UPDATED 10/17/2021: The topic of cleaning apartment complexes comes up pretty regularly when discussing the commercial cleaning market.
It’s a subject I know rather well, as I did more than my fair share of it for the first few years I was in business.
Some of you may have known that as I touch on the topic in my newsletter from time to time. Anyway, cleaning them all was quite an experience to say the least. At one point my company was cleaning well over 100 apartment buildings each week.
So today I’ll briefly talk about my experiences with this particular subsection of the commercial cleaning market. Depending upon your circumstances, it may be an idea worth considering.
How I got hired to clean apartment complexes
In the spirit of starting at the beginning, I’ll make mention that all I ever did to get the apartment complex accounts was send them a direct mail piece. It consisted only of a 2 page sales letter, a flyer that offered a big discount for signing up along with a deadline for when the offer expired. I threw in a business card for good measure.
I simply addressed the letters to the “Apartment Manager”. I did this for every single complex I could think of within my service area. Each letter was hand addressed to make them appear more personal, and less like junk mail. This approach work very well for me, as the phone rang regularly after each mailing.
How I bid apartment complexes
For those of you who have never bid an apartment complex, it generally goes like this. Once the manager calls you, you’ll be asked to put in a bid for both the apartment complexes “common areas” AND apartment “turnovers”.
The apartment complex common areas consist of any hallways, entry foyers, laundry rooms and elevator or stairwells. The turnovers are simply the units that need to be cleaned after a Tennent moves out or is kicked out. Like I said, MOST times you’ll be asked to bid both.
With that said, from time to time you may encounter a complex that only needs one or the other done. When this does happen, you’ll normally be bidding just the turnovers, as some apartment complexes don’t have any common areas to speak of. When creating a proposal for these type customers, it helps to keep the following in mind.
1 – Any money you are going to make will generally be on the “common area” side of the quote. This is because apartment managers and their owners are notoriously cheap and don’t like paying much for the turnovers.
For some reason they seem to be much more flexible on the common area side of the bid. That was just my experience, but it seemed to be true across the board with every complex I dealt with.
2 – The managers who you’ll be reporting to at the apartment complexes are generally very overworked, underpaid and tend to be a rather disorganized type of individual. This can make your life very difficult as they tend to lean on YOU to make up for their shortcomings.
For instance they may tell you no new turnovers are scheduled then suddenly change their mind Friday afternoon and tell you that 3 need to be completed TODAY. Situations like these are very hard to handle and you will need to be a problem solver to make it work.
3 – Apartment managers churn and burn through many cleaning companies during their tenure (SEE REASON #2). Luckily for me I had a good group of people who had the ability to withstand a high level of stress and found a way to get things done. Those facts allowed me to survive despite being threatened with termination from time to time.
4 – The apartment turnovers you’ll be asked to clean can be incredibly dirty. It’s amazing how people can live in a unit for YEARS and yet never clean it. I have some memories that I would rather FORGET!
My theory on the matter is to think of turnovers in bunches of 10. Out of every 10 units, 1 will be pristine, 1 will be a disaster, 4 will be not all that bad and the last 4 will be below average. When coming up with a price, keep that tidbit in mind.
5 – Hiring people for this kind of work can be a hard task. While it’s rather easy to hire people for the common area cleanings, getting good people to clean the turnovers can be quite challenging. I don’t know if I was just lucky or good at it, but I found a way to get it all done.
Cleaning apartment turnovers is NEVER going to be fun, that’s just a fact. To top it all off, you have to factor in the unpredictability of it all. You may not get a turnover for a week, then have 5 to do in just a day or two. It’s a scheduling nightmare.
These 5 points I just spoke of can make life tough on the cleaning contractor. Knowing this in advance should be a HUGE advantage for you. Even if it’s just in the mindset you need to have to make it all work.
Now after all that bad news, you may think there is no good news. Well…there is always good news! I happened to do quite well in cleaning apartment complexes over the years. I did mess up and under-bid a few jobs, but that goes with the territory. After all, when learning anything new you will make mistakes. You just need to learn as much as possible from each of them!
My first apartment cleaning job
For the record, my first apartment complex consisted of 8 different buildings. Each one had 3 floors, four entrance doors with foyers and 1 laundry room. So basically all we had to do for each building was vacuum a ton of carpet, clean a little glass on each entry door, wipe down some washers and dryers then mop a laundry room floor.
