Off to a good start for May

The Corporation that operates the apartment complexes in my area liked my proposal and want to meet tomorrow morning to discuss it.  That could provide a steady flow of apartment cleans each month (likely a dozen per month) going forward.  As much as I swore to never work for porperty managers again, these are very upscale buildings no more than 8 years old.  Most are 2 bedrooms with the second floors being mainly 3 bedroom units.  I specifically wrote the proposal to include an out for both them and me if termination becomes desired.  I don't want to be locked into a bad contract any more than they do, plus I am confident that they will find my services far superior in quality and price from those they have been using.  I can say that because the other cleaners are coming from 45 minutes away and they have sent different crews every time with carpets being wet for 2 days as the norm.

I also just got booked for a 4 bedroom house around noon to include cleaning of 2 couches and spiral staircase as well.  It will be a big job, but that also comes with a big ticket and the timing could not be better.  Weather looks good, tools are ready to go....time to start making that Spring money again!!!  

This is also a house located in the country, which I am beginning to really target over the city areas.  There are a lot of cleaners that refuse to drive down those gravel roads expecting to see some old farm house, but the reality is that those houses are far from that in reality.  Sure, the gravel road is true, but most of the homes around this area turn out to be new construction with lots of square footage.  That is the way small towns are here, the money isn't in the city, the money is in the country.  Sure, there are always a dog or two in the mix, but no big deal.

Here is to hopefully the start of a good month

Well, that meeting didn't go so well. The suits liked everything about my proposal except price. I considered it a very reasonable price aroung 17 cents per sqft. They never disclosde what they are currently paying, but one of the renters told me that they keep $75 of the security deposit for carpet cleaning, so you can probably guess on the price.

If the present franchises are willing to drive 90 minutes round trip to clean apartments for beer money, they can keet right on doing it. I told them that I would honor my price for the rest of 2018 if they need me.

As for the rural cleaning, that was hit and miss as well. Beatiful home resting on top of a high hill with virtually no trees around. Good in that it was a big job, but bad in that we are having 40-50 mph winds today with gusts up to 60 mph. It was like a tornado inside my van when I hoped the side door and for the whole job stuff was blowing into the TM belts. Even worse, it turned my door seal into a kite and blew it up onto the roof from the door frame where it was installed. That took some effort to retrieve. Happy customer, tired cleaner, and done for the day.

Wow
$ 75 deposit kept for carpet cleaning for 3 bedrooms apartment ? Damn, that’s cheap ! But then again, I’ve seen that here too, I straight up told the Customer to let the pm get it done, my minimum is $ 125 and that’s not even enough to cover the job ( 2 bedrooms apt ).

Dang Bob, do you have road hazard warranty on your tires ? Sounds like you need them more than I do.
I have them from America’s tire, cost me $ 20 / tire.
Seems like your van also will take some beating from those gravel road, especially your shaft to the TM ?

The gravel beats the heck out of the van's body, but the TM shaft is not exposed (runs between the seats). I do have hazard warranty and tow insurance for those same reasons.

In Omaha, I have seen $75 as the rate, but they have to drive 90 minutes to my area to get these jobs and I can't see any franchise doing that for $75. I quoted them $125 for single, $150 for double, and $175 for triples. I used to get $100 for the singles back when I had the other buildings a few years ago. I felt it was a fair price considering they get over $840 in rent for a 2 bedroom apartment.

Clearly, I am never going to hear from them again if they have someone doing it for $75.....and that is okay with me. I need the work, but don't need to lose money in the process.