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	Subject - Bidding BASE I have read alot and learned alot from each of you. I have also seen a post on bidding software. My question is how do YOU bid a job? Is it so competitive where you are that a couple hundred bucks means that you do or do not get the job? Where I do my work, we bid by the square foot and let our performance and dependability take over. Usually, if I have done work for a builder and am a little high, he MIGHT let someone else do the job.....once. And he will be back. I pride myself with honest, good work and do not try to make my million off of a single job. And have not had any problems keeping repeat business. Just for snickers and giggles, how much roughly would you do a basic 1500 sq. ft home with no can lights and minimum requirments for? Just curious and please tell which area you are from. Thanks in advance, I know it varies from county to county and state to state. sparkie2170 I usually bid a couple ways depending on the job, per opening, square footage, etc. Based on your info, I would say about $8,600. I'm in Chicago and we have to pipe everything. I used to go with a sq.footage cost of $5.00 a square, but now with arc faults, steel increases, insurance and gas, we're up to about $5.75 BASE That is unreal!!!!! I need to move to Chicago. The going rate around here is around $2 to $2.25. And we are making money. Not alot, but a couple thousand bucks!!! I can rough that house in a day and a half and trim it out in about the same amount of time IF everything else is ready. How much would you say you would clear on the house? Mike Delaney Depends on where you are from. I bet to pipe in a 1500 sq ft. house would probably be more than double the time and material than to wire it with romex...its all probably relative. I bid by the opening..by the sq ft to me is not verify acurate. You could have to houses with the same sq ft and each one could have a different amount of 3/ways or smoke detectors or whatever depending on how the house lays out. John A. Peters Also the living expenses and the rates you pay your men and all the other costs, except for materials, will be lots higher. Here in SF a starter house is $600,000.00 and up, if you can find one, and it will be in a non preferred neighborhood, and it needs some work. Try a million. How does that compare? It IS all relative. BASE True, just a basic 1500 sq. ft house here, depending on county, city, neighborhood will be built for between $65 and $100 sq. ft. I also used to do by the drop, but found that I was wasting my time by sitting down and figuring it up when EVERYBODY else was doing it by the sq. ft. So, now the contractor knows without me having to look at the prints and giving him a qoute. It is nice to know that all we have to do is know when to get to the next house. Thanks for responding. Any help on the structured wiring part, anyone??? sparkie2170 The home we are working on now is on a 24' x 100' lot. The current owner paid $410,000 and we tore down everything but 2 walls. It's not uncommon for people to pay $600,000+ for an empty lot in some neighborhoods. There are many homes in the city, and not big ones, (3000 sq ft) for 2 million plus. I live in an "unimproved/un-gentrified" area and the avg. price for a two-flat building is $300,000. On a labor point, my lowest guy makes $20.00 hr cash. For any job I charge $75.00 hr/2 hr min. I'm going to come up with a new way of bidding, it's based upon how many Starbucks you have within a sq. mile of your house! WELLSEROUSKI I my situation the spec. home builder of course prices his homes in accordance with the area and what the other houses are going for. Now fair is fair and Iv'e done maybe 10 homes for him and I'm there when I say I'll be there and I meet with him and the customers as well as the realator and I make myself an intregal part of this home. Basically he trusts me. He is very busy and doesn't like to waste time interviewing other electricians. The way I bid these houses is about 3% of selling price but he keeps me busy all the time and anything else that's added buy buyers I negoitiate with the buyers, of course these have to be significant. The houses I do are in the 200-300 range. If your flexible you may also get perks from the builder as far as lunches, use of his equipment on other jobs ect. The builder really just needs to know your not trying to make a mint off him.