Ready when you are.
Book a free call →Moving to a new city?
New city. No network. Boxes still sealed.
A house manager in your new city, found by a specialist who knows it, is the fastest way to settle a move. A move resets everything: the pediatrician, the cleaner, the school run, the sitter list, the person you'd call for a plumber. A house manager builds the new household from the ground up, and our regional specialist finds them before you've learned the street names.
We can start the search before the moving truck does.
The move
From sealed boxes to a house that runs, with a specialist who already knows your new city.
Kickoff by video, from your old address.
- 10,000+ families supported
- 90-day guarantee
- Flat fee, never a % of salary
What people are saying
Families on finding the right person fast.
“We have busy lives and were moving to a new city, but Sage Haus very quickly and seamlessly found us a 15-hour-a-week helper who has fit our family like a glove.”
Local search
A regional hiring specialist who knows the market, the pay range and where the good candidates are in your new city. You don't need a network; we have one.
Start before you land
Kickoff on a video call from your old address. First candidates in about four to six weeks, so the search runs while you pack.
Small towns too
Families across the US and Canada, from Seattle to a rural coastal town to the Mountain West. Thin local pools take a little longer; tell us where you're headed.
The first ninety days
Everything a move hands you, and who owns it.
The moving company leaves. The list doesn't. Here is what a house manager takes in the first three months after a relocation, drawn from the families below.
What the move leaves you with
- Boxes, and no free hour to open them
- No cleaner, no sitter, no handyman, no pediatrician
- New schools, new activities, new pickups to learn
- Utilities, deliveries, returns and the mail that followed you
- A partner starting a new role on day one
What the house manager owns
- The unpack and the systems: where things live, what's running low
- Finding and managing the vendors: cleaners, repairs, landscaping
- The new school and activity logistics, pickups when needed
- Meals and groceries while the kitchen becomes yours
- A household that works before you've found your feet
Moving in the next six months? That's the right time to book.
Seen enough? Pick a time now.
A free 30-minute group call with a Sage Haus hiring specialist. No obligation, and the fee is covered live.
What you'll get
A search that runs alongside the move.
1
Kickoff call, from wherever you are
We map the new household before you're in it: the house, the schools, the commute, the gaps.
2
A job description for the setup phase
Unpack and systems first, then the running of the home. Written to grow once the boxes are gone.
3
Candidates who already know the city
Sourced locally by your regional specialist, screened and interviewed by a person. References and a background check before any offer.
4
Onboarding and a 90-day guarantee
An onboarding call, a six-week check-in, and a one-time re-match within 90 days if the fit isn't right.
Nanny couldn't come with you?
Rebuild the role, not the hire.
One of the families below lost a long-time nanny to the move and hired for the family they were becoming: a house manager above an au pair. The list traveled; the role was rewritten.
Already moved?
A year in still counts as the move.
Two of the families below hired a year after relocating, when the household had never quite settled. The setup phase just starts later.
Case studies
Four moves. Four households rebuilt.
The Elsworth family · Dual-Physicians
New city, new practice — and finally, an unpacked house.
A surgeon most of a year into a new job in a new Mountain West town, far from any metro — with moving boxes still sealed, because every free hour had gone to building the practice.
The Winslow family · Nanny to House Manager
Their long-time nanny couldn't come with them. The list did.
A move out of the city to the suburbs, and the nanny who had been with the family for years couldn't make it with them.
The Larkin family · Activity-Heavy Family
Three boys, three activity calendars, and nobody home at 3pm.
A family a year into a relocation, with three boys spanning primary and early secondary — each in a different mix of sport, music and clubs whose schedules never once overlap.
The Greenhalgh family · Family in Transition
A second baby on the way, and nobody owning the list.
Two full-time working parents in a big city, a few months settled into a new house, with a second baby on the way.
The Selby family · Already Have Help
A rural coastal town. Four weeks. Done.
