What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear Wimbledon? If you are not British and a casual sports fan, the answer would most likely be – the greatest tennis tournament in the world. If you step into my shoes, you would say – Wimbledon end of tenancy cleaning – some of the juiciest short-term rental property cleaning quotes in South West London!
I know – you will call me crazy for thinking this way. But I’ve come to terms with my workaholic derangement. In fact, I’ve embraced it. But what if I told you that you could mix those two together – professional high-end property cleaning and professional tennis? Before you think I’ve completely lost my mind, let me tell you what happened just a few weeks ago.
Setting The Stage For The Perfect End of Tenancy Cleaning Quote – The Call from Our Customer Service
I was having a perfectly relaxing Sunday with my wife and kids at the playground in Dundonald Recreation Ground when my work phone started buzzing. If you asked why I had my work phone with me in the first place, I would refer you to the paragraph above. My wife gave me the “Don’t you dare pick this up” look, followed by her best impersonation of Voldemort.
“Sorry to bother you, Nick”, said one of my most experienced customer service agents. However, I couldn’t sense any regret in her tone – instead, there was excitement. “I don’t think you want to miss this one. We just received a quote request for a professional house deep cleaning (a.k.a. end of tenancy cleaning) in Wimbledon, and this one is huge! On top of that, the request does not come from a person but from an estate agency. I checked their credentials, and they are legit!”
I asked my colleague to forward the details to my email and feverishly started thinking about ways to spin this to my wife. I could hardly control my curiosity when my phone buzzed, notifying me about an incoming email. The moment I opened it, my jaw hit the ground.
The Rental Property
To call this quote request juicy was the understatement of the decade. I was looking at a large, two-floor detached house hidden in the lush greenery of Cedar Park Gardens, Wimbledon, a stone’s throw from the golf course. The estate agent had sent a comprehensive description of the property—a six-bedroom, six-bathroom affair with a large living room area, spacious modern kitchen, sliding doors, and large front windows. The quote request carefully listed the sheet of priority tasks, including thorough bathroom cleaning, oven cleaning, and a deep clean for the living room rug and upholstered furniture. We could cover every single item on the task sheet, but the sheer size of the place made it one of the most challenging tasks we would take in months!
There was a little personal bonus, too. The letting agent had specified the best time we should contact him with an offer, and it excluded the weekend. So, I was off the hook for the chopping block, and my wife didn’t have to play the jury, judge, and executioner.
Planning The Cleaning Tasks – Creating a Bespoke Checklist
We have more than enough experience in rental property cleaning jobs, but this particular one was a bit different. A cleaning task sheet naturally includes every surface in the kitchen, but our potential customer had clearly specified professional-grade tank-dipped cleaning of the oven. The same logic applied to the large front windows – the real estate agent had mentioned professional cleaning instead of the more routine ladders and squeegee glass polishing, which meant a Reach & Wash window cleaning with water-fed poles. We also had to include a steam carpet cleaning for the upholstered furniture (dining chairs and sofa) and a Scotchgard protector application for the living room rug.
Working with Professional Property Managers and Letting Agents is Straightforward
Such attention to detail and command of the professional jargon led me to believe we were communicating with someone on top of their game. This is always the better option when taking on a high-profile job—you would rather interact with people who know what they are doing. So, the first thing I did when I arrived at my office on Monday was to juggle some numbers, adjust a few schedules and come up with an offer and a time slot for the entire procedure.
Visiting The Rental Property – Tennis Comes Into Play
I was not surprised when I received a response to my email with the offer within two hours. The letting agent was impressed with the numbers. We scheduled a walkthrough meeting so that I could visit the house and discuss further details that we might not have covered so far. Initial inspections are not common practice for small or standard end of tenancy cleaning properties. The Cedar Park Gardens house was neither small nor standard. Besides, I always love to have direct contact with important customers. A face-to-face meeting goes a long way to avoiding misunderstandings and establishing trust and positive vibes.