I figured it would take just about 1 hour per building for one employee to clean. I bid the job at $204.00 per week plus tax (way back when mind you). I did my best, now it was time to see if that was good enough! This is how it all shook out for me.
I paid the staff member who cleaned the apartment complex $8.00 per hour. She worked 8 hours each Monday as that was our scheduled day. She cost me $80.00 plus about $16.00 in related taxes and overhead. This came to $96.00 total.
This meant that after charging $204.00 per visit and deducting the $96.00 I was left with $104.00 profit each time we cleaned. After you factor in that there are on average 4.33 cleanings per month (52 weeks / 12 months) you come up with a monthly profit of $450.32. Not a home run by any means, but nothing to sneeze at either.
If I had it to do over I would have bid it closer to 1.5 hours per building to clean to give me a little more breathing room. I wound up being able to make it work because the staff member who worked the account for me REALLY HUSTLED each week to get it done.
If she didn’t, that account would have been a loser. But for being my first apartment cleaning account, I considered it a success. I was able to eek out a profit AND I learned a TON about how to do bid the job better once I got another one to do.
This particular account also had us cleaning the apartment turnovers. I was told they only pay $80.00 per unit (regardless of size), and that was it. Take it or leave it. I decided to take it because I really wanted the account AND I didn’t know any better.
I was kind of lucky that they didn’t have but 4 or 5 units per month. This fact allowed me to get a “system” in place to deal with cleaning the units. The good news is I was able to “break-even” on the units. At least I didn’t lose on any of them, but I was fortunate and I knew it.
It was like being between a rock and a hard place. I certainly didn’t want to lose any money on the turnovers, but I knew that managers would be unwilling to pay what they should to get them done right.
The BIG lesson of cleaning apartment complexes
What I learned from my first apartment complex account was to make sure I made money on the common area side of the equation. This ensured I would make money each month no matter what. Then my goal was to AT LEAST break even on the turnovers part.
That was just my personal philosophy, you do as you see fit. I also learned that it would be best to try a sliding scale on the turnovers going forward. This meant I would try to put a system in place on any future bids that paid me slighter more for a unit that was larger.
For instance a 1 bedroom would be $100.00, a 2 bedroom would be $120.00 and a 3 bedroom would be $130.00 (or whatever I could get!). I also came up with the idea to get them to allow me to put wax down on any newly tiled VCT floor. This may only add $35.00 or so per unit, but it would only take me 5 minutes to do. Not a bad trade-off!
The plus to that idea was it would give me more buffer room in case I came across a horrible unit to clean. I didn’t know if these ideas would sink or float on my future bids, but I was going to try it out nonetheless.
In hindsight, these ideas did work on some managers, but not on others. But I consider that a success! There is no magic bullet that will work on all customers, so the fact that it worked on some was fine with me.
Cleaning bigger and bigger apartment complexes
To wrap this up I’ll quickly make mention of the next apartment complex we cleaned. It consisted of 18 buildings, each had 3 floors, two entrances and 2 foyers. There was no door glass to clean and no laundry rooms, but there was a lot of sweeping and vacuuming to do.
This apartment community had more buildings, but they were smaller and more compact. I figured it would take 3 staff members 1 day to complete. They would all work as a team on each building and through having a good system in place, would be able to get it done in the time quoted.
To make a long story short, I charged $459.00 per visit to clean ($1,989.00 per month). It cost me $284.00 for the 3 staff members and the associated taxes/overhead per visit. This left me with a cool $175.00 profit for the day. This in turn meant $757.75 profit for the month!
I was getting better at that part of the process! The turnovers on the other hand were sadly a break-even deal once again as management wouldn’t budge on that end ($80.00 per unit, and it didn’t matter what size). To make matters worse, this property had 10 or more units to clean each month.
This meant I was doing a lot of scheduling (and associated headaches) for no money essentially. Again, I just viewed it as the cost of doing business with this particular segment of the commercial market. The way I looked at it, I was going to take whatever profit I could and just REINVEST it into other areas.
I wound up adding many more complexes over the next few years, banking whatever I could from each of them. The last complex I bid put over $1,500.00 per month in my pocket after all was said and done. As you can see, collectively it added up to a LOT OF MONEY.
Sadly, it also came with a LOT OF HEADACHES. For me it worked because I had a long-term plan in place. I simply reinvested my profits in other areas that would allow me to earn more with less effort such as floor care service and carpet cleaning. Once the transition into other areas was complete, I got out of that part of the business for good.
