One more: how much for a cleaning person?

LaPiscine

We live in a 1700 sq ft condo.  We'd like to hire someone to clean 2.5 bathrooms, vacuum all carpets (four rooms), mop the kitchen floor, and take out the trash once a week.  What do you think it should cost to pay for that?  Is once a week too often? Every other week?

emjacobs13

This really depends on your area.  In my area that would be anywhere from $75 for a SAHM thats doing a few side jobs to $250 for a licensed/insured company that uses green products.

How many people do you have living in your condo? Are you messy people? I would make a list of 100% everything you would want the person to do. Make beds? Change bed linens? Do dishes? Pick up/Organize random things? A load of laundry? Windows?

 

LaPiscine

emjacobs13:

This really depends on your area.  In my area that would be anywhere from $75 for a SAHM thats doing a few side jobs to $250 for a licensed/insured company that uses green products.

How many people do you have living in your condo? Are you messy people? I would make a list of 100% everything you would want the person to do. Make beds? Change bed linens? Do dishes? Pick up/Organize random things? A load of laundry? Windows?

 

We have 4 people and we're extremely messy.  Or rather, my husband is and after 10 years, I've given up trying to change him.  Really our place is too small for all of us so some stuff just doesn't have a "home" if you know what I mean, which makes it easy for it to just sit on the dining room table for three months.  Anyway, I don't want her to do anything other than exactly what I've listed.  Our house is messy, but I can't stand it not being clean.  Hence my need for someone to do bathrooms and floors.   

TarHeels&Rebels

To clean the whole house top to bottom every week, we've paid the following:

$70 for 2235 sq ft in a major southern city with a national maid chain

$95 for 3000 sq ft in a southern town of 175k people for a "green" maid

$70 for 1700 sq ft in a teensy but affluent, touristy town in a LCOLA

Here's my advice to you: you're paying for them to come to your house - have them do everything that needs to be done.  I wonder if you could find someone to do that short list of things - it's really sort of a waste of their time because that'd take a professional team probably only 30 minutes.   The money they'd earn doing that small list of things probably isn't worth their gas to get to you. 

The prices above are for the following:

Dust every surface, including baseboards, crown molding, tops of cabinets and shelves, and blinds

clean 3 bathrooms

vacuum the 3 carpeted bedrooms

mop and towel-dry the remaining hard floors

change the bedsheets & towels and wash the dirty ones

do the dishes

take out the trash

vacuum the upholstery

generally straighten & neaten as they go

And all that takes about 2 hours in our current 1700 sq ft house.

redfish08

Where I am, they charge by the hour.  $20/hr/pp.  So, if you think all that can be done in 2-3 hrs by one person, then, I'd expect to pay $40-$60 a visit.  My visits (3,000 s.f. house) are 5-6 hours.  

BeanieWeanie

We live in a 3 bed, 2 bath, 1600 sq ft condo. It takes two cleaners about 2.5 hours to clean (they do a great job) and we pay $90 every other week. It depends on your area though.

jacksjerseygirl

I've had cleaning services for past 5 years - from private company/individuals to national companies

They do much more than you've listed and I agree that most will not come to just do that small list they do more extensive work to make sure that both your home are clean and their time is best used

 For a home twice that sq ft in Iowa I have paid 125 every other week to a small private cleaning lady who comes with 1-2 helpers.  for a green national company 155. 

 In NJ/NY I paid 135 and 185 respectively 

lcherian

it depends where you live, but i'd say between 60 and 75. start off every other week, and switch to weekly if you think you need it.