How much do I pay my cleaning person?

[Donna1249]

Hello,

I am new to hosting and am trying to determine a fair amount to pay a cleaning person to clean our place. It is a small camp, 1 BR, 1 Bath, about 700 sq. ft not including the basement which probably won't need to be cleaned. We are limiting the # of guests to 4 (currently have 2-3 for most reservations). My neighbor has offered to clean for me as we live 3 hours away. I would actually prefer to do it myself but it just wouldn't make sense given the distance and current price of gas! She will also be doing a small load of laundry. The camp is located in Indian Lake, NY. I checked through a service like Angie's List just to get some ideas and they would charge me $86 to clean on a weekly basis, not including laundry. Does this sound reasonable? Do most cleaners charge per hour? I'm guessing some jobs will be easier than others, so it might make sense to offer to pay per hour versus a flat fee? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Donna 

[Robin4]

@Richard531  @Donna1249  @Annie1372  @Mikki0 

It's a difficult question to answer, everyone expects a decent return for their labour.

I don't really need to use a cleaning service for my listing, I am retired and the listing cottage is on the property so, it keeps me active and gives me that 'hands on' approach.

For years I resisted the impulse to include a cleaning fee. I had this feeling it was cheating.....if you are going to set a listing amount make it a realistic return which includes all necessary costs up front without having to hit the guest with 'back door' extras. 

But I had this situation where a volunteer company acquaintance of mine kept borrowing money. Every week it would be $30-$50, she always repaid it next pension check but it didn't sit well with me! I don't know what Fran does with the money but, she needed it so, after many months of this borrowing I offered her 2 cottage turn-arounds per week for $30 pr turn around. I raised my listing amount by $10 pr/night and I set a cleaning fee of $15.00 which meant I would do a couple of services myself and  the $60 per week I pay Fran for her two is more than covered without anything coming off my bottom line! Some weeks she gets 3 turn-arounds...$90.00.

My rationale, the combination of the two wasn't going to put potential guests off because both increases were to say the least, modest.

Fran jumped at the opportunity and she hasn't let me down, she is a 'cleanaholic', does a great job and is reliable.....I can call on her on a moments notice. It has made my life considerably easier and she is so grateful for the extra few dollars!

Now guys, I bring this up because I know full well that $30 is not going to go anywhere near getting a professional cleaning service for a listing turn-around but, no matter where you are or your listing is, there will always be a 'Fran' in the neighbourhood, that person who has a bit of time on their hands and would jump at the opportunity to put another 60-90 bucks a week in their pocket.

You will also find a person like this is far more likely to do a good job, attend to those details that someone who is being paid by the hour to get from one job to another would miss.

I have a check-list that is to be filled out for each incoming guests and that goes a long way towards making sure things are done properly.......

The completed checklist gets filled out, printed off and put in the guest house rules folder, it all works seamlessly!

If you give it a try I am sure you won't be disappointed, put an add in the local paper, or on the supermarket bulletin board, there will be that someone out there who will jump at the opportunity for far less than a cleaning service, believe me, it's worth it!

Cheers........Rob    

[Donna1249]

@Robin4 

Thanks for this extremely thorough post!! I am fortunate that I found someone in the neighborhood that is available. She lives just a few doors down, has the time, and needs the work. We have set up a check list together and this weekend will be her first time cleaning, and our first time hosting!!! 

I love your message to your guests about the review system. I am definitely going to borrow this and make it my own. Thanks so much for sharing. I really do appreciate everyone's help. This is a great community!

Cheers,

Donna

[Robin4]

@Donna1249 

Hi Donna, thanks for your kind words, it's nice to know that we can actually be of help at times.

I am thrilled that you have found yourself a 'Fran' locally to share the cleaning load. I hope she turns out to be as good as mine has. There are so many reliable people out there in neighbourhoods who will jump at the opportunity to lay their hands on a few extra dollars, it's not exploitation, it's helping the world go round. If I had to pay $60 or more to a cleaner for each service I just couldn't do that, it would not be financially viable, so my cleaner would have to resort to some other part-time unskilled avenue like a letter box drop round in all sorts of weather in order to get her few extra dollars. 

It works well and this sort of help is not hard to find.

Good on you Donna, I wish you all the best with your hosting and I hope you can get the satisfaction out of it that so many of us here have!

Cheers........Rob