I have recently started my own company, and I provide cleaning and painting to whom needs those services. I'm trying to get with a local business to do home trash outs for forclosed homes or homes on the market. My question is how do I do a bid on a job like that? I have the painting end of it down but a service like this in new to me any help would be greatly appricated.

Thanks,
JoeMaid2Paint

Hi, JoeMaid2Paint!

We have an Expert on this site who goes by the name of Stringer, who owns a very large cleaning company in the Chicago, IL area. I'll let him know about your post.

Thanks!

Thanks Clough.

Good morning Joe,

If possible always try to build a rapport with the prospect to get as much information as possible prior to offering your price. Information is one of the keys to successful and competitive bidding.

The best possible way to bid is 'time and material' with a cap on your price. That is not always possible.

Otherwise, for a lump price I suggest that for each job you personally inspect the job prior to bidding; present condition of the house.

Net cleanable space, square footage

What exactly is to be done on each job (specifications); are there major things to be removed or thrown away (will a dumpster be needed and who pays and supplies this?). Will the carpets need to be cleaned, walls, windows, hard floors, etc, anything out of the ordinary beyond the regular cleaning?

Cover all your overhead costs; Admin, taxes, supplies, equipment, labor, etc then add your percentage of profit to this figure. Note; the smaller the job the slightly higher the price to make it worth your while to take it.

Once you have completed this exorcise you may be able to convert these figures to a square footage price; (square footage divided by your total price) and use this as a barometer. Although since each house may have particular issues I would continue to always survey each house individually.

I hope this helped some, if you have additional questions I would be glad to help.

Stringer