# housecleaning



## wwubben (Oct 13, 2004)

My daughter in law lost her job at the local lodge and is going into housecleaning.There is one other local woman who does this and she gave some hints and advice.There is plenty of work for both of them right now.That was surprising to me the way things are around here now.A lot of families still have both adults working I guess.My dil is making more money doing this than working out.My daughter is starting a basic cooking class in her home.These young gals are doing whatever it takes in this economy.I hope good comes out of it.


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## jen74145 (Oct 31, 2006)

Wonderful!
You can make a decent wage cleaning houses; I have thought about doing it, but not until the baby is old enough to leave for a little bit.


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## kritter8888 (Jun 8, 2009)

Just a heads up it varies by state but you might want to tell her to look into being a LLC. My mom cleans houses and I advised her to get this also. What it does it protects her personal assest incase something happens ( lets say she brakes someones antique vase worth $100,000 they could go after her and get her house to cover costs). Also make sure she keeps very acurate records they are a tax deduction and love those. Best of luck!


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## How Do I (Feb 11, 2008)

kritter8888 said:


> Just a heads up it varies by state but you might want to tell her to look into being a LLC.


Smart advice for many business ideas, but especially service-oriented businesses.


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## lharvey (Jul 1, 2003)

My wife is a Registered Dietitian.

She has been cleaning houses for the past 10 years. She loves it and her flexibility in her schedule.

Keep accurate records of expenses and you should do well.

She has had the same core customers for all 10 years. It's all by referrals.


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## RiverPines (Dec 12, 2006)

Get insured and bonded!!!!!
Law suits can kill you otherwise!


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## AR Transplant (Mar 20, 2004)

my sister did this for quite a while and really liked the flexibility. It is good if you don't have to worry about benefits.

She had strict rules and wouldn't budge because otherwise people would take advantage of her. I helped her a few times and she really had it down to a science. She went from top to bottom, refused to pick up clutter ( happy to clean around it) and she always had a waiting list.

Also, cleaning a house for the first time was always the hardest, so she insisted on an agreement of at least two months before she would agree to clean the house. And, most important, if the cash or check (in some cases) was not on the table when she walked in the door she walked right out and rarely would return unless some other arrangements were made. 

And yet she never lacked for business. 

If I were younger I would certainly consider this business.


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## foxtrapper (Dec 23, 2003)

Know a number of folk who make good money doing housecleaning. Extra good money if you do it under the table.


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## AR Transplant (Mar 20, 2004)

foxtrapper said "extra good money if you do it under the table"

that ain't right. as Clint Eastwood said in Grantorino "It's the same as stealing."

sorry


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## JediMom (Jul 3, 2007)

*How do you get started house-cleaning? I would love to do this and make some extra money.*


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## willow_girl (Dec 7, 2002)

Jedi,

I got my first client through an ad she had placed on Craigslist. I'm still cleaning for her nearly 2 years later. The rest of my business came via word-of-mouth in the retirement community in which I live. 

I have almost more work than I can handle! I could probably quit my other jobs and clean full-time if I wanted to, but I like the variety. 

I do yardwork for some of my clients as well. 

I find the work very satisfying. My elderly clients in particular seem to appreciate me.


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## glwalker (Apr 19, 2005)

Another good way to find customers is through classified ads in the free "shopper's newspapers," if there are any in your area.


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## VA Susan (Mar 2, 2010)

I've been doing housecleaning for many years. The nearest town to us is 40 minutes away so I'm very blessed not to have to drive that far to work. My jobs are only ten to fifteen minutes away. People have always called me first to ask if I would clean for them. My husband is an artist and I sell some things I make through local craft shops but sales have been pretty slow. I don't know how we'd survive without my cleaning jobs. I put up fliers advertising that I will do spring cleaning, the first time I've ever had to do that. 

---
Husband's site: http://www.billwysor.com
mine: http://www.etsy.com/shop/laurelcreekgallery


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## PulpFaction (Jul 23, 2009)

For those of you that do this, what do you charge? I clean rental properties for a property management company right now and make $13 an hour and it's usually pretty easy work because the units are turned over so often and I don't have any personal clutter to clean around, but they don't have many hours available for me, so I've been thinking about taking on some extra work on the side, but I'm not sure what to charge. I would think slightly higher than what I'm making now?