Like I said at the beginning, there is a lot of GOOD, BAD and UGLY associated with this market. Is this market a good fit for you? I don’t have the answer to that one as only you will know. Just think it through and make a decision. Either way, I wish you the best of luck!
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Great article Tom! I will make sure I don’t go into this part of the cleaning business 🙂
Hi Francisco! I hear you. I paid my dues, made my money and moved on. With that said, it can be a big money maker AND it allows someone new to the business the chance to make some serious coin. You just need to be able to manage stress well!
Very informative and detailed article Tom. As a new business owner in the commercial cleaning industry, I think this is a great way to get experience, while making profits. I’m submitting two bids tomorrow. Thanks!
Good luck Jonathan and THANKS for commenting!
My sister and I are just starting out and this article has been really helpful. Every tip you have given is helping us put our plan in place and and move forward.
Hi Kenyata! Glad to hear that. I guess my timing was good!
Hi Tom,
what an informative and helpful blog for any entrepreneur in cleaning services. I truly enjoyed reading it. I’d like to offer our site to cleaning companies who are looking to find local projects to bid on. http://www.bidsbypros.com
Great Article, very informative! As a business owner of commercial cleaning products, it is very important to have a great plan! Keep up the great work!
Thanks Matt!
Thanks Don! Sounds like a good thing you got there!
Thanks Tom,
We’re active in south California and gathering as many as professionals as we can before the big campaign to bring the projects. Almost there and few more cleaning company will reach us to our max limit. It has been a great ride and feed backs are amazing. Business owners are wonderfully supporting the idea. Many thanks for the informative article you have here and feel free to use our blog to post your tips. http://www.bidsbypros.com
Sounds good, THANKS again Don.
I’d like to offer my services to the managers of apartments complexes. I was thinking about going to their office and try to talk to them in person. Do you think is a bad idea?
what kind of documentation should i have in hands when offering my services?
Thanks in advance for your attention.
Hi Vivian! I see no problem with going to the apartment complex. I would just make sure you have a business card. The goal for you shouldn’t be to try a hard sell on them, but just to introduce who you are and let them know you can count on them if they need to make a switch to another cleaning company when they are ready. Maybe they as for more info, maybe not. Just see what happens.
Thanks for the article Tom, We have just embarked on our journey in the cleaning business after 20 years in the restaurant business. Our first job came on some move out specials we where offering. Seems like a decent gig for those of us just getting started and doing the work ourselves.
Hi David! I certainly wish you well in your new business! Yes… you are right about the move out work you are doing. Great way to bring in cash and learn the ropes when getting started. Touch base if you need any anything and thanks for commenting.
I am getting ready to send off some letters to property management companies in an attempt to get on their “preferred vendor list”. This seems to be the route needed (at least) in my city. Does this ring a bell?
It sounds like what I should hope for is that they use my company for a few test runs on move outs.
It would seem to me that they would want carpet cleaning done? or do they farm that out? I don’t currently offer it. I do know that a number of companies in my area do.
Do you believe that the same form letter you have suggested in another article will work for this application?
I haven’t found that any of the complexes I have contacted are in a position to make their own calls.
You have mentioned claims that we will beat our competitors prices. How do we know what they’re prices are on jobs of this magnitude? It was easy on houses.
Thanks as always!
Hi David! Yes, mailing to property management companies is a good idea. Nothing wrong with that. On a side note… most of the apartment complexes we cleaned were not through a management firm (they just hired us).
I would not worry about doing the carpet yet, as that alone will not stop them from hiring you. You will have to experiment with a sales letter and what works for you. The ones I used I include in my courses (http://cleaning4profit.kinsta.cloud/start-your-own-cleaning-business/).
I am not aware of where I ever said I would beat a competitors price, so that doesn’t ring a bell with me. My WHOLE approach is to ONLY take jobs that I can make money on, not ones where other companies have bid the job too low to make any money whatsoever.
I enjoy all your post you send out, I am on your mailing list. Great tips!
I have a question, I started a cleaning service over a year ago doing domestic cleaning and had a complex approach me to clean for them, I had the experience for make-ready, cleaning homes that would be put on the market, but never complexes. They do have a set price for turnovers that are not very high. ( I live in Texas) 55.00 for a one bedroom and 85.00 for a 3, (to give you a scale) but no wiggle room at all, they are set. Anyway, I have hired a couple of girls to help me due to the fact I also have several Domestic clients. I pay them 8.00 an hour but they are not getting the job done fast enough so I make a profit, can you advise me as to what steps I need to take, this is not a hobby! The complex has also hired me to clean their new construction complex for the same rate, I agreed, to get my name out there, but found it to be overwhelming at the work involved for very little pay. I am losing $ please help!
