How much would you pay for a clean house?

[teacup princess]

A little background- I'm preggo with a number of complications and our house is starting to look like wild animals live here so my husband and I decided to look into hiring a housekeeper for the duration of the pregnancy and maybe a year or so after. I just had my MIL's housekeepers over to give me a quote and I was sort of shocked at the price. Their quote was $170 for our 4br, 3.5 bath house. Does that seem like alot? I could only have them come every other week but that's still $350 per month plus I doubt if we could manage to maintain it for more than a couple of days. I also didn't care for their "tsk tsk" kind of attitude as she swiped her finger across my ceiling fans and such nor the speaking in another language to each other as they walked through my house. I just wanted to be like, "Look I get it, we're messy ok, but I'm standing right here. If you have a problem with it please wait until I leave the room to talk about me." My MIL really loves these ladies though and swears they are the best cleaners she's ever had. If you have a housecleaner, does that seem like a reasonable price and do you love it enough to justify the cost?

 

[TnTWalter]

I wouldn't pay that much personally. But even bigger than that I wouldn't hire my MIL's housekeepers. Just feel like there might be issues with that. Ask friends, neighbors, etc.

Your house sounds large with 3.5bath so that might be part of the cost. Interview a couple more that are recommended from friends or neighbors and then you'll know if it's reasonable. The big companies charge a LOT more than a private gal.

Good luck.

Trish

 

[java]

That seems like a lot to me. How many hours will they work? Around here my friends pay $100 for similar sized houses. (I don't pay for someone to clean anymore)
I sure wouldn't be hiring my MIL's people either.
Congratulations on the baby.

 

[Suz D]

I was out of town for 10 days and my sister, nephew and niece came to visit 2 days after I got back. I just couldn't get the house clean in time so I hired someone to come and clean 1 full and one 1/2 bath and my kitchen/dining room floors. It was $60.00. Originally they quoted me $75.00 but I balked a bit. I even thought $60.00 was on the high side but it WAS very last minute.

I would say for a house your size, $170.00 is probably right. My sister used to have someone come and it was $125.00 to do hers (similar size as yours) and her house is immaculate to begin with.

 

[DOPEYLUVER]

Do you have other kids as well? I'm just wondering if it is only the two of you could you have the house cleaned but "shut off" a couple of the bedrooms and bathrooms? Don't use them, don't clean them.

 

[Swimalie]

My friend just had her 3 bed, 2/5 bath house cleaned for $300. So I don't see your price as unreasonable. But I agree with the others that I'm not sure I'd hire someone who also works for your mother-in-law. Maybe you can find someone else through friends.

 

[kaseyC]

A little background- I'm preggo with a number of complications and our house is starting to look like wild animals live here so my husband and I decided to look into hiring a housekeeper for the duration of the pregnancy and maybe a year or so after. I just had my MIL's housekeepers over to give me a quote and I was sort of shocked at the price. Their quote was $170 for our 4br, 3.5 bath house. Does that seem like alot? I could only have them come every other week but that's still $350 per month plus I doubt if we could manage to maintain it for more than a couple of days. I also didn't care for their "tsk tsk" kind of attitude as she swiped her finger across my ceiling fans and such nor the speaking in another language to each other as they walked through my house. I just wanted to be like, "Look I get it, we're messy ok, but I'm standing right here. If you have a problem with it please wait until I leave the room to talk about me." My MIL really loves these ladies though and swears they are the best cleaners she's ever had. If you have a housecleaner, does that seem like a reasonable price and do you love it enough to justify the cost?

That sounds high to me. We have someone in every other week to clean. We have had the same person for 8 years. Our house is a 4br, 3.5 bath with a finished basement. We pay $80 per cleaning. We provide all supplies/equipment. If she has extra time she will also throw in a couple of loads of the kids laundry as well.

 

[dawson5]

I think it depends on where you live quite honestly. My neighbor has two women come in once a week. She pays them $20/hr and they are usually there for four hours (she does not clean in between except for the kitchen, she also fosters cats--I want to say there are two litters there now along with her own three and two dogs). It's about a 3200SF home with 2 1/2 baths.

I would look at a service. Friends of ours who moved away, she had a gal come in once a week. She ended up stealing their son's medication (ADD but it wasn't one of the amphetamine based ones). She learned her lesson and only hired services that were bonded and insured after that. I think it ended up being the same amount money wise, but the peace of mind that came with it was worth it.

 

[mjkacmom]

Where do you live? Around here, the cost would probably be aroudn $120 - $140 for a house that size, but more if it's messy. Heck, just the fact that she noticed the ceiling fan is a big plus - I have a smaller home, and always cleaned up before they came, and only had to pay $75, but it was for very basic cleaning - no moving of the furniture, no blinds, moldings, ceiling fans - they were in and out in under 2 hours.

 

[Free4Life11]

3 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom, 1500 square feet.

Maid is $80 every two weeks and spends 2-3 hours each time. Not a deep cleaing, but cleans the bathrooms, sweeps/mops the downstairs, cleans the kitchen, and vaccums the bedrooms.

 

[Madison'smommy]

Wow... there is a lady who cleans several of my neighbors house's. She charges $10 an hour. They typically pay $30-40 every 2 weeks. It is a great deal, and if I go back to work full time, I would absolutly use her!

This is for houses that are about 2700 sq feet... Mine is 3400, but we have 2 rooms that the doors are often shut, and not used. I would hope it would cost me about the same as theirs!

