# new home price for rough openings??



## ronin (Feb 17, 2011)

Well believe it or not i just received a print from an old customer to wire a new home. I have been in business since 1989 and this is honestly the first time i have to guess what to charge for a rough opening and what to charge for a AFI home run? 3000 square foot colonial stick frame.
Any help would be appreciated.


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## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

ronin said:


> Well believe it or not i just received a print from an old customer to wire a new home. I have been in business since 1989 and this is honestly the first time i have to guess what to charge for a rough opening and what to charge for a AFI home run? 3000 square foot colonial stick frame.
> Any help would be appreciated.


 $21,000.:thumbup:

Welcome to the forum enjoy the fun...:thumbsup:


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## ronin (Feb 17, 2011)

Thanks Harry. I presume that 21k is for average home and 200 amp service? I like to use a per opening format for estimating because of the diversity of each owners requests. Is that what you were figuring?


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## B4T (Feb 10, 2009)

Welcome to the forum.. :thumbsup:

New housing prices are beat to death and are not the money makers they once were..

It all goes by what the guys are charging in your area..

Just give every item that goes into a new house a fixed price and then figure out your time and materials to see if you are making enough money on the job..

Good luck.. :thumbsup:


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## ronin (Feb 17, 2011)

AHHH this economy sucks! I used to price a house like this up in 15 minutes. Every job counts right now. Thanks !


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## TOOL_5150 (Aug 27, 2007)

If harry will do it for 21k, Ill do it for 27k.:thumbup:

~Matt


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## knowshorts (Jan 9, 2009)

You need to bid at at the going rate minus $1.00. Or you can sell it at a cost that will pay all your expenses plus some and keep you in business until you hang up the tools.


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## B4T (Feb 10, 2009)

knowshorts said:


> You need to bid at at the going rate minus $1.00. Or you can sell it at a cost that will pay all your expenses plus some and keep you in business until you hang up the tools.


So how does that advice help him out?? :blink::blink:


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## knowshorts (Jan 9, 2009)

B4T said:


> So how does that advice help him out?? :blink::blink:


The dudes asking for a number. No one here can help him. The guys been in business for 22 years and he's asking about estimating? It's a trap.


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## Mr. Sparkle (Jan 27, 2009)

ronin said:


> Well believe it or not i just received a print from an old customer to wire a new home. I have been in business since 1989 and this is honestly the first time i have to guess what to charge for a rough opening and what to charge for a AFI home run? 3000 square foot colonial stick frame.
> Any help would be appreciated.


I don't believe it.


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## MDShunk (Jan 7, 2007)

ronin said:


> Well believe it or not...



Since you asked... NOT.


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## ronin (Feb 17, 2011)

Mr. Know shorts,
In case you didi not realize over the last 5-6 years in Sussex county NJ new homes came to a standstill because of coah fees and a skylands preservation act. Most of my work was commercial. If you dont have anything useful to say , Dont say anything,why waste your time banging keys? Thanks anyway there seems to be others on here that are willing to loan out some info.


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## DoCJohnny (Feb 16, 2011)

Where in Sussex county? I know a lot of people up there.


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## ronin (Feb 17, 2011)

*fredon*

i live in fredon


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## knowshorts (Jan 9, 2009)

Ronin, I apologize how I came across. No one helped you yet. If Harry did not pull $21K out of his ass, how does that help you? There is no way for us to know what your costs of doing business are. Some guys here are as low as $50 and as high as $150+. Without that information, how can we help? If your background is commercial, then you know how to do a take off. Do it. Obtain your material list and price it. Then add your margin. Then figure out how many hours it will take you to do the job. Add overhead. Add profit. Add permit fees.

Square foot pricing and hole pricing may work on identical code minimum "tract" homes. But it sounds like your project might be a little more custom than a typical tract home. That's why you need to do an accurate take off.


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## macmikeman (Jan 23, 2007)

knowshorts said:


> Ronin, I apologize how I came across. No one helped you yet. If Harry did not pull $21K out of his ass, how does that help you? There is no way for us to know what your costs of doing business are. Some guys here are as low as $50 and as high as $150+. Without that information, how can we help? If your background is commercial, then you know how to do a take off. Do it. Obtain your material list and price it. Then add your margin. Then figure out how many hours it will take you to do the job. Add overhead. Add profit. Add permit fees.
> 
> Square foot pricing and hole pricing may work on identical code minimum "tract" homes. But it sounds like your project might be a little more custom than a typical tract home. That's why you need to do an accurate take off.


I almost always price new residential by the opening. I don't do tract housing , always custom. I am real aware of my exact costs to do my work, I review and update my jobcosting on a weekly basis. I rarely make less profit than I project for housing jobs and when I do it is not because of my " per opening price" it is because of either GC screwups that I decide to eat or insane end user issues that go way past the normal change order plane, into outer space lawsuit type situations, and lets just get the hell outa here. Very rare indeed. Bottom line- you can price custom homes by the opening, just make sure you price them high enough to always profit, or skip that job and do the ones that do profit.


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## nitro71 (Sep 17, 2009)

Only thing I can say is when estimating hours I always seem to under estimate. From now on I'm generously alloting hours. Then I'm adding 25% to that time estimate. Least that's my new MO.


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## humpty34 (Apr 2, 2014)

ronin said:


> Well believe it or not i just received a print from an old customer to wire a new home. I have been in business since 1989 and this is honestly the first time i have to guess what to charge for a rough opening and what to charge for a AFI home run? 3000 square foot colonial stick frame.
> Any help would be appreciated.


Do not guess, you will lose your shirt. Just build a unit cost for each outlet. Then add for home runs, range runs, service etc. You also may be wise to figure your labor separately. Are you Union or Non Union. If you are Non Union some workers will work by piece work, not that I agree with this (I was Union) but some electricians work by the square foot for rough in and same for trim (Finish) work. Your material pricing will of course depend upon your buying capacity and volume. Hope this helps.


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## RGH (Sep 12, 2011)

This is a 3 year old thread.....


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## Awg-Dawg (Jan 23, 2007)

humpty34 said:


> Do not guess, you will lose your shirt.


 
You realize the threads you are responding to are 3 years old don't you?

The OPs are either dead, found real jobs or have been abducted by aliens.


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## backstay (Feb 3, 2011)

Awg-Dawg said:


> You realize the threads you are responding to are 3 years old don't you? The OPs are either dead, found real jobs or have been abducted by aliens.


You never know!


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