# Pricing a 1.92 mile neighborhood



## fishandson (Sep 15, 2014)

First of all, I would like to quickly say this forum has been a go to guide for the last two years as I've been growing my snow plowing operation. I finally signed up and look forward to talking with everyone!

I currently plow a very small HOA that is .25 miles long and its actually in the back of a neighborhood. I get $125 to plow it and $150 to salt it. I'm generally in and out in less than a half hour. I visit every 3 inches and do both. I'd really like a lot of these to be honest..

If you look at the picture of the neighborhood I have provided, the 1/4 mile long lanet is the lane where the blue dot is located. You can see you drive through a neighborhood to get there. That HOA came to me and asked to put in a bid. The neighborhood is 1.92 miles of roadway, what is a fair started price for this? There is no salting involved.

As far as the other picture, it is a motorcycle dealership I plowed last year. I just want to give an example of my current pricing and work speed..

Its about 4 acres with a 1 acre building. Ridiculously shaped medians and what nots. We got $500 for 0-2 inches and $150 additionally for each 2 inches. The lot would take a minimum of 2 hours for my 1 F250 with an 8 foot blade. I track all of my work to a t and it averaged about an additional 30 minutes per 2 additional inches. I don't want to jump the gun but I made out very well at this place because they always wanted me there.

Not to keep rambling but I haven't done a large neighborhood yet and I'm not sure what a fair rate for 2 miles of plowing would be. With a 4 inch trigger I am thinking around $400 and an additional $200 for each 2 inches thereafter. I would mostly be using 1 8 foot blade on this project unless we had significant snowfall where I would then have another truck. I am assuming it will take about 2 man hours??

Thanks for any input on what I should price this at. 
Cheers
Sean


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## fishandson (Sep 15, 2014)

Only the motorcycle dealership attached.. This is the picture of the HOA to bid..


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## fishandson (Sep 15, 2014)

Nobody has any input? I'd even take criticism at this point lol


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## seville009 (Sep 9, 2002)

Just curious as to why that's not a public road that the town would be responsible to maintain? Who does all if the cross streets that are within the perimeter?


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## fishandson (Sep 15, 2014)

That's actually a good question.. Wilmington is a city of about 80k people but the city limits are actually very small. If you were to look at Wilmington on a map of New Castle County which is the top 1/3 of the state, Wilmington is about 1/3 of the county. Only city streets are town done. All subdivisions are responsible for their own snow plowing and paid for by HOA dues. The roads outside of the neighborhood are taken care of by the county. There is a ridiculous amount of subdivisions in this area.. Probably in the thousands.


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## seville009 (Sep 9, 2002)

I'd think that you'd have to bill hourly with a minimum charge plus any added costs in case you need to bring in a loader or something to push banks back or something like that. Basically a time and materials contract.


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## fishandson (Sep 15, 2014)

I have thrown that option around a little. The only reason I was trying to stay away from that is because during storms generally pop in and out of different sites and go around after the snow stops to fully clean everything up. Maybe 20-30 minutes at a time to keep roads open. Would you recommend either staying a full hour or billing in hour half increments, or a different way?


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## fishandson (Sep 15, 2014)

Also, snow removal and loader work is all billed hourly. I forgot to mention that


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## gasjr4wd (Feb 14, 2010)

fishandson;1831493 said:


> Only the motorcycle dealership attached.. This is the picture of the HOA to bid..


Are they signed up for the state reimbursement program?
http://deldot.gov/information/community_programs_and_services/snow/
It's to your advantage...
PM me for more info.


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## Buswell Forest (Jan 11, 2013)

Do you plow LARCH and FOREST drives and what ever the bottom road is? Or only the interior roads?


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## allagashpm (Sep 29, 2012)

I cant really contribute a price however I would consider removing the address and street names. With this industry I would not be surprised if someone went to that dealership and offered a lower price, and if they really wanted they could show them your post saying how well you do on it. Not trying to be a jerk just trying to help you protect yourself and your business going forward.


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## gasjr4wd (Feb 14, 2010)

LOL
Everyone knows where this is... I know the other place. I live less than 2 miles from both.
I for one, don't care. If he's doing it and like it, good. Some of us have better morals. 
Plus-
I think he's being way too cheap and is selling himself short, especially on the HOA.
He can make more $ and save the HOA $ if he knows how...
payup


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## allagashpm (Sep 29, 2012)

gasjr4wd;1886624 said:


> LOL
> Everyone knows where this is... I know the other place. I live less than 2 miles from both.
> I for one, don't care. If he's doing it and like it, good. Some of us have better morals.
> Plus-
> ...


