Fee for Initial Cleaning?

You don't give any information about your location so a price is difficult to recommend. However, I caution you not to set any fee until you have considered the basics. BEFORE any job or service, even if your client is a relative, friend, etc., you should protect yourself:

*Complete a thorough and detailed "walk-thru" to see EXACTLY WHAT YOUR CLIENT EXPECTS AND DEMANDS.
*Decide on a fee-per hour, service type, etc.
*Develop a cleaning, etc., fee contract covering what your client expects re service (as thorough as possible) and exactly what you expect to do to complete the job. Your client and you must sign any contract before service. You can find printable simple contracts online and in Microsoft Word.
*State in the contract exactly what you will do if you find "other work" in your service that your client and you have NOT agreed to-such as: extra work you had not anticipated or more than expected work (tons of laundry, more than agreed cleaning, etc.). Will you simply list the problems and not complete them or contact your client re what she/he wants you to do, etc.?
*This list is only the basics in deciding service and fees but is crucial if you want to be paid for what you will do.

Always Remember-
Work for free or work for full price; never work for nothing!

It depends so much on what is charged in your area. When I hired a cleaner in a small town, I charged slightly more than minimum wage. It was all light duty cleaning. However, now I have a friend in the city who charges $20 to $25 an hour for the same type of cleaning.

Here is SK our minimum wage is $10.70/hour, so you can see she is getting much more than that. This is also for light housekeeping on a regular basis. Find out what the going rates in your area are, and then follow the advice of DCA because she has some excellent tips.