Hi Christy! The prices you are getting paid will not allow for a profit under any circumstances. If you were making good money cleaning the common areas (which you are not cleaning at all it appears), then maybe you could justify doing the turnovers for a breakeven type deal. But the way you have it is that you are not making anything anywhere.
When I cleaned apartment complexes I made sure I did BOTH the common areas (and ran the numbers so I knew I would make money on that side) and the turnovers (which I approached as a BREAK-EVEN deal in most cases due to the low pay scale). This made sure I would make money on at least one side of the transaction. That is what you need to find if you are going to make money doing apartments.
So I would ditch cleaning any apartment complex’s that only want you for the turnovers, as there is simply no money to be made in that area. Like you said, cleaning is not your hobby!
Tom,
I have been going through your site over the last couple of days and I have to admit that you offer a wealth of great information. Thank you so much for helping people like me a step closer to realizing their dreams.
Working with apartment complexes is one of the things I was really curious about. Now I have a better understanding of what is involved.
By the way, I plan on ordering one of your courses. It’s the least I can do for all the great info you have provided.
Hi again Carl! I’m very happy to help folks out, and thanks for the kind words. Also, I look forward to having your business Carl, I do appreciate that. Feel free to touch base if you have any questions after you read the material.
Tom,
Good morning and great site. I have recently started my own cleaning company and have been doing an apartment complexes move out cleaning for several weeks now. Tomorrow I start cleaning there clubhouse which consists of the common area, a coffee area, 3 offices, a break room kitchen area, computer room, laundry room, and fitness room. I am all ready to go but just cant decide what I should use to mop the floors including the fitness area rubber surfaced floor. At home I prefer to use a scented bleach and water combo but not sure that would be best for the apartment complex. What ideas or past experiences could you draw from to help me with this. I really appreciate any help you can give me and sorry for the last minute question.
Thanks,
Carl Palmgren
Hi Carl! Thanks for the kind words, we appreciate them! Anyway…while I can’t give specific advice because I have not seen the floors, when in doubt I always go with a “neutral cleaner”(they are middle of the road on the PH scale). These type solutions generally are rather safe to use and are always good to have on hand. They can be purchased at your local janitorial supply house or more common home improvement places like Home Depot or Lowes.
Great thanks, I am going to go with Proforce floor cleaning products from Sams actually, I have heard good things about them. I recently purchased the Giraffe extension pole and accessories and love it for reaching hard to reach places but I am wondering if you have any tips on cleaning interior windows that are probably about 14-15 ft high without having to use a ladder?
It’s either a ladder or extension pole of some kind I would think. I use the Unger window cleaning kit. I have several different size extenders with attachments.
Tom,
I have 2 questions for you if you dont mind. The first is I have an apartment that I have went and cleaned but while I was there I was unable to get the redish colored water stains out of the tub. It is the worst I have seen yet and I was not able to get it to remotely come clean with scrubbing bubbles, bleach or majic eraser. Do you have any suggestions for getting this ring to come clean? Also what kind of solutions have you found to work well with with cleaning windows with a extension pole and sponge set up?
Thanks,
Carl
Hi Carl! I have had similar issues over the years. I have used the same approach as you describe too! Anyway… Without looking at it myself, I have two thoughts that come to mind.
1 – Not everything will come clean. While this may make the end user unhappy, only so much can be done. Much like a paramedic arriving at the scene a little too late, sometimes it’s just not possible to bring it back to life.
2 – Build a relationship with local supply houses. The people who sell cleaning products at your local janitorial supply house are some of the most knowledgeable you will ever run across. Describe (or take picture) and ask one of the salesman who sell the cleaning products what to use. Many times a specialty chemical exists that will solve the issue.
For windows… I’ve used several different approaches, and no clear winner really came about (I even used some old school homemade recipe’s). So now I just use Spartan Chemical solutions for EVERYTHING. You can’t buy direct, you have to go through a distributor. Go here to search… http://www.spartanchemical.com/distributor/lookup/
I am going to try some CLR when I go back by later. It is for an apartment complex so of course they want it fixed. Thanks for the tips.
They won’t cut you a break. I know that! Anyway… I have tried CLR in the past (everyone recommends that), but I don’t think it ever worked for me (that is why I did not mention it!). Good luck just the same!
