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Cost of a Housekeeping Service

If I need someone to clean my house (dusting, sweeping, vacuuming, bathrooms, windows etc) and I live in a 2-bedroom apartment that is pretty organized, how much can I expect to pay?

I imagine cost may change from using a service rather than an independent person, so if you have info please let me know which you are talking about.

Thanks in advance.

cew asked in House & Home about 1 year ago | Report

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4 Answers

  • P1000261_small
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    I would recommend hiring someone directly, rather than through a service. That way the cleaner can make more than minimum wage for what is a physically intense job.

    vinogatito answered in House & Home about 1 year ago | Report
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  • Img_2660_small
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    Anna L

    Last year I used Care.com to find a housekeeper. It's mostly individuals on there, and I think $15 - 20/hour was a pretty standard rate.

    Care.com itself charges $30/month (but you'll only need to buy one month if you find someone you like in the first month) to access the contact information of all their service providers.

    Your final cost will depend on how long it takes to clean your place, and that will depend on how particular you are. I am a bit OCD regarding cleaning, and my 1500 sq foot house (with three shedding cats) took 6 hours to clean. Most people would probably be happy with less attention to detail. Because, like I said, I'm a bit neurotic. So at $15/hour x 6 hours, we paid $90 per cleaning. Later we upped the rate to $20/hour because the housekeeper was awesome and worth it.

    I would recommend finding an individual, rather than a corporate service like Merry Maids, because you can develop a relationship with an individual. If you want more of X and less of Y, or if you want the ceiling fans dusted next time, it'll be easier to work it out with an individual.

    A note on hiring an individual--you may end up having to pay household employee tax, or witholding taxes for your employee. (IRS website: http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc756.html) Unless you are both happy to agree to an "under the table" arangement, which is illegal and bad and I could never ever recommend doing something like that. Ever. Right?

    Anna L answered in House & Home about 1 year ago | Report
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  • Words_small
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    I paid $75 for the first time from a green-cleaning independent service. It would have been around $60 for repeats. This was for about 1200 sq ft.

    Merry Maids quoted twice that.

    nseattlite answered in House & Home about 1 year ago | Report
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  • Big-john-wayne_small
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    I looked into this service last year and it seemed like the average price was around$100 per cleaning for basic stuff that you mentioned above. Most companies don't allow you to swap 1 chore for another so you have to pay extra for anything additional like changing sheets or litter boxes. Most of the cleaning companies make you do a minimum of 2 cleanings per month so you are looking to pay around $200 a month. There are some green cleaning companies in Seattle which is great if you don't like harsh chemicals or if you have pets or children.

    Shannon Osten answered in House & Home about 1 year ago | Report
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