Huge Bid - Need Help!

[tbmcgoo]

I am bidding on 5 Apartment Complexes, 2 Plaza's and 1 Square. The guy I talked to said that they have one company do all of them and if I bid it's gotta be for doing all of them. I've never done this big of bid before and I am a little lost. I really want to get this but I don't want to bid so low that I lose money in the process. If you could help out in any way I would really appreciate it. Here's the list of the buildings and there square footage. 1. Forest Park Apartments - 76,105.01 sq. ft. (grass for mowing) 22,300 (sidewalk and driveway/parking lot for plowing) Picture 1 2. Timber Knoll Apartments - 95,910.96 sq. ft. (grass) 46,023.87 (plowing) (Picture 6) 3. Kennedy Drive Apartments - 31, 212.3 sq. ft (grass) (Picture 4) 4. DeerCreek Apartments - 107,693 sq.ft. (grass) 30,806.82 sq. ft. (plowing) (Picture 2) 5. Loganwood Apartments - 29,656.58 sq. ft. (grass) 31,842.55 sq. ft. (plowing) (Picture 5) 6. Sheridian Square - 31,094.12 sq. ft. (grass) 24,126.01 sq. ft. (plowing) (Picture 7) 7. North Town Plaza - 6,629.98 sq.ft. (grass) 40,220.64 sq.ft. (plowing) (Picture 8) 8. Grand Plaza - 22,180.31 sq.ft (grass) 30,274.91 sq.ft (plowing) (Picture 3) I also have pictures attached at the bottom of the places from an sky view so you can see the whole property. Thanks for any help, Tim

Attached Images

	Forest Park Apartments.jpg (164.5 KB, 20 views)
	Deere Creek Apartments.jpg (123.2 KB, 10 views)
	Grand Plaza.jpg (191.1 KB, 10 views)
	Kennedy Drive Apartments.jpg (249.9 KB, 8 views)
	Loganwood Apartments.jpg (187.1 KB, 4 views)
	Timber Knoll Apartments.jpg (91.6 KB, 3 views)
	Sheridan Square.jpg (118.7 KB, 7 views)
	North town Plaza.jpg (98.0 KB, 7 views)

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Last edited by tbmcgoo; 11-14-2011 at 03:24 PM.

[bruces]

Lawn care business tips

not a lot of help,but make sure you know when your getting paid and bid accordingly ,spell out any late payment penalties you desire ,and good luck to you .

[tbmcgoo]

Not sure what you mean by "not a lot of help" if you could elaborate on that it would be helpful. Thanks for the reply and the words of wisdom on the payment and late fees idea.

[Steve]

This is a big discussion here so lets break it down into smaller parts.

1. Forest Park Apartments - 76,105.01 sq. ft. (grass for mowing) 22,300 (sidewalk and driveway/parking lot for plowing) Picture 1

What kind of equipment are you using to service this property?

How many man hours are you estimating it will take to mow that size area?

What other services are they going to need? Trimming? Blowing off of clippings? Litter removal? Fall / Spring cleanups?

Fertilization?

Have they given you a list of everything they wanted? If so, what are they needing?

[bruces]

"not a lot of help " means just that , I dont have much to offer you except I wanted to be sure you knew that figuring out how often your getting payed ,and in what timeline as it a very important part of a large bid like that .In fact ,payment issues could easily sink your company if your not prepared .

[tbmcgoo]

Originally Posted by Steve

This is a big discussion here so lets break it down into smaller parts.



What kind of equipment are you using to service this property?

How many man hours are you estimating it will take to mow that size area?

What other services are they going to need? Trimming? Blowing off of clippings? Litter removal? Fall / Spring cleanups?

Fertilization?

Have they given you a list of everything they wanted? If so, what are they needing?

I am using my zero turn and walk behind to mow the property. i don't have to provide snow removal for this property (only the two plaza's and one square).

I am estimating that it will take us 1 hour to mow and 45 minutes to trim and blow off everything.

I will be doing a spring clean up and a fall clean up, trimming the bushes and hedges twice (once in the summer and once in the early fall), and fertalizing.

[Steve]

What size mower(s) are you using?

By using the lawn mowing calculator, I estimated a 61" mower could handle the 76,000 sq ft lawn in about an hour and 20 minutes, depending on obstacles and terrain.

Now how much line trimming do you need to do? How many linear feet?

Also how much of an area do you have to blow clear?

- spring clean up and a fall clean up. How long are you thinking this will take? maybe 6 hours each? More?

- trimming the bushes and hedges twice. How many linear ft of hedges do you need to trim and how tall are they? Can you do them standing or will you need to be on a ladder?

