Anyone Clean Houses???

[sanjacprof]

Hi all!! I'm a full-time mom and of course I'm looking for some extra $$$ for disney. Was thinking about cleaning some houses and need advice on how to get started (is it just word of mouth?)...how much do you charge, and what type of "duties" do you do?

Also, would you recommend cleaning a house of a friend??

Advice please. Thanks!!!!

 

[Suzanna1973]

One of my sisters owns her own cleaning business. Each home has a different price when it comes to cleaning. She goes to the home, takes a walk through, and gives them a quote. She cleans most homes between $65 and $80 and it takes her on average about 4-5 hours to clean each home. When she cleans....she cleans! Most of her clients have her come every two weeks. She cleans my home, and gave me a family discount of $40 every two weeks. It takes her about 4 hrs to clean my home(two story 3 bedroom 2 1/2 bath). If you want to clean your friends home.....take a walk through and give her a quote. There is no need to offer discount for friends because she should understand that this is how you make your living. My sister started her business about 7 months ago....it took about 3 months and then BAM....word of mouth spread from her clients and now she has a home every day to clean!

Good luck!

 

[nana2tots]

I did it for 22yrs., up till 6 months ago. It is very Hard work, but in some cases Great money. I did not charge by the hour, because i was a fast worker, so i charged by how many bedrooms and baths.
My prices ranged anywhere from $80.00 to $125.00 per house.I made anywhere from 40- to 50 bucks an hour, also understand you have taxes to pay, that's unless you can get paid under the table.I had a business, so i had to pay taxes, except for a few Freebies here and there.
Good Luck!

 

[sameyeyam]

My neighbor cleans my house once per week. She charges me $50. She changes the sheets, vacuums, mops, cleans bathrooms, and does light dusting. She generally spends about 3 hours in my house.

She is my neighbor and a good friend. To be honest I don't think it's a good idea to have a friend clean my house. Sometimes I wish she did things differently, but I feel a bit uncomfortable with saying something because she is such a dear friend. If it were a stranger, I would be more comfortable in an employer/employee relationship. I would recommend that you don't clean friend's homes.

 

[Mono~rail]

A friend of mine just hired someone to clean her house, and she found her because she had posted an advertising sign at the entrance to their subdivision.

Maybe you could make some signs and post them at the entrances to neighborhoods (if that is allowed in your area).

 

[czycropper]

I had a cleaning lady and she charged me $75, she vaccummed, cleaned the bathrooms, kitchen including any dishes that were left in the kitchen from the morning rush - I have a four bedroom, 3 bath house with an office, finished basement, family room, eat-in kitchen, medium size dining room and pretty big foyer. I didn't have her change the sheets since we do that every Saturday but she did make the beds if my DDs hadn't made them. I really miss her but now that I'm working part-time I do it on my days off.

Now, my niece in Long Island has a cleaning business there and she told me that she would charge $125-150 for my size house, I live in Central New Jersey. So I guess it definitely depends on who you get quotes from and how good they are.

Good luck!

 

[brota]

You can advertise on Craigslist

 

[problemchild718]

I cleanned houses while going to nursing school. Hard work-but quick cash. I managed to "get in" with a group of teachers, within a year, I had to turn them away, I had so much work. I found it very helpful and important to make a checklist for each customer. What one person finds important, another could care less about. I laid out what I would do each time I was there (base price) they checked off things that were important to them (ex: windows, sheets, wash, polishing crystal lighting fixture) and would factor the extras into the price ($50-$125 per visit) That way there is no miscommunication.

 

[sarahlovesmickey]

interesting thread...I'm gonna follow this one!! I was thinking about doing this actually...

 

[grlpwrd]

My sister owns a cleaning business in western FL. (I don't want to be too specific because of privacy reasons.)

She started as a homebased business, but has a small office in a retail space now. Make sure you get licensed, bonded, and insured.

I will dig up the website she visits ... if I can find it in my bookmarks I will post it here. It's like a forum for cleaning business owners like how Disney lovers have the DIS.

 

[disneyofcourse]

I'd be interested in finding out that website.

 

[princesscj]

I listed on Craigslist....got one legit client for a one time cleaning, then got lots of scam e-mails (I out of the country, I want you to clean my house before I get home, I will send you a check, take what you need and leave the rest at the house....) Ya, don't think so!

