Why the Cheapest St George Airbnb Cleaner Can Be the Most Expensive
Article summary (AI generated):
* The cheapest cleaner can become expensive. Poor cleaning can lead to refunds and bad reviews.
* Reliability matters. Your Airbnb needs to be ready before the next guest arrives.
* Airbnb cleaning involves more than normal house cleaning. Laundry, supplies, patios, appliances, and other details matter.
* Laundry can slow everything down. The right washer and dryer setup can reduce cleaning time.
* Know what’s included. Agree beforehand on regular cleaning and extra charges.
* Hire someone with Airbnb experience. Fast turnovers require different skills than ordinary house cleaning.
* Have a backup plan. Someone needs to handle the property if your cleaner can’t.
* Reliable usually beats cheap. A good cleaner helps protect your reviews and rental income.
Table of Contents ⇒
Why the Cheapest Cleaner Can Be the Most Expensive
I’m sure you know how much having a great St George Airbnb cleaner matters. Why?
* Same day turnovers and check-ins. Miss a turnover deadline and suddenly you have a poor review.
* Guests have expectations that they want you to exceed. That can’t be done with a cheap cleaning person.
* Cheap cleaners = Bad reviews
* Cheap cleaners = refund request
* What If they can’t handle busy events schedules. Will that cost you money? Event examples include the St. George Marathon followed just a few days later with The Senior Games.
* Cheap cleaners may miss the small but important things like cleaning out the fridge, emptying the dishwasher (always full, hopefully cleaned), restocking supplies, and cleaning the patio bbq and furniture, etc.
Most hosts’ biggest concern is how much the cleaning is going to cost. The second concern is getting great reviews for cleanliness.
I’ve found those two concerns often contradict each other. I’ve never talked to a host who understood that they need to pay for a good cleaning service, so that the vacation rental is perfectly clean for the next guests.
What Managing Vacation Rentals Taught Me About Cleaning Vacation Rentals
I’ve cleaned Airbnb rentals all over St. George and Hurricane including the communities of Las Palmas, Sports Village, and Paradise Village. I know what to look for when hiring a vacation rental cleaner or vacation rental cleaning service.
I have a lot of personal experience with vacation rentals: My ex, Andie and I both owned condos in Sports Village. I lived in mine. I did eventually use the unit as a long-term rental. Andie lived in hers for a while and then turned hers into a short-term rental after meeting me.
In addition Andie and I owned a property management business that handled long-term and short-term rentals. On average we managed about 4 or 5 vacation rentals at any given time. We did all of the cleanings for those properties.
Did you know you’re probably paying your cleaner to watch TV? | Laundry problems
In my opinion laundry is the biggest issue you and your cleaner(s) face.
For example: Did you know that your cleaner is sitting on your Airbnb couch watching TV while they wait for your laundry to finish? You’re paying the cleaner to watch TV because your laundry setup is inadequate.
Want to make an extra $50+ each time you have a turn over? Add an extra full size washer and dryer to your unit and if the other washer and dryer aren’t full size replace them.
The cost for adding the extra space and plumbing might be $2000. A used, full size washer and dryer off of Facebook Market Place is about $100. Based on an hourly cleaning cost of $40/hour your addition will pay for itself after 52 turnovers or maybe two years. After that you will save an extra $1000/year or so by not having a cleaner watch TV while doing laundry.
What Should Your Vacation Rental Cleaner Price Actually Include?
I have to be honest, I don’t really understand trying to save money by not paying your cleaner a fair wage.
For example, I knew a cleaner who cleaned a very large vacation rental townhome. She would actually take part of the laundry to the nearest laundromat and wash the towels and sheets there at no extra charge to the owner. What?!
Why? The owners didn’t want to pay her enough to stay at the rental while the laundry was being done.
That doesn’t make much sense to me.
A good vacation rental cleaner does more than vacuum floors and clean bathrooms. They help get the entire property ready for the next guests.
So, what should normally be included in the cleaning price?
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- Washing sheets and towels
- Making beds and putting out fresh towels
- Cleaning the kitchen and refrigerator
- Occasionally cleaning the oven
- Dusting and straightening
- Vacuuming and mopping
- Cleaning bathrooms
- Refilling guest supplies
- Cleaning the patio and patio furniture
- Wiping down the BBQ
- Removing fingerprints from sliding glass doors
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There are also things that might reasonably cost extra like cleaning the windows, cleaning unusually large messes, and cleaning areas that aren’t normally part of a turnover.
It’s important to agree on what is included before you hire the cleaner. Paying a little more for someone who does the job right makes a lot more sense than saving a few dollars and having your next guest find the things that didn’t get done.
Questions I Would Ask If I Were Hiring An Airbnb Cleaner Or Cleaning Service:
- How much house cleaning experience do you have?
- How much vacation rental cleaning experience do you have?
- Will you work on Sundays if needed?
- Do you have time in your schedule to handle another vacation rental?
- (For individual cleaners) Do you have anyone that will fill in if you’re sick?
- Do you have insurance? Liability insurance for house cleaners is cheap at around $50/month for a million dollars in coverage.
- How do you handle laundry (remember this is dependent on you and your washer and dryer situation).
Reliability Beats Cheap hands down
Final thought: It is much more important that you have a reliable cleaner, rather than a cheap cleaner.
If you want a reliable, super-experienced Airbnb, vacation rental cleaner call us: St. George House Cleaning (435) 879-1239
Affording (Airbnb) Cleaning?
I have been renting out a ~600 sq foot studio for about 10 months now as a superhost, and my co-host and I are looking to outsource some of the cleaning for the unit to help balance the time airbnb is taking from our other work / life.
My question is how do people make cleaning affordable for studio-sized airbnbs? We rent for $120-180 a night in a popular midwest college town, but our cleaning fee is $20 and every quote I’ve gotten from local cleaners has been $100-150 for a single turnover
Is it just increasing the cleaning fee to insane levels like everyone complains about, or only allowing minimum stays of 2 or more nights?
My answer: I owned a property management business. We managed a few Airbnbs. Honestly, since you can’t apparently raise the rent, I would recommend doing one of two things: 1. Clean the studio yourself. Turn it into a long-term rental.
15 minute house cleaning estimate. It's fast, it's free, and of course there's no obligation
Get an over the phone (or text) estimate for how much it would cost to clean your home.
Just text me your name and the property address.
I will usually have your estimate in less than 15 minutes.
Bio: Don Glasgow
I am the owner of First Impressions Home and Office Cleaning and First Impressions Window Cleaning.
I live in Winchester Hills in St. George, UT.
I have owned the house cleaning business since 2022.
I started the business after moving from Phoenix and being unable to find work.
I care about how my customers feel after their home has been cleaned.
Quirk: I hate cleaning bathrooms, but I’m okay with cleaning kitchens.
I have been cleaning homes since I was 30 years old.
Surprising skill: I am very good at creating websites. I've done so many that, at this point, it comes naturally.
How to: Hiring An Airbnb Cleaner
