My former neighbor at my fathers house wants me to clean his windows. It’s a two story house with 12-15 windows and a glass porch door. The house is probably worth $140,000 here in NE Ohio and on a street of similar houses. My dad has ladders right next door to this house so thats not a problem. Only 5 or 6 second story windows. All double hung. Should be a pretty quick inside/out job but I don’t know how to price. He has no idea on what prices are and told me to just give him a good price. So, what is a good price? Its a one time job, probably turning into an annual thing. If he wants gutters cleaned too, how much do you usually charge for that?
Thanks,
Jacob
I’d price it the same as if it were in a more expensive neighborhood.
Price it the same as you would any other house and give a little discount if he’s a friend or former neighbor if you want to. He might think your price is a good price already?
price 10% of sf or $8 per window plus doors and transoms with a $125 minimum. Gutters same or .65 to .75 per lf.
$125? Are people really willing to pay that for good window cleaning? Maybe residential is where I should be focusing. LOL. What does sf and lf stand for? Square feet and length feet?
Yes. And square feet and linear foot. You were right.
Keep your prices the same for all customers.
It’s about what you are worth and your quality you have to offer. Like everyone said stick to your price, have a minimum and work at a decent pace Cause sometimes they are looking! Some houses pay $1000 to get clean windows.
Jacob,
As others have stated: Keep your residential prices consistent. Residential is priced higher because there are a number of variables that one will encounter compared to commercial (Types of windows, screens, landscaping to get around, furniture, etc…)
Now, residential work does take more time. It’s not simple in and out like commercial. So plan to spend the time necessary to make your client RAVE about the experience of having YOU do the work. The echo from a single mountaintop will reverberate throughout the valley. 
Changing prices according to how much you feel they can pay is crazy. How would you feel if you pulled up to a gas pump and it had buttons for the type of car you drove. BMW and Mercedes pays 8.00 per gal, town cars and Cadillac will pay 6.00 per gal, going on down to the junkers at 1.00 per gal. Yes the pump owner is loosing money on the junkers but he is making it up on the Mercedes. Eventually the high priced cars will stop getting gas there because they feel like they are getting robbed. Pretty soon, all you have is the junkers showing up and the business owner has to shut the doors because he is loosing money.
If you keep your prices the same and consistent your client will trust you are treating them fairly and you will win their loyalty for years to come.
I would let him know what the price is before you clean them. If it is too high for him you will see the sticker shock on his face. You could explain the price from there and why it seems high. That is not a conversation you want to have after the work is completed.
So when pricing this house should I use the 10% of sf or $4 dollars per pane per side/$8 inside/out per window. I feel like a per window thing is probably better. Charge more for second story windows? Windows with bushes in the way?
It looks as though you have 31 panes of glass (15 DW & glass door) @ $4 per piece your looking at $124 which would be about an average price for my area, big discount for other areas. It all depends on what the average price is in your area. Depending on the condition of the glass it should take about 1 1/2 hours.
It will take an inexperienced person 3-3.5 hours.
I’m guessing 2-2.5 hours.
I used to price with a flat rate system, but not anymore. I can tell when someone is looking for a deal, and when someone is looking for a high end service. I price and deliver based on the customers needs.
