Are cleaning condos worth it?

[Cleanworks]

You learn to say no to those who don't want to pay your price, just as you say no the house owners who think you are too expensive. I recently had a lady call me to clean a 6 ft long diarrhea stain caused by her elderly mother. She has already tried to clean it and I know what I now have to deal with. When I told her that it would be aprox $200 she nearly had a heart attack. I explained the steps involved and she realized that it is more complicated that someone passing a wand over the stain. She decided that she could live with stain for $200. Chances are she will call around and hire a hack to try it of $69 and it won't come out and she will have wasted her time and money. Matta, condos are all owned and maintained individually. Having said that, when I do highrises, I put a sign up sheet in the lobby offering a 10% discount if I get 3 or more suites in a day. I don't clean them on the same day as I am doing the hallways but set 1 or 2 days aside for the suites. I will sometimes have 6-10 people sign up.

 

[steve_64]

$60 first room $40 ea additional.

 

[Kevin De Medeiros]

If you have access to deal with only the owners, then you're probably not gonna get anywhere on making profit. The owners aren't going to comprehend why you have a minimum price.

Do you think there might be a property manager over the complex?

Most of these condos are managed by one or two big corporations and are super cheap. Had a PM call me to quote some corridors in 4 , four storey condo buildings .They were having problems with spots coming back and resoiling. Went in did a demo with cymex and release it. Problem solved. Asked me for a quote and I gave it. He came back with a counter of 3 cents a square foot which was nowhere near what i quoted. That's the environment up here. Residential is a completely different beast. A lot of high end homes and newer subdivision where people actually understand the costs when explained to them.

 

[Cleanworks]

We all have similar issues with property mgmt. companies but they are all not the same. I have several that I have worked for 20 years and we charge 25 cents per sqft. for the hallways. I am doing a large project in 2 weeks for one. It is 2 towers with 52 hallways, recreation rooms, party rooms, lobbies, etc. The total job will take me 4 days, (6 hour days) and the total cost for the job is almost $4,500. Over a $1000 per day guaranteed work. The concierges hand my cards out to residents who inquire about carpet cleaning. All done with a portable. We have cheapass property mgrs. here too but we pay them no mind.

 

[Bob Pruitt]

My market in SW Florida with many condos is Naples. These are mostly near the water and have amazing views... million is a starting price for empty unfinished shell or for a very basic condo so you want the best portable money can buy. You will be doing carpets, floors, selling fabric protector and upholstery cleaning at every job. You will be able to double the price you charge for your truck mount jobs and they won''t blink an eye... and the carpet isn't even dirty. They are mostly worried about dust...just want it fresh. Most of them are cleaned just before they arrive in October and again when they leave in April or May. Like stealing money!

 

[Nate The Great]

You learn to say no to those who don't want to pay your price, just as you say no the house owners who think you are too expensive. I recently had a lady call me to clean a 6 ft long diarrhea stain caused by her elderly mother. She has already tried to clean it and I know what I now have to deal with. When I told her that it would be aprox $200 she nearly had a heart attack. I explained the steps involved and she realized that it is more complicated that someone passing a wand over the stain. She decided that she could live with stain for $200. Chances are she will call around and hire a hack to try it of $69 and it won't come out and she will have wasted her time and money. Matta, condos are all owned and maintained individually. Having said that, when I do highrises, I put a sign up sheet in the lobby offering a 10% discount if I get 3 or more suites in a day. I don't clean them on the same day as I am doing the hallways but set 1 or 2 days aside for the suites. I will sometimes have 6-10 people sign up.

So basically she shit her pants also when you told her the price... We do a lot of condo work here... Most for property managers but also with condo owners...

I had one Dr. drilling me on why it costs soo much and what does he get for the $400 price... I look at my pops and look back at the Dr. and tell him, you get clean carpets, what more do you want?... I made the customer ask me what he was trying to get at... He wanted a guarantee or a 30 day spot removal service... That guy has cleaned his nasty white carpet 3x a year for the past 7 years... 3 cats that throw up, some piss, and the guy never takes off his sandals that the black crocks off..

I could careless if I do a condo job or not, but whatever I do, it's to the best of my ability... Also, there's a big difference between a condo and an apt building... Condos are more upper scale IMHO.. We have $235 minimum and get 3-5 at a time in each building... Makes it work it for us...

 

[Cleanworks]

So basically she shit her pants also when you told her the price... We do a lot of condo work here... Most for property managers but also with condo own

So basically she shit her pants also when you told her the price... We do a lot of condo work here... Most for property managers but also with condo owners...

I had one Dr. drilling me on why it costs soo much and what does he get for the $400 price... I look at my pops and look back at the Dr. and tell him, you get clean carpets, what more do you want?... I made the customer ask me what he was trying to get at... He wanted a guarantee or a 30 day spot removal service... That guy has cleaned his nasty white carpet 3x a year for the past 7 years... 3 cats that throw up, some piss, and the guy never takes off his sandals that the black crocks off..

I could careless if I do a condo job or not, but whatever I do, it's to the best of my ability... Also, there's a big difference between a condo and an apt building... Condos are more upper scale IMHO.. We have $235 minimum and get 3-5 at a time in each building... Makes it work it for us...

I want to move to Hawaii.
I had one Dr. drilling me on why it costs soo much and what does he get for the $400 price... I look at my pops and look back at the Dr. and tell him, you get clean carpets, what more do you want?... I made the customer ask me what he was trying to get at... He wanted a guarantee or a 30 day spot removal service... That guy has cleaned his nasty white carpet 3x a year for the past 7 years... 3 cats that throw up, some piss, and the guy never takes off his sandals that the black crocks off..

I could careless if I do a condo job or not, but whatever I do, it's to the best of my ability... Also, there's a big difference between a condo and an apt building... Condos are more upper scale IMHO.. We have $235 minimum and get 3-5 at a time in each building... Makes it work it for us...

 

[Nate The Great]

That was pretty deep.... quote in a quote.... I was good at finding Where's Waldo....

 

[Cleanworks]

That was pretty deep.... quote in a quote.... I was good at finding Where's Waldo....

I was actually in the shop, drinking a beer , watching my rugs dry and my thumb slipped