Where apartment living is common in our area
Apartment buildings are not spread evenly across our five counties. In White Plains, 49.0% of homes are in 20-unit-plus buildings; in Putnam County the figure is 2.4%.
| Place | Share in 20-unit-plus buildings | Owner-occupied | Median rooms |
|---|---|---|---|
| White Plains, NY | 49.0% | 51.0% | 4.2 |
| New Rochelle, NY | 38.1% | 53.7% | 4.7 |
| Yonkers, NY | 38.1% | 46.2% | 4.4 |
| Stamford, CT | 35.1% | 48.8% | 4.6 |
| New Haven, CT | 22.9% | 28.4% | 4.5 |
| Westchester County, NY | 25.2% | 61.8% | 5.2 |
| Putnam County, NY | 2.4% | 83.8% | 6.2 |
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates, tables B25024 (units in structure), B25003 (owners and renters) and B25018 (median rooms). Bathrooms are not counted as rooms.
What an apartment cleaning includes, room by room
Galley or open kitchen
- Counters, backsplash and the strip of wall behind the stove degreased
- Stovetop, knobs and the face of the range hood wiped
- Outside of the fridge, dishwasher and oven, and the inside of the microwave
- Sink scrubbed and the floor mopped right up to the toe kick
Bathroom
- Toilet, its base and the wall behind it
- Tub or shower, tile and glass scrubbed, soap film removed
- Sink, vanity, mirror and the exhaust fan cover, often the only ventilation
Bedroom
- Dressers, nightstands, headboard and window sills dusted
- Bed made, sheets changed if fresh ones are left out
- Floor vacuumed, under the bed as far as the vacuum reaches
- Radiator or convector cover dusted
Living area, entry and closets
- Shelves, TV stand, lamps and side tables dusted
- Sofa cushions lifted and the frame vacuumed underneath
- Light switches, door handles and the intercom panel wiped
- Entry floor, which takes all the hallway grit, and trash to the chute or trash room as your building allows
Oven and fridge interiors, cabinet interiors and laundry are add-ons on any visit. Baseboards, door frames, vent covers and the film on the range hood belong to a deep cleaning. Hallways, stairwells and the lobby are the building's job, not part of a unit cleaning.
Fewer rooms does not mean less detail. In a small unit the work concentrates in the compact kitchen, where grease settles on the range hood and cabinet tops, and the windowless bathroom, where mildew grows in caulk and grout. Older buildings add steam radiators, plaster walls and old tile and wood floors: in Mount Vernon 33.8% of homes were built in 1939 or earlier, in New Rochelle 32.5% and in White Plains 29.8% (same Census survey, table B25034).
Regular visit or move-out cleaning?
Apartment searches split into two questions: keeping a lived-in unit clean, and leaving an empty one clean enough to get the deposit back.
| Regular or deep cleaning (lived in) | Move-in or move-out cleaning (empty) | |
|---|---|---|
| Kitchen | Surfaces, appliance exteriors and the inside of the microwave; the oven and fridge as add-ons | Inside every cabinet and drawer, the oven, the fridge and the freezer, as standard |
| Floors | Vacuumed and mopped around the furniture | Edge to edge, including where the sofa and the bed stood |
| Who books it | Residents on a weekly or biweekly schedule, or once before guests | Tenants before the walk-through, landlords between tenants, buyers before the boxes arrive |
Getting in: doormen, keys, elevators and parking
An apartment visit can stall in the lobby before it starts. Before the first visit, tell us:
- How we get in. Will you be home, will the doorman send us up, or is there a key or a code? Some buildings release a key at the desk only with your written permission, so arrange that ahead of time.
- How to be announced. Many buildings want outside workers registered with the front desk or in a building app before they arrive.
- Work hours and paperwork. Co-op and condo house rules often limit when outside workers may be in the building, and some managing agents want documents from every vendor before a first visit. Ask your management office what they need and send us the list.
- Elevator, parking and trash. If workers must use or reserve a service elevator, tell us the hours and who books it; in a walk-up, tell us the floor. Say where a car can stop and where the trash room or chute is.
How the visit goes
- Check-in at the desk or the door, under the name you registered, then up by the service elevator if the building requires it.
- Walk-through with you or from your notes: what matters most, what not to touch, which rooms stay closed.
- Bathroom and kitchen first, top to bottom, since those two rooms decide whether an apartment feels clean; then bedrooms and living areas, dust before floors, working toward the door.
- Trash out, lights off, door locked the way you asked, with the key back at the desk if that is the arrangement.