- fertilizing. How many applications are you going to be doing throughout the year? How much are you thinking to charge for each application?

[tbmcgoo]

This is what I was thinking about bidding, tell me what you think. Thanks!

April through November - (except for snow removal)

Forest Park Apartments 2533 31st Avenue, RI, IL.61201
Mowing, Trimming edges and blowing off sidewalks $75.00 per wk
and driveways (once a week).
Trim bushes in early summer and fall. $240.00
Spring & Fall Clean Up (for both) $400.00
Fertilize: 2 Applications $300.00

Total per month $417.50




Timber Knoll Apartments 3741 53rd st. Moline, IL. 61265
Mowing, Trimming edges and blowing off sidewalks $112.50 per wk
and driveways (once a week).
Trim bushes in early summer and fall. $300.00
Spring & Fall Clean Up (for both) $500.00
Fertilize: 2 Applications $350.00

Total per month $593.75

Kennedy Drive Apartments 2005 Kennedy Drive, E. Moline, IL. 61265
Mowing, Trimming edges and blowing off sidewalks $ 90.00 per wk
and driveways (once a week).
Trim bushes in early summer and fall. $240.00
Spring & Fall Clean Up (for both) $520.00
Fertilize: 2 Applications $300.00

Total per month $492.50




Loganwood Apartments 2104 18th Avenue, Moline, IL. 61265
Mowing, Trimming edges and blowing off sidewalks $ 75.00 per wk
and driveways (once a week).
Trim bushes in early summer and fall. $200.00
Spring & Fall Clean Up (for both) $400.00
Fertilize: 2 Applications $300.00

Total per month $412.50




DeerCreek Apartments 1Parkview drive, Parkview, IA 52748
Mowing, Trimming edges and blowing off sidewalks $ 135.00 per wk
and driveways (once a week).
Trim bushes in early summer and fall. $245.00
Spring & Fall Clean Up (for both) $655.00
Fertilize: 2 Applications $355.00

Total per month $696.88












North Town Plaza 102 East Kimberly Road, Dav. IA 52806
Mowing, Trimming edges and blowing off sidewalks $75.00 per wk
and driveways (once a week).
Trim bushes in early summer and fall. $200.00
Spring & Fall Clean Up (for both) $455.00
Fertilize: 2 Applications $300.00

Total per month $419.38

Snow Removal (2” to 5.5” over 5.5 add 40%) $125.00




Grand Plaza 587 East 53rd Street, Dav. IA 52806
Mowing, Trimming edges and blowing off sidewalks $75.00 per wk
and driveways (once a week).
Trim bushes in early summer and fall. $365.00
Spring & Fall Clean Up (for both) $520.00
Fertilize: 2 Applications $300.00

Total per month $448.13

Snow Removal (2” to 5.5” over 5.5 add 40%) $135.00




Sheridan Square 5216 Sheridan Street, Dav. IA 52806
Mowing, Trimming edges and blowing off sidewalks $ 65.00 per wk
and driveways (once a week).
Trim bushes in early summer and fall. $320.00
Spring & Fall Clean Up (for both) $390.00
Fertilize: 2 Applications $200.00

Total per month $3310.00

Snow Removal (2” to 5.5” over 5.5 add 40%) $373.75






Andy’s House 6531 Eagle Ridge Road, Bett. IA.
Mowing, Trimming edges and blowing off sidewalks Free
and driveways (once a week).
Trim bushes in early summer and fall. Free
Spring & Fall Clean Up (for both) Free
Fertilize: 2 Applications Free

Total per month Free

Snow Removal (2” to 5.5” over 5.5 add 40%) Free



Total Per Month $3,854.39

[Steve]

April through November - (except for snow removal)

Forest Park Apartments 2533 31st Avenue, RI, IL.61201
Mowing, Trimming edges and blowing off sidewalks $75.00 per wk
and driveways (once a week).
Trim bushes in early summer and fall. $240.00
Spring & Fall Clean Up (for both) $400.00
Fertilize: 2 Applications $300.00

Total per month $417.50

What size mower are you going to be using on this property?

You had said

I am estimating that it will take us 1 hour to mow and 45 minutes to trim and blow off everything.

I do wonder how many linear feet you will need to trim because if it takes potentially an hour and 20 minutes to mow and that would leave 25 more minutes to trim and blow everything.

If you feel it can be done in that time, then I'd say go for it.

I don't know how many feet of hedges you have to trim but if you feel you can get it all done in 2 and a half to three hours, then that would be good. Do you feel it can be done in that time?

Once you have that as a base bid, which comes out to $45 an hour, you can then apply it to the other bids as well, if that is acceptable to you.