Cleaning costs

[MelbGal]

Hi Burramy - where it Melbourne is your property?

I think a few things sound strange to me, maybe you need to investigate a new PM?

1 - I have never had to clean a property between tenants. Tenant moves out and cleans - Pm inspects and if all OK bond released. property is advertised before first tenant moved out and new tenant usually moves in right away.

2 - I've never heard of a place needing another clean after being vacant for 2 months unless PM/prior tenant didnt do a proper job when tenant moved out. To be honest could you have just left it as is? Most renters will give the place a clean/wipe when they move in.

3 - is there any reason why you are dealing directly with the tenant when you have a PM? This starts to cloud the relationship and soon you will have tenant calling you directly with problems. If I need to see my property the PM will arrange the communication and the time and will try to be at the property with me - even on a weekend! This is usually rare however as I don't carry out my own repairs but more when I want to check out major works.

4- my PM never spends money on repairs without my Ok. That's because we have very open / quick lines of comms. I find email so easy to reply on a smartphone.

 

[Burramys]

I had to contact the tenant as the regular PM was on leave, and the stand-in was making noises about the smoke alarm and did not reply to messages. I also sought to find out when the tenants moved in, as this may give me a time for the cleaning. If the tenants moved in early in the day then the cleaning could not have been for very long. The PM has not advised of the time the keys were collected.

I should probably have just left the place, slightly dusty and all. I thought that about $200 was okay to make sure that it was clean, but not upwards of double that. I have another quote for the carpets, $150. More pending.

 

[Sez]

I do agree with MelbGal

If the property had been vacant for some time then a quick clean to get rid of the build up of dust and cobwebs is reasonable.

The carpets should have been cleaned by the previous tenant. If carpets were not cleaned properly and needed to be cleaned and the property required 7 hours of cleaning is this going to be a part of a VCAT compensation claim against the bond of your previous tenants?