Before we arrive
- Register the visit with the front desk or in the building app, and leave written permission if a key will be released.
- Pick up clothes, mail and dishes so surfaces are reachable.
- Tell us about a roommate's room, a shared bathroom or anything that stays closed.
- Say if there are pets and where they will stay while we work.
There is no need to pre-clean or hide the clutter in a closet. For keys, valuables and what to leave out, read how to prepare for a house cleaning.
Who books apartment cleaning
- A renter in a White Plains high-rise on a biweekly schedule.
- A tenant handing back keys at the end of the month, after the movers and before the landlord's walk-through.
- A landlord in Yonkers or New Haven turning a unit between tenants.
- A condo owner in Stamford listing the unit, or an adult child booking for a parent; see cleaning for seniors.
Across our five counties, searches for apartment and condo cleaning ran highest at 480 in September 2025 and lowest at 180 in December 2025 (Google Ads monthly search volumes, pulled 19 September 2026). Google Trends puts the New York metro's peak for move out cleaning in August, the top month in three of those five years (2021 to 2025; read 19 September 2026); book a move-out visit as soon as you know the date.
Moving into or out of an apartment
An empty apartment is the easiest time to clean inside the cabinets, oven, fridge and closets; see move-in and move-out cleaning, which also walks through the deposit rules in both states. The short version, from statutes read 19 September 2026:
- New York. General Obligations Law section 7-108 lets a tenant request a pre-move-out inspection, held between one and two weeks before the tenancy ends; the landlord then lists in writing any repairs or cleaning it plans to charge for, and the tenant may handle them first. The deposit, with an itemized statement, is due 14 days after move-out, and normal wear and tear is not chargeable.
- Connecticut. CGS 47a-21(d)(2) allows the landlord 21 days once the tenancy ends, or 15 days once a forwarding address arrives in writing, whichever comes later, to send back the deposit, less any itemized, written deductions for damage.
A clean apartment helps, but whether a deposit comes back is between you and your landlord; no cleaning company can promise it. Book the cleaning after the movers leave and before the final walk-through. Condo and co-op buildings often have move rules of their own, such as elevator padding and set move hours.
What changes the time and the quote
- Bedrooms and bathrooms, not the building type
- The state of the kitchen and bathroom, which take most of the time
- Walk-up floors, service-elevator waits and parking
- Pets, and extras like the oven or fridge interior
A tidy studio and a three-bedroom duplex at the end of a lease are very different visits, so we quote each home on its own. See how we quote and where we clean.
Common questions about apartment and condo cleaning
Is apartment cleaning cheaper than house cleaning?
Fewer rooms usually means less time, but a quote is not set by the building type. Bedrooms and bathrooms, the state of the kitchen and bath, pets and how often you want us all count. Send those details through the quote form; a free quote usually follows within the day. The pricing page shows what sets the price.
Do I need to be home for an apartment cleaning?
Not if your building lets someone else in. Many people leave a key with the doorman or concierge, with written permission on file at the desk, or share a door code. Some buildings allow neither, and then you or someone you trust has to open the door. Tell us which applies when you book.
What is on an apartment cleaning checklist?
The same rooms as a house, minus the ones you do not have: kitchen counters, stovetop, sink, appliance exteriors and the microwave interior; toilet, tub or shower, basin and mirror; dusting in the bedroom and living area; floors vacuumed and mopped; trash out. Our guide on what a house cleaning includes has a checklist you can print.
How clean should you leave an apartment when you move out?
Clean enough that the itemized statement has nothing on it for cleaning: inside the oven and fridge, cabinets and drawers emptied and wiped, the bathroom scrubbed, floors washed edge to edge. Nail holes and scuffs are repairs, not cleaning. Photograph each room, with the date, once it is clean and before the keys go back, and read your lease, which may name specific items.
Can my landlord charge me for cleaning when I move out?
Your lease and your state's law decide. In New York, ordinary wear and tear cannot come out of the deposit, and a pre-move-out inspection, if you ask for one, gets you an itemized list of the repairs or cleaning the landlord plans to deduct for, and time to fix them. In Connecticut, deductions must be listed in a written itemized statement of damages. This is not legal advice; for a dispute, read the statute or ask a tenant resource.
Do you clean walk-ups and units without an elevator?
Yes. Tell us the floor when you ask for a quote, because stairs change how the visit runs: equipment goes up in trips, and a fifth-floor walk-up takes longer than the same unit on the ground floor. Say whether the stairwell door locks behind you and where the trash goes in a building with no chute, so nobody is stuck outside with a bag.