Then I was told by a friend who has a friend (you know how that works) that she cleaned houses, and wasn't bonded and insured and there was an incident. So, seriously thinkable being bonded and insured!!!

Lot so of start up frustrations, didn't want to be bonded and insured, and just decided to forfit the idea!

Good luck and be careful!!!

 

[disneyofcourse]

Did anyone find what website to check out with the forums

 

[sarahlovesmickey]

I may sound stupid here, but what is "bonded"??

 

[InstImpres]

I had a cleaning lady and she charged me $75, she vaccummed, cleaned the bathrooms, kitchen including any dishes that were left in the kitchen from the morning rush - I have a four bedroom, 3 bath house with an office,

Now, my niece in Long Island has a cleaning business there and she told me that she would charge $125-150 for my size house, I live in Central New Jersey.

Wow, that is great price...I paid that for a 2 bedroom house in Northern NJ and that was 4 years ago!

I may sound stupid here, but what is "bonded"??

Bonded covers you if an employee steals something

 

[sarahlovesmickey]

thanks....again, sorry for my ignorance. *blushing*

 

[hogue123]

Hi all!! I'm a full-time mom and of course I'm looking for some extra $$$ for disney. Was thinking about cleaning some houses and need advice on how to get started (is it just word of mouth?)...how much do you charge, and what type of "duties" do you do?

Also, would you recommend cleaning a house of a friend??

Advice please. Thanks!!!!

We had someone come clean our home about 4 years ago. She charged $65 and came out bi-weekly. We have a 2700 sq. ft. house in a suburb of Cincinnati,OH. She just did basic cleaning (floors, wiped down appliances, wiped down cabinets, wiped down countertops, dusted, cleaned the bathrooms (2 1/2), dusted baseboards. The way we found her is by a sign she put in her grandparent's yard that faced a stop sign of the entrance to our subdivision. She did really well the first time she was out. Then it slowly declined from there. She came a total of 4 times. We were really uncomfortable having to tell her we were not going to need her anymore. She was a nice girl, but a stranger to us, and it was tough. I couldn't imagine if it would have been a friend. I would not think cleaning a friend's house would be a good idea.

I stay at home now so unfortunately what use to be a 3-4 hour job every other week (and of course a little done by us in between), turned into a 24 hour 7 day a week job and it always looks like nothing has been done!

Good luck getting your business started!

 

[DebMcDonald]

I would not recommend cleaning for a friend. I have my cleaning person come every other week and we pay $75.00. She does an amazing job. It's her and her sister and they are here from 2-3 hours. They make all the beds (I strip them all first). They pick up my kids rooms and organize the toys (not my request). She even organizes my closet and put my shoes back in order, again not my request. Bathrooms are cleaned from top to bottom. All wood floors are washed, rugs vacuumed, kitchen counters cleaned along with inside of microwave. All garbage is taken out. Everything is dusted. I'm sure she does more, but I can't think of it. Both cleaning people that I have had are a referral from a friend and then I have referred her to other friends as well. Honestly, I think good money could be made, but I also think it's ALOT of work. I appreciate them so much and the job that they do. It's better than I could ever take the time to do working 50 hrs a week and having three kids and a husband that travels.

 

[Along4theRide]

My mom has been self employed cleaning houses now for 15+ years and makes really good $$. She too charges by the house. She does a walk through of the house and basis her charge off of the sq footage and how much work will have to be done. She does the same things at each house (dusting, windows, blinds, bathrooms, floors, cob webs, kitchens, makes the beds, vacuuming, etc.). If the home owner wants extra (and some will), it's extra. She has one house that the owner wants the door knobs wiped off every time! Seems odd to me, but whatever. Also, if there is extra clutter or personal belongings she doesn't put it away-it's the home owner’s responsibility! She makes anywhere from $70-$120 and could take her from an hour to 4 hrs. She works fast and enjoys what she does. She's gotten most of her houses from word of mouth. One summer we did make up door hangers and we went around and put them out. She got a couple new houses that way too. She hasn't had very good luck with the paper in the past...word of mouth is def. her best bet! She's had the majority of her customers for 10+ yrs and always treat her well (especially around Christmas)!! Good luck