[giftedk]

just wondering what everyone considers the average price to be per clean, im in essex.

small house
big house

[windows_chepstow]

It's sad I know (to me anyway), but many members here seem to be able to price really high and get their asking price.

But for the areas I work I charge £7.00 for a terraced house, some of my best paying areas are terraced estates where we've got a big bunch of them close together and Wor Lass and I can knock five to seven of them out an hour; so I think that's pretty good by my low standards.

My competition in these areas (and friend (a ladder user at present) charges £6.00 per house but is looking to upgrade shortly.

Standard semi-detached houses I charge £8.50 although still have quite a few at £8.00.

I've also quite a few £15 to £20 pound houses and three houses that I charge around the £50 mark; but these are quite substantial properties.  My biggest one is £120.

So you can see I'm still quite 'small cheese', but chuffed to be my own boss and my business is devoping nicely.

[Richy L]

what is a small house? 2 windows?
What is a big house? buckingham palace?

[giftedk]

It's sad I know (to me anyway), but many members here seem to be able to price really high and get their asking price.

But for the areas I work I charge £7.00 for a terraced house, some of my best paying areas are terraced estates where we've got a big bunch of them close together and Wor Lass and I can knock five to seven of them out an hour; so I think that's pretty good by my low standards.

My competition (and friend (a ladder user at present) charges £6.00 per house but is looking to upgrade shortly.

Standard semi-detached houses I charge £8.50 although still have quite a few at £8.00.

I've also quite a few £15 to £20 pound houses and three houses that I charge around the £50 mark; but these are quite substantial properties.  My biggest one is £120.

So you can see I'm still quite 'small cheese', but chuffed to be my own boss and my business is devoping nicely.





£120 what kind of house is that ?

[windows_chepstow]

Gifted, it's a small hotel.  I was trying to give an overview of my meagre business!

But it may as well be a house, because we do it once a month, along with the majority of our other work.

[KJG]

I don't get this 'area' thing except for central London. Wages and living costs are pretty much the same across Britain these days. A loaf from an Asda in Leeds costs the same from an Asda in Brighton etc.

£8 minimum for a standard semi. If they don't like it, knackers to 'em.

[Paul Coleman]

Gifted, it's a small hotel.  I was trying to give an overview of my meagre business!

But it may as well be a house, because we do it once a month, along with the majority of our other work.

Don't be so hard on yourself Tosh.  Anyone who can get of their ar se and make a decent living from their efforts is doing OK.  Considering I am an unskilled manual worker with no qualifications I think I'm doing OK.  I reckon you are too.

[Paul Coleman]

I don't get this 'area' thing except for central London. Wages and living costs are pretty much the same across Britain these days. A loaf from an Asda in Leeds costs the same from an Asda in Brighton etc.

£8 minimum for a standard semi. If they don't like it, knackers to 'em.

Yes but you can rent a 3 bed house in the northeast for £250 or buy it for £60,000 in some areas.  Where I live the costs would be about £800 and £170,000 respectively.  The rent or mortgage is a big chunk from income.  Also, any services I need to buy to maintain said property are much higher in cost.  Generally, second hand vehicles cost more too though the differential isn't as great with these.

[P @ F]

Shiner , those costs you just put down are the sme here in plymouth , i charge £8 ~ £10 for a 3 bed semi

 Rich   P @ F 

[Fast 1 *]

average house £8 to £10   larger £15 to £20

[Paul Coleman]

Shiner , those costs you just put down are the sme here in plymouth , i charge £8 ~ £10 for a 3 bed semi

 Rich   P @ F 

You mean the costs in the southeast (rather than the northeast) are similar to Plymouth?
I still have a fair bit of work priced under £10 myself.  I'm gradually bringing the prices up or replacing them.  New jobs are a minimum of £10 for me and it's pretty rare for me to make an exception now.  Maybe it's questionable whether I'm going about this the right way but I have a burdensome personal debt level from a previous failed relationship followed by virtually six months off work through serious illness a couple of years back. My past generosity and the health issue mean that I need to earn well to keep up with my debt repayments.  It can make me appear greedy but most of what I earn, I only see fleetingly.  I sometimes feel like a money filter just distributing it to whoever hassles me the most.  This is why I am starting to aim much higher with my business.  I'm not a breadhead by nature but I don't want to end up bankrupt or homeless.  I used to be quite happy pottering along and charging nowhere near enough.  The wolves circulating near my front door have been a great cure for guilt   

[Trevor Knight]

This question always ends up in a debate about our regional locations.

