On Google earth pro you can measure soft of roofs very easy and it works really well.
My question is can you measure the Sqft of the house its self using this? Like each side or all 4 sides.
Close is good enough. 500sqft either way on a house wash isn’t gonna break you in cleaner!
Measure perimeter and then multiply by 10’ per story. So a 30’x40’ 2 story house would have approximately 2800 sq ft of siding (140’ perimeter x 20’).
But honestly, that’s way more work than necessary.
I have them send pics of each side of their house, and their estimate of living sqft, eyeball how long it will take me, multiply by $225/hr. Then round to the nearest $47 or $97, lol.
Gotta wrap my head around that formula for a min but Ill get it lol.
I do get it that you eyeball most of time.
Ty
To much work, set basic pricing for common sizes of houses in your area
1 story 1200-1600 sq ft
1 story with walk out
2 story 1600-3000
2 story walk out
Etc
I have about 4 common size houses in my AO.
Adjust pricing with your operating cost and close rate… how far your scheduled. Whenever my schedule is within 2 weeks I lower pricing by 10-20% to fill back up to where we are 1 month out. Once we are scheduled a month out raise prices 20-30 percent.
Sq ft pricing other then for flat work is a waste in my opinion
Good advice thank you!
rather than thinking on how much the ongoing rate is.
You should tackle it differently.
Ask yourself, how much would you do it for.
don’t try to squeeze yourself into the business, or market.
worry about yourself, set yourself aside, diferenciate yourself.
you will find out that people that are only about $$ are not your clients,
Eye ball it, unless it is a commercial bid
Just taking ideas. In not looking to be rich but if it happens it happens? Lol
Its all extra money to me. I live comfortable with me and my wife’s jobs.
This is part fun(we get bored easy) and part extra money. I don’t need this to survive so it takes a lot of stress away I imagine full timers go thru.
Minus chemicals gasoline and my time or our time its ALL PROFIT.
I’m thinking that’s where the $99 guy comes from is some people aren’t doing this to survive.
Now I don’t want to be the $99 guy but…
I’d wash and easy house for $100 bucks if asked.
Its still $80-$90 profit on an hour or 2 at the most job. That’s still $40-45/hr. I’m too proud to work for that. I have and do work for way less.
I work 40hrs for $800 but I also have great medical insurance. Matching 401k. 5 miles from home. Owners are great folks and been part of our community for 120 years! Never work a weekend never work a holiday and get paid for them anyways!
I’m done at noon and the only days I can’t wash are Wed n Thurs.
So the only way I’d give up my job is if washing really went crazy for me. Granted Ill try but that’s not what I’m going for.
When I get everything up and going as I want. I’m going to MAX out my 401k at work and supplement income with washing.
Then ill be building my 401k like crazy!
Company does 100% match up to 6%!
I don’t think your profit margins will be that high when you factor in insurance and equipment replacement costs.
True I was just saying I see where the $99 guy can still make money.
When you wash houses for $99…you make us all look bad and devalue the work that we do in this industry. $99 guys aren’t around the following year. When someone says they paid that low of a price to have their house wash or gutters cleaned for $40…those guys are in the wind. So the customer expects to pay that low of price the next time he needs his/her house washed. With insurance and expenses, SH, chemicals, replacement parts…you cannot be profitable at $99. I understand most in corporate America don’t make $100-250/hr but when you do great work you can charge for it…especially when you’ve built a reputation for yourself.
I agree. I’m not looking to be That Guy. I was just saying I don’t need to make a killing. Meaning if I do 1 or 2 house washes or roof washes a week. I’m good with that. This isn’t full time for me. Maybe someday who knows but not right now.
I’m with @Patriotspwashing I do flat prices for houses in my area. I have a flat rate for single story and a flat rate for two story. Mine aren’t really set up for sizes, but I will modify my pricing if its a very big or a smaller than average house. I have a website I use to get an idea of the house size and go from there. Most of them I just use my flat rate. I do charge by the sqft for flat work, but even then I use the website to get the square footage. I rarely look at a house prior to pricing any more and its worked out so far.
But I have to agree with @fhpressurewashing that your profit margins wont be that high after you account for insurance, equipment, equipment replacement, marketing and everything else. Its going to add up. I have a full time job as well, but my time is still very valuable and I charge accordingly. I met with my accountant before I got started and he gave me a list of expenses so I could categorize all my expenses and I was kind of blown away. A lot of things on there that I never really thought about. So like I said, it adds up!
Anyway, good luck to you.
I completely understand what your saying and where your coming from. But one thing to consider. Getting into this business isn’t cheap. Granted, it can be less expensive than a lot of other business, but its still not cheap. I have WAY more invested than I thought I would originally. But, if your only doing one or two washes a week think about how long that will take to get your ROI. I understand that your not necessarily dependent on it, but you do want your ROI! Just something to think about. And I know you mentioned that you have a couple of jobs that could already give you a chunk of your investment back, but I know for me I want to see a return on my investment a lot quicker! Haha!
Lol…
If you want to be rich you cant do it at 99 a house.
Wrong state of mind, wrong bus, wrong strategy, wrong start.
If you not going to do it seroriously
Thus is the wrong place to ask for help.
Hello. Mind telling me what website you use for sq footage for housing especially if it also gives sq ft of garage.
Zillow gives sq ft on homes
It’s findlotsize.com You have to measure around the house like you do with Google maps, I just like it better. You can choose to see distance if your measuring the length of something or area if you want to measure a house.
The only problem I have found with that is that they are going to give you the living square foot. It doesn’t include the attached garages. In my area there are a lot of 3 car attached garages that are huge. Its all part of the house so still has to be washed though, so I like to measure it for myself. That way I know a “washable square footage.”
I understand. I still work a 40 hr a week job so going out for every single estimate is something id like to avoid. Also giving an estimate right over the phone i think a customer would be satisfied with because people want instant answers
Don’t do over the phone…send via email.
