Vacation Rental cleaning process
Hello all!
We are looking into buying a VR and will need to use a cleaning company to do change overs. I have a few questions for people who use them:
1. How does your cleaning company handle linen- do they wash it and put it straight back on or do you keep two sets and they take it home and switch it out or another option? I'm just thinking there is no way that they would be able to wash/dry everything in the amount of time they are there.
*If they take it home, what happens if you have a long stay like 3 weeks or more- do they just store all that linen at their house or do they drop it back off at the VR?
*If they drop it back off- where do they put it? If in the house wouldn't that interrupt guests? If in a cupboard in the garage or somewhere, I would be worried the linens would get musty/moldy if in a wet/humid climate.
2. What do they wash each time? Obviously sheets and towels but do they also wash all mattress protectors and pillow protectors and quilts each time?
3. How long does it take your cleaner to clean a 1, 2 or 3 bed home?
4. Do you use the same cleaners every time or do you have a group of 3+ people that you feel confident and you just send out an email to see who would like the job?
5. Do you allow for an extra day in between guests or are your cleaners able to get there and get the job done in between check out and a new guest check in?
6. Do you use an individual off craigslist, etc or do you use a company? Pros/cons?
Whew- I think that's it for now- thank you SO MUCH to anyone who is able to answer! Thanks!!!
Most Popular Reply
#5 All Forums Contributor
- Investor
- Greer, SC
I use an individual cleaning person. She can turn our 3 bedroom 2 bath house in 5 hours or less. She washes all the linens and puts them back on the beds. We do have spare of everything. The bottle neck for cleaning the house is the linens. We bought a high capacity washer and dryer to help with this. Our Lake house is booked solid thanks to VRBO so we don't want to loose a day of rental. She can clean the whole house from 11AM to check in time of 4PM.
Hello,
My experience with cleaners is the more the merrier. W-9 and Certificate of insurance always. Saturdays and sundays for our cleaners are super busy so need to coordinate based on schedule.
Our turn for back to back bookings is 4 hours 11am checkout 3pm checkin (4 hours despite unit size, larger units need bigger crews) Lost revenue and possibly lost bookings if you cannot coordinate all the time people need.
Mulitples of everything, sheet protectors and all. Clean each time. On any stay longer than 14 days we charge a midstay clean which allows them to change linens, sheets etc and do a once over of floors toilets and trash otherwise the cleaners have a hard time doing the turn in the time required at the end.
Checklist for the cleaning company for consistency. A place for anything visibly broken or missing or maintenance items, chirping smoke, loud fridge hum etc. Attached with every invoice for tracking.
Hope this helps. Happy renting. Lisa
1. We have 2 or 3 sets of but normally don't need them. With modern front-load machines they are able to wash and dry all the linens in time. I don't think they have ever had to take them home, but in case they do that is why I have three, then they just bring them back for the next changeover.
2. I do not wash all those things each time, it goes on the monthly list.
3. Our 3/4 bedrooms gets 4 hours, less than that only 3 hours. If I know the check-in will be late I tell them so they don't rush.
4. Same cleaner every time. They know what it's supposed to be like and if anything is missing or broken.
5. I don't think it's necessary. I'd rather have those nights open so more people can choose me.
6. I might be a little different because my cleaners do a lot more than just that. I have always hired them off Craigslist or something similar. I need someone who is going to take personal responsibility for the house as if it was their own, because I am out of town most of the time. I also want someone I can communicate with easily and can give notes to and can guarantee they will be done the next time. Instead of worrying about scheduling, I just share my calendar with them and they can plan out the next few weeks schedule, plus they get updates as they come in. In addition, they act as my on-call agent for guests issues or if I need a repairman supervised or a delivery accepted. Overtime you will find that the cleaner knows more about how the guests use the house and they become a real asset. In their fee I pay them accordingly for their on-call time. They do it as part-time work (against work-from-home or night jobs). I have a very high retention rate. I ask them to have a friend or relative to act as back up ICOE. I also have a local company I can call just in case, but I have only ever had to do this once in 5 years and 100s of rentals.
#5 All Forums Contributor
- Investor
- Greer, SC
I use an individual cleaning person. She can turn our 3 bedroom 2 bath house in 5 hours or less. She washes all the linens and puts them back on the beds. We do have spare of everything. The bottle neck for cleaning the house is the linens. We bought a high capacity washer and dryer to help with this. Our Lake house is booked solid thanks to VRBO so we don't want to loose a day of rental. She can clean the whole house from 11AM to check in time of 4PM.
