$600?? I fart in your general direction!!
It depends if that was in a subdivision or not, but in any case my price would start at $2500+
> "We didn't become millionaires by paying top dollar for land surveys."
It makes no sense at all
I had a similar situation, last week
$1,250,000 house & property
The buyer was getting a loan for $750,000
He's putting 1/2 million dollars in cash down on the purchase
The realtor ordered the survey, saying rush, need it in 4 days
Realtor call early next morning & cancels
states that the buyer says the survey is too expensive ($650)
This whole thing about loving what you do and enjoying the journey has some merit however is pretty much burnt out with me, money matters.
AMEN. Couldn'ta said it mo' better.:-|
No problem here....;-)
There are a couple of older, established survey companies around here who make their money cleaning up the messes for big bucks.
Frankly, I'd rather do one $2000 survey than four $500 surveys any day.
Less entities to be liable for, proportionally less work.
The problem is you quoted a figure too low for a rich client. When they see a number like that they realize it's time to bargain for a better deal because there's not much in it. Had you quoted $5000 or so they probably would have just said go ahead. I kid you not, it has worked for me several times over the years. And it's at least what a project like that is really worth. Something about the mindset of people with a lot of money or a large project. You have to up your rates to get respect for your offer.
There's an idea I can wrap my arms around: quote more to GET the job!
Bruce,
I take that as high praise.
Cliff
> Knowing what you know now, would you still get into this business if you had it to do over?
> There's an idea I can wrap my arms around: quote more to GET the job!
True story, once we were buried in work and I really could not handle anymore projects. I received a RFP which in normal times I would have bid 5k but I since I really did not want the job I threw out a 35k proposal to see if it would stick and guess what, it did, and it suddenly became a much higher priority.
Good times..
> > Knowing what you know now, would you still get into this business if you had it to do over?
>
>
Change the word prestige to money.
> > There's an idea I can wrap my arms around: quote more to GET the job!
>
> True story, once we were buried in work and I really could not handle anymore projects. I received a RFP which in normal times I would have bid 5k but I since I really did not want the job I threw out a 35k proposal to see if it would stick and guess what, it did, and it suddenly became a much higher priority.
>
> Good times..
BTDT. Though more in the range of 5k job "estimated" at 15k. We had a 2-3 month back log at the time.
🙂
Ethical? absolutely! Let them eat cake I say!
You see? If you value your work, others will too. Should not have anything to do with how many other projects you are working on. How do we get rid of these idiots that somehow got a surveyors license and are trying to make a retirement out of incompetent work? Lost cause I guess.
> Frankly, I'd rather do one $2000 survey than four $500 surveys any day.
>
> Less entities to be liable for, proportionally less work.
I couldn't agree more.
I'm asking if it's ethical to send a client to a person you know takes short cuts. Someone that you know offers the lowest price, just to get work.
Radar
> You see? If you value your work, others will too. Should not have anything to do with how many other projects you are working on. How do we get rid of these idiots that somehow got a surveyors license and are trying to make a retirement out of incompetent work? Lost cause I guess.
About 30 years back, I used to get lot surveys from individuals at an average of $350/lot. My boss would tell the same group $250 and not get the job. He asked me how I did what I did. I told him that instead of just popping a number, I asked detailed questions and explained what it would actually take to do the job they needed. An extra 5 minutes on the phone for an extra $100 on the check. Not a bad return on my time.:-)
> > You see? If you value your work, others will too. Should not have anything to do with how many other projects you are working on. How do we get rid of these idiots that somehow got a surveyors license and are trying to make a retirement out of incompetent work? Lost cause I guess.
>
The real problem with pricing land surveying services is the perception that the public is given.
esp the type of work that this thread is based on
Mr. Public calls around to 10 different surveyors, he will get 10 different prices.
Where the highest is 3 times the lowest.
And at least one the 10 surveyors quoting a fee will say something like;
"if you find a lower price than mine, call me back, I'll match it"
> > > You see? If you value your work, others will too. Should not have anything to do with how many other projects you are working on. How do we get rid of these idiots that somehow got a surveyors license and are trying to make a retirement out of incompetent work? Lost cause I guess.
> >
>
> The real problem with pricing land surveying services is the perception that the public is given.
> esp the type of work that this thread is based on
>
> Mr. Public calls around to 10 different surveyors, he will get 10 different prices.
> Where the highest is 3 times the lowest.
>
> And at least one the 10 surveyors quoting a fee will say something like;
> "if you find a lower price than mine, call me back, I'll match it"
They never heard that, to my knowledge, any place I worked and most definitely not from me.
> > > > You see? If you value your work, others will too. Should not have anything to do with how many other projects you are working on. How do we get rid of these idiots that somehow got a surveyors license and are trying to make a retirement out of incompetent work? Lost cause I guess.
> > >
> >
> > The real problem with pricing land surveying services is the perception that the public is given.
> > esp the type of work that this thread is based on
> >
> > Mr. Public calls around to 10 different surveyors, he will get 10 different prices.
> > Where the highest is 3 times the lowest.
> >
> > And at least one the 10 surveyors quoting a fee will say something like;
> > "if you find a lower price than mine, call me back, I'll match it"
>
>
> They never heard that, to my knowledge, any place I worked and most definitely not from me.
That may be true for those who reside here on BeerLeg, but if you spend much time dealing with realtors - you will soon find that the Lowballers are running the show and the paying public is being duped into thinking that you are over priced.
> > > Knowing what you know now, would you still get into this business if you had it to do over?
> >
> > <img src=""" " alt="" />
>
> Change the word prestige to money.
Done and done. 