Rates - in Texas...

[A1 Grass]

I was wondering if anyone could give me an idea of rates in my area for:

standard mow/trim/blower service

raking/etc.
(Rates for raking by hand vs. yard-vac?)

(specifics: San Antonio and Austin area - mostly small to med. residential - using a 32" mower - did I forget anything?)

Thanks

[LAWnENFORCER]

I am suprised that no one has told you what I am about to. Your rates should be based on what you WANT and NEED. You must figure what it cost you to run your buisness and what your market will allow.

I live in a small town 60 mi NW of Austin and have more work than ever. In Austin and San Antonio the sky is the limit, but you will only be able to achieve this if you run your buisness with efficency and productivity.

Also there is the search button in the upper right hand corner that should give you plenty of reading on this subject.

GOOD LUCK

Kevin

[Hodge]

LAWnENFORCER is correct it depends on your needs and the direction you want for your business. Our range from 27.00 to 145.00 you must take into consideration gas, tavel time, size of yard, attutude of customer, insurance, rate of service.... etc.

[BigJim]

$18 tops.Remember this guy http://www.justlawns.com/

[A1 Grass]

If $18 was all I could get I would not even consider doing this. Thank God that in the two years I have been doing this that NEVER have I done a lawn for $18. Maybe sweep your driveway...

In reply to above. Yes, I am aware of the "search" button. That answer works with any question, doesn't it?

I was hoping for specifics from some locals - also for other possible topics - thanks though.

[TurfGuyTX]

Originally posted by BigJim
$18 tops.Remember this guy http://www.justlawns.com/

Yeah, I get bugged by his FAQ's. "Why is it so cheap?" "Why not? It's just cutting grass." That irks me. I personally would do half of the work for twice the price.

[jocko1104]

Whatever you need to operate with.

In Austin my minimun is $25 but that rarely happens, more like $30-$35 for you average res yard. BIggest factors are the amount of trimming, which can take longer than the mowing, and is the back gate accessable (push mowing sucks).

Raking? Whats that for? lol! I just mulch the heck out of it or if that doesn't do I'll blow it to the street.

[Nomoslowmow]

I am a little north of you near dallas, but for what it's worth, the rates for a "standard" residential lawn seem to be creeping down with the influx of new/nonproffesional/fly by night operators. This has gotten worse because of all the layoffs in our area, bringing desperate people into our busuness looking for easy money.

Three years ago we quoted $25+ 99% of the time. Now, $22 seems to be more common. This is bad busuness when you look at how our costs are going up.

That $18 per lawn guy is not as bad as the guys I bid against who offer $11...they don't even have a blower so they use the mowers to "clean" the pavement. We pick up a bunch of their customers every year, but they muddy the waters of how much lawn service is worth.

Good Luck!

Bob

[jocko1104]

$11 indeed!!

Life must be tough in DFW. I think that some people honestly dont care if the lawn looks better or not as long as its shorter.

If I ever ran into anyone like that I would probably lose my cool. Well... At least let them know what I think. probably better that way.

[The Lawn Choupique]

I don't think that the rates matter as much as the profits do.

[TurfGuyTX]

Originally posted by jocko1104
$11 indeed!!

Life must be tough in DFW. I think that some people honestly dont care if the lawn looks better or not as long as its shorter.


Not any customers of mine. I won't keep any that think like that. $35 is a more common average price for residential customers.

[Lance L]

ya im in south dallas and im making about a dollar a minute with a 32" hydro

[Nomoslowmow]

Hey Turfguy-

I'm impressed and humbled that you can get your customers to pay $10-12 more for you to cut their lawn than I can. Before I start feeling REALLY cheap, let me ask, are you talking about the standard mow, string trim, edge and blow for this $35 price, or do you weed beds, etc, too for this price?

I just bid a good size lot (about 140x110) for one of my existing customers who moved to a different house tonight at $27.50. He showed me bids from two of my "competitors" one at $24, one at $22!! I got the job at $25 because they liked our previous work. This is the way it goes, and it sucks.

Just to be clear, we have been in business around 9 years, are insured, have a real website, dedicated trucks with signs, accept credit cards, have real employees, etc. We do the best quality of work, and have super customer service, yet over and over we find that the pressure on prices is DOWN, not up.

Lance-

If I could make a dollar a minute, I'd only work about 5 hours a day without any employees or other costs and still take home $80,000+ in 12 months! I bill a little more than that while TWO employees are actually working on a lawn, and of course all my costs come out of that! Like I said in an earlier post: I work too hard for too little and I feel stupid!

Bob

[Hodge]

As for me in N. TX a yard at 140 X 110 would be about 45 - 50 every 10 days, weekly in the summer months. Times must be tough where you are at when you can only get 27.50 (25.00) due to the scrubs. Or were they scrubs.. the other companies did they have insurance.. employees... any overhead?

:rolleyes:

[Hodge]

BTW Bob what is your website.

[Nomoslowmow]

Hodge-

www.kniznermowing.com


Bob

[awm]

well u website looks fine. dont know why u feel like a fool. u makin a livin huh.
good luck bud and with that wife working with u ,u just a ways from making your service much larger,i would think.. then u can cullum.

[Nomoslowmow]

AWM-

Thanks!


Bob

[TurfGuyTX]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Nomoslowmow
[B]Hey Turfguy-

I'm impressed and humbled that you can get your customers to pay $10-12 more for you to cut their lawn than I can. Before I start feeling REALLY cheap, let me ask, are you talking about the standard mow, string trim, edge and blow for this $35 price, or do you weed beds, etc, too for this price?

I just bid a good size lot (about 140x110) for one of my existing customers who moved to a different house tonight at $27.50. He showed me bids from two of my "competitors" one at $24, one at $22!! I got the job at $25 because they liked our previous work. This is the way it goes, and it sucks.

It is what you'd call a standard mow. Extras's are just that, extra. Now, we don't walk by a big weed and leave it. It is an opportunity to show quality and upsell. I let customers know that we don't try to be the cheapest. Quality is important to us. If that's all they care about, I wish them luck. Many will call back later. We are somewhere in the middle as far as price goes. It does make a difference where your customers are located. I've got some that I couldn't get half the price for smaller lawns in other areas. I'd recommend that your start raising your prices as you grow. Sell your quality, not your price. Good luck.

[TurfGuyTX]

Originally posted by BigJim
$18 tops.Remember this guy http://www.justlawns.com/

I wish someone with 4 or 5 acres were in his area. It be interesting to see how he handled it.

[outrunjason]

I work in the Far North Dallas area. I keep up with a lot of companies here. I here most of them charge $25 and up. I charge $25 a lawn (most lawns). I have one other guy that works with me. I like to do 2 lawns an hour. Thats $50 an hour minus the hourly wage for my employee.

I don't charge $30 unless I think it is going to take me more than 30min to mow, edge, string trim, and clean-up.

Jason