The wayI work.

I learn a house the first time I clean it. Which cupboard sticks, which surface will not take bleach, where the spare linen is kept, which shutter has to be lifted before it will latch.

After that it just gets done. If something needs deciding, you hear from me before the visit rather than after. That matters more than it sounds when you are reading the message from another country.

For a house that is let, the summer is changeovers. That is the visible part of it. The rest is opening in spring, closing properly in autumn, and going back through the winter to make sure it is still fine.

Anything left alone from October to May is a much bigger job in May. Winter visits cost less than the alternative, and most owners find that out a year late.

A house lived in all year wants the opposite: the same day every week or fortnight, and a deep clean once or twice on top.

I come and see the property before I quote it. Bedrooms, bathrooms, terraces, what the floors are, how the linen is handled, where the keys live. Half an hour on site tells me what an hour on the phone cannot.

Then you get a fixed price for the work we agreed, in writing. Not an hourly rate that grows while you watch the clock, and not a range.

If the property turns out to be materially different from what we agreed, I tell you before I do the extra work, not after.

Yours or mine. Plenty of people care what goes on their surfaces, and on old stone and polished tadelakt they are right to.

If that is you, leave out what you want used and I will use it.

Handing the keys of an empty house to someone you have met once is a lot to ask. I would rather say so than pretend otherwise.

If I hold keys, it is under a written agreement that says exactly what I hold, how it is stored, and what happens when you want it back. Keys are kept unlabelled and separately from any address. Or we meet each time. Your call, and you can change your mind.