Need Some Advice for Hiring A Cleaning Service For My Rental Property
Property Manager · CA · Member since 2023 · 2 posts · 1 vote
Hi everyone, I need some advice, please. I’m just getting started with my real estate journey and right now I’m in the process of buying my first rental property. I plan to live in one unit and rent out the rest to other people. If you’re a rental property landlord or you’ve been one, and you have experience with hiring cleaning services to come and clean your common areas (i.e., scrub the bathroom, toilets, mop the floors, & clean the kitchen). I’d like to know what made you choose to hire one cleaning service over the rest. For example, I know some landlords are more price sensitive, while others care a lot about quality and customer service or even Google reviews. I also know that some of this is extremely dependent on specific locations and different customers but try to help me out as best as you can.
The reason I’m asking is because I’m debating on whether I should hire a cleaning service to clean my common areas or not or should I just clean them myself.
If I decide to hire a professional cleaning service, what benefits can I expect to receive? Any suggestions that you can give me would be highly appreciated. Thank you for your response in advance. Best.
Hi Ricky,
I highly recommend hiring a cleaning service. As your business continues to grow, this is one aspect that you want on autopilot from the get-go.
In my experience, it's better to overpay for cleaning services so that you get the highest quality that you can. We've gone through multiple cleaners that were cheaper and had to deal with the hassle of finding replacements or dealing with no-shows.
We now have a cleaner that's the most expensive but provides us with detailed updates and consistent communication. She sends us pictures of her cleans after each one and is always available for questions. We even have our cleaning supplies shipped directly to her now.
The benefit is that it's a business expense and your only responsibility is noticing the small details, not cleaning them. There are plenty of cleaners out there, keep going until you find the right one that will help you with your business long term.
Hi Ricky,
I highly recommend hiring a cleaning service. As your business continues to grow, this is one aspect that you want on autopilot from the get-go.
In my experience, it's better to overpay for cleaning services so that you get the highest quality that you can. We've gone through multiple cleaners that were cheaper and had to deal with the hassle of finding replacements or dealing with no-shows.
We now have a cleaner that's the most expensive but provides us with detailed updates and consistent communication. She sends us pictures of her cleans after each one and is always available for questions. We even have our cleaning supplies shipped directly to her now.
The benefit is that it's a business expense and your only responsibility is noticing the small details, not cleaning them. There are plenty of cleaners out there, keep going until you find the right one that will help you with your business long term.
Hey Liam, thanks for your reply! There’s so much good information in here. Thank you!
Let’s see, where should I start. When you say hiring a cleaning service “is one aspect that I want on autopilot from the get-go.” What do you mean by that? I feel like you’re urgently warning me not to put off doing this and that I should take care of this immediately. Wow! If so, I hear you loud and clear. In your opinion, why is it important to promptly hire a cleaning service? Have you had any bad experiences when you’ve put this off? I’m just wondering…
Next, you talked about dealing with cheap cleaning services. I would like to know do you have a method for spotting these types of cleaning companies? Of course, there’s the obvious ones that you have already told me about, which are dealing with the hassle of finding replacements or dealing with no-shows. I’ll keep those in mind. But are there any others?
Liam, you’re correct. The benefit is not cleaning. But I was referring more to how does hiring a cleaning service impact the well-being of your tenants and their families? Are your tenants happier? Has the cleaning enhanced your relationships with them? Do your tenants stay longer? Or do your occupants not even care at all? You know, stuff like that. But I was just wondering about this as well.
Lastly, you’re right. There are a ton of cleaning services out there. I’m trying not to get overwhelmed, but it’s hard not to. I’m going to keep going, like you said, until I find the one that’s right for me in the long term. But how did you find the cleaning service that you’re with right now?
I’m sorry that I got so long winded, but I had so many questions that I wanted to ask. Thanks again!
This is a personal decision, but if you want to maximize your return right now as you are starting out you should calculate the true cost of the service.
Let's say you pay them $100 per visit and they come weekly. That would be $400/month. That is $4800 per year. Is that money you can easily do without?
Would you like to get paid that rate for the time it takes you to clean?
Once you have a larger portfolio things shift and it starts to make sense to pay other people to do things, but starting out it is often better to put in the elbow grease and save the money to make it easier to grow.
