[paulchambers]

I'm about to approach letting agents  does anyone know what a price should i charge should i get any work from them,  as i assume they will take a cut for them selves  Paul

[paul@ctcs]

Paul,

We do lots of work for letting agents,in fact done a whole house today for one of them.
I charge the same amount as i charge for any job,which is £30 per hour.If they do decide to make a profit on my work thats up to them. The money in a majority of cases comes from previous tenants deposits, occasionaly the cleaning and maintenance bill exceeds the deposit so comes out of the letting agents pocket, this is often one and a half months rent so in the £1000 area for an average sized place, so you can imagine how trashed some of them are!The carpets can be covered in all sorts of things and without someone there to tell you what they spilt you can have hours of fun    

Paul

[paulchambers]

So do you charge by the hour or by footage

[paul@ctcs]

On the invoice i state a price for each room if i'm only cleaning the carpets,(more often we have a team of cleaners cleaning everything in this case they just recieve one all in bill ) i work it so for the carpet cleaning we get £30 per hour,i would aviod billing per square foot/meter due to the likely hood of a really dirty carpet.

[Dave Parry]

I also do quite a bit of work for letting agents. I have a standard price for 1 2 3 & 4 bed flats/houses. while not ideal, it does mean the agents know what price the cleaning will be, and can advise their tenants. If furnished I add a bit more, but most are unfurnished so can be done easily. for instance 1 bed = £ 75, and 2 bed £ 95.

[The Great One]

Hi

On a set price do you still charge the same wether it is absolutley minging or just a light clean, as the time difference can be profound.

Regards

Martin

[Fintan_Coll]

I do work for letting agents too. I just charge my normal prices, never any problem. The way I see it is you are solving a problem for them in that the house or flat can be re let to another tenant without delay. Letting property is their business, cleaning carpets is your business.

[Dave Parry]

Martin, If absolutely minging I do add a surcharge, how much depends on how P****d off it gets me, but generally dont need to. agree with fintan, charge  your normal rate, it justs makes things straight forward if they know your rates in advance.

[Paula]

I have recently left a job in a lettings agent and in my experience the tenant or the landlord pays for the cleaning and they agent did not mark up the cost as they would already have charged the landlord and tenants in there fee's.

How did you find the best way to get work out of letting agents? I know I was in the industry but working on the other side I m not sure how to get work out of them. Face to face, leaflets, phone calls

[Ian Gourlay]

Dave,

As you are one of my mentors on the boards how much for a 4 bed house.

I am charging £130.

Yesterday I did a bed sit for £50 How does this compare with your charges.

I should be less as Im have not got a £20000 truck mount and all the depreciation to carry.

[Dave Parry]

Ian, I charge £150 / £160 for a 4 bed house, UNFURNISHED. If furnished add a bit more about £15 ish.  I charge £75 for a 1 bed, and £ 95 for a 2 bed.
Your prices should be the same, your doing the same job, just different kit. It will take you longer, so your charge should be similar.
Regarding getting work from them, face to face is the best way, but as they will already have a carpet cleaner, you need to keep reminding them, nicely that your there.
ps is a mentor similar to an agent, do I get a percentage?

[Ian Gourlay]

By rights yes. Manergement consultants charge £50000 for a 15 page report.

Think what value we get on these sites.


Thanks for prices will charge £150 next time.