Introduction
Primarily there are two types of housekeepers. One has the role of a maid and lives in with her client and the other type lives out and may have a varied clientele. If you want to hire a housekeeper to keep your home clean, you can search for “home cleaning services near me” and get in touch with plenty of reputed cleaning companies. Let’s check out whether you need a live-in maid or a live-out housekeeper:
The Differences
- Lifestyle – Your lifestyle primarily decides whether you want a live-in maid or a live-out housekeeper. Usually, frequent travelers who have to cross state lines very often opt to hire a live-in maid. When you leave your home unattended for long hours a live-in maid can offer great help. Apart from attending to their daily duties, they can also look after your property and keep it in good condition while you’re not present.
When you don’t live in a home for long periods it can develop numerous problems. It invites the attention of home invaders; it gets full of dust and also becomes infested with pests. Having a live-in housekeeper allows you to return back to a home instead of a horror story. The last thing you need to worry about is hygiene.
On the other hand, if you have a family with kids, you may not need the services of a housekeeper. Chores can be divided among family members and unless you go on a vacation, your home would always be occupied. For the occasional cleaning to host guests or just take a break from your chores you can hire the services of a live-out housekeeper.
- Living space – Even if you’re in dire need of a live-in maid, you can’t hire them unless you can provide proper accommodation. You need to provide a live-in maid with a suitable living environment. Depending on your income bracket and the size of your home it can be anything from a bedroom with an attached bathroom to an entire floor of the house.
People who are in dire need of a live-in maid also do everything to create a living space for their maid. For instance, some people like to convert the basement apartment or an annex that’s attached to the house into a suitable living space. You can’t have a live-in maid if you live in a small two-bedroom apartment. In that case, you need to hire the services of a live-out housekeeper.
- Work Hours – Have you thought about how much cleaning you need to get done? Do you want to keep your home clean and free from stains or spills at all times? Do you despise cleaning and just want to outsource that chore to someone who’s really good at it? In that case, you may need your housekeeper to work full-time for you. In such a situation, you have to hire a live-in housekeeper.
However, if you like to tackle most of your cleaning chores yourself and don’t usually need the services of a housekeeper, you may opt for a live-out housekeeper. You may need the services of a housekeeper occasionally to get your home professionally cleaned before hosting a party or for cleaning your home before and after a vacation.
- Unique situation of the candidate – You may have interviewed quite a few candidates and shortlisted some of them. However, depending on the unique situation of the candidate your hire decisions may vary. For instance, even if you want to hire a live-out housekeeper as a full-time live-in maid, you may not be able to do it even with extra amounts of cash.
Housekeepers who list themselves as live-out housekeepers on the market do it for a reason. Most of them are married or have a family whom they want to see and be with regularly. In very unique situations you can hire a married housekeeper as a live-in maid. For instance, his or her family may be in a different country.
On the other hand, a candidate who is single or recently moved to the city will be open to the idea of a live-in situation. That’s because real estate prices are soaring in most cities and rent is ridiculously expensive. Moreover, live-in maids also get food along with accommodation as an added perk. This saves them a lot of hassle and money.
- Offered package – Live-in housekeepers get a few additional perks along with their pay. They get food, accommodation, Wi-Fi, TV, health care, gym, and more. That’s why homeowners usually account for these parks and pay a lower hourly wage to their live-in maids. On the other hand, live-out housekeepers often charge a higher rate since they don’t get these perks.
If you live in a large house and can afford to offer these perks, then you may hire a live-in housekeeper. However, if you want to hire highly reputed and top-rated housekeepers, they would expect higher pay regardless of the perks.
- Flexibility – This is a part of the service that both live-in maids and live-out housekeepers can offer. However, you shouldn’t expect this service for a low hourly wage. This is usually offered by the most highly rated housekeepers. Flexibility is working additional hours for extra pay of course and attending to manageable requests like going to the grocery store for an errand.
However, live-in housekeepers can offer more flexibility since they live with you and can attend to your needs immediately. Live-out housekeepers may live a long way from your home and spend several hours commuting before they can attend to your special requests. A live-in maid won’t be affected by bad weather or traffic at most times and that’s why they can be more flexible.
Conclusion
Now you know how a live-in maid differs from a live-out housekeeper. They have very different roles and different sets of skills. If you want to hire either of them to keep your home clean you can search for “home cleaning services near me” and contact reputed cleaning companies.
