Determining Price

[mitchdb]

How do you determine the price of a lot? Do you charge twice as much for an acre lot vs. 1/2 acre? What would be the typical going rate for lots are just over an acre? The lots are 150' x 300' (45,000 sq').

Thanks

[Cornwell]

It all depends on what the market is in your area. I know that in Daytona the average house lot is a big difference between something in another state, say Virginia.

[tiedeman]

It depends on a lot of factors:1
1. Market
2. Your overhead
3. The type of equipment you have
4. The property layout
5. And how much of a profit you want to make

[Trinity Lawn Care, LLC]

Just to add to what tiedeman said: With layout remember there is a difference in a 1/2 acre with a lot of trim work and a 1/2 acre wide open. 1/2 acre lot with a lot of trim work could take you a lot more time then the acre wide open. A lot of variables. You will notice that there really is no cut and dry answer to this question.

[daveintoledo]

i had to make some mistakes, and learn and make some more mistakes and learn.... really is the only way....

you could have a friend or neighbor call another compay and see what they would charge for your yard, or a friends, and use that as a comparason, but thats isnt realy a very cool thing and i would hate to wast my time like that....

[mitchdb]

WOW, thanks for all the responses. I'll see if I can get some local info but being in South Texas, most don't speak english!

Thanks again!

[out4now]

Time and amount of fuel mostly. If you know about how long it will take to cut it and you know what your costs are you can add on the mark up you want to make but there are variables like if there is a lot of string trimming to do and obstacles and so forth. It also depends on the going rate of your area like alreaedy said too.

[PMLAWN]

It is all about time. All you sell is time. How long will it take you to do the lot.
Plug in you cost per hour to do work and that is what you charge.
Do a search to find out what to add up for COSTS. also search OVERHEAD, PROFIT,

You need to cover costs and pay yourself and make profit. If you can sell work at a price that will do that than be a LCO, If you can not sell work at a rate that covers all that you have a problem.

[YCC]

The prior post is correct. Your first step is to determine what it costs you to operate your business per hour. Which includes your employees direct salary, all the appropriate taxes and insurances. Then add in all of your expenses. This is what our software does for you. Once you know your operating costs you must determine your production rates.
How much lawn can you cut per hour. How many linear feet of bed can you edge per hour. Same for each individual item that you offer. Then you must accurately measure each property that you price. Heard a create saying once "We measure what we treasure" and for us in the service business, we treasure our time. That is our commodity, that is our product.

[SamTheLawnMan]

I try to multiply the square footage of the lot (small residential) by .0035 most of the time. For example: a lot 75' X 150' would be 11,250 square feet.... then multiply 11,250 X .0035 that would be $39.37...so I would charge $40.00 That's what I do most of the time.....works well for me

[dKoester]

1 acre no trees $55.00, many trees 70.0-75.0. Even with trees should not take to long to trim if your fast and efficient. Do a great job. Have a nice day.

[mitchdb]

$55 sounds cheap!

SamTheLawnMan's formula comes out to $157.50, that would be nice but I don't think that's possible.

Thanks for the info!

[SamTheLawnMan]

Your right, that formula only works on small residential lots. I target small stuff cause in my area there is alot of neighborhoods with small to medium lots....like 70' X 100'.....75' X 125'....and 90' X 150' like I said I found that this works for lots like these. Never really bid on anything an acre or bigger. BTW it would be nice to get that much though!!!! LOL