Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The hourly rate would be $14.00 for 28 hours a month. He priced the room out at $500 and wants an extra $100 in cash on top of the 28 hours.

But where are you located? Look on CL for room shares in your area and see what the average room rental rate is. What would your hourly rate be for live-out work (you normally do not lower it for being a live-in if it is just a work exchange, only if you are getting room and board as a benefit of living in with a regular hourly rate (maybe quoted as weekly) as well.

If you give me more details, I would be happy to let you know my opinion on if it is truly fair or not. I have done live-in work for many years, including work exchanges, but it really depends on location. Not just city, but neighborhood as well. Is it a basic room only with shared bath, or private bath for you to use? Anything else helps to determine if the overall hours are a fair exchange or not.

I'm in NE DC. Room rentals vary from $450-900. It's a room on the main floor, shared bathroom.

After looking on CL myself, that seems like a good room rate, even for something around 10x10. The exchange covers just under $400/month and then the $100 I would say would cover utilities. You would be getting a discount on the room/utilities by up to $100 or more (depending on if the $500 rate would have included utilities for someone else or not). As long as the room isn't a tiny thing and not in a location that you would have to be extremely quiet at night/hear the kids too much on your time off, then I would say it is a fair deal.

I would look at things like if you need your own car for the job (making sure you are paid for gas and wear and tear - 55.5 cents per mile is standard), or if you don't have a car (can drive theirs for kids if needed), or that it is close to public transit for yourself. I would make it VERY CLEAR about everything before taking the position. House rules (guests and sleepovers, no loud noise after 9/10pm, no alcohol drinking in front of kids - parents sometimes have rules like that). What EXACTLY is included (you can use some things from kitchen like a tiny bit of milk or butter etc, but you buy your own food normally or if you can write things on a shopping list and it will get bought), all utilities that are included, if no cable tv then maybe access to their Netflix account etc, do you buy your own/chip in on TP/Laundry Detergent/etc.

What do you do about Federal holidays, or days that you are not needed (make up hours later, needed any time kids are home so no fed holidays off, deal with sickdays and vacation). All of that can be harder to negotiate since you are earning only towards your rent and not anything else (but also specify that extra hours are paid hourly rate). Usually I end up with sickdays whenever I really need them, and they might ask for me to help out a bit extra another day if they could really use it, but if I was down with the flu they wouldn't ask me to make it up. I don't get vacation days of my choosing unless I were to talk to them about it and do a new schedule to work around that time (if they could find someone to replace me for that time as well). I get fed holidays off if she doesn't have lots of work to do that day, I get random days off when she doesn't need me and again, she might ask for a couple hours of helping with something else (if I am available) but generally will just give me the day off.

For the past month, I have actually gotten quite a bit of time off since my charge hasn't had an after school activity one day due to a "winter break" from it, and then 2 weeks off his other therapy appt. This kind of worked out as my "christmas bonus" in a way, I only got a small gift but lots of extra time off over the weeks. I wasn't normally working the days Christmas/NY and the eves fall on this year, but if I had, she would have given them to me off (I got the days off later in the week). I help out for occasional nights she wants to go out for my "hourly rate".

Just make sure you have a set schedule as well, and that kids learn that generally you are off limits after that (when dad is home), so that you don't get taken advantage of outside work hours.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The hourly rate would be $14.00 for 28 hours a month. He priced the room out at $500 and wants an extra $100 in cash on top of the 28 hours.

But where are you located? Look on CL for room shares in your area and see what the average room rental rate is. What would your hourly rate be for live-out work (you normally do not lower it for being a live-in if it is just a work exchange, only if you are getting room and board as a benefit of living in with a regular hourly rate (maybe quoted as weekly) as well.

If you give me more details, I would be happy to let you know my opinion on if it is truly fair or not. I have done live-in work for many years, including work exchanges, but it really depends on location. Not just city, but neighborhood as well. Is it a basic room only with shared bath, or private bath for you to use? Anything else helps to determine if the overall hours are a fair exchange or not.

I'm in NE DC. Room rentals vary from $450-900. It's a room on the main floor, shared bathroom.

Anonymous wrote:The hourly rate would be $14.00 for 28 hours a month. He priced the room out at $500 and wants an extra $100 in cash on top of the 28 hours.