I like to think people have better morals I guess it isn't so much just the address as announcing that a certain hoa is looking for a contractor. If a competitor saw his bid they could come in lower etc. Just my opinion I think people sometimes forget this is a public forum


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## ajcoop20 (Dec 4, 2011)

i plow a lot of city streets, if you think that will take you 2 hours going curb to curb, well, thats milking the hell out of them. Our average plow speed about 8mph, most roads will take 4 passes with an 8' blade to roll everything up out of the gutter. In the midwest thats probably a 200$ job at most, with no salt. our subs get 55/hr (insurence paid) and if it took them an hour they're screwing around.


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## gasjr4wd (Feb 14, 2010)

ajcoop20;1887570 said:


> i plow a lot of city streets, if you think that will take you 2 hours going curb to curb, well, thats milking the hell out of them. Our average plow speed about 8mph, most roads will take 4 passes with an 8' blade to roll everything up out of the gutter. In the midwest thats probably a 200$ job at most, with no salt. our subs get 55/hr (insurence paid) and if it took them an hour they're screwing around.


Many things can alter pricing. City/public streets are different than HOA.
Thats if you aren't plowing with the storm... and only a few inches.
Just doing the math via miles it's fast and simple but... The HOA's I do have many short roads with a lot of intersections that take more time. Also some neighborhoods have more seniors than others. For some reason they like to be able to get out at all times. One even has a main road that sees a lot of traffic, leads to other neighborhoods... things get packed down if you don't keep up on it.
I for one try not to block drives... I try to angle straight in front of drives, then angle once past them. (especially if a nice looking female is out shoveling, or a senior is shoveling.) If you think residents don't give feed back to the HOA officers you are nuts. Parked cars are always fun. When I see people pushing snow into the street from their drives or sidewalks, somehow my plow angles toward their driveways pushing snow back. Not sure how it happens but... other neighbors who don't do that actually give you a thumbs up when it happens. Run past the HOA presidents house? Hit the spreader button for a few seconds. If you map out the area first, note the storm drains and don't cover them. Remember, this is a service industry.
Oh, and the state dictates pricing then reimburses a percentage. Most plow guys and HOA don't know that. It's better to work _with_ a HOA than just for them.
Yes, streets are simple. HOA can be a pain if you don't service them well.

I bet you can't get a decent sub around here for $55/hr. (how I was once paid with one.)
:laughing:

YMMV


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## fishandson (Sep 15, 2014)

I ended up politely declining on this one. I never know what people think when they charge. Sometimes I can't believe they pay that much other times I say you fired your $50 guy? We have a full schedule at this point.


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## fishandson (Sep 15, 2014)

gasjr4wd;1887616 said:


> Many things can alter pricing. City/public streets are different than HOA.
> Thats if you aren't plowing with the storm... and only a few inches.
> Just doing the math via miles it's fast and simple but... The HOA's I do have many short roads with a lot of intersections that take more time. Also some neighborhoods have more seniors than others. For some reason they like to be able to get out at all times. One even has a main road that sees a lot of traffic, leads to other neighborhoods... things get packed down if you don't keep up on it.
> I for one try not to block drives... I try to angle straight in front of drives, then angle once past them. (especially if a nice looking female is out shoveling, or a senior is shoveling.) If you think residents don't give feed back to the HOA officers you are nuts. Parked cars are always fun. When I see people pushing snow into the street from their drives or sidewalks, somehow my plow angles toward their driveways pushing snow back. Not sure how it happens but... other neighbors who don't do that actually give you a thumbs up when it happens. Run past the HOA presidents house? Hit the spreader button for a few seconds. If you map out the area first, note the storm drains and don't cover them. Remember, this is a service industry.
> ...


Every customer I have is completely different with their wants needs and expectations. I see youre from Delaware. Do you know anybody that needs sub work? I'm managing a site in Claymont and need a plow and skid steer.


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## gasjr4wd (Feb 14, 2010)

fishandson;1887711 said:


> Every customer I have is completely different with their wants needs and expectations. I see youre from Delaware. Do you know anybody that needs sub work? I'm managing a site in Claymont and need a plow and skid steer.


I can take care of the plow work but no skid steer in my corral.
I can give you a call if you like...


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