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Finding A Cleaning Service
by Robin Fowler

As a vacation rental owner, you want to maintain your integrity and the integrity of your property in order to run a successful business, and keep your tenants pleased. One of the most important things that you will have to do is to keep your property thoroughly cleaned between and even during rentals.

If your rental property is too far away to maintain and clean yourself, then it becomes necessary to hire a cleaning service or an individual housekeeper to get the job done. Finding the right person does not have to be difficult or time consuming, if you know what resources to tap into.

What you need to figure out first is, do you want to hire a cleaning company, or a solo housekeeper to do the job? This depends on the size of your property, the type of work you want done, and the frequency in which your want the property cleaned.

A cleaning service might be able to send out several people at once to clean and maintain a larger home, while smaller houses or condos might do just as well with a single housekeeper doing the job. A cleaning service tends to be more reliable and less expensive, since they have a whole staff of people that can go out on jobs. But, if you hire a single housekeeper, you might be able to require that things like light bulbs be checked and changed regularly, soaps be replaced between each rental, and personal touches like flowers and gift baskets be left for new tenants.

Once you know what you need, it is time to do some research. One of the easiest things to do is to talk to other vacation rental owners, if you know any. Find out what they do to keep their property clean, and whether it works for them. Getting the advice of a seasoned vacation rental owner will be invaluable in helping you avoid problems, and they can tell you what to look for in a service or a housekeeper, what questions to ask, and what specifics to require for your own property.

Also, talk to other vacation rental owners from the area in which your property is located. Other rental homeowners will likely utilize cleaning services for their properties, and can recommend the best locally operated services or housekeepers to you. Another invaluable resources are the local residents. Locals at places like churches, locally owned shops, or even the local Chamber of Commerce might know of the most reputable cleaning services, or even a trustworthy housekeeper looking for work. Sometimes word of mouth is the best way to find good help!

Utilizing the vast resources of the Internet can be a valuable tool in finding just the right person or service to help you clean and maintain your vacation rental property. Visit bulletin and discussion boards and online vacation rental owner groups, where you can post questions and find others who might own property in the same area as yours. Search for city, town, or chamber of commerce websites for the area as well. These types of sites often provide links to websites and phone numbers for all types of services, including housekeeping and home maintenance.

And, when in doubt, you can always trust the yellow pages! Find the phone numbers for cleaning services that are local to your vacation rental home, and call around. Get referrals, obtain a variety of quotes, and find the cleaning service that will do the best job for you. Whether you hire a cleaning company to service your vacation rental, or an independent housekeeper to keep the place neat and tidy is up to you, just make sure you find someone reputable, and be upfront about your expectations!