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## Merit (Jul 15, 2009)

Make it a legal business with the state. If you work under the table, everyone could get in trouble. The client, who would end up owing taxes on you as if you were a regular employee (which you legally ARE, if you're not a legal business). You, for being a tax-dodger. If you slip and fell, the CLIENT is on the line for your medical bills, when you're an under-the-table worker. They won't be so very happy with that one. It's a very simple & cheap process to make yourself legal. Then get the insurance on your business. (No your homeowner's policy does NOT cover you as this is a "business persuit"--a popular misconception) You're so very likely to scratch their expensive flooring. Pit their marble countertops. Drop their expensive vase. Cleaners are so likely to do damage. It's a matter of WHEN , not IF.


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## VA Susan (Mar 2, 2010)

Hi Rachel,
It depends on where you live. I charge ten dollars an hour here, but I know that people in other places charge much more than that. My sister who lives in Oregon pays a lady 70.00 to clean her house for four hours.
I declare everything I make. Cleaning is my business and I pay my own self employment taxes. The people buy me all the supplies I need. A tax preparer told me once that I should make the people I work for pay my SS taxes, but I know they wouldn't do it.


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## ErinP (Aug 23, 2007)

RiverPines said:


> Get insured and bonded!!!!!
> Law suits can kill you otherwise!


Yes.

An LLC really _doesn't_ make any difference. It just provides an extra layer of paperwork before they seize your personal assets. 
It won't really protect you, though.


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## VA Susan (Mar 2, 2010)

I've broken a few things over the years, nothing too valuable (so far) though. I'm thankful the gracious folks I work for wouldn't take me to court or fire me for my occasional clumsiness. I did offer to pay for what I broke but they didn't want me to. They knew it was an accident and forgave me. 


My Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/laurelcreekgallery


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## Susan n' Emily in TN (May 10, 2002)

I cleaned houses for a couple of years. It was probably the most exhausting job I have ever done. Of course I would do either 2 small houses or 1 big house a day.


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## Cash (Apr 24, 2007)

VA Susan said:


> Hi Rachel,
> A tax preparer told me once that I should make the people I work for pay my SS taxes, but I know they wouldn't do it.


The people you work for _do_ pay your SS taxes through the fee you charge them. Just make sure your fee is high enough to make it worth your while. 

Not sure how qualified the tax preparer was, but unless you are formally employed by the homeowner as a housekeeper and receive a W-2, you're an independent contract worker who pays all his/her own taxes, insurance, bond, etc. No paid holidays or vacations, no sick days. But you get to set your own hours, your own standards, and your own wages.


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## MN Gardener (Jan 23, 2008)

Another good source might be real estate agents. Many times their clients need extra help to get their homes up to "house showing" quality and keep it that way until the house sells. I also advise and LLC and insurance.


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## obleo+6 (Jul 21, 2008)

DH and I had a housecleaning business for 8 years and did just fine and then some. Couldn't find decent help so did it by ourselves and stayed busy all the time. The folks that still have jobs are not interested in cleaning when they come home, and they appreciated it very much. We charged 10.00 an hour and supplied the cleaning stuff but used their vacuums and it all worked out...then we got much older and it was harder to keep up with it so we let it go and closed it down. 

Alot of our business was in a ski resort where people have vacation homes and ski season was a mad dash to get it all freshened up before they came and then cleaning afterward...made some darn good money. Also did small businesses like real estate offices and a place that had cabins for rent on the local lake...we had keys to all the houses and when they had something delivered and they weren't there, we'd run up and wait for the delivery and they'd pay us for the time also. Trust is a good thing too.

All of our clients were sad to see us go. We were in NM and had our business there and all the folks lived in Texas or OK or somewhere else but had their vacation homes in NM.

The work is still out there if you're willing to get your hands dirty.


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## legacy (Oct 16, 2005)

What is a "reasonable" rate for house cleaning? How do you go about pricing something like this?

I'm thinking about hiring someone to help me out with some cleaning duties, but I'm not sure what fair wages should be based on the typ of work.

Most of it is average house-cleaning jobs, like cleaning windows, but other stuff my include spit-polishing bathrooms or generally cleaning and organizing.

Just looking for some guidance because I want to pay a fair wage, but I'm just not sure what it is. I plan on advertising on Craigslist for this work.


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