Widow Big House Needs Major Attention

[Anonymous]

I am late 60s and a widow. I have definitely lost the plot with my home of 40 yrs, as my adult kids now live everywhere else but here and have their own things going on.

I need a major clean/reorganizing. The '26 snows have forced me completely behind more than usual as I haven't been able to take out trash or recycling and other things like that. The creepy mansion where you see spider webs hanging and blankets all over the furniture? That's me.

I do think I have found someone mid 20s ambitious and currently unemployed who has done many goodwill tasks for me in the past, she is a friend of my kids and known to them, when I have needed emergent help she and her partner (best friend of one of my kids) have always shown straight up to help me out.

She has already offered to come in and clean and organize, I have just been resistant and kind of caught in my own limbo about everything.

If I were to offer to engage this person, would you do an hourly rate, a project rate, a by-room sort of rate where she could tackle rooms on their own?

I have a 6000 sf home with 3 floors but I am leaving off the basement for now. It used to be finished, we had a flood, all the stuff I could carry up from there myself at the time is on the 1st floor. Contributing to the clutter.

What do y'all think would be the most efficient way to approach her? I want to say that I've been without housekeeping for so long that 5K would not be out of line but I am so out of the market I don't even know if that's overpaying or underpaying. I'm not expecting a perfect house. I'm just desperately out of step with all the stuff and basic maintenance, and she's basically expressed to me that she is absolutely open to helping.

I'm sorry if this is all over the place. So am I and so is my house. TY

[Anonymous]

Would you consider downsizing? Now is the moment. Use the help to go through everything you have and decide what comes to your fabulous new one level clean condo/apartment. Then hire an estate sale company and a realtor.

Either way though, offer to pay her $25 or $30/hour and set a minimum and maximum number of hours. Don't do it as a lump sum.

[Anonymous]

I would hire a professional house cleaner for the ongoing maintenance (vacuuming, bathrooms, kitchen floors), and use the young person to help you declutter, take boxes to Goodwill , perhaps yard work. Pay them by the hour, in case they do not meet your expectations . It is also hard to know how long this will take. Ask how many hours a week they are available.

Congratulations on starting to dig out!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would you consider downsizing? Now is the moment. Use the help to go through everything you have and decide what comes to your fabulous new one level clean condo/apartment. Then hire an estate sale company and a realtor.

This. It's never going to be easier than now

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Would you consider downsizing? Now is the moment. Use the help to go through everything you have and decide what comes to your fabulous new one level clean condo/apartment. Then hire an estate sale company and a realtor.

This. It's never going to be easier than now

Find a small place, all one level with limited maintenance where you can age in place.
Your kids will thank you.
Good luck op

[Anonymous]

Can you afford to move to a more-senior type place? You really should Op. Btw, I'm your age

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would hire a professional house cleaner for the ongoing maintenance (vacuuming, bathrooms, kitchen floors), and use the young person to help you declutter, take boxes to Goodwill , perhaps yard work. Pay them by the hour, in case they do not meet your expectations . It is also hard to know how long this will take. Ask how many hours a week they are available.

Congratulations on starting to dig out!

Hire professional cleaning service for interior of the house.
Hire professional for pressure washing the exterior and walkway of the house.
Hire for hourly going rate for the young person to organize and pack.

[Anonymous]

Downsizing might be a good idea looking ahead.

Yes I would hire this girl out & since you may not know how long (or how much stuff to get rid of,) pay her an hourly wage vs. a lump sum payment.

[Anonymous]

I'd do a hourly rate up to $5,000 (though you can spend more when you hit that ceiling but giving her an upper limit will be helpful as a guide rather than something vaguely open ended). At 25 a hour that would be 200 hours, or five full time weeks. Or make it 20 a hour. Either way seems fair to me for serious cleaning and decluttering.

Be ruthless with decluttering. Very few things are worth as much as people think they are. And once it's gone you won't miss it.

Then put house on market. Do it now, do not wait until you're 78 and feeling trapped.

[Anonymous]

You need to offload the house now. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Read Dana K White’s books or listen to her podcast. She has good strategies for getting clutter under control.

Pay this person an hourly rate and have her come and work with you to get things in shape.