When shopping for someone to help with your house cleaning and other services in your home, the differences between an independent contractor and a professional business can be confusing.

Did you know?

If you pay more than $1700 per year to an independent housecleaner, you must sign up for an Employer ID Number with the IRS. You are required to pay Social Security and Medicare (also known as FICA) and Federal Unemployment Tax. You may also be liable for Federal Income Tax withholding, state taxes and disability taxes. These taxes become part of your personal tax liability and must be reported on your Form 1040. Penalties for non-payment include interest penalties and fines.

You must verify that the person is legally allowed to work in the United States by having them complete the I-9 Employment Eligibility Verification form and completing the eVerify process. Penalties for hiring illegal aliens range from $250 to $10,000. You should keep a signed I-9, W-4, and e-Verify form on file for each employee; you may also want to keep a photocopy of each employee’s Social Security card.

If an independent contractor is injured in your home, you can be held responsible for the medical bills. Make sure that your homeowners’ insurance includes a liability clause in case your employee gets injured at your home. At least $300,000 in liability protection is recommended, but up to $1 million in an umbrella or excess liability policy may be needed to protect you. You also may be liable for workers’ compensation payments that would not be covered by your homeowner’s insurance.

When choosing which option is best for your home, make sure you are educated on the differences and your personal responsibility. Here are a few website resources to help start your reseach:

Arizona Workers Compensation Laws
Federal Tax Laws for Household Employees
IRS Laws for Hiring Employees
eVerify Website

You’ve probably heard it before: “It’s not what you know, it’s WHO you know.” While this rings true for everything from finding a job to finding someone to date, it is especially true for finding a good contractor for your home repairs and services. Sure you could do a google search, but ”home remodeling Phoenix” just got 423,000 results on google. How are you to know who is a legit company, much less a great contractor? Easy – Ask another contractor you bring into your home who they recommend. Well, only if you trust them because (as a former boss of mine used to say), superstars hang out with superstars, and losers hang out with losers! Harsh words, but if you don’t trust your landscaper, don’t ask them for a referral for a plumber. They probably know one that is of similar quality as they are.

Trust me, Moxie Girl has kissed a lot of toads to find the Prince Charming of home service providers, and we would MUCH rather give you a referral to a company we know and trust than have you go through the hassel of kissing contractor toads. If you are doing some work around your house this summer, here are a list of a few of our favorite contractors that do great work at great prices.

General Contracting (includes small fix-its all the way up to building a new house) – Le Reve Custom Homes. Don’t let the “custom homes” scare you. They have some of the best prices AND best ethics of any general contractor we have seen!

Window Cleaning – All Star Window Cleaning. I would trust these guys in my grandma’s house they are so honest and reliable!

Carpet Cleaning – Big John’s Carpet Cleaning. Fast, reliable, and cost effective. They will even leave you extra booties. 

Carpet Cleaning for fancy carpets – Integrity Clean. Fair warning, Cal is not the cheapest guy in town, but if your carpet has special needs, he is the only one to call!

Pest Control – This is a horrible year for bugs. If you have unwanted houseguests, License 2 Kill is ready to get your creepy crawlies out! They also spray weeds, so no matter what type of pests you have, they have you covered!

Nanny Services – I know it’s not quite a home contractor, but I thought it was worth a mention because we get asked all the time if we know nannies. A Perfect Fit is an amazing local nanny agency with part-time, full-time, after school, and temporary nannies.

I hope this list can help you, whether this summer, or sometime in the future. If you are looking for something that is not on this list, just ask. Moxie Girl, as well as all those other businesses you bring into your home will know exactly who can help you!

This is a question I am asked almost every day. We have learned the hard way that most people will say, “It’s not too bad,” when they really mean to say, “If it wasn’t that bad, I wouldn’t be calling you to clean it.” For this reason we do not guarantee our estimates until we see your home.

Something to consider: While the size of your home is a factor in the cost of the cleaning, the current state of cleanliness and clutter are the BIGGEST factors. If you haven’t cleaned your house in a few months (or years!), your first cleaning is going to be a doozy. I wish we had a magic wand that made toilet rings disappear and dust to vanish off baseboards and window blinds, but the honest truth is that it takes scrubbing, a lot of scrubbing, and that takes time.

For those of you who like concrete numbers, here are a few examples of costs for weekly cleaning services. These cleanings include baseboards, window treatments, linen changing (and washing!), along with all the standard sanitizing and dusting. Please keep in mind that we do complete some tasks on a rotating basis, so if we come less frequently, the price per visit will be slightly higher because we have to accomplish more tasks on each visit. And remember, these are examples, not guaranteed pricing:
1000 square foot apartment (2 bedroom/2 bath) – $80-$90ish
2000 square foot home (3 bedroom/2 bath) – $120-$150ish
4000 square foot home (4 bedroom/4 bath) – $180-$220ish
For your first visit, you can expect the cost to be anywhere from 1.5-2x the cost of your normal weekly visit.

We can also structure our visits to stay within a specific time (ie-$$) amount too. Instead of doing a whole house cleaning, we would ask for a list of your priorities and we work quickly to check off as many items as we can. This works very well for people who are on a limited budget, but are going crazy in their home.

We are always happy to answer questions. Information and consultations are always free, so if you are not happy with the current state of your home, give us a call.