how much to charge 68k SF

[rslawnscapes]

I need to put a bid in for a condo complex.68k square feet.some slopes.usual trimming,blowing ect.I'm thinking somewhere between $160 and $200.Does anyone charge by the square ft.if so how much?

[mow2nd]

.005 X Sq Ft = $

You should be charging $325 per cut. Everybody should use this formula but they dont, it's a thing of the past, how sad.......

[All_Clear]

.005 x sq ft seems more reasonable... only other way to know an exact price for a property is knowing your cost to do business....

When i first started trying to estimate lawns i had read some where .008 x sq ft. but man it seemed so freaking high i quit trying to use that. I never gave that price to a homeowner i figured I'd get laughed right off the property.

Last year a guy came by checking out something my dad was selling and told him he'd cut for him... said $15 bucks week (by my est. for this lawn is $30 week) Dad said $15? I'll give you $20. I now live at the house and do it myself but dad couldn't understand how that guy was going to live on his quotes... End of the season the guys ztr broke down and him and his mother (had to be late 70's early 80's) were out here mowing in 90 degree heat with push mowers. :dizzy:


All_Clear

[kbrashears]

Acre and a half of turf, or the whole lot, building included?

125.00-150.00

[dcgreenspro]

Five dollars a sq. ft. ??? You guys must have some really rich clients.;)

[mow2nd]

ummmm that's not $5 per sq ft it's .005, which is a half a penny...........duh

[All_Clear]

Five dollars a sq. ft. ??? You guys must have some really rich clients.;)

$5 sq ft x 68,000 = $340,000.00

If you can get that i'll take one for the year forget all the rest.


All_Clear

[mow2nd]

by the way, my dad has been in this business over 40 years and he once told me guys were getting .01 per sq ft on commercial properties in the early 70's and 80's. That was back when you could make some money in commerical. (For dcgreen that is 1 cent per sq ft) things cost more now days, but our prices have fallin to .005 (half a penny) even lower for what I call lowballers. If we could all get on the same page, maybe we could all make more money.

[dcgreenspro]

.005x68000=340.00
340/68=5
Simple math. :hammerhead:

[dcgreenspro]

oops, thats five dollars per 1000 ft.

[dcgreenspro]

i just wanna know where i can charge 217.80 for an acre. will move immediatly:)

[mow2nd]

Just raise your prices, commerical properties cost more to do. Using the formula for residental could be half that .0025 per sq ft. You have to understand with commerical your dealing with more BS. Such as more edging, trimming, blowing, cars, people in the way, more insurance in case something does happen. You DO NOT charge the same for Commerical as you would Residential..............PERIOD

[rslawnscapes]

Acre and a half of turf, or the whole lot, building included?

125.00-150.00
all turf buildings excluded

[Killswitch]

i just wanna know where i can charge 217.80 for an acre. will move immediatly:)

lol. No kidding. These guys are living in a dream world.

Yeah. Its worth .005 per sq ft, but you bid that job at 350 they would laugh their asses off.

Hells bells I doubt you can get 150 for it these days.

[Killswitch]

Just raise your prices, commerical properties cost more to do. Using the formula for residental could be half that .0025 per sq ft.


Thats over 100 dollars per acre for residential.

Dreamland.

[All_Clear]

Thats over 100 dollars per acre for residential.

Dreamland.

At .0013 you can line up tons of work and bust your @ss... Or charge .0025 and work half as much...


Just to many out there that have no clue and havent bothered to really try to price it worth their while....

[CutNLawns]

Trust me I would like to get that kinda $$$ but around here you are looking at about $50-$65/man hr. and 1.5ac would take at the most just over an hour to complet everything. Around here you are looking at $75-$80 tops.....sad! In St. Louis I can get $75-$80/ man hr for nice commercial but have never seen $100+!

[mow2nd]

guess u guys need to go up on your prices

[Runner]

LOL. This is funny. You guys keep throwing out all your fiures, but the fact of the matter is that this question can't even be answered. First, without all the details, it is impossible to tell. Second, different areas have SO much variance in pricing, that there is just no comparison. For theses guys that are continuously asking "How much should I charge", the answer is. "Sorry. There's no way of telling".

[mow2nd]

tell em JOE

[Runner]

Oh, I wish there WAS some magic number. It would just make things alot easier.

[CutNLawns]

guess u guys need to go up on your prices

And you go hungry...........:dizzy:

[rslawnscapes]

I put in my bid.$185.00/per week.They said i was twice as high as everyone else.The interesting part is they used the lowballer last year and were very unhappy with the service.I sharpened my pencil and i have a revised bid of $147.00/week but even if they haven't commited yet,I'm still high.I guess it's all part of the learning curve.

[rslawnscapes]

The lowballer got the contract.They took the guy who agreed to do the condo for.get this $80.00/week.you guys were right.The only problem with getting a good deal is you have to live with your good deal.

[shamus78]

in jersey we get $550 for a job like that

[MMLC]

Listen to this one. I bid on a 3 property contract this spring. It included a township hall and 2 small cemeteries with about 120 headstones to trim around. Total lawn to mow about 3.5 acres and about a mile in between each prop. to drive. Now I'm not going to tell you what I bid, but I'll tell you this, I wasn't going to do it for nothing. My wife and kids need to eat too. Needless to say I didn't get the contract it went to another company willing to do it for 90.00 a week.

[jlohouston]

I am in Texas where we have a lot of lowballing fly by night Hispanic lawn services... I tell my clients they can have my services at the rate I gave them or they can use ________ Lawn service and get a cheap cut, probly not insured, they may or may not be able to speak to you..(english), and they may or may not show up every week or 2 like you request..... I have gone from 25 clients to 60 in 1 month. I also believe in the .005 for all my commercial and I use from .0025 to .004 for residential depending on the amout of trim and edge. If all sound use some kind of formula..... A 10,000 sq foot yard in Texas say at .003 is $30 it should not be any different in any other state...

[topsites]

Five dollars a sq. ft. ??? You guys must have some really rich clients.;)

No doubt, if it's a straight 1.5 acre, I have a lot like that I do for 85 dollars but we're not talking 100 stamps of lawn here, are we?

[Surf'n'Turf]

in jersey we get $550 for a job like that

Shamus,
I live in Red Bank, less than 1 mile away and have serviced residential, commercial, and large estates in the area for over 15 years. Please show where I can get that kind of $$$ for the size yard in question so I can go collect my pot 'o gold! I agree with GC, question cannot be answered so the point is moot.

[chriscraft]

$200 an acre would not fly around here but it would be nice. People around here wont pay 50 an acre for commercial if you are jsut cutting edging and trimming

[ed2hess]

Shamus,
I live in Red Bank, less than 1 mile away and have serviced residential, commercial, and large estates in the area for over 15 years. Please show where I can get that kind of $$$ for the size yard in question so I can go collect my pot 'o gold! I agree with GC, question cannot be answered so the point is moot.
Shamus,

Thanks for commenting...there is a lot of bad information that gets but out without any correction.

[fireguyva]

Why can't you just estimate how many sq ft you can cut per hour w/what ever equipment you have and put a $ amount on what you charge per man hour. Commercial or residential?