Cleaning fee question - this has probably been answered before!
Curious what other STR operators are seeing with cleaning costs because mine are all over the place. I have a cleaner in Chicago who does a 3-bedroom unit for $100 per turn and does a great job. Meanwhile, in Southwest Michigan, I'm getting quotes of $400+ per turn for houses that really aren't that much bigger. Both are good cleaners, but a 4x difference feels pretty wild. Are others seeing this much variation between markets? And how much do you worry about the cleaning fee putting guests off??? Airbnb has largely taken it out of the equation by displaying total pricing upfront, but on some other platforms that $300 to $400 cleaning fee is still sitting there bold as brass for the guest to balk at. Wondering if others just accept that cleaning is more expensive in certain vacation markets, subsidize some of it in the nightly rate, or keep shopping around? And what is the best way to shop around for a cleaner? I have been using Turno (mixed results) but always curious about better ways…
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Your $100 rate for a 3 bedroom is extraordinarily low. Since Covid, cleaners and other workers doing lower paid, physical jobs have demanded and gotten higher pay. And $400 seems high, but if multiple cleaners are giving the same quote, maybe the house is time consuming to clean, or there is more outdoor stuff to take care of? I have a 4 bed/3.5 bath 1800 sq ft townhouse in DE and pay $330. I charge the guest $270, and up my nightly rate a bit. Charging under $300 seemed to get more bookings.