Why do cleaning quotes for similar-sized Alexandria properties differ so much?

When a quote arrives that looks wildly different from a competitor, the cause is almost always a difference in assumed scope rather than a difference in greed. These are the levers, heaviest first.

Two things specific to Alexandria 2015 push quotes apart more than they would in a quieter suburb. The first is the initial deep clean. Converted industrial buildings frequently carry years of high-level dust on exposed steel and ductwork, plus old concrete that has never been machine-scrubbed. An honest quote separates that first pass from the ongoing rate. A quote that does not is either ignoring the work or quietly loading month one.

The second is road exposure. Sites fronting Botany Road and McEvoy Street need more frequent glass and washed rather than vacuumed entry matting. A cleaner who has worked the strip prices that in; one who has not will be back within three months asking to revise.

Insist on three things from every quoting cleaner: a written room-by-room scope, a stated visit pattern with which rooms are done on which visits, and consumables shown as a separate line. With those, two quotes can be compared honestly. Without them, you are comparing an hourly rate against an unknown quantity of hours.

Also ask what happens in month thirteen. Rates held for twelve months with 60 days notice of any change is a reasonable standard; a quote with no stated term is one that can move whenever it suits.

Sometimes it is, and it is worth knowing why. A cleaner already servicing two other sites in your Alexandria building can absorb travel and set-up once instead of three times, and that is a real, defensible saving. A cleaner without supervision, without a monthly audit, or without current insurance is not cheaper — they have simply moved a cost onto you where you will meet it later.