I have an apartment that I'm vacating after many years. I want to leave it clean once it's empty but would rather not scrub the place myself. Does anyone have any advice, leads, etc. on professional housecleaning services? I don't have to worry about them stealing anything, as there will be nothing there, but do I have to be there? What about liability?

Craigslist or Facebook marketplace. There's a couple that advertise here and get great reviews who come as a team for $20.00 an hour.

Or look at MerryMaids, etc.

Any big cleaning service should be able to do what you need. They should all be insured and should be able to provide you with proof if you want it.

You shouldn't have to be there for them to clean but will have to provide them access. The people that I know that use cleaning services(never have) met them the first time and walk through and go over what they want to be done.

Since it's a one-time thing and nothing is in there I wouldn't worry too much about vetting them.

You dont have to be there. The money is well spent, in my opinion.

Since you are not going to be there, vetting is important, you'll want to request pictures of the place being done, if you're 500 miles down the road they know you are not going to inspect it so I'd look for quality reputable firms... JMO

Many times I have had tenants hire out the cleanup after they move out, and many times the work done was unsatisfactory, and resulted in callbacks and in a few cases, my witholding a part of the tenant’s deposit to pay for finishing the job. I really hate cleaning rent houses.

I strongly urge you to thoroughly inspect the cleaning crew’s work before paying them. Particularly look at the appliances.

Great advice! Thanks everybody!

If there are wood floors to mop, make sure they measure the chemical being added to the water. When I moved out of my rental place in Can-eh-duh, I inspected each room while the floor was still wet. When I met the landlord the next day it had dried with a residue and I lost part of my deposit (it was 8 PM and my flight to Houston was early the next morning).

You can ask a few realtors, ones who have been around for a long time. I've seen them counsel sellers that the house needs to be spotless, also out of town owners, heirs who just got the house, etc. They may have good referrals for you.