Apartment Cleanup - It's Very Bad

[Steve]

Basing this job like my others, I would price it at $1,890-$3774. With a price around $2,800 to be pretty good. (63 man hours at $45 per hour). And I was thinking of charging an extra $630 for the 80-100 bushes and trees. What was your thought process on how you came up with this price range and man hour total?

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[RSE]

Lawn care business tips

You may want to pass up this one. If the owner, a responsible landlord, allowed the property to get to this leve, Lord knows what she may put you through. Quick tip: I like my beer too but I can't see showing up for a bid on a job advertising it....get your business image on!!

[SECTLANDSCAPING]

Originally Posted by RSE

You may want to pass up this one. If the owner, a responsible landlord, allowed the property to get to this leve, Lord knows what she may put you through.
Quick tip: I like my beer too but I can't see showing up for a bid on a job advertising it....get your business image on!!

I can agree with that. I took on a few smaller yards that were not taking care of. I have had problems with payment on all of them. Now that the hard work is out of the way they can bring in anyone for pennies or let it sit a few months again.

[lxarth]

Well...the apartment manager replied to my email with:
"Thanks for your considertion. Unfortunately the amount that you mention is out of the budget.

If there is any way to break that down into components that can be accomplished over time, I'd be open to that however."



I wonder if she would allow a tenant to break up rent, or the security deposit?

What was your thought process on how you came up with this price range and man hour total?

In the starting post I linked to another thread that helps calculate the time to cleanup. On average, you can just take amount of bark you would lay down (at 1" deep) and multiply the time by 1-3 depending on the severity of the place.

So. Say you need to cleanup 1,000 sq-ft. Divide that by 12 (inches in a foot) and you get 83.3. You can then divide that by 27 (for number of yards of bark) and get 3.08. And that number is your man hours. You can then use that and multiply it by, say, 3 (say it's terribly overgrown) and you get 9.25. Now you have your actual man hours. Multiply that by your hourly rate and you have your cleanup price. Say at $45/hour, and now your bid should be $416. I always add 10% and round. So a final bid would be more like $460.

I use that for everything, including travel fees, dump fees, etc. One simple price is all the customer is looking for.

Lately I have been doing separate bids for the front yard and the backyard, and then giving the customer a discount if they do both at once. So far I get them hooked because they see a nice discount and want to get it.

[Steve]

Lately I have been doing separate bids for the front yard and the backyard, and then giving the customer a discount if they do both at once. So far I get them hooked because they see a nice discount and want to get it.

Do you do this only if the yard is a real mess or do you do this for all yard cleanups?

[pfreeman]

Originally Posted by shadrach

Her expectations as far as time and budget are nowhere near reasonable and she is trying to bait you with more work later(trimming trees & shrubs) if you do the clean up now. Probably best to pass.

I completely agree. Don't hold your breath on additional work or timely/complete payment.

[lxarth]

Do you do this only if the yard is a real mess or do you do this for all yard cleanups?

I had recently gotten a bid for a hedge job (too big for me to handle, was going to sub it out) and they offered a discount for having both hedges done at once. I thought it was a good idea, and thought I would try it if I needed to.

Well, I gave it a shot with a customer, and he went for it. I thought it was a high bid. But what I thought would be a 7 man-hour job, too nearly 12 man-hours. So not so high after all.

I did the same for another customer, and she has signed up as well.

My biggest issue with cleanups is getting paid. Last year I didn't even do cleanups. I just told those who asked that I'm booked up. I wasn't sure how to bid, and was tired of loosing money. I actually pay my help the day we finish, even if I don't get paid. So I would loose out twice.

Now I tell people it's due on completion. One I recently did the customer signed up and handed me a check for the rest of June, and all of July. So when he asked to pay half no and half in a couple weeks, I felt he was good for it.

I have another cleanup this Saturday, and will ask for payment on completion. May even have her sign a contract.

[Steve]

Do you feel there may be value in including yard cleanups for customers who sign up with you for annual lawn care? Would this be a win for you and the customer?

[c4trash]

Originally Posted by lxarth

I had recently gotten a bid for a hedge job (too big for me to handle, was going to sub it out) and they offered a discount for having both hedges done at once. I thought it was a good idea, and thought I would try it if I needed to.

Well, I gave it a shot with a customer, and he went for it. I thought it was a high bid. But what I thought would be a 7 man-hour job, too nearly 12 man-hours. So not so high after all.

I did the same for another customer, and she has signed up as well.

My biggest issue with cleanups is getting paid. Last year I didn't even do cleanups. I just told those who asked that I'm booked up. I wasn't sure how to bid, and was tired of loosing money. I actually pay my help the day we finish, even if I don't get paid. So I would loose out twice.

Now I tell people it's due on completion. One I recently did the customer signed up and handed me a check for the rest of June, and all of July. So when he asked to pay half no and half in a couple weeks, I felt he was good for it.

I have another cleanup this Saturday, and will ask for payment on completion. May even have her sign a contract.

I do a few of these and differentiate between so called yard cleanups and internal cleans and rubbish removal 99% of the time it is for my Landlords and Estate Agents and is needed when tenants are evicted and or do a runner
First I always meet them on site and we discuss the extent of the work required I then calculate all the materials (Cleaning carpet etc) Disposal Costs and other overheads incl mileage extra labor equipment hire add 15% and that is the deposit they need before work commences I then tell them my personal chargeout rate/hr and that X the no of hours I spend on the job is due on final inspection if it is accepted they direct credit money overnight Once job is done I ask for them to check it If satisfied then money goes through no problems With the person on site I also photograph the whole job before and after That way when new tenants move in they get a copy of the photos with their tenancy agreement so everyone knows whether any damages are done when they leave.
If customers are one off quote the job and require deposit (plus 33.33%) which must be paid before work commences If they cant afford deposit turn the job down because in my opinion they cant afford it anyway
I also have arrangements in place with local Government Agencies like our Department of Social Welfare where I'm registered as a supplier and people on a benefit/super etc can take the photos and full quote to them If they accept the quote the department pays me direct the person may only need to pay it back at $10/week