3 days ago
Millennial Moms Are All Hiring House Managers---Should You?
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At home, chores are truly never-ending. You'll always have to do laundry, buy groceries, clean dirty surfaces, restock essentials like toilet paper, and so on. The weekly tasks can become overwhelming and exhausting, especially if you have kids or a busy professional life. Enter: house managers. They're basically like a housekeeper, nanny, assistant, and chef all in one, with a job description that can flex depending on the needs of your household. If you're at a point where you could use relief from an ever-growing to-do list, here's what to know as you consider hiring a house manager.
A house manager's role really depends on the specific needs of the family they work for, but generally, the work is wide-ranging. Kelly Hubbell, a house manager who also helps families hire house managers, gave insight into the job via a video on Instagram. 'Soooo… What does a house manager actually do each week? Short answer: more than you think,' she captioned the post.
Hubbell confirmed that a house manager does many staple chores around the house, including laundry, errands (like grocery shopping or returns), meal preparation, dog walking, and packing school lunches. Some of the 'invisible stuff that eats up your time and energy,' she wrote, can include descaling the coffee machine, restocking diaper bags, oiling cutting boards, organizing toy bins, taking out the trash, swapping out seasonal clothes, babysitting on date nights, and restocking toiletries. That's only a portion of the things Hubbell said families would rather not do, and 'even more importantly, a hundred other things you'd rather not have to carry and feel responsible for remembering and delegating.'
The job is also adaptable to a family's needs on a weekly basis. Some weeks, the job may involve handling the laundry. Other weeks, it can require helping pack for a trip, scheduling returns, or reorganizing the garage. 'It's not just getting things done; it's someone who knows what needs to be done, sometimes before you even ask,' Hubbell wrote.
According to Barbara Mighdoll of the New Modern Mom blog, other house manager tasks can include schedule management, like making doctor appointments for kids, vendor coordination, such as hiring a maintenance worker or gardener, event planning for family gatherings or parties, and overseeing the household budget.
Anyone with a busy household can benefit from a house manager, but they're especially useful for certain groups. Postpartum moms who want to focus on recovering and bonding with their baby will find them particularly useful, as will families with multiple children who need help with organizing schedules and keeping life running smoothly. For busy professionals, a house manager can make sure everything at home is in order, whether they work from home or at an office. House managers can also bring relief to individuals who are struggling with mental or physical health challenges and can't keep up with household maintenance.
To determine if a house manager is right for you, think about your needs. If they're relatively singular, you can look for house manager alternatives. For instance, if you only need someone to focus on cleaning and home maintenance, consider hiring a housekeeper instead. If you only need help with child care, a nanny is a good option. You'll also want to consider your budget (more on that below), along with privacy in terms of how comfortable you are with having another person around the house.
The cost of hiring a house manager can vary depending on where you live, but you can expect to pay anywhere from $20 to $40 per hour. According to Indeed, the average salary in the United States for a house manager is $61,757.
There are plenty of ways to find a house manager. In a Reddit thread, many homeowners shared that they've had success with posting detailed ads on Home Team Hires, a domestic staffing platform, is another recommendation that was offered up for homeowners in major metropolitan areas, specifically in Chicago, Miami, San Francisco, New York, and Los Angeles.
You can also tap into your local network. Reach out to friends, family, and even colleagues for recommendations. Facebook groups for moms are also a great place to source recommendations in your area.
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