1. My cleaners (small independent woman, sister and friend) swap to a laundry service. It averages about $25 per wash load and is based upon weight. There are just too many towels to dry.
2. This is an ongoing saga for many owners. I'm transitioning away from comforters to a more efficient less costly to clean solution. Still working this one out and currently rely on my cleaners to determine the cleanliness of them.
3. I've built confidence in my cleaning team and they're just great. I'm likely their largest client because my occupancy rates are very high - lots of turnover.
4. About 2 1/2 hours for my 2 bedroom, 3+ hours for my 3 bedroom though this varies upon cleanliness of guests and how many stayed in my homes.
5. No way, this is detrimental to my business. Check out is 10AM (of course everyone asks to stay later and if I don't have someone coming it that day it's ok), check-in is 2PM. This is ample time for my crew to punch out the cleaning.
6. Try a website called Neighborhood dot com. Sign up and ask for a referral. Works for a LOT of needs and best of all, it's free!
Cheers,
Mike
Hi @Shauna Mundy. Some great answers already and as you can tell, there are several ways a cleaner can take care of your property and it usually depends on the size of the property and the area.
As many have mentioned, make sure you have plenty of extra linens. Some cleaners will store extras and rotate while some will clean everything while on the job. All the questions you asked are great questions to ask potential housekeepers for your property. This is where hiring an experienced housekeeper will come into play as they should already have a reliable system in place.
Most housekeepers will be able to handle back-to-back bookings. We use check-out times of 11:00am and check-in times of 3:00pm.
To find our housekeepers, we just got recommendations from our property managers. Another way you may want to find a housekeeper is go through VRBO. Find some other owners in your area and if you have a condo, look for other owners in the same condo complex. Send them an email through the VRBO inquiry letting them know you are new there and ask for any housekeeping referrals.
Once you do hire a housekeeper, ask them what you can do to make their job easier. They will suggest items to have/ not have in the property, how many sets of linens they prefer, etc... Not only will this help make transitions smoother, but your housekeeper will appreciate it. Housekeepers are one of, if not the most important part of your vacation rental team!
Best of luck!
1. How does your cleaning company handle linen- do they wash it and put it straight back on or do you keep two sets and they take it home and switch it out or another option? We have multiple sets and our cleaner usually will do them at our condo...but...if she has an unexpected and unavoidable delay, or the washer stops working (it's new) then she has the option to take them home and do a quicker turn. Most cleaners will get the linens and towels going first thing...then proceed to clean the condo. Most wash and dry will be done in 90 minutes to 2 hours. It takes 2 to 3 hours to clean our condo.
*If they take it home, what happens if you have a long stay like 3 weeks or more- do they just store all that linen at their house or do they drop it back off at the VR? If she takes them home, she'll keep them until the next clean at our unit.
2. What do they wash each time? All linens, towels, mattress pad, pillow cases and shams. We had used comforters in the past, but we have a nice quilt like bed spread...I think from Tommy Bahama. This will only be cleaned as needed.
3. How long does it take your cleaner to clean a 1, 2 or 3 bed home? 2 to 3 hours for a 1 bedroom condo
4. We do use the same cleaner every time. However, if she has a schedule conflict then she has people that help her, plus we provided her with another lady who will do it.
5. Do you allow for an extra day in between guests or are your cleaners able to get there and get the job done in between check out and a new guest check in? We have frequent back-to-back so we don't block days for a normal clean.
6. Do you use an individual off craigslist, etc or do you use a company? Referral only!
1. We have a set of linens being used in the unit, and a set of linens in the closet for the tenant to switch out if they want to.
The cleaner also has two sets of linens. They bring that set in, and swap it out, and bring the set of linens home with them to wash.
This reduces my cleaning time to about 1.5 hours.
2. Sheets and towels every time.
3. I only have 1bds, so as mentioned about 1.5 hours.
4. Our cleaner also does some inventory restocking, printing out welcome letters, changing key codes, among other things. I use the same team for now since they're willing to learn and adapt, and I pay them a little more than I did initially.
5. Same day in and out. Check out at 11A, check in at 3P.
6. Referral.