Can I clean my apartment building common spaces for money?

[bwo]

I recently moved into a brand new apartment building that does not have a live-in superintendent and after being here for a month, it doesn’t look like they have a cleaning service for the common spaces either. The vibe I’m getting from the building owners is they set these new builds up to be as remote and hands free as possible (keyless entry, an app to schedule maintenance requests, autopay rent, etc).

To be clear, I’m not looking to become the building superintendent, but I’d love for the common spaces to be better maintained and am happy to do it for a fee. The way I see it, I have 2 routes I could take with the property owner:

1. be myself, ask to do it for a reduced rent
2. Act as a stand alone business offering to provide this service for the new building.

Pros of option 1: lower my expenses without increasing my taxable income.
Pros of option 2: potential to expand my operation to more of their properties (the maintenance guy manages 20+ of their properties).

Cons of option 1: come across as less professional and potentially lessen the chance of getting the gig
Cons of option 2: need to set up a business just to even start my “sales pitch”.

I have a full time WFH job with a 1 year old and another on the way, so I’m not rich with time or money, but feel like I can easily sweep, mop and clean the glass doors with regularity.

Some numbers for context:
Rent for 2 bedroom: $2400/mo
Proposed fee: $700/mo
Fee Breakdown:
$20/hr
Sweeping = 1hr, 6 days a week
Mopping and Glass Cleaning = 2 hrs, 1 day a week
$20 x 8 total hrs x 52 weeks / 12 months = $694

So what’s your thought here? Are my compensation expectations reasonable? Is option 2 the only route I can take since it’s a larger business than a 1 building owner, or you think I can swing it as a partial superintendent getting paid with a reduced rent?

 

[mdrivers]

@bwo if they were going to pay for the service, they already would be paying for the service. I'd 100% reach out to them with a general, "hey, this place could really use a cleaner - would you be amenable to paying me or providing some rent compensation for this service?" and see what they say. No need to waste a bunch of time figuring out how the LLC will be set up until you have at least asked them if they're willing to pay even a dime for the service you propose.

 

[georgewaini]

@mdrivers 100% agree. It’s a long shot but doesn’t cost anything to try.

 

[spiritoforder]

@mdrivers One of my friends owns several 8 unit apartments, they are in a small complex and one tenant does this, they vacuum the halls, steps, and entry way for each of the 5 buildings, in winter he snowblows the sidewalk around the buildings (my friend supplies the snow blower and fuel). His rent is like $350 for the utilities. This guy is not responsible for clogged toilets, grass, gardening, moving the dumpster out and putting it away, fixing locks, nothing, just vacuum and simple snow removal. The rest of the rents are like $1,300 per month. If the snow is not done then he has a loss of the reduction in rent, if the carpets are not vacuumed once a week then it’s a loss in the reduced in rent.

 

[mdrivers]

@spiritoforder This is exactly what OP proposed.

 

[matteoiv]

@bwo Because this is a business and business owners want to protect their investments you might find they will require you to carry personal/general liability insurance on yourself. This is standard practice for companies that use vendors/contractors.

 

[mvb552]

@bwo I was on a board of trustees at a condominium

YES YOU CAN

 

[buckeye_momof4]

@bwo Your rate should be closer to $30/hour to cover the cost of cleaning supplies. You may have to establish a business and carry general liability insurance.

6-8 hours over 5 days is probably reasonable.

I would expect the building owners to want to pay you so they can deduct the business expensive.

 

[showtime2507]

@bwo If they wanted someone to clean they would of hired one

 

[developer2021]

@bwo i dont know much about this, but if you can manage this without hindering your main source of income , bag is bag and choose option 2 , you dont need a business registered to get started. register a business once your making some serious cashflow

 

[panthers]

@bwo My very first business had a physical location with a lot of through traffic and I paid someone to clean it. I think you’re overestimating the amount of time it takes to keep it clean once it’s clean but other than that best of luck!

 

[jrh712]

@bwo So If you want to do this, don't offer to do it for reduced rent, offer to do it for free the first time, and if they like the service a fixed price moving forward, that is how you will get the sale. (You don't have to do it for free at first, but people like free shit, and if you do a good job it will allow you to build trust before they commit to money).

Offering to do it for reduced rent is not going to be a good idea, even know it seems like the same thing to you, on paper its a lot worse for the owners... The value in their real estate is based on revenue/cash flow, and if you just straight up reduce rent it will make it harder for them to refinance the property in the future, or find a buyer at a higher sell price because the cash flow is reduced.

It also muddies the water for taxes - instead of a clear cost on the books, you are just paying less in rent than your property is valued at, which anyone auditing the books for tax purposes is not going to like.

 

[bwo]

@jrh712 Super helpful context and a great way to approach the initial conversation, thank you. I assume by going this route I might eventually have to make this an official business with insurance as others have pointed out, not the cash lawn service I ran for my neighbors in middle school

 

[jrh712]

@bwo You NEED insurance to do business in most places, the good news is you can wait to get insurance until after you have landed the job because it literally takes a day to shop around and get insurance, just like any other insurance...

As far as an official business ultimately again I would talk to an accountant. In most places you are a Sole Proprietership by default and if you are just doing business as a side hustle with yourself as your only employee and not much income this is generally good enough... Filing paperwork is going to let you set up a name for your business, which will make it much easier to market your services and run the business as a business instead of a side gig. If you want/need to file as an llc for seperated taxes and accounts it will give you better protections in the long run as you grow.

 

[joyfornow]

@bwo The bigger issue is when you rent an apartment you should expect the common areas to be cleaned regardless of their hands off model. You and the other renters are not getting what you paid for.

 

[bwo]

@joyfornow Agreed, surprised me these first few weeks, but rather than ask them to go get a cleaner, trying to win/win

 

[renee]

@bwo You need to be a commercial cleaning company with commercial liability insurance, etc. I own one and have lots of these contracts. Thy are usually annual contracts.

 

[bwo]

@renee Great to know- thanks! Getting insurance with an annual contract as the reward seems worth the legwork

 

[renee]

@bwo yep. get 5 more of those contracts, and you can hire others to do the leg work.

 

[bcp1928]

@bwo What the fuck kind of question Is this!?