Cleaning Services for Realtors: Listings and Closings
Cleaning services for realtors: vacant listing cleans before photos, lockbox access, photo reports, who pays and 2026 prices. Text for a written price.
By Yuri and Tatiana, owners of Shining Cleanse LLC, a family cleaning company based in Everett, WA and licensed in 10 cities across Snohomish and King County.
Cleaning services for realtors cover the vacant clean before listing photos, a refresh of an occupied home before showings, and the clean before the buyer’s final walk-through. We price an empty home as a move-out clean: $360 for a studio or 1 bedroom, $540 for 2 bedrooms and $720 for 3, with lockbox access and before and after photos.
This page is written for agents and transaction coordinators. If you are the homeowner getting ready to sell, the same prices apply; the difference is mostly who sends the text.
Who pays for cleaning before listing, the seller or the agent?
Whoever agrees to pay. Nothing about the cleaning requires one or the other; it is a business decision between the agent and the seller, and your brokerage may have its own policy on paying for services for a client. We are not the right people to advise on that part.
What we can do is make either arrangement easy. The quote is in writing, so an agent can forward it to the seller for approval before anything is booked. Payment is by business Zelle, or by card on our Square terminal at the visit, when the job is done, from whoever booked it. If the seller pays by Zelle, they never need to meet us; if the agent pays as part of a listing package, the seller just gets a clean house.
Do real estate agents pay for cleaning?
Some do, as part of what they offer to win a listing. Others recommend a cleaner and leave the bill to the seller. Both are normal. If you do pay for it yourself, pick one cleaning for one moment, usually the vacant clean before photos, because that is where it shows.
We do not pay referral fees or offer agent discounts. Everyone pays the same published prices, which also means you never have to explain to a seller why their price differs from what a neighbor paid.
Before
AfterHow fast can a listing be cleaned before photos?
Often within a day or two if you text at least 48 hours ahead. Same-day depends on what is already booked. A realistic sequence for a vacant listing:
- Repairs, paint and touch-ups first. Dust from sanding and drywall lands on everything.
- The vacant clean: inside every cabinet and drawer, appliances inside and out, bathrooms descaled, interior windows with tracks and sills, light fixtures, baseboards, floors.
- Carpet extraction the same day or the day after. Carpet is usually dry in 4 to 8 hours, up to 12 in cold, damp weather, so do not book it for the morning of the shoot.
- Staging, if any.
- Photos.
Put a day of slack between steps 3 and 5 in winter. Wet carpet photographs darker than dry carpet, and a photographer will notice.
Can a cleaner meet a lockbox and send photos?
Yes. Vacant jobs are usually done with nobody there: send the lockbox code and any gate or alarm instructions, and we put the key back where we found it. We text when we start and when we finish, and send before and after photos of every room for free.
The before photos are worth asking for, and they cost nothing extra. We are often the first people to walk through an empty house after the sellers move out. If we find a broken blind, a stain that will not come out, a dripping faucet or something left behind, we text you a photo before we start cleaning, so you hear about it from us and not from the photographer. We also write plainly when something is wear rather than dirt, for example worn grout or a carpet lane that will stay gray after cleaning.
We carry general liability insurance, $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate, and send a certificate of insurance on request. We hold a Washington business license with city endorsements in Bothell and nine other cities in Snohomish and King County.
What does a vacant listing clean cost?
Vacant homes are priced as move-in and move-out cleans, at $120 an hour for two cleaners ($60 per person-hour). Fridge, oven and interior windows are included. Occupied homes before showings are usually a deep clean.
| Home | Vacant (move-out) clean | Occupied deep clean | Carpet only, vacant |
|---|---|---|---|
| Studio or 1 bed | $360 | $300 | $220 |
| 2 bed | $540 | $360 | $226 |
| 3 bed | $720 | $480 | $276 |
| 4+ bed | Quoted from photos | $600 typical | Quoted |
Carpet booked in the same visit as the vacant clean is $20 less. For the detail behind these numbers, see move-out cleaning cost in the Seattle area, deep cleaning cost for a house in Washington and carpet cleaning cost for a 3- or 4-bedroom house. Every price is also on our pricing page.
You pay for the hours we actually work, never more than the written price without a yes from whoever booked. If a house turns out to be in worse shape than the photos showed, we text before we start, and you decide.
What do we not do for listings?
We do not haul furniture or trash left behind, patch walls, do repairs, stage, or wash exterior windows above 8 feet. We do not take hoarding-condition or estate cleanouts; those need a specialist with a truck. We clean what the photographer and the buyer will see, and we say in writing what cleaning will not fix.
Hours for home jobs are Monday to Friday 9am to 7pm and Saturday 9am to 5pm. We do not work Sundays, so plan Monday photos with a Saturday clean.
Our jobFAQ
Can you clean an occupied listing between showings?
Yes, as a standard visit, from $240 for a studio or 1 bedroom. It keeps the kitchen, bathrooms and floors photo-ready while the family lives there. Many sellers book one deep clean before photos and a standard visit before the first open house.
Can you clean before the buyer’s final walk-through?
Yes. If the sellers have moved out, it is the same vacant clean and the same price. Send the closing date and the walk-through time, and we schedule the clean far enough ahead to leave room for anything you need fixed.
Will you deal with the seller directly?
If you prefer. Give us the seller’s number and we send them the quote, confirm the date and take payment from them. You get the photos either way.
Do you have a minimum for small touch-ups?
Yes. A one-time visit is at least 4 work hours, $240. If you only need a kitchen and two bathrooms refreshed, that minimum usually covers it with time to spare.
Get a written price
Text 2–4 photos to (425) 539-5492 or request a written quote, with the listing address and your photo date. We reply with a written price the same business day (Mon–Fri 9am–7pm, Sat 9am–5pm).
cleaning services for realtorsreal estate agentslisting cleaningmove-out cleaningvacant home cleaningBothell