Hello,
I am new to this side of the cleaning business I was asked to but a bid in for. 41 hallways with stairs
20 laundry areas and one model apartment at an apartment town home community complex.
Question is not sure what to charge and I need this bid. The job is 3 days a week.
Is $450 per visit too much?
Please email me asap!
bexpresscleanup@gmail.com
Hi James! You are starting out pretty strong to be bidding on a job like that! VERY good! To your question… The only way for me to assist on bidding is to SEE the place in question (it’s just not possible any other way). With that said, just take your BEST GUESS on HOW LONG it will take then multiply by a reasonable number (maybe 2.5 times what you would pay a buddy of yours who worked for you). When you do that, you’ll come to a number that will put you in the ballpark.
Great insight into this business. My cousin and I going into this business and I think it is important to know what to expect. I would have loved to know about the bidding process. Is there a risk of over pricing and end up losing all jobs?
Hi Emmanuel! I suppose you could over price and lose out down the road, but that could happen if you bid it cheaply too! Anyway…you also have to ask yourself this… What “exactly” is being over priced? That is hard to define if you think about it.
What is cheap to one person is expensive to another. My philosophy is to “make the job worth my time”. If the customer agrees with my price, then we have a deal. If they don’t, then someone else can do the cleaning. Others may disagree with that line of thought but it has served me well over the years.
Tom,
I have a question for you regarding oven cleaning. I have ran into a few ovens lately at my apartment complex that have some heavy baked on grease or black something on the bottom of the oven. When I first arrive at the apartment to begin cleaning it I spray the oven down with oven cleaner first thing to let it sit. After about an hour I am going back and even using a rough edged cleaning sponge the grease is not even budging. Do you have any advice for getting this grease up that you can share as it would greatly help me alot.
Hi Carl! I always used Spartan Oven & Grill Cleaner for the worst of the worst. This can only be purchased through a authorized distributor. I learned this by speaking with a rep, and it worked for us. They have other products as well, so speak with a salesman (these guys are very helpful). Check with Spartan for a distributor near you here… http://www.spartanchemical.com/distributor/lookup/
This is a great article, thank you for writing it. I have been cleaning rental units on an average of 100 per month for about a year now working only strictly for property management companies. Lately I’ve been approached by large complexes with 200+ units to jump hoops with third party companies such as Compliance Depot and Vendor Verify which I have done, but now I am stuck with the process of bidding the jobs on a flat rate scale where currently my property management companies want to be billed by the hour. So to say the least I am new to the bidding process.
My question for you is did you have a standardized rate or a matrix that you would use for pricing or did your pricing structure very by complex (FYI-we aren’t cleaning common areas, just the units)? I am wanting to standardize my rates regardless of the complex to keep my pricing simple and profitable. What do you recommend, should I have standardized rates for these units or should I be OK with the fact that every complex could potentially have different pricing?
Hi Andy! Thanks for the kind words! Your comment bring me back to when I was doing tons of turnovers (vivid memories). Anyway… I would have loved to have a set pricing scheme, BUT in my experience anyway, it was not possible.
Apartments complexes generally DICTATED to me what they would pay for turnovers, so I did what I had to do to make that pricing model work. If they were a low priced payment model, they got a low priced cleaning, if they paid more then the cleaning quality level went up accordingly.
My approach was to break even on the turnovers and profit heavily on the common areas. The fact that you are focusing on just turnovers changes the business model, so what I did won’t work for you. I would think it would be tough to have one common price model, but I didn’t try too hard to see if I could, so I wish you the best of luck as you try it.
I am new to the cleaning business and currently focusing on apartment turnovers only. The question I have for you Tom or anyone else that can answer is how long should it take to clean an average vacant apartment. I know it will matter on size and the condition but what is a good average? My wife and I cleaned a unit that was in pretty good shape and a one bedroom. It took both of us 2 hours. Thats twice what I thought it should take us. Anyone have any examples on how long they should take to clean?
Hi Matthew! First things first… there is no “average”. They are ALL OVER THE PLACE. I always looked at it like this… (quoting from the above post)… “My theory on the matter is to think of turnovers in bunches of 10. Out of every 10 units, 1 will be pristine, 1 will be a disaster, 4 will be not all that bad and the last 4 will be below average. When coming up with a price, keep that tidbit in mind”.