Two partners with long-hour, high-stress jobs in a rural coastal town in the Pacific Northwest — the kind of place where the nearest city is a real drive and the local hiring pool is thin.
The Aldous family · Dual-Physicians
One parent home. One on the road for the whole season.
A physician whose partner works in professional sport, which means months at a stretch on the road — and one parent effectively solo with four daughters from toddler to teenager.
Read all the stories at sagehaus.com/case-studies.
Not ready to book? Take the three-minute quiz.
It builds a scope for your family: the hours, the tasks and the kind of role that fits. You get the result straight away.
The numbers
What the first year in a new city costs, with and without help.
The calculator takes what you'd spend on delivery, sitters and piecemeal help while you settle, adds your own hours, and shows the return on a house-manager search.
- The cost today, including your own time
- A house manager at the hours and rate you choose
- Return on the search at one and two years
How the calculator works
- 1What you pay today for sitters, delivery, cleaners and errands, plus the hours you put in yourself
- 2A house manager at the hours and rate you choose, with W-2 costs if you want them
- 3How you find them: a flat fee, an agency percentage, or your own time
- 4The return on the search at one and two years, and the hours you get back
Nothing is filled in for you. Add the Sage Haus fee from your call when you have it.
Book a call
Ready for support?
A free 30-minute call with a Sage Haus hiring specialist. We'll look at your week, tell you honestly what kind of role fits, and if a search makes sense, what it would look like for your family.
More from our families
What changes after the hire.
“Things that caused us personal guilt and angst when we didn't get them done, or got them done poorly … are now done almost in the background. … We are more relaxed and present people.”
“We've been able to be more present with our kids and feel like our heads can stay above water.”
“Our home finally has a sense of forward momentum.”
Questions families ask
Before you book.
Can you start the search before we move?
Yes. The kickoff call is a video call, and the search runs in your destination city while you pack. Interviews can happen on video too, with an in-person final round once you've landed.
Do you cover where we're moving to?
Moving somewhere small? Tell us the ZIP code; a thin local pool just means a longer search. Families across the United States and Canada, with regional specialists who know the local market. Rural and small-town searches take a little longer; tell us where you are on the call.
We're losing our nanny in the move. Replace them like-for-like?
Usually not. A move is the moment families rethink the role for the children's ages now. Our guide walks through growing a nanny role into a house manager; the same thinking applies to hiring new.
Free resource: How to transition your nanny into a house manager
What does a house manager do in the first months after a move?
The unpack and the systems, finding and managing vendors, the new school and activity logistics, meals and groceries, and the admin a move drags behind it. Then the role settles into the running of the home.
Free resource: The mental load, explained and time and cost calculator
How many hours do families start with?
Most start at 15 to 25 hours a week and grow. Setup months often run heavier and settle later. Under 30 hours is part-time, 30 or more is full-time.
What will I pay the house manager?
Pay ranges differ by city; your specialist tells you the local number on the kickoff call. Typically $25 to $50 an hour depending on scope and location, higher in New York and the Bay Area. They're a W-2 household employee; we point you to a payroll partner that handles taxes and pay stubs. Our own fee is covered on the call.
Free resource: time and cost calculator
How do you vet candidates in a city we don't know?
Vetting in a city you don't know yet is exactly why the regional specialist exists. Regional hiring specialists source from local boards and our certified talent pool. Every candidate is screened and interviewed by a human before you meet them. References, a background check and an employment agreement come before any offer, and a one-time re-match is available within 90 days.
What if it doesn't work out?
A move changes needs quickly, and the guarantee covers a change in the first 90 days. A one-time re-match with up to two new candidates inside the first 90 days, no extra fee, provided you did the onboarding call and the six-week check-in with us.
My partner thinks we should settle in first.
Most families who waited a year told us they wished they'd started with the move. Bring them to the call, or start with our guide for the conversation at home.
Free resource: Pitch in the Kitchen and the calculator