[Hamilton smith]

Anyone got any top tips for getting in with letting agents? Been in to see lots but they seem only interested in fixed (dirt cheap) price lists ie 1 room £25.00  2 rooms £45.00 etc. Same with nursing homes they seem to just price shop.

[Joe H]

Well, if you been to see lots and all they want is cheap cleans - perhaps speaks for itself.

You either keep trying till you find one that want jobs done at real prices, or you do the cheap ones, or you give up asking letting agents.

[Doctor Carpet (Ret'd)]

Hi Hamilton and welcome to the forum. If you put a bit more info on yourself up then you'll find we are a more friendly bunch.

You'll also find other threads about this if you do a search.

Not knowing how long you've been in business you could try offering to do a job for free to demonstrate the quality of your work and service but explaining to them that if they like what you can achieve they will have to pay your proper rates.

If your work is better than whoever they are presently using then you may find that they will agree to this as after all in most cases it is not the agency that is ultimately paying you.

[jon777]

I find alot of letting agents are not worth the bother for the exact reasons mentioned.

Having said that I do have 3 or 4 on my books and I have to say they are my best clients.

As for approaching them I have also tried without success. The good ones I do have all came to me because we had a good reputation and they were interested in an ongoing working relationship.

As for pricing they do it themselves. Most properties will be roughly the same and I gave them a per room price list which is by no means cheap. I advised for the first few jobs until they priced correctly and now I just go to the job do it and bill them.

When the right ones come your way look after them. Last summer they were giving us nearly ten thousand a month between them and they were all spray and rinse jobs in empty properties.

[colin thomas]

wow, jon, £2500 a week just in rental work, i have 7 letting agents that i do work for and i wish they would give me anything like that a month!
keep them sweet,

colin   

[Hamilton smith]

Hi Colin

Do you charge them room rates, by the metre or whole house. I am charging by the square metre (to the agent I have got in with) but it does cause some problems as the girls who ask me to do the jobs do not always visit the property- a manager has just told them to get them cleaned. What is a fair room rate??. I am based in west yorkshire and get the impression that prices charged in the south can be alot higher. Independants in my area charge £60 - £85.00 for a three piece suite if that gives an indication of prices, Chem dry etc charge £125 - £200 for the same job.

[Steve Barnett (Carpet Care Plus)]

£ 60 for a 3 piece suite !

Let them have it at that price.

[markpowell]

Offer a 20% Comission to the letting agent for all work passed your way, then the more it costs the better for them, bearing in mind that the bill goes to the prevous tennents or landlord.
Mark

[clinton]

You will find the suites from leeting agents will be the most trashed i would charge 100 at least

[Shaun_Ashmore]

When I used to do letting agent work I don't think I ever cleaned a suite, I don't entertain letting agents as they want cheap work next day with the dirtiest of properties and late payments, IMO I can't build my business that way.

Shaun

[clinton]

Shaun

Totally agree there and you will never get a decent living from them,,used to do some grotty eot and even the bedrooms took me ages just to clear up the mess :

[Len Gribble]

Got a love hate relation ship with mine, give a quote today a week or two later call can you do it today and can you pick up the keys on the way though 30mile round trip, really glad it not my client from Grimsby

Shaun

I do up some up market min value home 2.5mil 

Len

[clinton]

Len

Did you do the job

[Shaun_Ashmore]

Len we don't get rental properties of 2.5 million may be 2.5p.

Shaun

[Steve Barnett (Carpet Care Plus)]

I had a letting agent call me last week - they needed a cleaner as their guy was out of action for a while with a broken arm.

I was interested in covering their work until they told me I would have to price match the other guys rate of £ 1.95m2 !

[Shaun_Ashmore]

For rental work that is good money I would have done it if they gave me multiple carpets at one venue 100 sq metres in a house is £195 , there's one guy round my area that has most of the letting agents and charges £60 for a 3 bed house, he must be reasonable or maybe good as they keep using him.

Shaun

[derek west]

must admit, if the agency could give me 2 or 3 jobs a week and the properties were empty and they paid when i dropped the keys off, then i'd snatch there hand off for £1.95 a sq meter. no vac, prespray, extract, no edging, do a 3 bed house in an hour.
derek

[jacko]

Hi Hamilton

I have contracts with 3 letting agents. Charge by the Sq M. Good rates.
It works brilliantly for me as i collect keys and fit it around my schedule to suit me, often ends up evening work though.

50 /50 split on heavy soiled carpets and ones tenants have had a go themselves and failed! Easy work though - all empty rooms, spray with Mpower or Blitz and rinse.

The agents i work for have it written into tenancy agreement that carpets to be cleaned on vacating.

Also if they have had pets i sanitise and spray insectide to treat potental fleas. (this also written into tenancy agreement)

So given the fact it is relatively easy work and regular, at good rates with value added bits, plus referrals it is a winner for me!

Payment always at end of calendar month - no probs..

[Steve Barnett (Carpet Care Plus)]

Derek

Yes it sounds good on paper - but the reality is, minging carpets, lots of running around picking up and dropping back keys and 30 days payment.

Thats been my experience so far, I'm sure other guys have better experiences.

[Doctor Carpet (Ret'd)]

I had two agencies giving me work. The actual area of carpet cleaned in many of the properties amounted to two small double bedrooms, say 24m square in total.

The agency took 20% commission but I was charging £180 gross per property or roughly £7.50 per square metre.

The reason I charged so much was that I had to travel for 20 minutes, pick up the keys, travel a further 20 to 40 minutes to the block of flats. Find somewhere legal to park, trundle my gear upto 300 metres to the property, try and find the apartment in the newbuild with no numbers on the apartments, then finally enter the property.

Cleaning the carpets was the easy bit.

Then the whole procedure was reversed.

I admit I made handsome profits as I charged it on a time basis and if I got 2 properties in the same block or very near then I was coining it in.

I don't work for those agencies any longer and although my prices may have had something to do with it I believe there were other political reasons going on behind the scene.

To some extent it was mutual anyway as I did give them a red carpet/top dollar service but it did impact upon my other clients and my social life and from a business point of view I didn't want to have too much work tied up with one supplier. That is bad business practice. So I was relieved when they stopped using me.

BTW they did always pay me promptly.