What to ask before you quote a house or end-of-lease clean

The details you need to quote

1. The type of clean. Regular, one-off, deep, or end-of-lease (bond). Each one changes the time on site and what is included.
2. The property. House, townhouse or apartment, the number of bedrooms and bathrooms, and anything unusual: two storeys, a large living area, a balcony.
3. Extras. Inside the oven or fridge, inside windows, walls, carpets, blinds. Ask about them by name: customers often assume they are included.
4. The suburb. Enough to know whether it is in your area and how far you will travel. The full street address can wait until the job is booked.
5. When. A preferred day or time, and how fixed it is. For an end-of-lease clean, the date the keys go back or the inspection is booked.
6. Access. Will someone be home, where to park, stairs or a lift, pets on site.
7. How to reply. A name, and the one way they want to hear back: email or a phone call.

What to leave out of the first message

You do not need payment details, a date of birth or a full address to give a quote, so do not ask for them. Australian privacy guidance says to collect only the personal information you reasonably need. Many small businesses are not covered by the Privacy Act, but following it is a sensible habit, and the businesses that are covered (for example, health service providers) must.

One question at a time, or one long form?

A long form asks for everything at once, and a customer on a phone may give up halfway. Asking the two or three things that change the price first (the type of clean, the property and the suburb), then the rest, keeps the start short. Whatever you use, confirm what you heard back to the customer: “a deep clean of a two-bedroom apartment in Richmond” catches a mistake before you quote on it.

A reply you can copy

Thanks for getting in touch. So we can quote properly: is it a regular, deep or end-of-lease clean? How many bedrooms and bathrooms, and which suburb? Do you have a day in mind, and is anything extra needed (oven, windows, carpets)? Reply here or tell us the best number to call.

See it asked by a chat

Our interactive demo asks the main ones (the type of clean, the property, bedrooms and bathrooms, the suburb, a preferred time and how to reply) for a made-up cleaning business, one at a time, and shows the finished enquiry the way the owner would see it. It does not ask about extras or access; those stay for your reply. Use sample details only: nothing you type is sent to anyone.