The best way to answer this is to price according to what you need to run a successful business.

I can't charge the same as someone in a different area as it may or may not be financially viable.

As long as you are growing your business organically year on year in line with inflation and you are holding onto your customers, making a profit and earning a living just keep it going.

Onwards and upwards.

Best wishes,

Trev

[holland1945]

Shiner, I know this is a bit off topic, but have you looked into getting an IVA. If you go to a reputable source, they can agree an amount which is realistically affordable and can set up a Repayment Scheme for 5 years.

It may be that you still only see your money fleetingly, but at least there'll be light at the end of the tunnel (even if it 5 years away) ... after that you'll have a considerable disposable income.

[abacus]

hi shiner
I live in brighton have some commercial in your area I dont think your prices are that high they sound ok to me I had the same problems as you and was off work for two years its bad news  and it hard to work through. Its ok putting up prices and best to do so in small regular amounts I left it for five years when I first started as I got faster I earnt more but suddenly found myself behind and hard to put prices up. I think some people on here are a bit hung up on letting others know how well they are doing others have thier own agenders any job is worth only what someone is willing to pay so your customers will tell you when youve reach the limit for them. Now that I have enough work its easyer to quote higher prices to new customers as you know its not vital to get the job charge what you need to I have six children at home so I like you its a full day none of this half day finish at 3 for me unfortunately.

best regards grant

[geoffreyspecht]

i live in wales and i charge £10 for three bed house,now targeting bigger houses with a £25 min charge.

[steve m]

its not so much how much you want to charge, but how much the other w/c'ers around are charging.one part of my round is a close of two bed houses and I charge seven pound a house, two streets down the w/c'er charges a fiver for three beds

[Paul Coleman]

Shiner, I know this is a bit off topic, but have you looked into getting an IVA. If you go to a reputable source, they can agree an amount which is realistically affordable and can set up a Repayment Scheme for 5 years.

It may be that you still only see your money fleetingly, but at least there'll be light at the end of the tunnel (even if it 5 years away) ... after that you'll have a considerable disposable income.

This is something that I have considered though I understand that the lenders are under no obligation to accept such a deal.  Indeed, if the lenders feel that they would get a better deal by pushing me into bankruptcy, I understand that they would have that choice.  The lenders would probably get more out of me by bankrupting me when taking nto account any equity on my flat.  I'm not sure about the van and WFP system though.  Isn't there a clause that forces them to leave tools of trade alone?
Anyway, there are other options open to me.  Since getting a taste of how much WFP can allow me to earn, I believe that by sticking to the better paying work and moving on from the poorer paying work, I can still pull this around.  Another option might be to sell my flat and move into a rented place and pay most of the debts with the change.  Alternatively, I could move a long way north and start again using house price differential to fund it at first.  For now, I prefer to go hell for leather with WFP and attempt to work myself out of this hole.  If my plans work out, this would do it for me.  IVA is not an option I would rule out but obviously I wish to avoid it if possible.

[Paul Coleman]

hi shiner
I live in brighton have some commercial in your area I dont think your prices are that high they sound ok to me I had the same problems as you and was off work for two years its bad news  and it hard to work through. Its ok putting up prices and best to do so in small regular amounts I left it for five years when I first started as I got faster I earnt more but suddenly found myself behind and hard to put prices up. I think some people on here are a bit hung up on letting others know how well they are doing others have thier own agenders any job is worth only what someone is willing to pay so your customers will tell you when youve reach the limit for them. Now that I have enough work its easyer to quote higher prices to new customers as you know its not vital to get the job charge what you need to I have six children at home so I like you its a full day none of this half day finish at 3 for me unfortunately.

best regards grant

I've no problem with working hard Grant but I like to be rewarded OK for it - just like anyone else really.  It is hard to climb out of a monetary hole once it's taken a grip.  Going WFP for me is a bit like Custer's last stand but maybe Custer will win this time. 
After what I went through a few years ago with illness etc, a financial muddle is not such a huge deal I suppose.  I could have died or ended up needing a liver transplant but in the end, neither of those things happened and these days I am in excellent health thanks to the "wonders" of modern medicine.  In fact, the treatment made me a lot sicker than the illness but that is ancient history now.
It's quite an eye opener to find that the business that I have mostly been doing at 6 weekly intervals can actually be done in under 4 weeks if I push myself.  This is mainly due to switching to WFP - though it's taken me a while to build up some speed.  I believe that, in time, there is room for me to increase my turnover by 80%