# i need a little help charging the right price for these 2 property's HELPP



## benben (Nov 27, 2010)

ive been doing residential plowing for 3 years and now got 2 larger property's they are busy shopping centers 
how do i work (ie. how much snow has too be down before i plow)
1 property has about 200 parking spots (small one)
the larger one needs salt and has too be plowed behind the building(large property)

can u guys please help me id really appreciate it


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## Rc2505 (Feb 5, 2007)

You need to ask the owners, or property managers what the spec is on trigger depth, and where they want the snow, and so forth. None of us own, or manage the properties, so how can we help you price the lot?


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## benben (Nov 27, 2010)

on average i do the 2" protocol


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## benben (Nov 27, 2010)

by the way i re-measured the property's the rectangle one happens to be larger. (57-58k sq ft)
and the other prop comes out being 46-47k sq ft how much salt do i use per prop and how much do i charge? like i said im new to commercial props and id really like 2 jump into the field but would like advise from the experts thx for the help


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## Burkartsplow (Nov 1, 2007)

What size plow are you using? Both lots are a little over an acre. Rule of thumb is 1 acre an hour with a 7.5 blade at 2-4 inches of snow. We usually put down around 700# of salt per acre. As far as price I dont know your market and cost of doing business. Good Luck.


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## benben (Nov 27, 2010)

on average what would u charge? it snows on average less then 10 times a season but atleast one large snow storm thats about 10" and were saying 350lb of salt per prop what do u think is the min to charge so i wont be lossing and ill figure the quote out from there 
(i live in ny)

thx for your help guys i appreciate it


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## plowman4life (Jan 16, 2008)

this would be best adressed in the bidding and estimate section.

but looking quickly. based on your sizing of the lot. $250-300 w/o salt per push. thats in my area idk what it goes for in your area.

also the price would have to be ajusted for the hours of operation of the places how busy the lot is. lots of variables on commercial properties. layout of the lot where they want snow. i all the snow has to go one place it would raise the price.

also gonna want to price for 5-700 lbs of salt. especially in the shopping center. dont forget your liability insurance. gonna want pretty big policy for that


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## second income (Sep 19, 2010)

Shoot for 250 per hour per truck plus walks 1.8 yard v-box full load $300per app These are just rules of thumb that seem to work out for us in Jersey.


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## benben (Nov 27, 2010)

Thanx but I'm looking to charge them by the season not by hour


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## lilweeds (Aug 3, 2007)

In my area SE PA, it would run somewhere in the neighborhood of $5-7K.


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## 09Busa (Nov 27, 2010)

okay....so as second income suggested, shoot for your hourly, how long it will take you to do the areas per push....x how many storms you figure you will push...I suggest figuring more than 10 pushes at 2 inches. You say you live in NY. Central, NYC or upstate?.....snowfall varies from Watertown to Yonkers...j/s


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## benben (Nov 27, 2010)

its in upstate like about 25-30 miles from NYC its on the border of NY and NJ (Rockland County)
and id rather not do the hourly because the customer is asking seasonal 
the reason im asking so many times is because i dont know how to estimate the salt id need too put down?


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## benben (Nov 27, 2010)

how much should i charge for plowing and salt per season?


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## dayexco (Oct 30, 2003)

$26,884.32


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## benben (Nov 27, 2010)

r u serious and is that for the 2 property's i was looking in the ball park of charging 6 per prop but im not sure if i am lowballing my self here


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## Jguck25 (Oct 30, 2009)

benben;1129724 said:


> r u serious and is that for the 2 property's i was looking in the ball park of charging 6 per prop but im not sure if i am lowballing my self here


its called sarcasm. You're going to get a lot of that when asking for direct prices. You need to figure out how much you need to make per hour, and how much salt goes for in your area. Everything you need has already been listed here, you just need to do a little of the work yourself. If you are expecting them to give you a price and your just going to relay that to the customer, then you probably shouldnt get the job.

People have already told you how long it will take to plow it, and they have said how much salt you will need on average to cover both places. All you need to do is find out what you want to make per hour, and how much salt will cost you. Find out how much per push, and then use the figure they said per acre, and then add those two together. Then Times by how many times you push on average. Then add in a fudge factor of say 2 or 3 pushes and 2 or 3 extra saltings.


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## REAPER (Nov 23, 2004)

You say you "got" these properties already???

Is there not a price you already agreed on to "get" them???


