How to price an end of tenancy clean without guessing
End of tenancy work is priced on condition, not on bedrooms, which is why a number given over the phone before anybody has seen the property is a guess that usually costs the cleaner.
What should I ask before quoting an end of tenancy clean?
Bedrooms and bathrooms, whether the property is furnished, whether the oven and carpets are included, whether it is currently occupied, when the keys are due back, and parking. Those six answers move the price more than anything else.
Bedroom count is what callers volunteer and it is the weakest predictor in the list. A lightly used two bed handed back early takes a fraction of the time of a two bed where somebody has cooked in it daily for three years and the deposit is being disputed.
The deadline matters as much as the work. A job that has to be done tomorrow between a tenant leaving and an inspection is worth more than the same job with a fortnight's notice, because you are selling availability as well as labour.
Should I quote over the phone?
For anything beyond a routine domestic clean, no. Capture the property details, confirm them back, and give a firm number once somebody has seen photographs or the property itself.
The reason is asymmetric. Quote low over the phone and you are held to it when you arrive and find the oven; quote high to protect yourself and you lose jobs you would have wanted. Capturing details and coming back within the hour wins more work than either.
Callers accept this far more readily than most cleaners expect, provided they are told when they will hear back and that actually happens.
What makes an end of tenancy quote go wrong?
Almost always the oven, the carpets, or an assumption about who is removing furniture and rubbish. Those three account for most of the jobs that overrun.
Write them into the questions you always ask rather than trusting yourself to remember on a bad day. A short fixed list asked every time is the difference between a job that pays and one that eats an afternoon.
Also asked
- Should I publish my prices?
- A starting range usually helps, because callers who cannot find any indication of price assume it is expensive and ring somebody who published one. A firm figure for variable work does not, for the reasons above.
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