How much do you pay for cleaning service for your airbnb rental?

[Ellie Narie]

I'm thinking of building a duplex, living in one unit, and having the other unit be an airbnb rental. I live in a small town that is close to outdoor activities, so it could be a good idea to do airbnb. I'm thinking of having the other half of the duplex have 5 bedrooms. 

However, I don't want to be "involved" every single day. I'm okay with checking in every once in a while to see if the unit is upkept, but certainly not every day. Maybe a few times a month? In terms of checking guests in and out, I'm sure I could set up some kind of automated keyless entry system. 

How do I outsource cleaning, and how much should I be paying for it? Laundry takes about an hour to wash and possibly an hour and a half to dry! That's 2.5 hours total. Plus half an hour to put on all the sheets and half an hour to take them off each day. That's about 3.5 hours from start to finish. However, during the laundry phase, there won't really be much to do. Do I still have to pay someone for the whole 3.5 hours, even if they're just going to sit around for 2.5 of those hours? How do you do it? 

[Julie McCoy]

@Ellie Narie I think you have a good overall idea re: house-hacking via AirBNB, but there are a couple of things about your approach you may want to reconsider.  

- You want to be hands-off.  Short-term rentals are not hands-off.  You don't have to physically be at the property (all three of my rentals are either 200 or 2000 miles from my home) but guests require attention.  It's a hospitality business - communication is essential, and there's a premium on prompt communication, which means within an hour or two.  If that's more attention than you want to devote to the enterprise, start looking for something else to do.

- You want a 5-bedroom duplex.  I don't know your specific market, but generally speaking, I do not see a market for this.  Any party large enough to require 5 bedrooms is going to want a house, not a duplex.  Also, how often do you think you're going to get guests that require that much space?  I have a house that sleeps 6 in a vacation destination and it slows down a LOT when school gets back in session.  Also, what kind of guests might want to rent a 5-bedroom duplex?  It'll be a large group not wanting to spend the extra $ to get a real house.  Accommodations that large will encourage parties.  Do you want to deal with large groups and possible parties next door to where you live? 

- Focusing on cleaning fees should be the least of your concerns at this point.  Cleaning fees get passed on to the guest anyway, so that's really not a big deal if it's within market norms.  (I pay anywhere from $40 to $80 for my cleanings, ranging from a studio in Tennessee to a 2/2 house in California)  Having a live-in cleaner sounds great on paper, but how many guests are going to want to rent 4 bedrooms in a SHARED space?  Very few.  

Give this some more thought.  You've got a good concept but the execution needs a lot of refining before you actually invest the money.