Happening NowShort-Term Rentals / Airbnb

Whether a cleaning operation should take on short term rental turnover work at all

Take a residential cleaning operation built around recurring biweekly homes and move-outs, approached by nightly rental owners wanting same-day turns, Saturday and Sunday heavy, checkout to check-in windows, laundry on site, restock, and photo reporting, at a quoted rate around 110 for a two bedroom. If recurring homes of similar size price at 145 with a schedule the operator controls, and a turn requires two staff for roughly two and a half hours plus drive time, the labor and fuel cost alone can run close to 95, leaving almost no margin at 110 and putting the hardest days of the week, which staff already resist working, on the line for near-zero return. The stronger structure is pricing turnover meaningfully higher, often 150 to 175 for a comparable unit, with a firm cancellation window and a same-day surcharge, reflecting that owners in season will generally pay a premium for a guaranteed Saturday slot. Steady in-season volume and premium pricing can make the category worthwhile, but only at a rate that covers the schedule disruption, not at a rate benchmarked off recurring residential work.

monica_tran3 SF2APRO 15

Answer

chriswalton8 CC1CPRO 17

The owning-one-instead question is the one worth sitting with. A cleaning operator running turns in that town knows the operating cost of that inventory better than any of the owners paying for it, which is unusual information. Most money into these deals is one or two people writing a check for a single unit, sometimes a small group with a co-host who takes a share of revenue for running it. Running it already means the share being negotiated is the part already being done for 110. Doesn't make the Friday quote easier. But 165 with a same day surcharge is the price of a service the owners can't get anywhere else, and the ones who say no tend to come back in July.

chriswalton8 CC1CPRO 17

2 replies

joe_delgado5ActivePRO

Send the $165. If all three walk you learned in a week what would otherwise take a season.

The thing that actually breaks turnover cleaning isn't the price, it's that you carry the whole risk of the schedule. Guest stays an extra hour, your crew is standing in the driveway, next check-in is at 3, and now the owner is texting you like it's your fault. Build the late-checkout clause into the quote or you'll be eating that six times a summer.

And $95 of labor on a two bedroom same-day is optimistic once you add the linen swap and the photo report. Time three of them yourself before you commit to a rate you're stuck with all season.

joe_delgado5ActivePRO

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