Question for those of you who clean houses for a living

[Peggy in Ks]

I am starting to clean houses. I have a friend that does it and said the going rate is $20.00/hour, ie. if a house takes 3 hours bid $60. She said don't say I'll do it for $20.00/hour just set a price based on that.

A lady from my church would like me to clean her house. Another lady from our church cleaned her house about 1 1/2 years ago and said it took her about 5 hours to clean the house. Should I charge her $100 since it takes 5 hours to clean it? It seems like a lot of money to me because right now I'm working 15 hour/wk and getting $8.00/hour.

Thanks

Peggy

[Kay in Cal]

Probably depends on where you live... I'm in So. Cal, and I pay $20 an hour. I would guess it would be less in Ks? Maybe not if you just charge by the house... set it at $60 and clean the whole house in 3 hours.

[Claire]

I'm in a fairly rural area of WI and the going rate here is $20 an hour. (It's $50 an hour if you go for up-market cleaning, such as a team who comes in and prepares a house for sale showings.)

[st_claire]

I'd rather pay more and have a very detailed job done then pay less for a mediocre job. I would go look at her place yourself and decide how many hours it will take you. 5 hours seems reasonable. I don't think 3 hours would be enough for a big house.

 

Maybe until you get the hang of it, you could work with your friend. 2 people working together makes the job go faster.

[Mom2GirlsTX]

at $100. I have been on both sides of this, I used to clean houses in college with a friend. Now I have a housecleaner clean my house every other week and I adore her and trust her. She charges about $20 an hour and is worth every penny. It is so much easier to charge $100 and then go down on price later if you find it is an easy job, but people don't like if you say you do it for $60 and then you find out it is a $100 job and you need to go up. Charge high and drop the price after a couple of cleanings if you find you can clean it faster.

[Robin Hood]

How about explaining to the client that you'd like to work by the hour for a month and then set the rate. It takes a while when you first start. When you feel a routine has been set, then set your fee. Then beware. Once a fee has been set, any extra request should be charged. A client might ask you to skip a rarely used guest room and move all the living room furniture to vacume underneath in place of said room already schemed into set price. In her mind, it's an equal exchange but will be an extra 2 hours of your time that she will not notice. It might seem to you like you could do it quickly, but don't count on it.

[Quiver0f10]

I go to the house and judge by that. So once you see it you should have a better idea if it's a 3 hour or 5 hour job. Then if you are still unsure tell her it' $20 an hour and you think it's @ 3-5 hours and you can adjust it as needed. That way she isn't shocked if it's $100 and you wont be charging too little either.

[elegantlion]

I depends on the house, how much "stuff" there is and whether they want a deep clean or general cleaning. My dh and I used to clean houses in the Midwest. Granted it's been 10 years ago, but we charged by the house. My husband is super fast and a super thorough cleaner, he'd make a great stay-at-home dad. So sometimes we could clean quicker than others. I was pregnant during that time, so I moved a lot slower than normal.

 

I would bid by the job and make it dependent upon what they wanted cleaned and if you were providing the cleaners and vacuum as well. We used to charge between $65 and $75 for a typical 4 bed 2.5 bath home. Again that was 10 years ago.

 

HTH

[Twinmom]

I don't clean homes for a living, but have hired lots of people who do! ;) Estimate how long it will take you to do the house, then bid the job at that amt. of time x $20 per hour. Tell your potential clients that you'd charge that price for the first time you clean, but that you'll have to actually clean through the house fully once before deciding on a firm price. Then, you can raise or lower the final charge based on how long it actually took you and how many times a month you'll be cleaning (Every other week will take you longer each time than weekly cleanings, etc.)...and your client can "preview" your work before she commits to a price.

 

This is how it's always been done for me, and I've always appreciated it! Oh, and in case you are wondering, I pay 100$ biweekly for a team of two gals to clean my 3800 sq ft. house with four kiddos in it! They typically take 2 1/2 to 3 hours.

[mamao32001]

are provided!! However, we live in a depressed area so that says something about the amount charged.

 

Personally, I would do the hourly rate as other "extas" could get added in (innocently enough) after you make a going total rate.

 

Good Luck!

[Reya]

I am starting to clean houses. I have a friend that does it and said the going rate is $20.00/hour, ie. if a house takes 3 hours bid $60. She said don't say I'll do it for $20.00/hour just set a price based on that.

A lady from my church would like me to clean her house. Another lady from our church cleaned her house about 1 1/2 years ago and said it took her about 5 hours to clean the house. Should I charge her $100 since it takes 5 hours to clean it? It seems like a lot of money to me because right now I'm working 15 hour/wk and getting $8.00/hour.

