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Not sure what the going rate is where you live. We don't pay hourly. I would be shocked if it took your cleaner 4 hours to clean your house! Our house is 3 bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms and has a den - about 2000 sq. feet (and lots of stairs). We pay $100 every visit, we usually have her come every 10-14 days. When we had her come less frequently (1x a month) she charged us more - $150. She's usually in and out in less than 2.5 hours.

And yes, I think it was life changing for us. I can't imagine trying to keep up with all of it and work full time with 2 kids. She's wonderful and worth every penny.

I was paying $100/ service for a 4/2; but only two bedrooms had beds. The rate you were quoted might be in line for your area, but seems a little high to me. Cleaning service is life changing. When pick up before ours come over and the house looks nice. After they leave though the house sparkles and looks spectacular.

Hmmm... that seems high to me - where do you live? We're right outside of Boston, and although our house is a little bit smaller (3 bedroom, 1.5 bath, ~1500 square ft), we pay $120 for every other week. Do you know what's included in your estimate? For example, ours includes dusting living and dining room, wiping down surfaces in the kitchen (including cleaning the microwave and stove) and bathroom, cleaning the tub and toilets, and vacuuming/mopping floors. If we wanted them to change sheets or clean the fridge or anything like that, we'd have to pay extra.

We pay $85/visit for 2,400 square feet but our house is 3 bedroom/2 bath. Four hours seems like a lot to me... ours is usually at the house for 2 hours max. Dallas area.

ETA - our cleaner is significantly cheaper that others in our area. We got quotes from other providers around 120-150.

Liiiiiiiiife changing for sure. I would get super resentful of DH not pulling his weight with cleaning and I’d feel like every weekend was consumed with house chores. And it was partly my fault I’d get pissed; I’m super particular about cleaning so I’d he’d help, I’d inevitably have to redo it because he tends to half-ass stuff like that. There was just a lot of tension regarding division of household chores and labor. That tension is gone.
We pay $90 for every two weeks, 1400 sq ft 3/2. We live near nyc. I do find I have to “preclean” but it’s just cleaning clutter I should have put away before. She also runs laundry and strips and cleans all beds. She takes about 3 hours. Coming home to a house that someone else has cleaned is like getting exactly what you want for your birthday, over and over. Or at least for me it is.
Eta: our cleaner is an individual not a service. She cake recommended by my friend and has cleaned for several of her friends for many many years. I think that is important...she more or less has total access to my house when I step out.

We started using a house cleaner last summer, when DD2 was 1. I was just not able to keep up with it all and it was something we found ourselves bickering about.

We pay $90/bi weekly. She is at our house for 3-5 hours depending on the week.

For me, I spoke with cleaners about just doing it monthly, and its not much savings in my area because each clean is more of a deep clean...so they take longer. 6 hours once a month or 4 hours every two weeks. Cost is nearly the same and for me if I am paying for it I just want it all done!

Also adding that’s how we found this company. We saw them so much in the neighborhood, I just walked over and asked for a business card.

@HappyBaker: This is exactly my situation, including the husband’s opinion! Our house is much tidier than before as well.

We have 3 beds, 2.5 baths, kitchen, dining room, living room, slate entry way, hallway, and stairs done (about 1900 sq. ft.). We pay $75 every 3 weeks which is the best rate we could get. We also do a few deep cleanings every year. Not having to ever dust, vacuum, clean a tile shower surround, or change sheets (I know, we should do that every 2 weeks but whatever) is a life changer. I do vacuum upstairs once or twice in between and do the living room weekly, wipe down bathroom surfaces, mop the kitchen, but honestly just having someone change the sheets and clean the tile tub surrounds are worth $75 to me!

My husband and I work full time and he has zero time to help with housework (although he is super good at it), and having a house cleaner has been a life changer for sure.

Also, we found our cleaners on Craigslist (same thing when we had one a few years ago).

I LOOOOOVE it. If we had to tighten our budget there would be quite a few other things I'd give up before biweekly cleaning. I think the price sounds reasonable, we pay the same for a similar sized house. And I know this drives some people nuts, but one of the things I like most about having a cleaning person is that it forces me to pickup before they come. I'm the type of person that can let things pile up on surfaces and this keeps me honest.

@emilye519: it made a world of difference for us. Obviously it bothered me more than my husband since the brunt of the burden and load fell on me. Once we got the cleaner...it’s like all of the tension and resentment really disappeared. Cleaning isn’t a chore anymore...it’s quick and easy tidying. Every two weeks means my toilets juuuuist start to get scuzzy but not bad enough for me to clean them (unless we have company)

I’d pay it again and again. I’m actually going to give her a raise soon because she is awesome and makes my life easier. I want her to stay around.

Our house is 2500 sqft. We pay $100 every 2 weeks. I know services and more but we use a small privately owned company rather than a large company. I could never go back to not having a cleaning person.

I kept thinking we should wait to find a house cleaner until we made a bit more money, but after reading this, I'm just going to find other ways to cut our budget to make it possible.

We’ve had a house cleaner for the past few years. Before we moved, I had someone come once a week and paid by the hour. Now that we live in Asia where household help is extremely affordable, I have someone come twice a week. It has been worth every penny. I’m a neat freak, but between 2 kids and 2 working parents, I would get so stressed when I had to also add cleaning into the mix. I love not having to devote precious weekend time to chores.

We just hired someone after getting several quotes on Facebook buy/sell groups. I like using FB more than Craig's List because you can get some idea of who you're hiring through their profile.

I'll include what we're paying, so others can compare. Note that we live in a rural area.

$90 total ($15/hour)
3 hours twice per month
3 bed, 3 bath with a large playroom/den (3650 sf)

Vacuum All Floors & Stairs
Mop Hardwoods and Tile
Clean Toilets, Tubs & Showers
Wipe Down Blinds
Clean Counters & Stovetop

@emilye519: Basically just same as you. She comes twice a month for four hours at a time for our 2300 square foot house with one toddler and four dogs. $150 each visit. I live in th Midwest.

Our cleaning services our expensive so I took the advice of a pp and looked at a FB. Oh goodness, so glad I checked her FB profile first. Horrors!