Our biggest challenge...

[Oso]

Hello everyone,

First, I would like to say thank you to Paolo and all contributors to this forum. This is a fantastic source of information and I have been reading you’re post with interest.

We own a 2 bedroom apartment near Estepona in Spain and don’t live locally. We take care of the management and leave the keys with the security guard. But, the biggest challenge for us so far as been to find reliable cleaners (apparently we are not the only one!). On our third attempt, we finally found a reliable retired couple, but they now realised that cleaning during the hot Spanish summer is quite demanding. So we are now back to square one.

I would greatly appreciate any recommendations or directions.

Thank you very much for your help

[Rocket Rab]

Hi Oso,

Welcome to the forum.

I can appreciate the problems you're having finding reliable cleaners: this is perhaps one of the biggest rental headaches. Efficient, dependable cleaners are essential. You want the best, right? Easy(-ish). Find out what the going market rate is for a good cleaner, then pay a bit more. Not a ridiculous amount, of course, but enough to attract the kind of person you want.

I've decided peace of mind is more important to me than saving a couple of euros an hour. I've also found that if your house is in really A1 condition when you hand over the keys, people tend to take more care of it. So paying slightly over the odds for your cleaner is a good investment, in my experience.

RR

[Nightowl]

I agree with Rab! It is worth paying a bit more so that the place is really nice and people then look after it and you can rest easy! Also in my experience your cleaner is willing to go the extra mile if you don't quibble - after all, we need them more than they need us in general.

[Marks]

Quite agree. I've got a great lady who cleans for me, this year I upped her pay by 25% per changeover. We take her and her husband out two or three times a year and she can't do enough for us. Worth her weight in gold

[Oso]

Thank you Rocket Rab, Nightowl and Mark S for your inputs.

Maybe I should have offered them a pay rise… Don’t know how to suggest this now without offending them and not sure if it’s too late…

I received the first positive response yesterday, (most of the cie that I contacted are not interested to only do the cleaning). They are asking 50 Euros for the cleaning and 10 euros per person for the laundry. Reasonable

[Mouse]

hi Oso - how long does the cleaning of your apartment take?

My cleaners charge 8 euros per person for laundry and that includes bedding and towels...so 10 euros isn't a million miles away.
Again at the average hourly rate here (15 euros) - 3hrs+ for a 2 bed would seem a little steep, however if their standards are high and they're reliable you may decide to give them a go.

With your previous cleaners; did they give up because of the job or because of the earning potential. If it was the job then a payrise might not entice them to come back.
However if you want to give it a go you could say that when checking out replacement staff you have found to your embarassment that you slightly undervalued the work they did and ask them would they be interested in taking up the position again at a higher wage.

I'm sure they wouldn't mind having that proposed. At least you would know if that was the deciding factor.

Mouse
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