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## benben (Nov 27, 2010)

i got that information around here it cost a little over 100 for a yard of salt. 
so thats what im aiming for and i appreciate the help.
i figured if u charge some one 26g u gotta keep a backo or d9 on a property.

i just dont want too over charge or lowball my self and be screwed over. 
one property is owned by a friend the other is a past customer from my dads company 

thx a million for your guys help


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## Mick76 (Aug 2, 2009)

Jguck25;1129750 said:


> its called sarcasm. You're going to get a lot of that when asking for direct prices. You need to figure out how much you need to make per hour, and how much salt goes for in your area. Everything you need has already been listed here, you just need to do a little of the work yourself. If you are expecting them to give you a price and your just going to relay that to the customer, then you probably shouldnt get the job.
> 
> People have already told you how long it will take to plow it, and they have said how much salt you will need on average to cover both places. All you need to do is find out what you want to make per hour, and how much salt will cost you. Find out how much per push, and then use the figure they said per acre, and then add those two together. Then Times by how many times you push on average. Then add in a fudge factor of say 2 or 3 pushes and 2 or 3 extra saltings.


Perfect advice!...... I wasn't going to be as thoughtful in my response..... In other words we've given you time figures... you need to set your price..... If you can't do this with
the information above, your not ready for sites like these......


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## benben (Nov 27, 2010)

the reason i was asking a few times was to make sure im in the right "ball park range". when u buy a new car u go to a few dealers before u buy one. 
again thx for the help i appreciate it


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## Jguck25 (Oct 30, 2009)

benben;1129776 said:


> the reason i was asking a few times was to make sure im in the right "ball park range". when u buy a new car u go to a few dealers before u buy one.
> again thx for the help i appreciate it


lol not a problem. Just letting you know because if i didnt do it, someone else would have. Im not sure about your area, but I can see that lot going for around 7-8K around here, and we get a lot more snow here than in your area, so your numbers seem pretty good. Salt by the yard is around 130 here so youll be making out fine and wont be cheating yourself with only ten pushes per season. That is 600 per push.


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## platinumpimps (Oct 18, 2008)

Dumb Ass. wow some people just dont get it


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## bristolturf (Dec 20, 2008)

ok well ill throw my numbers out to you on one of the lots. In my area we average around 10-12 plowable events per year, we also then average around 15 salt only events. Majority of our storms are in the 1-3" category but we do get a few of the 4-6 and 6-10 storms per year. I have broken down the numbers from the years past and generally we get around 5-8 1-3 inch storms per year, around 3 (4-6 inch storms) and about 2 6+ storms per year. So I base my season on 13 plowable events. And I figur my costs per on those.

It seems like our areas are the same (not sure where your from didnt look) but I figured out the more odd shaped property (the first one) at 47k your going to be needing around 770lbs of salt per application (I round that up to 1000lbs), that accounts for over applying, areas that need extra (entrances, handicap stalls, etc) as well as extra visits after the storm, or salting during the storm. I then figure to plow that with a 7.5ft blade its going to take you around 1.5-2 hours for a 1-3", so well call it 2 hours. Are the walks included? I have assumed they are so I included it, I figure around 1.5 hours on the walks with an around 150lbs of ice melt. So with that if we say plowing im getting $60/hr, salt $.18/lb, walks $40/hr, and Ice Melt $.45/lb. 

That means 120/plow, 180/salt, 60/walks, and 67.50/ice melt totaling 427.50/1-3" event. I figure around 8 of those per year. Then I just continue on up adding in the appropiate amount of hours per event. I also figure in an addition 500lbs of salt in each category. During those prolonged events we plow main areas and salt them to help prevent sticking, etc. With my numbers per year in plowing events I figure id charge around 8200 then another 3700 in seperate salting events totaling $11900/yr. Thats me though, and thats with a pick up and straight blade.

Id try to get a skid loader in those lots, your in and out in about 1 hour in each of those lots with a loader and 8ft pusher. That would change your price too. 

Other lot, id figure about the same time plowing and doing walks/ice melt, but around 1500lbs of salt per application.

Just figure out your costs look at your weather records for the past 10 years (National weather service) and figure out the average for each storm category (less than 1, 1-3; 3-6; 6-10; 10+) and work in your numbers


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## bristolturf (Dec 20, 2008)

I also forgot to add in there, especially in that first lot, with you not using a loader your going to need to figure in time to stack snow or haul it, theres no where to really put snow and your not going to get it over the curbs. I know some people like to include that in their seasonal bid and others do it seperate. I usually try to keep it seperate, just an hourly charge for a skid. If you include it in the bid id figure on stacking it at least 2 times probably 1-2 hours each time.


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