer just wants the green off, I’m doing it. Every job I pass on allows my competitors to grow that much more…
2 Likes
My wife and I have this mentality that every customer we earn gains us a few more by word of mouth. So every job you pass on may loose you more down the road. Gain every customer possible, do every job as you’d want it done for you. In the end, it’s gonna pay off ten fold. Or, you can pass on those jobs and watch your competition grow.
3 Likes
And as far as I’m concerned, I’ll always have time slots to fill because I’ll buy more and more equipment and hire more guys to create more time slots lol
2 Likes
I would still use my set minimum price but if the customer only wants one or two sides done they are just paying more for less in my opinion try to up sale and if not I make good money for easy work…and more time to take some before and after shots!!
I agree, don’t pass up anything you can make a dollar on. There is no set price, like said above you just gotta figure up how much time you’re gonna spend, chemicals, fuel etc and make sure you are making a good profit. Every company will have different pricing based on overhead. Figure out what you need to make and go with it, if you do good work people will stay with you.
I haven’t had experience with this particular scenario, but I have cleaned half a home for someone by request (huge house). I would probably price a partial cleaning at two-thirds of a full cleaning, and give maybe 10-15% for a combo discount.
Another way to look at it would be basing it on what you’d like to make in a day’s work, and then estimating how many homes you could complete in a day. Having a bunch of jobs close together could mean getting a lot more done than usual. Depending on your equipment and experience, $1,500-$2,000 per day is within reason for a solo operator doing house washing.
I would also suggest getting a security deposit (20-30% job total) and trying to get the HOA to cut you a check upon completion for all work done, as opposed to billing the homeowners individually. Otherwise you could end up chasing down a lot of little payments. Oftentimes the HOA has power washing included in the standard maintenance budget, but it sort of sounds like it may be different in this case?
Side point: make sure the HOA sends out (multiple) memos to all the homeowners to close and lock all their windows prior to your visit, and have all of their stuff moved that they don’t want sprayed. This can be a real time suck if people don’t prep for your visit.
We did a addition last year of 66 houses, one side only. Bulk discount $55 per. HOA payed us directly and we skipped the houses that were behind on dues. Ended up being $3355 in two days after skipping 5 houses. Easy $$$
2 Likes
Yes! Anytime you can get one person to pay one bill for multiple jobs is fantastic. When they pay on time it’s convenient and less admin for you. When they pay late… it’s only one person you have to harass!
That’s a good deal! Unfortunately this homeowners association isn’t
involved with the payment in this situation. I have done some Townhomes
like that though.
My last 2 house’s were one side only. As much as i dont like to do that and i push for the whole house, why turn down money?
I let them know that i have a min charge, and its going to be more to wash one wall then all 4 but if they still want it, ill wash it.
I get that all the time, Home Owners Associations send out letters to home owners to clean a spot on their home. Since we have a $250 minimum, I try and up sell them to the entire home or adding their drive and sidewalks or something to justify the $250, I’m successful about half the time. Minimums are important unless you want to spent your entire day driving around doing $50 or $100 jobs. Sure you can book them but when a big job comes along you’ll be tied up and will have to make the choice of missing the big job or breaking your word on the little jobs. I’ve lost 3 or 4 little jobs this week but I had time to do a $2200 apartment last week and have time to clean a large warehouse next week for $7000+. I’ll take the big jobs every time.
1 Like
