Not even started and already a bit discouraged by our market

City Demographics:
Avg Home 269k
Avg household Income 120k

Advertising locals claim legit, license and insured, 1500 sq ft or less 149.00, 2 story 2500 sq ft 229.00

It’s not just one company, there are 3 or 4 with advertised rates cheap aka 250 or less. Not new companies either, the one i quoted prices is knocking on 20 years in the biz.

Is this common and only working on an upsell? If not it is almost working for wages.

What market are you located in?

The direct area I live in is like that…same prices. One story $150…two stories no more than $250. Certain neighborhoods with larger 3000-4000 sq ft homes still want you to charge no more than $250. I’ve had one 3300 sq ft home I quoted at $250 (because it was a box and only be there 1 hour) say for that price they want the deck and huge driveway included…lol. There’s a few neighborhoods about 20 miles away from me that you can get into the $300s for washing homes. You have to market the right neighborhoods and get your foot in the door. Once you’re in and established your the “go to” guy.

1 Like

St louis metro area

How long is house wash taking? I would think the 1 story is probably 1-1.5 hours and the 2 story maybe 2 hours?

There are indeed plenty of areas near by that go through the million dollar range. I was looking to stay in cities with avg incomes in excess of 100k. Less than that in this area there is not much disposable income.

Figured 3 houses a week avg the first year, changes the numbers a lot.

I think those are pretty good estimates, I pushed it out to 2 and 3 due to lack of experience so above average rework so to speak. I want to leave it like it was mine and expect to have to hit a few areas again so to speak.

Yes it will take longer at first. You can’t really expect the customer to pay for that but if you are charging reasonable pricing it’s not a burden.

I want really considering the time at all, just the houses and what I thought it would be worth actually.

I would have expected bids to be about 300 for mine. 1800 sq ft, ranch, 3 car, walk out with a 20 by 30 composite deck with 1 roll out awning. Fairly typical for the subdivision. The two stories are similar in nature just taller.

It is actually typical for the city with the area being developed 95 and up. There are a ton in need of the service. I started taking different routes around town and began looking when I started considering it. Seemed like I needed to be sure there was a need before spending much time on it.

When looking for a local to possibly buy a cup of coffee and blend an ear that I found the rates on their web spaces. One of them adverts on Neighborhood for our area. There are always request for various handyman service recommendations on things on there.

Most of the houses are in that 229 range, once you factor in the business cost not just cogs there is very little meat on the bone :frowning:

Just gotta rethink the plan I guess.

Up north in PA you can get $350-400 easily for 2 story homes. I knocked a few out in my sisters neighborhood when I was visiting. I took a smaller PW with me and had all the attachments to softwash. These were 2200-2600 sq ft homes. It just depends on the area. There’s a ton of competition around me so I have to be competitive.

You can make good money with a 4/4…I did it for 2 years then upgraded my pump and now I’m flying on house washes. You’ll get better with experience. Figure on a typical two story to take you about 2 hours give or take until you get used to it then maybe 1.5 hours. A 4/4 is slower but you can still do a great job with it. I wouldn’t be discouraged. If you can knock out 3 houses a week and have an extra $600 for 5-6 hours of work you’ll be happy.

Well there really aren’t a lot of costs. Insurance, hw, upkeep, replacement fund, sh, surfactant, advertising, vehicle upkeep and expenses. Even at $150-$270 it’s a minimum of 50% profit. Now when you have employees it’s going to be tougher. Wages, workman’s comp, employer’s taxes, etc.

Ignore all the low cost competition. Most try to upsale anyway. They’re everywhere. Just do your own marketing. Meet and be nice to people. Deliver great results, word gets around. Ask every customer you do get for a referral.

6 Likes

Sell yourself first. Everything else will take care of itself. A good deal is a matter of perception. If you build value in yourself in your business people are willing to pay more. You just have to explain and show the benefit of dealing with you

2 Likes

Good point. Generic price = generic wash

A few things

Have a unique selling point that translates to more value.

You can be a Walmart …low prices and higher volume

Or Target…Higher prices lower volume.

Go into both at 8 pm and you’ll see the difference in customer ( no offense)

The typical target customer is the same customer I market, advertise, and build my business around.

3 Likes

There is nothing wrong with those numbers endless you were expecting to work 1 day a week and every job is a mortgage payment. This Buisness is like every other. You need to put the effort in to reap the rewards. Those numbers can produce a 100k yearly salary or a 10k yearly salary. It all depends on you not what your competitors does

4 Likes

One thing to keep in mind, you may get quite a few customers in the older areas of St. Louis as their houses will be in dire need of washing. Don’t be afraid of doing a 900 square foot house totally covered in mold and algae. Word will get out that you are willing to do the ‘lesser’ houses the other commercial rigs won’t touch.

2 Likes

I’m 15 min from St. Louis if you ever need anything or just want to chat.

1 Like