General guidelines… more bedrooms doesn’t really add all that much more time (90% of the work is in the kitchen and bathroom). Anyway… You spent about 4 man hours on a unit in decent shape, and that is within what I would expect. You may have been able to shave a half hour off by cutting some corners that don’t matter and being more efficient.
A bad unit (not the worst of the worst but bad) would double that to eight man hours (4 each). It all boils down to the stove, the fridge and the bathrooms. When one is bad, that needs to be factored in. When two is bad, that means even more time and when you get the trifecta it’s really bad. That’s just my two cents, I’d like to hear what others say.
We just cleaned two units today. First one took the two of us 4 hours and the second took 3. Thats a total of 14 man hours for pay that I could get flipping burgers. Everyone I talk to says a two man team should take 1-2 hours. I dont get what were doing wrong. If anyone has any input I would be VERY grateful!
Hi Matthew! My first guess is that you are giving every unit the “perfect clean” package, when instead they should be getting what “they pay for”. This is a delicate balance so it can be tough to walk.
At the end of the day, for me, two people going in to clean should be able to do a pristine unit in about an hour (2 man hours), a decent unit in two hours (4 man hours) and a bad unit in about 4 hours (8 man hours).
So in a sense ALL UNITS must somehow be fit into that type of mindset where you know how long you have once you walk in the door THEN you do the best job possible within that given time frame. This may mean you need to lower the standard of cleaning in some cases in order to get the job done. You don’t work for free!
What are you left with is deciding whether or not you get paid enough to clean all the units for a flat fee. How many bad units get mixed in (out of every ten). If you are not happy with the pay you have 3 choices… don’t give them any free time (lower the cleaning standards so you get done faster) OR charge more money per unit OR give your notice and move on to another complex.
REMEMBER… not all places are worth cleaning… you ONLY want the profitable accounts!!
Hello Tom, I recently created my website and bought your book and am working on calling all the apartment complexes in the area. I know you must be tired of this subject and may have already answered this ? but I didn’t find it. First is if a unit had a roach infestation would you clean it I mean they are crawling on your leg while your working. Second, most apartments would give you a list of what is expected to be clean, how do you cut corners with this. Third, what about cleaning the blinds and a front load washer and dryer with stuck on detergent and every thing is gas. You should sell a book just on this subject. : {-
Hi Jamie! We would clean the roach unit… yes. We had our share… goes with the territory. BUT… we didn’t clean unless they were deceased. We are ONLY A CLEANING SERVICE. I would want the exterminator in to take care of that preferably BEFORE we arrived.
Well… apartment managers will always have a LONG LIST. They want to MAXIMIZE what they get out of YOU. You will need to find the sweet spot that puts you in the ACCEPTABLE ZONE as far as the cleaning goes. If you gave them everything, it would cost 1,000 to clean each unit!
The blinds were always a touchy thing for me. I would give them a HARD DUSTING, but that was about it. Washer / dryer… yea that stinks, but just work smarter. Get some soap scum remover and pre-spray that as soon as you walk in the door.
On a side note… a way to shave some time off is by pre-spraying all the bad items as soon as you walk in (bathroom, oven, etc…) so that the chemicals have time to work. Also… YES… a WHOLE OTHER BOOK on cleaning apartment complexes could be written!!
I had a question how much can I price an apt complex.Turnovers and common hall. The units are over 300. Ranging between 1.2.3. Bedrooms in all.
Hi Carmen! Sorry for the delay… on the road traveling. Anyway… without looking at them, I don’t know to be honest with you. When in doubt, ask them what they are currently paying (that is a great question that CLUES you in on whether or not the place is worth pursuing).
Short of that, you just need to break down the job into small sections that allow you to wrap your head around HOW LONG each component will take. At the end of the day it’s all about how much time each task will take.
Carmen,
Where are you located? I ask because I can help share insight on what we charge to clean apartment turns.
Matthew
I’m starting out a cleaning business and looking into starting out this route. How do you handle the billing for apartment turnovers?
Hi Dana! I would keep a notebook for each complex. In it I would list each apartment number, the date the work was done and how many bedrooms. Then I submitted that list at the end of each month. You could do it after each one if you wanted to, but most complexes would prefer one bill each month (and to be honest, one bill each month is easier to handle because it’s less work for you). If I also cleaned the common areas, I would include that on the invoice as well.
I’m just starting a cleaning service and charging 1 bedroom $85.00 2 bedroom $95.00 3 bedroom$105.00 this is for turnovers on apartmentsis this too much or not enough