# Hi all, guy looking to plow his family's 46 unit apartment complex



## Allarile260 (Mar 28, 2019)

Hi all,

I'm looking into plowing my family's 43 unit apartment complex (ones my parents & ones my aunt's). My dad has terminal cancer (stage 4 bone and prostate) and unfortunately some of his pension will not be passed on to my mother when he passes. 

I'm looking to start plowing this apartment complex so that I can save my family some money. I wouldn't be looking to make a profit or any money actually, just looking to save my mom some money so that she can do the things she enjoys without having to have that ~$700+ a month burden for 6 months of the year.

My aunt would be still paying for the snow removal to cover the costs of the truck maintenance. I have a 7-3 day job as a children's psychotherapist with time flexibility.

I currently drive a Focus RS and am looking to trade it for either a 16' f250, 16 Ram 2500 or a 15/16 Chevy + gmc 2500.

The lot size is the size of an average McDonald's lot. It's one long double wide driveway (150ft) with a shared parking space at the back. 

Just looking for any tips or suggestions, I've scoured the forums so far for info and am looking at a light plow to go on the front. 

I'm mainly looking for a 3/4 ton truck, but I could be swayed to a half ton should your recommendations prove so.

Thanks everyone

Riley


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## MIDTOWNPC (Feb 17, 2007)

my biggest concern in reading this is the insurance.
whomever carries the insurance on the apartment building is whom I would speak with about this first.
you would be a contractor and would need the setup for insurance and everything else even if you are not "making a profit" your generating revenue. 
A different approach would be that the apartment building company buys a snow removal vehicle and hires you as an employee of the company 
to plow the snow. they incure the cost, probably can easily get the insurnace, and you dont hold the libility.


imagine someone slips falls and sues you personally and wins
your done. all because you were doing something you thought was nice.


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## dieselss (Jan 3, 2008)

Location and what's your budget?


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## Unraveller (Jan 28, 2014)

Someone's charging you 4000 for a 46 unit? So 15 per unit, per month? Yeah, just keep paying that.


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## Hydromaster (Jun 11, 2018)

How do you ever plowed snow before ?
I agree it’s not rocket science but it does take some skill and a little knowledge.

Who is responsible for clearing snow from the sidewalks ?

Are you going to apply salt after you plow ?
Do you have a place to get your salt loaded into your Salter or how do you intend to accomplish this task ?

What if it snows afoot while you’re at work ?
Or a 1”+ an hr. You’re going to miss a lot of time from work to do a favor .

what are you gonna do when you get stuck or your truck breaks down ?

Who pays for maintenanceon said truck and plow, You know, like a new transmission ?


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## Hydromaster (Jun 11, 2018)

I guess in another words unless you’re going to open a snow removal business, have multiple trucks ,snow blowers , salter, salt, Knowledge on how to fix your equipment and everything else associated with the business you’re much better off putting this up for bids and putting the liability and somebody else.

Speech to text is great there’s no way I could constructive run-on sentence like that it’s all on my own.

Ps
Jmo
your aunt and your mom shouldn’t be shouldering in this cost. the cost of $15 a month or whatever it comes out to should passed on to the people renting the unit.


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## absolutely (Dec 9, 2010)

I don't think the $4200 a year is worth the cost of owning a truck and plow. Gas mileage will be cut in half if not worse. Tires, maintenance, are going to be almost twice as much. I would consider doing walks yourself and maybe save your mom a few bucks but the extra cost of buying a more expensive vehicle plus upfront cost of a plow just doesn't make sense unless money isn't a concern. Sleep alone isn't worth the headache.


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## jonniesmooth (Dec 5, 2008)

Picture or sketch of the lot, with parking? 
Also sidewalks. 
Your parents own the apts, the cost of maintenance, including plowing is paid by the renters when they pay you every month, it's a capital expense. I'd sign a 3 year contract at $700/ month if your guy would go for it.
I vote for a compact tractor with a loader/ pusher and rear blower. But pictures would help.


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## FredG (Oct 15, 2012)

Snowplowing is a way of life, are you sure your Mom and yourself want to be plowing in the middle of the night, holidays etc with a daytime job. Snow plowing has been tried by many commercial land owners. The failure rate is out of this world.

Just for the equipment, insurance, maintenance, fuel the one job your talking about will not support it. Raise the rent a few bucks and forget about it, 9 times out of 10 you will be tripping over a dollar to pick up a dime. Most think you just have to remove snow from blacktop and a easy task. Unfortunately there is a lot more to it than just that.

How about when old Mrs Smith falls and breaks a hip or worse? The ambulance chasers will be after you like mice on cheese. There is no excuse for negligence or lack of knowledge to keep a parking area safe.


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## Randall Ave (Oct 29, 2014)

If you want to help out, get the equipment, insurance required, and have at it. But, now I will probably get flack for this. Average rent should be $900.00 a month, that's $38700.00 per month. A year $464400.00. I think they should be able to afford the monthly cost for the plowing.


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## shawn_ (Jan 19, 2014)

Randall Ave said:


> If you want to help out, get the equipment, insurance required, and have at it. But, now I will probably get flack for this. Average rent should be $900.00 a month, that's $38700.00 per month. A year $464400.00. I think they should be able to afford the monthly cost for the plowing.


900$ a month?!? I need to move to Morris county*


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## Randall Ave (Oct 29, 2014)

shawn_ said:


> 900$ a month?!? I need to move to Morris county*


Don't know his location, so I shot low.


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## jonniesmooth (Dec 5, 2008)

Randall Ave said:


> Don't know his location, so I shot low.


Around here a 2 bedroom in a complex is about $650, so gross monthly would be $27,300
$327,600 yearly.
$1,000/ month for snow removal, is completely reasonable, $700+/- is cheap. Just based on the financials. Shoot if you can get a year round for that price to do the lawn too, I'd do it. Again, this is from the owners perspective, not the contractor. 
I've never broken down the billing per unit on the apts. I plow. I'm going to look at those numbers.


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## Randall Ave (Oct 29, 2014)

A two bedroom apartment here, $1200.00 is my guess.


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## mnlawns (Sep 19, 2018)

jonniesmooth said:


> Around here a 2 bedroom in a complex is about $650, so gross monthly would be $27,300
> $327,600 yearly.
> $1,000/ month for snow removal, is completely reasonable, $700+/- is cheap. Just based on the financials. Shoot if you can get a year round for that price to do the lawn too, I'd do it. Again, this is from the owners perspective, not the contractor.
> I've never broken down the billing per unit on the apts. I plow. I'm going to look at those numbers.


A realtive of mine is a landlord, he gets 1050+ a month for a low end 2 bed 1 bath unit tennants handle snow...


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## anteater6788 (Dec 8, 2005)

For what your looking at spending on equipment you could pay for the snow removal for 5-8 years, that might be a better way to help.


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