How much to pay for house cleaning

[Leigh Ann Smith]

I'd like to get some input on cleaning fees.  We list 2 tiny homes with AirBnB, and we charge a $25 fee. One house is 144 sq. ft. and the other is 160 sq. ft. plus sleeping loft.  

I was very fortunate to find a house cleaner who lives just a few miles from us.  When I offered her $20 originally, it was because it should be about a 1 hour job.  I do the laundry.  This lady had surgery a year ago, and she told me up front that she moves kind of slowly.  That was fine with me since we are paying a flat fee for the cleaning.  She is very thorough, and she has shown up every single time when she said she would.  

We paid her as contract labor last year.  It was less than $600 total, so we didn't give her a 1099.  This year, I either need to put her on the payroll as a W-2 employee or let her know that she'll be receiving a 1099 for 2017.  Either way, it will essentially mean a pay cut for her since she wasn't having any taxes withheld before.  I feel bad about that, because I think $20 isn't much money to come over here and do the job.

Do you charge your customers a high enough cleaning fee to cover the cost of a cleaning service or does the cleaning fee just offset it?  

[Patti Robertson]

Dang.  I can't get anyone to drive to a house to give an estimate for $20. Why don't you go a little crazy and give her a $5 raise to cover the taxes. Consider yourself incredibly lucky to have someone willing to work so cheap. 

Are you saying the entire house is only 144SF?  Or is this a room in a house? Or are you in one of those tiny house communities?  I'm sure I'm not alone in wanting to see pics of this 144 SF house if you are willing to share!

I don't do AirBnB but I had a conversation with a friend who does last week.  Hers is near the oceanfront in Virginia Beach, so the pricing is likely much higher.  What they are doing here is charging a low room rate and a high cleaning fee.  Hers were $45/night plus $160 cleaning fee I believe.