How to handle turnover cleaning in a furnished space for ~3 month rentals, ie. Security Deposit, cleaning expectations, damage?
I’m trying to figure out what other mid-term rental landlords do, especially when you’re not local for every turnover.
I’ve tried to set my furnished apartments up to be as renter-friendly as possible from a cleanliness perspective. I use glass covers on furniture tops, waterproof mattress covers, a glass dining table, minimal kitchen items, and washable covers on the couch and upholstered chairs. My goal was to make turnovers as simple as possible and minimize "stuff" that is difficult to clean between tenants. I personally have very high cleanliness standards, so I want to provide fresh, clean spaces.
My cleaning person prefers charging a flat turnover fee instead of hourly, but I’ve had a huge range in how tenants leave the property. Some leave it basically clean, while others have been very dirty.... food and trash scattered throughout the unit, ex. yogurt cups in closets, food and stains ground into rugs, hair absolutely everywhere, contact lenses crusted onto all of the furniture and floors, etc.
When I am in town, I do a first-pass cleaning myself before my cleaner came so she can focus on making everything look good for the next tenant. Now I’m out of state more frequently and having her handle turnovers on her own.
I added an addendum to my lease spelling out the cleaning expectations. It says the standard cleaning fee only covers routine turnover cleaning and that tenants are responsible for leaving surfaces in "wipe-down condition," meaning no sticky residue, food buildup, trash, excessive hair, etc. It also says that if additional cleaning labor is required to restore the unit to rentable condition, the tenant can be charged for that extra time.
My question is how people actually handle this in practice. If your cleaner charges a flat turnover fee, how do you document and calculate the additional cost when someone leaves the place dirty? Do you have the cleaner estimate the extra time, take before-and-after photos, and then charge an hourly amount for anything beyond the normal turnover?
I’ve also gone back and forth on providing sheets. I don’t like the idea of washing sheets between tenants because it doesn’t seem hygienic to me. When I stay in mid-term rentals, I always bring my own and am annoyed if there are used sheets/towels/pillows that smell despite being washed. A few times I’ve bought $15 Amazon Basics sheets so the incoming tenant has something brand new, but that also feels wasteful. I have replaced mattress covers in between tenants but may switch to washing those if they are not stained.
I’m also worried about getting a bad review if I deduct anything from a security deposit, especially since I’m not always able to be there for a walk-through at move-out. FF doesn't encourage many reviews so a bad one would be detrimental, especially since a lot of travelling tenants are renting site unseen.
TLDR: Any suggestions on how to account for cleaning, given every tenant has very different standards?
