Airbnb, VRBO, Homeaway, vacation rental cleaning

[Jaago Viitkin]

I have hard time finding a good vacation rental cleaning company in North Jersey.

I called people on craigslist but the prices are quite high. In my area hosts are charging 25-50 dollars for cleaning. I didn't find nobody to clean for that money?

DEAR Airbnb, VRBO, Homeaway hosts who are you using to clean your rentals??

Thank you 

[Chuck Pappas]

If everyone was like you then it would be a better world.  I charge my tenants what my cleaner charges me. It's part of the business. Adding it as a fee on VRBO gives me a little better rating when sorted by price because it doesn't count fees.  I learned when I was in college and would use my bosses rentals it's best to have someone clean and take the responsibility off the renter. 

[Blair Russell]

@Allen Culpepper  You're not being nickel and dimed, If it's not a separate fee it's being wrapped into your nightly rent, someone either the host or a maid is going to spend time and money cleaning and it's being charged to you. No one can afford to hope that their renters will clean (not to mention "your own home" is not necessarily my standard or the standard of the next guest). While you'll get a better guest review for being clean - unless you are scrubbing toilets, cleaning grout or tubs, replacing supplies,  washing sheets and making beds, mopping floors,  and cleaning windows it's not enough - so you might as well not cause you're going to be charged either way.  I also don't have time to find out you aren't clean and find someone on the fly to clean the house when there is a short turn around. Don't have the time or energy to argue with you and Airbnb about how clean it needs to be, how much it costs, why it's your fault. I've hope I've made it clear why cleaning fees are necessary for some guests, but by all means vote with your wallet.

@Monika Haebich In some places people I find TaskRabbit so unreliable and I wouldn't trust it. I found good people for other maintenance on Thumbtack but not a cleaner, might look into it for my next rental. 

[Allen Culpepper]

@Blair Russell

Yeah I see your points, I was only half serious. Being a landlord I definitely understand not trusting renters to clean to satisfaction. 

Lighten up Russell :)

[Garry C.]

Guests should think of the cleaning fee as the price they pay to have a place cleaned BEFORE they arrive, not after they leave.

I found my housekeeper through a recommendation from my real estate agent. She's been great, charges $25/hour and it takes about 3 hours to clean the unit. So, that $75 gets passed on to guests as a Housekeeping Fee. Although after about a year, I decided to make it $89. The extra $14 helps pay for the toiletries that I supply. Occasionally, my housekeeper has a conflict or needs a vacation, and I have to bring in my backup, a local cleaning company. They charge me about $120 for a clean. The normal housekeeping markup helps with this as well.

[Blair Russell]

@Allen Culpepper Just informational for anyone else viewing the thread who may share your opinion. :)

[Sean Walton]

In San Francisco I pay about $80 to clean my 550 SF condo. @Monika Haebich I haven't used taskrabbit but I have been solicited by https://www.pillowhomes.com They market themselves as total property management but I don't want to pay that much commission. Before SF laws forced me to change to 30 day minimums I used the cleaning fee as a way to make my place more appealing to people staying longer and less appealing to 1 day stays. A $80 cleaning fee amortized over 4 days is a lot less than a $75 fee for one day. You should know your market and what works and what types of guests you are trying to attract.

[Luke Carl]

Craigslist is never going to work. Ask your neighbors. Find other folks that are SELF managing and ask them. Also.... drive around. VRs get cleaned generally between 11-3. I can just drive around for an hour and find 6 cleaning people and ask for their numbers. But that’s in my market I don’t know yours.

[Stephen Heiner]

Originally posted by @Account Closed:

Has anyone tried  Properly ,  Handy or MaidThis? 

Ashley - my familiarity is mostly with MaidThis.  As far as I know they are airbnb/vacation rental specific and do things like supply/damage reports.  Though, they are right now just in California - LA, OC, and the Bay Area.  But why I feel comfortable recommending is that they provide hotel quality cleanliness.  I've been an airbnb superhost for some time now and I can say that's a pretty key thing - and it's been echoed all throughout this thread over the years.  You get what you pay for!

[Stephen Heiner]

Originally posted by @Monika Haebich:

Has anyone tried any of the on-demand/sharing economy services like Hux, Thumbtack, or TaskRabbit? 

I'm also curious as to whether anyone has used TaskRabbit and further, what happens if you like your "Rabbit"?  What's the process for bringing them on - do you have to pay a fee to TR?

[John Candelario]

There are cleaners who specialize in vacation rentals and Airbnb turnovers in many markets. If you live in a vacation area, odds are experienced cleaners there will have some experience cleaning rentals. In my market, Orlando, cleaning fees vary from $50 to $450 depending on the size of the rental. We have condos and we have huge luxury homes, so it all depends. Finding a RELIABLE housekeeper is the hardest part. If you go cheaper, the cleaner may not show up or work Sundays. These are the places I would look to find a cleaner for short-term rental / Airbnb:

• Google Search
• Referrals from other owners
• Realtor referrals
• Craigslist (yes, there actually is good help on craigslist if you screen)
• Facebook (owner groups)