But where are you located? Look on CL for room shares in your area and see what the average room rental rate is. What would your hourly rate be for live-out work (you normally do not lower it for being a live-in if it is just a work exchange, only if you are getting room and board as a benefit of living in with a regular hourly rate (maybe quoted as weekly) as well.

If you give me more details, I would be happy to let you know my opinion on if it is truly fair or not. I have done live-in work for many years, including work exchanges, but it really depends on location. Not just city, but neighborhood as well. Is it a basic room only with shared bath, or private bath for you to use? Anything else helps to determine if the overall hours are a fair exchange or not.

The hourly rate would be $14.00 for 28 hours a month. He priced the room out at $500 and wants an extra $100 in cash on top of the 28 hours.

Anonymous wrote:No, lot of hours just for a room as you still need to work for spending money. I'd be very weary.

It's 28 hours a MONTH. That is not a lot of hours, that is 7 hours a week if only counting 4 weeks in a month. Now, it might be too many for the location and what the nanny would be getting out of it. It also depends on what the pay rate would be for those hours. $10-13/hr for basic care could be reasonable. That would be $365 per month on the high end. What would be the normal rental cost of the room and space? If it would be about $350 plus utilities, then I would say it could be a good trade. Where I live, the rate would be higher, the number of hours higher since room rental rates are starting at around $800-900/month. You can always counter-negotiate saying that you won't pay the $100, as you think the rate of exchange is fair without doing that. You can also add in that sometimes basic food is included (not always for an work exchange though) and utilities are almost ALWAYS added in for free). Sometimes a slight rent decrease as well, like $800 instead of $900 for the room. It really depends on the HOURLY RATE for the services, and the ROOM RATE that someone might charge to a stranger to rent the room.

As for the single dad, and why he needs a live-in, he obviously has no wife to help out and most likely (like many others that offer a work exchange) have an extra available room and that is easier on them than paying money for the work. Probably could use help in the mornings as well if for older kids (or ones that go to daycare), maybe a split schedule that is not attractive to someone who would have to commute to work?

Now whether you just can't get past that he is a single DAD and not a single MOM, which is what makes some people wary, that is only something the OP would be able to decide. I know some very sweet single dads that I would love to work for in this manner. But if they give you a creepy vibe when meeting with them, I wouldn't want to. I would probably want to talk to some neighbors or adults that know him and his kid(s), to give a personal reference for his character to be more comfortable. Then just be cautious about it for the first while if you go ahead with it. I always make sure to have keyed locks on my bedroom doors when I do live-in work. Have people come to the house even just to pick you up at first, to show that people are keeping an eye on your and your safety.

It doesn't sound like a bad deal. At $12 an hour for 28 hours, plus $100 a month you pay, you are only paying $436 a month. I had a live-in situation where a single mom worked overnights and needed me home 6pm-7am (52 hours a week), 4 nights a week. I didn't pay anything extra in rent and I had a room close to Ballston Metro. LOVED this arrangement!

If you added up how much pay I should have been getting it was around $2500 a month, but this job was so easy and I never had to work weekends, so I took it. All I had to do was assist the kids in cleaning up dinner, make sure the older child took a shower after I gave the 3 year old a bath. Then I would put the 3 year old to bed by 8pm, and the older child (9) would have to be in his room by 8pm with no tv. Piece of cake job. And since I lived there I was allowed to have my friends over those nights as long as I got everything I needed to done.

Anyways, I would say it's worth looking in to, especially if you need a cheap place to live and the hours are good. With my position I still was able to work full-time 8am-5pm and I was able to save 25k that year.

NO. FUCK NO.

No, lot of hours just for a room as you still need to work for spending money. I'd be very weary.

Anonymous wrote:A single dad posted a part-time live in position at 28 hours per month plus the nanny to pay him $100/month for rent. In a way, it would be good to save on rent but i'm not sure about benefits beyond that.

28 hours a month? sounds sketchy.

Yeah it's just a bedroom.

Depends on the living space. I'd it's an apt in the basement it's a good deal. If it's just a crummy bedroom ours a rip off.

A single dad posted a part-time live in position at 28 hours per month plus the nanny to pay him $100/month for rent. In a way, it would be good to save on rent but i'm not sure about benefits beyond that.