How to Hire a Housekeeper

Some Questions to Ask a Potential Maid
Some Things to Consider When Hiring a Maid
  

  Ask a single dad whether he’d rather have an extra $100 in his paycheck every week – or an extra five or six hours a week in leisure time, who would blame him for taking the time off? That’s especially true when it comes to housecleaning.

After all, who has the time, never mind the inclination, to keep a clean bathroom, a well-scrubbed kitchen floor, and fluffy, neatly-folded laundry atop the dryer (and that’s just for starters, particularly for single men with kids)? “It’s not easy,” says Amy Olson, spokesperson with The Maids International, a housekeeping service company. “Fast-paced lifestyles, hectic schedules and a lack of free time can push housecleaning to the bottom of the to-do list. And while you can turn to professionals, before picking up the phone to schedule an appointment, it is important to know whom you are letting into your home.”

If you can manage it financially, letting someone into your home to keep it clean and tidy is a good idea – a pretty big item to check on your ever-expanding “to do” list. Once you’ve decided that a mop-and-bucket are to you what kryptonite is to Superman, and that you’re now in the market for a housekeeper, where do you find one?

FIND A HOUSEKEEPER

Simple. Try the yellow pages, the classified ad section of your local newspaper, or simply go to your favorite web search engine and type in your area code and “house keeper”, “maids” or “housecleaning services”. A great way to find a good housekeeper is to ask around the office, neighborhood, or among family and friends. People who use good housekeepers will recommend them to you, saving what could be a great deal of due diligence up front. “I found my housekeeper on the job,” says Lester Strouse, a self-employed contractor who acted on a tip from a customer on a dry-wall job. “My customer said she was professional and affordable. That was good enough for me.”