Funny thing JSM I have just given the marina to a mate of mine. I did most of the houses there for years. Most are holiday homes and getting your money was a real pain. £10 to £15 a house, Dream on. I was doing the 3 storie one s for a fiver, stopped going up 3 floors 4 years ago. My mate has got the pole and he is a bit shy asking for £7, The biggest house on there only has 7 windows and 2 patios. Your right most of them are loaded, but in my experience those that have it are least willing to part with it. There are some nice people there like everywhere else, but lots of them think they are royalty. When someone talks down to me they are off my list. I don't have to put up with it and won't. The Conwy marina is the only place I have had cheques bounce. What does that tell you. It seems to me there is a fine balance with pricing. Either you go in high and spend more time travelling or you price lower and get more compact work. Getting the price right on new estates is the secret. It's easy to shoot yourself in the foot, pricing too low to beat off the oposition. When your starting out you need the work but, when you have a full round going you can affored to price higher, you have nothing to lose. That's what I'm doing from now on. It's taken me a long time to learn though.
This forum is great, it allowes new guys to learn from other peoples mistakes.
The wish I'd known then what I know now thing no longer applies. Any one starting out in our profession has a vast amount of experience to draw on. He or she, only need to ask this forum. Dai