Hi all,
Lease is coming to and end and I really dread the thought of having to scrub the grout of the shower tiling prior to vacating. So, was wondering if anyone has paid someone to professionally clean their apartment - if so, how much? I was quoted $350 which seems excessive as my apartment is a tiny 'inner-city/shoebox' apartment in Melbourne. Has anyone paid for this service? And if so, how much?
How much should I pay for a 'professional' apartment clean prior to vacating?
elliot91 on 20/04/2016 - 11:08
Comments
Maid outfits?
additional services?
Was this when you were moving out? Where did you find them - Airtasker?
$350 is excessive. Do you have carpet? If so you will need to get it steam cleaned.
My partner does cleanings, but she doesn't steam clean carpets though. If your interested I can ask her if she has time available. She charges 40 an hour. Send me a PM I suppose.
No carpet - only floorboards, thanks ill keep that in mind.
If you use airtasker make sure you state its a final clean. Go with someone with good reviews as well. If you offer a cheap price expect to get cheap results.
Thats where my partner gets most of her jobs from. Its a good site. Oh and make sure they have all their own products. You don't want someone showing up without anything haha.
Thanks, but what is considered a 'cheap price' for something like this?
Try airtasker..
even if you pay $500 but the agent later say not clean here i cut $$$ from your bond, there is nothing you can do./ they are the lord of the evil anyway
so:
call the agent ask them to send their trusted cleaner. pay bit more is okay as long reasonableSign up to AirTasker.com and get somebody out to do the work for you. People there work for way under market rates.
Great - thanks, will do. Do I need to specify the standard to which I expect? The landlord wants a completely spotless job done.
Yeah, in your "task" you can specify that it's for a vacating clean and tell them how much you're willing to pay. You would list what you want done and how many rooms/bathrooms you want cleaned. People will then put in offers. You can communicate with these people (publicly) on the site and once you have selected the person you can then contact them privately. If they have completed tasks for other people then they will have a "rating" and comments regarding their work.
When they come to your house you don't give them any cash. It's all done electronically. If you are happy with their work, then you log into the site and release the agreed funds.
you might want to not use any of those cheaper options unless they can provide a clear invoice of what was done , dont accept a invoice with "general" cleaning , have it be as specific as possible , or else you will probably be paying for the same thing twice , once via the landlord claiming it wasn't done/done properly. and take pictures right before you walk out the last time.
a trend these days is that cleaning companies have bond back guarantees.
If your landlord doesn't clear it they'll come back and do it again.. well that's what they say
I have had a mate who recently got the agents to recommend a cleaner they use.
That way its hard for them to come back at you if it aint up to standard.
If you want to play safe, go for those cleaning companies with bond back guarantee, where they will come back and clean the items that the agent has specified not good enough. I was quoted $169 for a 1 bedroom job a few months ago for this.
Or ask the agent whether they have recommended or approved cleaner, so they can take up with the cleaners themselves if they are not happy.
Thanks, what company was this? The $350 I was quoted was from the Real Estate agents.
I think they were called bond back cleaners.
I didn't end up using them though, decided to do the cleaning our own, so can't really tell you whether they do a good job or not.
I'd go the airtasker option. And try and be at the final inspection with a thing of ajax and paper towels, I've found they're usually a bit less picky when you're hovering over them as they do the inspection (not to mention you can throw in the "that was already there" excuse), and you can address issues on the spot.
Let the cleaners do the hard stuff like the oven and bathroom, while you can run around with the vacuum or spot clean the walls to save some time/money.
I've used bond cleaners in the past, but I've found they charge a lot, and it's a pain in the arse getting them back for small things that may remain, not to mention it delays the bond refund if you need to get them back.
Not sure about Victoria, but in NSW and QLD you don't need an invoice for the clean, as long as it's clean. You would need one for carpets, however, but that's not an issue for you.
In NSW, you don't need your carpets professionally cleaned at the end of your tenancy.
My husband has just vacated his previous lease from an oldish resort style apartment in Fortitude Valley. He only rented a studio apartment for 1 year. It had 1 double bed, a supposedly sofa chair made up of 2 single beds, outdoor table and chairs as his dining table, washer, dryer and basics. He was asked to vacate as the owner wants to sell, then given a quote of $585 as a exit clean and told if he hired an outside cleaner, and if the rental manager was not happy with the cleaning, he may have to repeat the cleaning. The $585 quote was to clean the apartment, dry clean the small area of carpeting, pesticide the mattress and room. As my husband has work to consider, he decided for the property manager to do the exit clean. When it came to get his bond back, he was told he had to pay for another $30 for some broken panel off some louvred doors which were left behind by previous renters, which he thought were trash from the start of the lease. He had told the property manager he had no knowledge of a broken panel of some louvred doors which were not in use and which were just lying there in his balcony all that time he was living there, but they never got back to him, instead just took that extra $30 out of his bond money. So real lesson is note everything upon entry, comb every inch of the apartment for discrepancies before you sign, ask what cost you have to pay and by whom on exit. So $350 is cheap knowing that my husband had been ripped off not once but twice as property managers will try and get every cent from your bond. Lastly make sure you are present on the last inspection as they can become sneaky and inspect the premise without your presence and claim anything from a speck of dust on your curtain rod or a strand of hair in the bathroom that you haven't cleaned the property up to their standards, knowing full well that the apartment was not as clean when you first rented it. Good luck.
Thanks for all the answers guys. I think (assuming the clean goes well) I should be on track to get 100% of the bond back. Apart from this one blemish on the wall of my room-mates bedroom. It was caused by necklace beads (hung over the bed bed) being smacked against the wall continuously (yes, it occurred exactly how you might think and was disgusting to listen to). I thought I could invest in some of that wall-seal putty type of solution but wast sure if that would look to obvious.
Thoughts?
Don't worry, too small of an issue. Normal wear and tear. But if you are really pedantic, get a putty colour matched to your wall and fill it up. Easy!
Really? Thanks, I was under the impression they would really pick on this.
Only if your agent is a crazy fella..
Colour matched putty gonna cost you nothing. If they pick on it, request to go back and fix it yourself.
i paid 230 for carpet steam clean+ general clean when i moved out of my apartment in january.
this is in melbourne for 2 bedroom 2 bathroom apartment.
worth the $$$ IMO.Just get someone with a bond guarantee
Last time I got a unit cleaned two girls came over and charged 40 bucks and hour, got it done in 2 (and they went overboard as far as I was concerned lel).