Interactive tool
Calculate your minimum visit price
Use your real time and costs. The result is an economics model—not a guaranteed market rate.
This file is both the editorial copy and Codex implementation requirement for the V1 pricing calculator.
User goal
Answer:
“What does a Home Watch visit need to earn for my business to cover my time and costs?”
The calculator must not present the result as a legally required or market-guaranteed price. It is an economics model.
Inputs
Time
- Average minutes driving to/from or between visits attributable to one visit
- Average minutes performing the visit
- Average minutes reporting/admin per visit
- Desired owner/field labor value per hour
Vehicle
Offer either:
Simple mode
- average miles per visit
- estimated vehicle cost per mile
or
Monthly allocation mode
- monthly vehicle business cost
- expected visits per month
Fixed overhead
Monthly fields:
- insurance/bonding
- software
- phone/internet allocation
- website/marketing
- bookkeeping/professional
- licenses/memberships
- other fixed cost
Volume
- Expected paid visits per month
Margin
- Desired profit/risk margin percentage
Calculations
total_minutes = drive_minutes + visit_minutes + admin_minutes
labor_cost = total_minutes / 60 * labor_value_per_hour
vehicle_cost = miles_per_visit * vehicle_cost_per_mile
overhead_per_visit = monthly_fixed_overhead / monthly_visits
base_cost = labor_cost + vehicle_cost + overhead_per_visit
If margin is entered as a true gross-margin target:
target_price = base_cost / (1 - margin_percentage)
Example: base cost $60 and desired 20% gross margin -> $75 target price.
Do not use base_cost * 1.20 and label that a 20% margin; that is a 20% markup.
Results
Show:
- total time consumed per visit
- labor allocation
- vehicle allocation
- overhead allocation
- break-even/base cost
- target price at desired margin
- effective revenue per total working hour at target price
- estimated monthly revenue at expected volume
Educational callouts
If drive time > visit time:
“Your route may be costing more than the inspection. A tighter service area could improve profitability without raising prices.”
If monthly visits are very low:
“Fixed overhead is being divided across a small number of visits. This should improve as route volume grows, but do not assume future volume when setting today's cash needs.”
If user enters zero vehicle cost:
“Vehicles still have fuel/energy, maintenance, insurance, and depreciation costs. Use a deliberate estimate rather than treating driving as free.”
Market context
Below the personalized result, show a non-prescriptive section:
“Published Home Watch pricing varies widely by market, home size, and service depth. Use local competitors only as a market check after calculating your own cost.”
Include 2–4 current examples from the research source file, clearly dated.
CTA logic
No affiliate CTA.
A subtle HomeWatchTools callout may appear after results:
“Once you begin running visits, track how long scheduling, inspections, reporting, and invoicing actually take. HomeWatchTools can centralize those workflows so you can compare your pricing assumptions with the way the business really operates.”