Property managers do not think in job prices. They think in cost per door. If you cannot tell a regional manager what you charge per unit in the first conversation, you have already lost ground to the vendor who can.
Most contractors coming from residential get this wrong in one of two ways. They quote residential prices times the number of units and get laughed out of the room. Or they cut the price so low to win the account that they lose money on every building with a stairwell.
This article shows you the pricing structure we use for the field service companies we run sales for, with a full worked example from dryer vent cleaning, and how to present the number to a property manager so it sticks.
Why per-door economics are different
A residential dryer vent job might run $150 to $250. You drive there, set up, do the work, drive to the next one. Drive time and setup are a big chunk of the cost, and the price reflects it.
At an apartment property, you drive once and set up once for 100 or 200 units. Your cost per unit drops to a fraction of the residential number. The property manager knows this, and they will not pay residential rates. What they will pay is a fair per-door price that beats doing it in-house and beats the incumbent vendor.
The other difference is volume. A 200-unit property at $16 per door is $3,200 for a couple of days of work. That is a good job. And it repeats every year, and it comes with 10 more properties from the same regional if you perform. You do not need residential margins per unit when the volume and the repeat are that high.
The mistake is to treat per-door pricing as a discount. It is a different business with a different cost structure. Price it on its own terms.
The structure: setup fee plus per-unit rate
The simplest structure that works is two numbers.
A setup fee per property. This covers the drive, the load-in, the walk with the maintenance supervisor, notices, and the paperwork. It is charged once per property visit regardless of unit count.
A per-unit rate. This covers the actual work in each unit. It is your base number before any adjustments.
The setup fee protects you on small properties. The per-unit rate scales with the work. When you present it, you can give the property manager both numbers, or you can blend them into one per-door figure for that specific property. Most regionals prefer the blended number because it is easier to compare against budget.
Multipliers and minimums
Multipliers for stories and access
Not every unit costs the same to service. A ground floor unit with an exterior wall termination is easy. A third floor unit whose vent runs to the roof is not. If you charge the same for both, you make money on the first and lose it on the second.
Multipliers fix this. You identify the two or three factors that actually change your labor time and apply a percentage to the base rate. For dryer vent work, the two that matter most are building height and where the vent terminates.
Building height
- 1 story: 1.0 (base)
- 2 story: 1.15
- 3 story: 1.3
- 4 or more stories: quote separately
Taller buildings mean more stairs, more ladder work, longer runs, and more time per unit.
Vent access
- Exterior wall termination, reachable from ground or short ladder: 1.0 (base)
- Stairwell or breezeway termination, interior common area: 1.15
- Roof termination: 1.5
Roof vents are the killer. They require roof access, fall protection, and often two people. Charge for it.
Multipliers stack. A 3 story building with roof vents is 1.3 times 1.5, or 1.95 times base. That is close to double, and it should be.
Your trade will have different factors. For pressure washing it might be stories and surface type. For gutters it might be stories and gutter guards. The method is the same: find what changes your labor time and put a number on it.
Minimums
A per-door price on a 12-unit building does not cover your truck leaving the yard. A minimum charge per visit fixes that.
In our experience, $350 is a reasonable minimum for most trades at multifamily properties. It should be higher than your setup fee plus a few units, so that small jobs are still worth doing and the property manager has a reason to bundle small properties into one visit.
State the minimum on your proposal. Property managers expect it and will not push back if it is reasonable.
A worked example: dryer vent cleaning
Here is the actual structure we use for a dryer vent company we run sales for. The numbers are theirs and work in their market. Yours may differ.
- Setup fee: $100 per property visit
- Base rate: $11 per unit
- Story multiplier: 1 story 1.0, 2 story 1.15, 3 story 1.3
- Access multiplier: exterior 1.0, stairwell 1.15, roof 1.5
- Minimum: $350 per visit
- Target: $14 to $20 all-in per door on most properties
Property A: 120 units, 3 story, exterior wall vents
| Line | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Per-unit rate | $11 x 1.3 (3 story) x 1.0 (exterior) | $14.30 |
| Units | 120 x $14.30 | $1,716.00 |
| Setup fee | Flat | $100.00 |
| Total | $1,816.00 | |
| Per door, all-in | $1,816 / 120 | $15.13 |
Right in the target range. Easy to present.