Short-Term Lets in Wimbledon Are Costly During July Tennis
If the house looked great in the photos we had received, it was even more impressive in person. The first word that comes to mind to describe it is spacious—not just the interior but the exterior as well. There was a large garden with precision-trimmed grass, large trees flanking the house to the left, and a tall hedge to the right. The estate letting agent, a dapper gentleman in his early 40s, invited me in and started the tour from the living room.
“I am surprised anybody would decide to move from this place”, I noticed to start the conversation.
“Oh, we do not let this one on a long-term basis. We use short-let tenancy agreements. Most of our customers rent it for a week or two”, responded my host. “It is one of our most attractive Wimbledon-related properties. As you can imagine, the rent and tenancy security deposit are quite high.”
At first, I didn’t register the remark. I thought the estate letting agent meant properties in Wimbledon, but when we moved into the living room, I noticed a board with a few signed pictures. My eyes widened in surprise when I recognised one of the most successful male tennis players of the last decade next to an image of a participant in the women’s finals a few years ago.
“That’s what you meant when you said Wimbledon-related” I nodded to the board.
“These are just a few of our guests that we have accommodated throughout the years. You see, many of them rent the house for a month – some may participate in both Queens and Wimbledon, and we are proud to say we’ve had guests who had gone deep into the second week at the All England Club.”
“What an amazing place!” I thought. My job allows me to get in touch with fascinating, inspiring people, but very rarely do I get starstruck. Awesome as the moment was, I had to keep myself level-headed. The letting agent first took me to the kitchen and showed me the oven. There was a tiny layer of soot over the back panel, but I assured him the appliance was in excellent shape and we would have no problem restoring it to its original condition. They had considered asking their handyman to do some DIY by cleaning the oven himself but ultimately opted for a professional service.
I was taking notes on room dimensions and task-related numbers – how many dining chairs we would have to clean, how large the rug was, and how many drawers were in the kitchen. All the bathrooms were also in top shape, though you could see minor details that we could improve from a cleaning point of view. Overall, it was a tough, challenging end-of-tenancy cleaning job, but only because of its size. Nothing in the house gave me pause to say, “This will be real trouble”.
I said that much to the estate agent, who seemed satisfied with my estimation. It didn’t take us long to go through the numbers one more time and arrive at a final quote and a date for the cleaning appointment.
This Professional House Cleaning Was Faster Than A Federer Serve
If you expect a dramatic turn of events that would make the cleaning a desperate challenge heading for a last-minute finish, I am afraid I must disappoint you.
The Crew of End of Tenancy Cleaners
I assembled a large team that had done high-end end of tenancy cleaning projects before and added a window cleaner. The exterior Reach & Wash cleaning was a breeze but delivered excellent results. The living room and bedrooms were routine, but we still paid attention to the tiniest of details.
Professional Bathroom Cleaning
But our best performance arguably came in the bathrooms. I noticed some tiny limescale deposits near the showerheads and taps in a couple of the bathrooms, and we made it a priority to remove them. We also paid particular attention to the bottom of the plexiglass screens, which often get overlooked and are the perfect breeding grounds for mould and mildew.
Company Guarantee and Complete Customer Satisfaction
Job done. To add to our clients’ peace of mind, our end-of-tenancy cleaning service comes with our iron-clad guarantee to remedy any issues as soon as possible.
The letting agent was delighted. He expressed his approval during the final inspection with tacit but pointed remarks:
“To be perfectly honest with you, that was more of a maintenance cleaning booking, but somehow, you made the place feel cleaner. Do not think I didn’t notice what you did in the upper-floor bathrooms. Excellent job!”
It is always nice to receive a positive affirmation from a customer, but it is even more satisfying when it comes from a top-tier property professional.
There was only one negative—the letting agent wouldn’t tell me if Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, or Serena Williams had ever booked the house. Then, it would have been a truly historic quote! Well, I guess you cannot have everything.