You’re juggling work, travel, the kids’ school, and more. Can you really take more time out of your busy day to keep up with the constant upkeep of the house? That’s a question that many can ask themselves, especially expat parents. An easy answer to that problem is finding a housekeeper or house cleaner. In Korea, a housekeeper is relatively economical. It is not just for the wealthy but for the busy life of working moms and dads.
Although the rates vary, you could have someone clean your house at a rate as low as 10,000 won an hour. A housekeeper would help with general cleaning, laundry, ironing, and sometimes even cooking. Depending on the size of your house and the number of rooms you need done, the average rates would probably fall between 25,000 won to 75,000 won. Sometimes discounts are even offered depending on the amount of time you request someone to come in.
Although most would prefer to keep a set schedule, some housekeepers might be willing to come for last-minute cleanings. You could set up to have a housekeeper come by on a weekly (including weekends) basis, once a month, or even just every year for spring cleaning. There are all kinds of options out there that are reasonably priced for families.
The easiest way to find a domestic helper is going through an online portal. Although there are companies whom you could call, most of them will be run in Korean. The vast majority of housekeepers are either Korean ahjummas or Filipinas who speak English. You could first try a place like Craigslist, which as an open website for posting or finding different listings, has an entire section on household services.
Where else can you find a housekeeper or a maid? Try:
Nanny Job at http://www.nannyjob.co.kr/
Great Au Pair at http://www.greataupair.com/
Kim’s Services at http://blog.naver.com/realtytommy
KorEstate at http://home.korestate.com/
All of these websites are specifically for maids, domestic helpers, and housekeepers who are English speakers.
You can also try Facebook pages like that of Seoul House Cleaning (https://www.facebook.com/seoulhc/), which offer similar services and plenty of advertised sales.