For those who have someone come clean your house...

I'm looking into this since I work a lot of hours and have a decent size house and can't seem to keep on top of it they way I'd like.

I'm thinking of having someone come once a month for a good cleaning. So here are my questions:

1) Are you always present when them come?

2) What is a reasonable price? I have 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, 2 living rooms, kitchen and dining area. We have very little furniture (for now) and no kids - so its neat...just don't have the time to clean all the hardwood floors and dust everything.

Is it worth it?

We live in an apartment and recently got Merry Maids and they are totally worth it. It's just the 2 of us, so they only come once a month. Just having a clean bathroom makes it worthwhile, and I HATE dusting!!! We're both at work when they're here. They bring all their own supplies, and payment is automatically charged to my credit card. I just leave a tip on the kitchen table for them.

We got a free consultation/price quote when a rep came to the house. I think the site is merrymaids.com.

Good luck,
Donna

I never leave the cleaning lady alone in my home, nor do I give her a key. I'm not comfortable with that. Someone is always here with the cleaning lady.

I had Merry Maids come for an estimate, and they wanted DOUBLE what my current service charges. I have a very large 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment in Forest Hills, and I believe they wanted $120/per month. (It was less for a bi-weekly or weekly rate). But each Merry Maids is different. My friend in Rockland used them and they were reasonable...

After Merry Maids, I found my current service and they charge $65 for four hours. They don't bring their own cleaning supplies, and they send one person. But overall, I have been happy. If you are in Queens, it's Murphy's Maids in Little Neck.