How to Charge by the Room for House Cleaning

The Ask a House Cleaner Show and Podcast with Angela Brown

Should I charge by the room for house cleaning? Or is it better to charge by the job or by the hour? House Cleaners and Maids want to make sure they are not leaving money on the table when bidding cleaning jobs.

How to charge by the room for house cleaning comes up when talking about how to price cleaning services.

If you charge by the room you can give a quick job estimate on the initial walkthrough. Residential cleaning prices vary and every bid or in-home estimate is different.

You can charge by the hour vs. job or charge by the room for house cleaning. Each method to price a cleaning job works if you understand the methods behind it.

Listen: How to Charge by the Room for House Cleaning

Watch: How to Charge by the Room for House Cleaning

Hey there, I’m Angela Brown, and this is Ask a House Cleaner. This is a show where you get to ask a house cleaning question, and I get to help you find an answer. You can find this and 400 other answered questions in this series on our YouTube channel.

Should You Charge by the Room

How should you charge for housekeeping? Should you charge by the room, is that a good business model and how does it work? Now it’s a little bit different program when you charge by the room.

Sometimes cleaners will charge by the room without telling their client. They might price at $10 a room.

So they go into a house and the house has 19 rooms in it and immediately their price is $190. They figured out very quickly that this is how long it’s going to take to clean this house.

You can Combine Small Rooms When You Charge by the Room

The house cleaner’s price is based on how many rooms there are in the house.

And they figure they might combine like a stairway in a hallway as one room and an entryway and foyer as one room.

So there are different things that you can do when you charge by the room.

What to do When a Client Says to Skip a Room

Let’s say that you’re doing a walkthrough with a customer and the customer says “Oh, you can skip cleaning my teenage daughter’s bedroom.”

Okay, she says that today, but at some point down the road, she’s going to want that room cleaned, right?

But then you opened the door and it looks like a hoarder lives in there.

There are all kinds of clothes and shoes everywhere. And you know it’s going to take a couple of hours to clean.

Change the Price When They Add Rooms to Clean

So what you say on your initial walkthrough is great, we will skip that room and my price won’t include that room.

And then the day that we decide to clean that room, you and I will come up with a price that’s right to both of us.

And the mom or the person walking you through is like, “oh yeah, yeah, yeah. That’s fair.”

Charge By How Long the Room Will Take You

So, unless you have a conversation that you’re going to do the room you won’t clean it. But when you do there will be a new price.

So, then you are bidding by the job because it’s not just the room. When you come back to clean that room, you’re going to have to figure out what is involved.

Am I going to have to clean out all the dishes and are there bugs? Am I going to have to clean out all the clothes? Or will the daughter had already gone through all the clothes?

Find a Price That is Fair to You and the Client

So by the time that you get to that room, do you need a professional organizer before you actually do the cleaning? Or are you the professional organizer and you’re going to be helping her do that?

Will the daughter be there because it might take two or three hours longer if the daughter is there.

And then if you’re by yourself and you’re expected to go through and get rid of all the stuff, then it might not take as long. But you need to figure out how much you should charge based on the situation.

Always Overbid When You Charge by a Messy Room

Always overbid the price of a messy room because there will be sticker shock no matter what you say.

So, whether it’s $50 or $100 they’ll be like “oh, that’s so much money”. Always overbid it and then the customer can say that’s way too much money. Then they either decide not to do it or they can negotiate.

Then you can lower your price back down to a price that’s fair to both of you and then you take out some of the duties so you’re not doing everything for one low fee.

Charging by the Room is an Effective Business Model

So, charging by the room can be a process with clients. But it’s a very effective business model and there are lots of people that do it.

So if you decide you’re going to charge by the room, decide that’s what you’re going to do. Pick a style of bidding either by the job, by the hour, by the room, and stay with it. Make it consistent so it makes all your bidding easy and consistent.

And then the more you do this, the better you get at guessing very quickly based on a couple of factors about the home. Then you can give people an estimate. Then they can decide they want to work with you or if they want to negotiate. You make the hard decisions for them.

* Resources From This Episode*

Worth Every Penny: Build a Business That Thrills Your Customers and Still Charge What You’re Worth – https://amzn.to/2RMBOVq

Value-Based Fees: How to Charge – and Get – What You’re Worth: How to Charge? And Get? What You’re Worth – https://amzn.to/2UdC2Sq

True Worth: How to Charge What You’re Worth and Get It – https://amzn.to/2Uh48MN

What in the H*** Do I Charge as A Freelancer? Find Out How To Set Your Rate, Stop Undervaluing Yourself and Get Paid What You’re Worth! – https://amzn.to/2MqTP65

True Worth: How to Charge What You’re Worth and Get It – https://amzn.to/2CEwB83

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