 

[RadioFanatic]

I pay $104 every other week for two bedrooms, two full bathrooms, halls, living room/dining room, kitchen and finished basement. I have three other bedrooms but barely use them so they only get cleaned when guests are coming.

 

[DebMcDonald]

I had my house cleaned up until two years ago and paid $75 every other week. We have three bedrooms, 2.5 baths, office, diningroom, kitchen and living room and she even changed all the sheets on the bed and of course the usual of scrubbing everydown down. I mean she could go as far as organizing the kids closets, so I think your price is very very high.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

I have Merry Maids come once a month. I live alone in 2/2. I pay $90 for a visit. They basically do the kitchen, bathrooms, vacuum and each month concentrate one one room for more detail. But with no kids the house really does not get messy.

 

[Kay1]

Maybe you need a Mother's Helper instead of a maid. My MIL always hired teens who came over after school and helped around the house for a couple of hours. Maybe more affordable than a pro.

 

[homeschoolmomof4]

My friend just had her 3 bed, 2/5 bath house cleaned for $300. So I don't see your price as unreasonable. But I agree with the others that I'm not sure I'd hire someone who also works for your mother-in-law. Maybe you can find someone else through friends.

Holy cow!! I have a 5 bedroom/5.5 bath house in NOVA and paid $100 every other week up until last year. Now we clean it ourselves because all the kids are older and can help. Was your friend's cleaning a one shot cleaning? Even our neighbors who have even larger houses than we do don't pay over $170.

 

[ccgirl]

Sounds fair to me. I am in a higher cost of living area. It really depends on where you live though. I had someone come every other week. I have a 2,000 sq ft house 4 BR, 2 BA and she was there for 6 hours. But...she CLEANED! It wasn't just a surface clean. She dusted everything. Every single picture got dusted/windexed. She vacuumed/washed every floor. She even did the closets! She did the windows...I am talking everything. This woman was amazing. Anyway, she charged $25 an hour so it was $150 every two weeks. It was well worth it to us. Both my DH and myself work full time and we have 2 children. I was spending my weekends cleaning rather than enjoying my time with my children so this was well worth it for us. Sadly, she moved and I have not been able to find anyone as good as her. My friends that used the "services" i.e. cleaning companies, say they will do primarily surface cleaning stuff not the nitty gritty stuff. When you are paying someone to clean your house it is amazing how you learn to keep it clean.

 

[teacup princess]

Do you have other kids as well? I'm just wondering if it is only the two of you could you have the house cleaned but "shut off" a couple of the bedrooms and bathrooms? Don't use them, don't clean them.
__________________

We have three other young messy children as well, including 2 little boys who can't aim worth a darn so the bathrooms would most certainly be a wreck a day or two after they leave anyway. I'm just not sure it's worth it. Every room of our house gets constant use including one playroom in the basement which I asked them to clean only once a month since I know the toy pickup before they get here would be a major feat in itself. I like the mother's helper idea, a little bit of maintenance every day might go a longer way than one deep cleaning every other week. I've seen the way some teenagers work though, so finding someone actually willing to clean might be a problem.

 

[homeschoolmomof4]

A little background- I'm preggo with a number of complications and our house is starting to look like wild animals live here so my husband and I decided to look into hiring a housekeeper for the duration of the pregnancy and maybe a year or so after. I just had my MIL's housekeepers over to give me a quote and I was sort of shocked at the price. Their quote was $170 for our 4br, 3.5 bath house. Does that seem like alot? I could only have them come every other week but that's still $350 per month plus I doubt if we could manage to maintain it for more than a couple of days. I also didn't care for their "tsk tsk" kind of attitude as she swiped her finger across my ceiling fans and such nor the speaking in another language to each other as they walked through my house. I just wanted to be like, "Look I get it, we're messy ok, but I'm standing right here. If you have a problem with it please wait until I leave the room to talk about me." My MIL really loves these ladies though and swears they are the best cleaners she's ever had. If you have a housecleaner, does that seem like a reasonable price and do you love it enough to justify the cost?

I think one of the cost factors depends on what part of the country you're in and the cost of living in that area. Get other quotes to be on the safe side. If you have friends or neighbors who use cleaning services, I would ask them how much they're spending.

I disagree with others about the in-law issue. My in-laws and our family shared house cleaners for several years with absolutely no problem. I suspect it depends on your relationship with your in-laws.

 

[laurafergie]

We have three other young messy children as well, including 2 little boys who can't aim worth a darn so the bathrooms would most certainly be a wreck a day or two after they leave anyway. I'm just not sure it's worth it. Every room of our house gets constant use including one playroom in the basement which I asked them to clean only once a month since I know the toy pickup before they get here would be a major feat in itself. I like the mother's helper idea, a little bit of maintenance every day might go a longer way than one deep cleaning every other week. I've seen the way some teenagers work though, so finding someone actually willing to clean might be a problem.

I'm sorry to tell you that this MAY be why your quote was so high. I bet the picking up is massive, and that's before the actual cleaning would start. Also the basement playroom that only gets cleaned once a month would scare me. When there is not a scheduled maintenance, then cleaning anything is just harder. Also, would the kids be present during the cleaning? That makes it harder also. (I clean and organize folks IRL )

ETA The cost of the clean is totally going to be area dependent. My other thought - was your quote for the first cleaning only? The first cleaning is always more.