Thanks

Peggy

 

Some people will pay that. No way that I would for regular employment. It's ridiculous, paying nearly $40k a year for unskilled labor. When I cleaned as a teen, I charged $8/hr (I had to drive to each place--adds hours). That was about 10 years ago. $20/hr is more reasonable for a one-time or seasonal thing--like a spring cleaning or a moving-out clean or something.

 

Right now, I am paying $12.50/hr for 4 hrs every other wk, but this is a temporary situation, and when I can afford more hours, I plan on paying $10/hr for 4 hours every week, working up to 8 hrs/wk. If you check the rates for janitors and hotel maids in your area then add some padding (for drive time and because the service is better), you'll find a reasonable rate. The fewer hours hours a person wants, the higher the rate; the more hours, the lower.

 

If you go with one of those rip-off cleaning companies, you typically pay $30/hr for two workers, who change each week and get minimum wage while the parent company rakes in the rest.

[Harriet Vane]

I have never, ever paid as much as $20 per hour. Here is what I have paid in the past:

 

$5/hour to a very young teen who needed a lot of training

 

$8/hour to an older, really responsible teen

 

$8/hr to an adult who didn't do a great job but worked very hard--she was mentally challenged.

 

$10/hr to two different boarders who traded housecleaning for board (We figured out their rent based on hours worked at that rate.)

 

$11/hr to two different professional cleaning woman over a period of 4 years

 

$75 for 6 hours of work to a cleaning service (one lady)--these women generally worked hard and fast and were amazing.

[Quad Shot Academy]

Estimate how long it will take you to do the house, then bid the job at that amt. of time x $20 per hour. Tell your potential clients that you'd charge that price for the first time you clean, but that you'll have to actually clean through the house fully once before deciding on a firm price. Then, you can raise or lower the final charge based on how long it actually took you and how many times a month you'll be cleaning (Every other week will take you longer each time than weekly cleanings, etc.)...and your client can "preview" your work before she commits to a price.

 

:iagree: I used to clean houses and that is always how I did it. I could clean houses faster that I did weekly, so I gave a lower price. I would not give a set price for houses not done at least monthly. If she thinks the price is high, think about rotating areas each time, always cleaning the main areas but rotating out less used areas. Unless she is asking for unusual things to be done, like because she is elderly, I would not do a strict per hour charge. Then you will feel pressured to finish at a certain time. If you are not feeling well and take longer that day, you will feel bad or worse she will think you are "milking" her. Set prices are always best, but if she adds in a few extra things for you to do that day, tell her or leave a note saying she owes you extra money. About half the clients I had, would try to "sneak" in extra work for free, so be firm.

[Robin Hood]

Some people will pay that. No way that I would for regular employment. It's ridiculous, paying nearly $40k a year for unskilled labor.

 

There is more skill than you think. A lot of it is knowing how, what chemicals are best, time management, and more. You'd be surprised how many people can't figure that out.

 

If a person decides to be a Professional Cleaner, then they must get a business license, manage a schedule, be professional about it, etc. A professional makes a big difficult job look easy. And they get it done. Regardless of personal circumstances. That deserves a professional fee. They don't waste their time with people who only want after school type of help.

[battlemaiden]

There is more skill than you think. A lot of it is knowing how, what chemicals are best, time management, and more. You'd be surprised how many people can't figure that out.

 

If a person decides to be a Professional Cleaner, then they must get a business license, manage a schedule, be professional about it, etc. A professional makes a big difficult job look easy. And they get it done. Regardless of personal circumstances. That deserves a professional fee. They don't waste their time with people who only want after school type of help.

 

I must admit I was thinking the same thing Reya was. It's cleaning. But I can see your example more as running a business. I'll have to think about that.

 

I have had housecleaners come to my house in the past- but honestly I fired almost all of them because I couldn't justify paying that kind of money to people who did a worse job than me. They weren't making a difficult job look easy at all! They were making a rather uncomplicated but labor intensive job look unmanageable.

 

I did have a sister-in-law team in Georgia that I adored- they were good. But I paid $60 for both of them to clean my house top to bottom. The word of mouth on this pair was so good they never advertised. I didn't mind that they didn't have a business license and their form of managing a schedule was a calendar.

 

At the end of the day I don't think a housecleaner should be making more per hour than say an EMT with 20yrs experience or many starting jobs out of college.

 

I don't mean to offend. I understand what the going rate is and that people WILL gladly pay to have it done. But I personally can't feel it's worth it.

 

Jo