Property B: 24 units, 2 story, stairwell vents
| Line | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Per-unit rate | $11 x 1.15 (2 story) x 1.15 (stairwell) | $14.55 |
| Units | 24 x $14.55 | $349.14 |
| Setup fee | Flat | $100.00 |
| Total | $449.14 | |
| Per door, all-in | $449.14 / 24 | $18.71 |
Still in range. The small property pays a higher per-door rate because the setup fee is spread over fewer units, which is fair.
Property C: 12 units, 1 story, exterior vents
| Line | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Per-unit rate | $11 x 1.0 x 1.0 | $11.00 |
| Units | 12 x $11.00 | $132.00 |
| Setup fee | Flat | $100.00 |
| Calculated total | $232.00 | |
| Minimum applies | $350.00 | |
| Per door, all-in | $350 / 12 | $29.17 |
The minimum kicks in. Per door looks high, but the alternative is losing money on the trip. Tell the property manager: “This one hits our minimum. If you have another small property nearby we can do them the same day and bring the per-door down.”
Property D: 60 units, 3 story, roof vents
| Line | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Per-unit rate | $11 x 1.3 x 1.5 | $21.45 |
| Units | 60 x $21.45 | $1,287.00 |
| Setup fee | Flat | $100.00 |
| Total | $1,387.00 | |
| Per door, all-in | $1,387 / 60 | $23.12 |
Above the $20 target, and it should be. Roof work on a three story building is a different job. If the regional pushes back, explain what roof access involves. Do not drop the multiplier.
Checking the number against your costs
The structure above only works if the base rate covers your cost with margin. Here is a quick check.
Say a two-person crew costs you $70 per hour loaded, and on a 3 story exterior property they average 8 units per hour once set up. That is $8.75 per unit in labor. At $14.30 per unit, you have $5.55 per unit for truck, equipment, insurance, overhead, and profit. On 120 units that is $666 plus the $100 setup covering the drive and load-in.
Run this math for your own crew speed and costs. If your crew does 5 units an hour instead of 8, your base rate needs to be higher. If they do 12, you have room to sharpen the number and win more accounts. For more on where the money goes in a sales program, see how much a trades company should spend on sales.
How to present per-door pricing to a property manager
The regional manager wants one number, a reason to trust it, and no surprises later. Here is how to deliver all three.
- Lead with the blended per-door number for their property. “For [property], 120 units, three story with exterior vents, we are at $15.13 per door, $1,816 total.” Say it once, clearly.
- Show the structure underneath it. One short table on the proposal with setup fee, base rate, and multipliers. This tells them you did not pull the number out of the air, and it lets them estimate other properties in their portfolio without calling you.
- State the minimum and what is excluded. “$350 minimum per visit. Price includes cleaning from the dryer connection to the termination and a written report with photos. Repairs, replacement of damaged vent components, and bird guard installation are quoted separately.”
- Give a portfolio rate if they ask. If a regional wants to commit to 10 properties, it is reasonable to trim the setup fee or shave the base rate slightly in exchange for a signed schedule. Do not trim the multipliers.
- Put a validity date on it. 30 to 60 days. Costs change.
Keep the proposal to one page. Regionals compare a lot of vendors and they will not read page three. Once you have the account, the guide on getting into property management accounts covers what the first 90 days should look like.
Mistakes to avoid
- Quoting residential price times units. You will lose on the spot.
- Flat per-door with no multipliers. You will make money on the easy buildings and lose it on the hard ones, and you will not know which is which until you look at the year.
- No minimum. Small properties will eat your margin.
- Dropping the price to get in, then raising it. Regionals remember. Quote a number you can live with for three years.
- Hiding the setup fee. Show it. It is a legitimate cost and property managers understand it.
Where Intrepid fits
We build per-door pricing for the field service companies we run sales for, then we take it to property managers and close the accounts. If you want help building the structure for your trade, or someone to run the outreach once it is built, see our sales services or book a call.