We have bi-weekly janitorial services for the grounds and laundry rooms and a maid service for unit turnovers. I am not completely satisfied with either. Building a vendor list is an ongoing effort and challenge. It's probably the biggest challenge I face as a self-managing landlord.
As for the effect of janitorial services on tenant satisfaction, I think providing janitorial services is part of a broader effort to show my residents that I care about their living environment. It's not unusual for my residents to sweep the grounds and the clean the laundry rooms in between the scheduled service. A handful clean the premises on a daily basis. In the past, I've mentioned to my residents that they don't need to clean - there's a service. They tell me that they like keeping the property clean.
I think I am the landlord/manager and I set the standard for behavior. I encourage accountability by being accountable. If I care, my residents care. At the end of the day, I have 24 one-bedroom units on month-to-month leases (Cali landlord decision) and a vacancy rate of 1%. Certainly, janitorial services are one factor that explain my low vacancy and high tenant retention rates. More importantly, I think I work very hard to maintain a culture of accountability and collaboration, and providing janitorial services supports my objectives.
Hey Liam, thanks for your reply! There’s so much good information in here. Thank you!
Let’s see, where should I start. When you say hiring a cleaning service “is one aspect that I want on autopilot from the get-go.” What do you mean by that? I feel like you’re urgently warning me not to put off doing this and that I should take care of this immediately. Wow! If so, I hear you loud and clear. In your opinion, why is it important to promptly hire a cleaning service? Have you had any bad experiences when you’ve put this off? I’m just wondering…
Next, you talked about dealing with cheap cleaning services. I would like to know do you have a method for spotting these types of cleaning companies? Of course, there’s the obvious ones that you have already told me about, which are dealing with the hassle of finding replacements or dealing with no-shows. I’ll keep those in mind. But are there any others?
Liam, you’re correct. The benefit is not cleaning. But I was referring more to how does hiring a cleaning service impact the well-being of your tenants and their families? Are your tenants happier? Has the cleaning enhanced your relationships with them? Do your tenants stay longer? Or do your occupants not even care at all? You know, stuff like that. But I was just wondering about this as well.
Lastly, you’re right. There are a ton of cleaning services out there. I’m trying not to get overwhelmed, but it’s hard not to. I’m going to keep going, like you said, until I find the one that’s right for me in the long term. But how did you find the cleaning service that you’re with right now?
I’m sorry that I got so long winded, but I had so many questions that I wanted to ask. Thanks again!
I think it's important to hire a cleaning service to free yourself up to do other, more valuable and important things. I've spent my fair share of time cleaning/turning over units and I wish I would've just hired it out sooner.
Call other companies/landlords to see who they use in your area. Generally speaking, the more a company spends on advertising, the more expensive their service will be. You want to find a company that is mostly referral-based. Call or message owners on AirBnb to see if they have a cleaner they'd be willing to share.
The main reason one of my clients cashflows higher on his house is because he has cleaners go in every week. He runs a rent-by-the-room and the tenants stay longer because they appreciate the service. This cost is quickly made back on the increased rent he charges.
We found our cleaning service through criagslist actually.
Hope that helps!
In my first house hack, I included maid service and that also included the rented out second bedroom. House hacking is tough when your roommates are a mess. I had my cleaning person come in twice a month. But I still set the expectation that my roommate cleaned his own dishes, etc.
I have always been a fan of house keepers. Every year I've had one I broke six figures in income. Have a clean home is so important but the act of cleaning isn't a good use of your time.
I would ask for referrals. Many of the companies around town are VERY expensive and honestly overpriced.
@Ricky E. Harris I've fired a fair share of cleaners. My biggest take away is that you need to quality control them all. Maybe you don't walk through after every clean, maybe every third once you trust them. It's worth paying for a cleaner that shows up when you ask, doesn't have to come back, and communicates any findings during their clean (leaking faucet, running toilet, etc.)
you could always find someone who has a small business and are starting out, onboard them and grow with them. Loyalty gets you far in this business with contractors.
We have had to deal with this issue as well. I own a PM Company and we grew tired of finding reliable janitorial and cleaning companies, therefore, we created our own division and have been more than happy. We offer this service to others who are out of our company as well