I never do estimates by the sq. ft. but I may have a situation where I might. I recently met a contractor who deals in forclosures. Once a house forcloses he gains access to the house, changes locks, and does whatever work neccessary to sell the home. He said more often than not that is carpet cleaning and painting. We started talking and he needs a painter. He estimates his painting by the sq ft to the bank and they either accept or deny. His number is $3.50/ sq. ft. All one color (navajo white) flat, no furniture, no home owners. It seems like 9 times out of 10 if I came at $3.00/sq.ft I would still make money. Of course there are jobs where there is a ton of trim or 20 ft high ceilings then that number would not work, but I would make it up on anoter job. Does any one have a similar agreement with a contractor that works.
Estimating by sq. ft.
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I know you are looking for some feed back brother. It's just, pricing is a very touchy subject here. WW II will start up and turn this thread upside down.
It sounds like he is looking for a formula to estimate what his profit could be. Its not like new construction or commercial work where the parameters are usually constant.
Try pricing it out several different ways ....man days + materials + overhead..... sq/ft .... and even a % of the anticipated sale price ...see what numbers work for you ....it is always good to try different methods to check youself..... it also depends on your situation ...overhead ...how busy you are .... Ive done work like this for some scummy house flippers before and just used it for filler work....sometimes you gotta make payroll ...cash flow work.
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Depends witch it is if floor or wall. I will not do floor because you lose to much control of the numbers. We have a company that want me to due there painting they pay only by the floor sq. If we did it we would be taking all most a cut in half in pay. If you real want to open your eyes take some of the PDCA estimating classes. The bigest thing you can do is keep GOOD TIME studys.
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The only way I'd ever think of pricing by the sf would be if it was multiple tract homes, all nearly identical. Do a couple, figure it out, and price them that way. But if they are always different, I wouldn't touch give any universal price. I could look at the job, figure my price, then divide it by the sf and say there you go.
Plus, with the RE market the way it is today, I'd be real gun shy to do work for someone who makes their money off flipping or reselling homes. If these homes don't sell, will you get paid?
Plus, with the RE market the way it is today, I'd be real gun shy to do work for someone who makes their money off flipping or reselling homes. If these homes don't sell, will you get paid?
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...also, you may want to pack some heat
I am not kidding
Some of these people will not be particularly happy about the situation
I am not kidding
Some of these people will not be particularly happy about the situation
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My take on this is that the Contractor told you his bidding 3.50 to the bank so in your mind you know you cant go over that because he wont give you the job...so you will bid lower than that..belive me...hes getting more than 3.50.. I would do surface area not floor area.. you might be better off making a by the day salary make yours no matter what..just something to think about
I don't know, I run across this a lot and the # you gave seems to be a pretty average price for what contractors are getting in these parts (upstate NY). Usually they're charging 3.50 sq/ft and paying 3 or less to the painter. There is always somebody who will grab it at that number. I can paint a 13x13 bedroom, with 1 double hung window,1 door and 1 closet easily in a day and make $500. Not a bad day. Would I do it all the time? No, but on occasion I sure will.
my math may be a little off.......but .....that sounds like $507 [email protected] $3.00 per sq/ft ..169 sq ft....minus materials and overhead .......I don't think your making $500 for the day ..... Sq/ft pricing is fine for basic new construction, some commercial and any volume type production work .... not for a room ... you will go broke.
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As far as foreclosures go, my experience is very limited, but with one house there were so many holes in the walls(16) the realtor told the bank that no one would buy the place with so many holes. Also, the carpet wreaked of animal urine and had to be replaced. I have been told that the banks do not want to put out any money. I did the job, but it took several months to get paid. I think that the properties that are foreclosed are an untapped market, but maybe they do not need to look good and are sold "as is".
Happy painting, Paul.
Happy painting, Paul.
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Take an average bedroom repaint, 12x14 - that would be $588 going by your $3.50 per floor sq.ft. I personally wouldnt' get out of bed for that - something that is going to take the better half of a week for one man to accomplish - from everything to loading up your van, fetching materials, prep, paint, clean up - move everything back to your van - if I was guaranteed I could do it all in a day - then sure - but I haven't done the smallest bathrooms in a day - half the time you are standing around waiting for things to dry.
I concur, and with my customers I wouldn't do it for that price,. However, I can't always get the people that want to pay to have it done our way. But when I do, they get the treatment, sanding between coats, fixing and filling holes, etc. and it would take me a good part of a week to paint that size room. This guy seems to be hooking up with a flipper whose bottom line is profit. Most of the people I've dealt with like that don't care about sanding between coats, fixing nail holes (heck, even taking the nails out of the wall). Basically you're just "freshening the place up" ,single coat of the same color over what you have. I make the GC buy materials at that price.
Sorry, should have clarified a little more on the details. And like I said before, I wouldn't,and don't, take them all the time, but on occasion when I'm slow or am looking for a little money to go play with I'll take one.
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bank question
I did morgages for 10 years if the person is buying foreclosures and flipping them. He does the work and the bank has nothing to do with cost of paint. He buys the properties put what he feels is needed in it to sell it then he sells it. Once the banks sells it to him they could carelesss what he does...they have already taken a loss average loss on a foreclosure is 50K+....
have no idea why he would have to tell bank anything...
Even when he sells the property the person that is buying it does an appraisal and interior paint means nothing on an appraisal.....exterior does....
I did morgages for 10 years if the person is buying foreclosures and flipping them. He does the work and the bank has nothing to do with cost of paint. He buys the properties put what he feels is needed in it to sell it then he sells it. Once the banks sells it to him they could carelesss what he does...they have already taken a loss average loss on a foreclosure is 50K+....
have no idea why he would have to tell bank anything...
Even when he sells the property the person that is buying it does an appraisal and interior paint means nothing on an appraisal.....exterior does....
The contractor is contracted by the bank to make the house "sellable". The bank has already taken a significant hit on the property, and want to clean the house up the best they can so they can sell it as quickly as possible. His business is very interesting. We talked in great length at what he does. He said most of his homes are either 1000 sq.ft. condos or 3000+ sq ft. single family with a nasty divorce. I met him next door to my house where he was working on the later of the two.
Hey Ogre: A freind just got his real estate license and is looking for a painter. I've painted my own stuff, and a few jobs for close friends at or about cost. NOw, with much more work on the horizon, I'm trying to figure out how to bid. I note your S.F. price is $3. Is that for the dimensions of the room floor, or the dimensions of the walls?
Thx.
Thx.
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As long as the money is good. Like paid in full in 30 days or less, you will do fine at that price. I would tell him this is a guidline and take it on a case by case agreement. Squ. foot pricing has never made sense to me but I realize a need to give people something to go by. I lot of people don't know if a room costs 100 or 1000 to paint. Again, use it as a guidline. If you get a house with 16' vaulted ceiling you would get burned. Hope this helps. MOPAINT
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