So a friend of mine and I have been trying to figure out some real estate stuff, and in the process, we created a very exceptional, complex spreadsheet that calculates a lot of figures on different types of mortgages, appreciation, taxes, etc. We were only going to keep it for ourselves but a real estate investor (friend) said he and his firm investment group would be interested in buying an ulimited "license" for it (use not resale). The thing is I have no idea how to compute a cost like that. The sheet probably has about 15-20 hours of work put into it. What do you think it should go for. Its not software so I was thinking around $500 but I could be way low. I have no idea. Anyone out there do this for a living and know how much stuff like this should go for?

 

Is there comparable desktop or web-based software out there does something similar? If so, find out what that costs and you have a good starting point on what it may be worth, in terms of value to the user.

 

15-20 hours and $500 bucks?! You'll be lucky to charge $49.95....

 

If you can get $500 take it. That's $25/hr for working on a spreadsheet.

It is just a spreadsheet. I know it is the end all be all of spreadsheets but there is no exceptional skill required to do what you are asking.

Make sure you get a release of liability for the sheet. If it is really good expect it to be given away to their friends so this will be all you will get out of it.

 

I agree it is just a spreadsheet. I didnt even think of selling it but it was brought up to me. No it isnt a flashy software progam but it is however pretty slick. I mean I did a lot in engineering with macros and complex animated sheets, but this one is just a lot of basic math crammed in with if statements and what not. Overall it computes a lot of information that everyone wants to know that basic online calculators wont give you. The sheet figures out mortgage rates, interest rates, appreciation, appreciation vs renting, different types of loans, how much your total monthly payment will be, escrows, condo fees, closing costs, etc. Its basically an all in one that you sit down with, input what you can afford a month and it tells you how big you can go and what you can expect to pay in the breakdown. Here in Northern VA real estate is booming beyond comprehension. Most houses are sold before they are even put on the market. If a house goes up for sale on Wednesday and isnt sold by the weekend, something is wrong with it. I am on a list of 1500 for the chance to buy a 1 bedroom 700 sq ft condo for $300,000. And thats cheap.
The spreadsheet is pretty important to all these new real estate junkies I guess.
I guessed that even if they got someone good with excel and knew all the numbers and checked them, that it would still take them 15-20 hours. Assuming they hire a college lackie to do it for $20 an hour, thats still $400. Any opinions. According to the investors there is nothing like this out there for them so they want it.

 

Eddy,

Don't want you thinking I was minimzing how useful your SS is. I'm sure it is great and very useful. Problem is with some time and some basic Excel knowledge it could be reproduced without too much effort.

Get everything you can for it but $500 would be reasonable. But you really have to decide how much you believe your time is worth. Is it worth $50 an hour to them? If so hit them for a $1000 just don't set your expectations too high.

Good luck with it.

 

I could probably provide a copy of almost any $500 desktop software program to a Bengalore-based development company found on Guru.com and have them reproduce it exactly for $5.00/hr so the time spent in developing the spreadsheet is not relevant. It is the value that the end product presents the user that determines the value.

While it is true that a spreadsheet can be reproduced, it can likely not be reproduced, especially if it is complex, by the target user of the spreadsheet. If you know nothing about Excel, the cost of training in time and money alone would far exceed that amount to get to an intermediate development level.

If the target user is otherwise spending several hours with each client performing these calculations with a calculator or on paper, then $500 might be a tremendous value for the buyer.

 

Here is a link that you might want to check out...

This is a vendor that sells Excel real estate (among other things) templates. This may give you an idea of the "value" of your spreadsheet.

http://www.templatezone.com/microsof...ge/0/PageStep/

 

^ See what I mean... all that stuff + another free program for $80. I'm telling you, slap a $49.95 price tag on it and push it like crazy. Come up with other stuff and maybe bundle it. Point is selling 10 $50 copies is going to be a hellova lot easier than a single $500 copy. Then offer a $149 'site license' so the whole realtors office can use the template or a $500 'enterprise license' so the company including branch offices or home users can use the tool.

I think you'd get laughed at for a $500 excel template. Just because you put 20hrs into it doesn't make it a must-have. If folks charged to re-coup costs for all the man-hours in a single sale, nobody could afford anything. Steve-o would be charging $15,000 a year for ownersite...

 

What if his spreadsheet encompasses all of the functionality of the thirteen templates on that site? At their standard prices, the cost would be over $1,000. At $500, Eddy's template may start to look like a bargain. Not knowing what it does and not being in the target market for it, I cannot put a value on it. Nor can anyone else here realistically or accurately do so. Hopefully we can point you in the right direction on how to value it.

 

Those 13 templates are included with a single program... that costs 80 bucks... click on any template and you get:

This template is part of Office Ready Professional 3.0
Buy the Product for
Price: $79.95

Now THAT'S value and worth paying for. Plus, you can get additional template packs for $50 extra... Or, their 'Excel Mega pack' with over 250 templates is still just $130.

Like I said, $500 is absolutely insane and trying to sell to a niche market with that outragous cost is nuts.

Eddy - call around and do some market research. Show it to your realtor buddies. Then watch their reaction when you tell 'em $500. Then they google and find other products for 75% less...

 

I'll tell you what... send me the file and I'll peddle it in my area for $50. You peddle it in your area for $500. After one month let's see who sold the most, $$-wise. I'll crush you.

I of course, keep 60% of any profits I make.

 

I don't think Eddy wants to get into the business.

I work in Real Estate and it can take a long time to refine a spreadsheet.

If you have completed something that exactly suits the needs of your friend and he does not have the capability to make it himself or the time to fiddle with off the shelf software, $500 sounds very reasonable to me. Shoot, his time might be worth $150/hour and maybe it would take him 50 hours to duplicate your work (so of course he hasn't done it).

Afterall, time is money for your buyer. If your software saves him time or helps him make a profitable deal he would not have made otherwise, $500 is a bargain.

And with a one-time sale, you don't waste any time marketing or doing market research.

If you really think you have developed a tool that has wide application, then explore the idea of mass sales. Otherwise, make a quick $500 and get on with your life.

 

Easy now D. Like I said I dont do software. I am pretty slick with excel and someone came to ME for it.
I looked at that office ready program and it has a lot of what I did by hand. Like I said that $500 I based on hours and nothing else. This wasnt something mass produced, it was something I put my time into doing for myself and now a real estate group wants to buy it because it figures things out for the buyer rather than the seller. The hardest part about buying a place was figuring out how much I could afford, this is a very good way for me to look at it (being a numbers guy). I could care if I make a buck on it now because it wasnt made for that.
Like I said consider that this is a worksheet that figures in a lot of little sheets already out there. Whatever...

 

Eddy take Dzervit up on his challenge.

He'll sell one copy and it will be emailed to every agent and their friends in a week.

No one respects copyright laws even if you have it copyrighted.