House Cleaning Rates That Are Fair For Your House

The best way to work our fair house cleaning rates for your house is to use this format. I need to make it clear upfront that I cannot give you an exact price because I do not know: where you live, the size of your house, exactly what you want the cleaner to clean or what state your house is in right now. All of these things will affect the amount you have to pay.

However, I can tell you a way that you can find out what would be a fair price to pay for the work you want to have someone do for you. This is a formula that my girlfriends and I worked out and that we have tested. We were all happy with the estimates that we received when we asked cleaners to estimate for cleaning our homes.

First you have to recognize that there are three very distinctive types of cleaning company - those that are franchises and those that are independent. Then there are one-man-band independent cleaners. In our researches we could find no reason why we would not have employed cleaners from any one of these sectors. There are advantages and disadvantages with each type of cleaner.

Franchises are likely to offer the most complete menu of services. You will probably also be covered by their insurance policy if the cleaner breaks anything or accidentally stains your carpet. However, they probably also have the highest overheads and you will be paying for those. Independent companies are likely to offer roughly the same services as a franchise but it may be more difficult to get them to service your complaint if something goes amiss.

One-man-band cleaners often do not carry any insurance and may be a bit hazy about the services they offer and how much to charge for them. This may lead to differences of opinion about price at a later date. With these caveats in mind this is how you can get a fair estimate.

Look up house cleaning services in Yellow Pages. It may be under Cleaning, Domestic. Choose two or three franchise companies and two or three independents and invite them to visit your house to quote on the work you want done. You can find out if they are franchises or independents by ringing their number and asking them.

Next walk around your house with a pad and pencil and make a list of everything you would like them to clean. When they visit you walk them around the house pointing out what you would like them to do. Make a careful note of anything extra that they suggest.

Try to make sure that you request exactly the same services from each company. They will each try to offer you there own favorite extras. But the more you can keep your requirements the same the easier you will find it to compare their prices.

Ask each company how they will ensure that your house gets cleaned even when your regular cleaner is off sick or on holiday. This is really important because it is a sure-fire bet that the moment you plan to throw a party the cleaner will get sick - sods law. You need to take into consideration your "gut feeling" about each company. It is always easier to work with people you like and whom you instinctively feel to be honest. Then all you have to do is compare the estimates they give you and decide which company you would like to work with.

Molly is an busy housewife who has needed to move house many times because of the demands of her husband's job. In the process she has become an expert on cleaning and renovating houses. She also runs a discussion group to find better, more effective and quicker ways of cleaning houses. She tells you how to find fair house cleaning rates on her website http://HouseCleaningTimeSavers.com.

Foreclosure Cleaning Business - Why You Should Never Discuss Rates Or Prices Over the Phone

If you own a business cleaning foreclosures, or are thinking about starting one, one thing you should know going in is that you will get call after call from subcontractors and wanna-be business owners asking for guidance on how to price jobs and/or how much they can make in this business. They'll call asking questions and make comments like:

"I own a landscaping company and want to pitch my services to foreclosure cleanup companies. I just need a little guidance on how you go about pricing your services;"

OR

"I am thinking of going into the foreclosure trashout business. I wanted to know about how much I can expect to make on a house -- just a rough estimate is all I need, eg, for just doing the cleaning and trashout;"

OR

"I own a general contracting business and want to get into cleaning foreclosures. How do you decide what to charge for things like making repairs, painting, etc.?"

These are actual calls one foreclosure cleaning business owner says she receives on a daily basis.

Don't get sucked into answering these types of questions. It's not that you don't want to share trade secrets or anything, or that you don't want to be helpful to others. Rather, it's for the following very practical reasons.

Foreclosure Cleanup Business Owners: 3 Reasons NOT to Talk Rate/Pricing w/Others

Time: If you're actively running a foreclosure cleaning business, you probably won't have the time to answer these types of questions. As foreclosures are a hot topic in the news now, many are interested in starting this type of business. And you could be fielding 5, 10 or 15 calls a day like this - from all over the country - and beyond.

These calls can take anywhere from 10 or 15 minutes, on up to a half hour or more, which brings us to the next reason not to take these types of calls . . .

You're Not a Consultant: Many times, the callers will start out with one or two questions, but it rarely stops there. One question leads to the next, which leads to the next and on and on and on.

You're not a foreclosure cleaning business consultant, you're a foreclosure cleaning business owner. And if you start answering questions for every caller, it won't be the last call you'll get. Many will continue to call as they run into problems.

A lot of what needs to be learned in this business can only be learned by trial and error, as anyone in the business can tell you.

It's Impossible to Answer Correctly: Prices and job rates depend on so many variables - location, size of house, work to be done, contractors to be hired, turnaround time, equipment to be rented, etc. that it's practically impossible to answer correctly anyway. So, don't even try.

Cleaning foreclosures - like any other business - takes time and commitment. And those who are serious about it will take it upon themselves to learn what they need to know to succeed.

May be reprinted with the following, in full: Foreclosure cleanup businesses present a sizzling opportunity to make money in the current economic climate -- and beyond. Visit Start-a-Foreclosure-Cleanup-Business.com for 200 pages of info that tells you everything you need to know to start a business cleaning foreclosures. View the news video featuring the owner of a leading foreclosure company in Atlanta, GA on the site as well.