Mishaps occur, but have been @ this 27 years now, & I haven’t
experienced the need yet. I think there’s a significant negative
correlation between a tight mgt style/technique & necessity for
huge clean-up. Yes, a dumpster is handy if tearing out a large
amount of carpet/padding (remember, I never replace carpets),
but so far a pick-up has handled all my needs. I collect most of
my rents in person right @ the front door & keep an eagle eye.
Fellow tenants love to tattle, so I also listen. I go inside 2X a year
to change smoke alarm batteries (don’t just hand over the
batteries, 'cause they won’t get installed). I also schedule an
annual “safety inspection,” inside & out. I locate former landlords
as part of my screening, & have even been known to drive by the
homes of family contacts & references. Sometimes I require co-
signers. If a parent won’t co-sign, I pass. Maintenance, including
the preventive kind, is done regularly, & my handyman doesn’t cut
corners. Remember, prevention is half the cure, & even though an
occasional bad tenant slips in under the radar (I had a really crazy
young lady a few months ago), but by keeping my eyes & ears
open I was able to mitigate the damage by catching the error
early.
Any reader of Anne’s posts knows she isn’t likely to need a
dumpster anytime soon!
average cost of clean out - rental - Posted by SteveOH
Posted by SteveOH on January 04, 2007 at 13:44:13:
This is the first unit I’ve had go empty. What’s a good
budget to shoot for that would cover cleaning, painting, dumpster, carpet, and minor repairs? It’s 2br, 100 sq ft.
Thanks!
Re: average cost of clean out - rental - Posted by land-lorder
Posted by land-lorder on January 05, 2007 at 13:16:42:
The best budget to shoot for is the least expensive one that gets the job done. There is no real one answer to your question because of all the variables involved. Stop looking for the “easy one-stop answers” because they just ain’t out there for the most part. Being a good landlord takes a certain amount of effort on your part. If you can do most or all of the work yourself you will save a lot of your precious cash. It will also motivate you to screen better to find better renters who will not trash your place. Or you may want to create a non-refundable cleaning fee to cover costs if it is a regular problem.
I also prefer laminate or solid wood floors as carpet is a regular pain. Laminate comes in all types and prices but I’d shoot for something more in the mid-range (the thicker stuff) unless the unit doesn’t call for it. That usually makes it easier to install and it will last longer plus it looks better. It won’t look so cheap and so will add more value. Shop around at HD and other places to compare prices and materials available that will suit your unit. If you don’t want to install it yourself you could hire a handyman with a pickup (if you don’t have one yourself) to install the flooring plus pick up the new flooring and take the old carpet and other garbage to the dump. Get the receipt (for your records) and reimburse him. Find out the local going rate for installing flooring. Let’s say it is $3 per sq ft and you have 800’ to cover. That would cost you $2400 plus tax. Since it would probably take any decent handyman only a day or so to install, that means for 12 hrs work he’d be making $200/hr! I think you could find someone for a lot less, like maybe one tenth that hourly rate or else do it yourself for free.
If you do cleaning work and projects yourself you will soon learn how much work and time is involved and how much you need to spend on supplies and materials. Then if and when you want to hire someone to do work for you, you will pretty much know exactly what they will be doing and what it is worth to you to pay them instead of just unknowingly throwing your money at the problems. You can use this method to figure out what is reasonable to pay a handyman, a day laborer, a cleaning person, a painter, yard maintenance, etc. for a job. There is nothing quite like learning the ropes yourself before you become the “boss” or “land-lorder”. Of course, if you have something like an electrical problem, you will want to hire at the local going rate licensed skilled labor for insurance reasons.
I install nothing but laminate or vinyl. I have used laminate for
past decade, & seal all edges near windows or anyplace else a
water leak could be anticipated. Carpet is an ever-recurring co$t,
while laminate is semi-permanent (& doesn’t harbor fleas). You
can also install it yourself, but it goes a lot faster if you have a
helper (unskilled is fine).
Posted by Anne_ND on January 04, 2007 at 16:18:00:
I’ve never had to hire a dumpster to clean out after a tenant left. Maybe you should change your screening criteria if you have to replace carpet and hire a dumpster. I hope you got a good security deposit.
There is no fixed formula. After years in the business I have learned how to do the best work at minimum cost. I used to hire a young unskilled laborer and do the work myself.
You can usually hire a cleaning woman for $50 or $100. After that it depends how bad the place is. I had a system that allowed me to make almost any apartment beautiful in a day or 2.
Re: average cost of clean out - rental - Posted by Dean in NC
Posted by Dean in NC on January 07, 2007 at 11:02:01:
I agree -no carpet!! I spent 4 days with drum sander working on some terrible hardwoods-cursing as I went -now with them totally re-done and durable, I’ll never do carpet again if I can help it. My thought was this…replace carpet every tennant or 2 or re-do the floors once- maybe a light sanding screen and another coat of poly every 5 years!
Kitchens and Laundry - -I love Armstrong commercial vinyl composit tile - like what you see in schools,etc… -I pay $30 for 45 squares - a $45 bucket of adhesive will do 2 houses worth. This tile is pretty tough - regular vinyl will tear with one appliance dragged across it. I paid a guy $200 labor to do one house- + $150 in tile, another house used the same ammount of tiled an did the work myself (a better job too) after my day job in 2 evenings. New shoe moulding, and lots of caulking to eliminate any chance of future rotting - -and as someone else has said - -it really inspired me to screen well for my next tennant.
I bought an entire roll on a close-out from a dealer for 684.44. However, I don’t recall the length of the roll off-hand. It is 12’ wide. I do remember that it was cheap & not nearly as good a quality as others I’ve seen. I did buy caster coasters for all the beds so it would be less likely to tear. I have a MHP, so my tenants can give pretty hard wear. Replacement is a snap, however, because installation is no-glue. Although we removed the toilets to install, it isn’t technically necessary. Floors look great, even next to the laminate we put in the LR. Since I have lots of material left, we can cut out damage spots in the future & just patch. I’m sold on it. Caveat: Dragging a fridge of a chair on which one is seated can cause tears. I’d move fridge on rollers & probably use laminate in dining rooms. Furniture indentations can sometimes be fixed w/a hair dryer (which also works to re-glue stick-on tiles that are loosening).
Tip: I always ask for a “contractor’s price” when buying supplies.